Poor inventory data to blame for increased audit costs: Oomnitza survey

ITAM News & Analysis

Poor inventory data to blame for increased audit costs: Oomnitza survey

According to a new survey published today by Oomnitza, roughly half of organizations have experienced a significant increase in their audit budget expenditures due to poor technology inventory data, with 56% of companies reporting that the data accuracy of their CMDB was only 85% or less with insufficient levels of process automation. 

These are the results of a new snapshot survey on IT Compliance and Technology Audits. The research, conducted by YouGov, surveyed 213 senior level information technology professionals in enterprises ranging from 1,000 to 10,000 employees across multiple industries in the United States.

Key Findings 

The research shows that data hygiene and accuracy issues are negatively impacting the timeliness, cost and quality of audits. 

• Inaccurate data: 46% of respondents experience a material increase (10% or higher) in audit delays and costs due to inaccurate data.
• Audit delays and costs: Enterprises with 1,000-5,000 employees were 27% more likely to experience an increase in audit delays and costs (10% or higher)
• Audit cost overruns: 47% of companies spent at least 10% more resources and money than their planned audit budget due to poor technology inventory data. This number rises to 55% in enterprises with 1,000-5,000 employees. 
• CMDB inaccuracies: 56% of companies reported the data accuracy of their CMDB was only 85% or lower with insufficient levels of process automation. This number rises to 67% in enterprises with 1,000-5,000 employees.
• Lack of automation: 62% of organizations need to further automate their compliance assessment and technology audit preparation workflows to better adhere to security and compliance controls. 

Oomnitza cites a host of factors behind the figures, ranging from the rise of remote work to the proliferation of industry-specific regulations, stringent cross-border data laws and the pervasive migration to cloud-based infrastructures.

“Remote work, cloud services and increasing regulation are making compliance audits harder and more inefficient than ever,” said Arthur Lozinski, CEO and co-founder of Oomnitza. “This research confirms the scope and cost of the problem and underscores the importance of taking a cohesive, holistic approach to technology management to streamline audit and compliance reporting processes.” 

Analysis by Rich Gibbons, ITAM Review

“This shows that, although cloud technologies continue to be a growing factor within IT environments, retaining focus on more “traditional” ITAM practices is necessary for organizations.

For ITAM professionals, this means the range of skills required continues to grow – but so do the opportunities. A modern IT – or perhaps Technology – Asset Management function has the potential to be absolutely critical across an enterprise…from on-premises to cloud and everything in between.”

More resources

Visit here to access the full Oomnitza survey.

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