Preparing for IT Audits: Best Practices and Tools for SMBs

Small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs) operate on tight budgets and must optimize every dollar spent on technology. Failure to do so can result in severe financial setbacks and even worse, the loss of competitive edge.

One of the most effective ways to optimize spending is through meticulous IT audits. An IT audit can assess current systems, ensure efficient resource use, and identify cost-reduction opportunities without compromising performance.

In this article, you’ll learn:

• The importance of IT audits for optimizing technology spending
• The benefits of conducting an IT audit
• Best practices for preparing for a successful IT audit
• How a SpyGlass technology expense management (TEM) SnapShot Audit can help with IT audits

The Importance of IT Audits

IT audits are not only a compliance requirement; they’re a strategic tool for uncovering inefficiencies, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and ensuring that your technology investments are aligned with your business objectives.

Industry changes from the cloud

During periods of industry change it’s important to maintain a competitive advantage and adapt to new market demands swiftly and efficiently — particularly those related to the cloud. According to a recent study by InfoWorld, cloud computing will undergo significant changes in the next decade.

Some changes in cloud computing include:

• Cost concerns: Many organizations have not achieved the expected productivity gains or cost savings from adopting public cloud services, which often cost at least twice as much as traditional systems.
  
• Companies waste an average of 28% of their cloud spend: The lost dollars are primarily due to inefficient “lift-and-shift” migration strategies. While this approach appears to be a quick and seamless transition from on-premises servers, it often results in siloed data and unoptimized applications across multiple cloud environments. Consequently, businesses face costly inefficiencies, bugs, and performance issues – not to mention real money evaporating into the digital ether. 
  
• Shift to on-premises solutions: Lower costs for on-premises computing and storage are prompting some enterprises to return workloads to their data centers and colocation providers.
  
• Demand for openness: Enterprises want more open systems that can connect diverse and autonomous platforms instead of being locked into specific cloud silos.

These trends show a significant shift in how enterprises approach cloud computing, with a blend of on-premises and cloud platforms becoming more common.

A comprehensive IT audit provides SMBs with enhanced visibility into their IT assets and licenses.

Benefits of an IT Audit

A Comprehensive Assessment

An IT audit gives SMBs a look at their entire technological infrastructure, policies, and operations. The audit covers a broad range of areas including:

• Hardware and software
• Network Infrastructure
• Data management and security
• Cybersecurity policies
• IT policies and compliance
• It governance and strategy

Visibility into IT assets and licenses

A comprehensive IT audit identifies underutilized assets, ensures license compliance, and optimizes asset utilization. It also identifies redundant or obsolete assets, leading to savings through consolidation or elimination.

Clarifying cloud costs

Managing cloud costs can be challenging. To help, adding a TEM audit with an IT audit can help clarify cloud costs by providing detailed insights into cloud usage, identifying cost-saving opportunities, and optimizing cloud resources.

IT & TEM Audit Preparation Best Practices

A meticulously prepared IT and TEM audit can yield significant financial benefits. Here are some best practices to ensure a successful audit:

Gather comprehensive documentation

Initiate the audit process by collecting all relevant documentation, including telecom bills, service contracts, and inventory lists. Ensure these documents are current and complete. This foundational step is essential for a thorough analysis and will facilitate the identification of discrepancies and overcharges.

Collaborate with IT and TEM audit experts

Engaging established professionals like SpyGlass for a comprehensive SnapShot Audit enhances your IT audit with unparalleled advantages. Their expertise in identifying cost-saving opportunities ensures that SMBs can minimize unnecessary expenses.

A SnapShot audit, for example, uncovers savings in 99% of engagements, delivering personalized solutions tailored to your situation. With a proven track record of finding substantial savings, such as $90,000 annually or $10,000 a month from dormant landlines, SpyGlass ensures your technology expenses are optimized and aligned with your business goals.

SpyGlass’s SnapShot audit finds savings in 99% of engagements, delivering personalized solutions tailored to your situation.

Establish clear communication with your auditing team

Providing the audit team with the necessary information and access to documentation promptly will expedite the audit process. Additionally, being responsive to the auditing team’s inquiries and requests can help address issues swiftly, reducing the overall audit duration.

Use technology expense management (TEM) for maximum savings

Incorporating technology expense management (TEM) solutions can help your SMB when preparing for an IT audit. TEM tools are designed to uncover hidden cost-saving opportunities and optimize your technology expenses. You can analyze billing errors, overcharges, and inefficiencies that would go unnoticed. Overall, it ensures you get the best value for your money and helps streamline your IT spending.

With SpyGlass’s expertise in TEM, you’ll have a tailored solution that identifies savings opportunities and enhances the financial health of your business without the added stress.

Schedule an Audit with SpyGlass

Trying to conduct an IT or TEM audit on your own can be overwhelming due to the complexity and hidden costs in your technology service bills. Dissecting each line item, spotting errors, and negotiating better rates can be time-consuming and frustrating. You may find it hard to justify the effort, leaving these bills unquestioned and simply paying them, leading to continued overspending.

But with SpyGlass, you’ll experience a transformative approach to managing your technology expenses. A SnapShot Audit provides you with clear, actionable insights and personalized recommendations. It will:

• Identify savings: We identify an average of 73 savings recommendations per audit.
• Optimize costs: We provide actionable insights to optimize your technology service expenses, ensuring you achieve maximum value from every dollar spent.
• Save time: Our process takes only one month from the client kickoff meeting to the presentation of savings opportunities.

Best of all, there are no upfront costs because you only pay if we save you money. So, let our experts handle the details while you focus on your core business.

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Don’t navigate the complexities of IT audits alone.

Start a SnapShot Audit as part of your cost-savings strategy.

Contact SpyGlass to inquire about a no-costs-up-front SnapShot Audit.