Audit compliance preparation can be any, or all of the following:
Internal audits
Validating security posture
Vulnerability scanning
Penetration testing
Software repository / device compliance
Logs - storage and retention validation
Backup validation
Invoking disaster recovery / testing business continuity
Ensuring critical path-way documentation is up-to-date and relevant for audit
Ongoing compliance present challenges to overcome and technical requirements to gather and implement. Equally, these required changes may not be obvious until the audit has been completed, but failed and remediation is necessary.
A failed audit can lead to costly down-time for companies. Individuals are pulled again from the daily work-loads and on-going projects which can cause downstream delays to the business.
Technical requirements that may not have been met, standards that are potentially missing, truncated strategy, lack of training and collaboration now require a pool of internal or external talent to put right. And with some audit findings, can lead to massive infrastructure changes and processes that need to be created - which again lead to a black-hole in resources and having to navigate around non-budgeted OPEX and CAPEX costs.
