News
New ISACA Guidance Identifies Strategies for Effective Data Analytics
August 2011 by Marc Jacob
Organisations with effective data analytics can make stronger business decisions by learning what is working and what is not, what they are doing well, and where they need improvement, according to new ISACA guidance. By analyzing their information, enterprises can make decisions to help increase profitability, improve performance, and identify and manage risks.
In a new white paper titled “Data Analytics — A Practical Approach,” ISACA, a nonprofit association of more than 95,000 IT professionals worldwide, helps enterprises create successful data analytics plans to achieve improved results and benefits. The paper is available as a free download at www.isaca.org/data-analytics.
“Data analytics is more than just a single project. It is a journey through a well-thought-out plan with specific objectives and steps,” said Anthony Noble, CISA, vice president of IT audit at Viacom Inc. and a member of ISACA’s white paper development team. “This white paper explains how effective data analytic help enterprises identify what works well, determine areas for improvement and recognise problems before they become out of control.”
According to Marc Vael, CISA, CISM, CGEIT, CISSP, director of the ISACA Knowledge Board and chief audit executive at Smals, Belgium, “Many organisations today are drowning in physical and digital information. The term ‘information overload’ is not new, but the way organisations handle this information tsunami by extracting the proper information from the noise truly is a challenge. Data analytics is becoming a new but important process including data mining, business intelligence, data statistics and data cleaning. Organisations must pay proper attention to data analytics and view it as a process. This paper will help management in clarifying the different types of data analytics, benefits and limitations, security and risk concerns, and assurance considerations.”
According to the ISACA white paper, using data analytics can help assurance professionals establish value by pointing out potential cost savings and operational improvements. Leveraging data analytics can provide other significant benefits, including:
· Greater insight into privacy and security issues
· Improved assurance over the quality of data
· Increased staff productivity
The white paper suggests that a data analytics plan should focus on the end result and include the following steps:
· Perform ad hoc analysis in support of targeted risk areas.
· Leverage data analytics within many projects for greater insight.
· Move to repeatable analyses performed periodically on high-risk activities.
· Define the measures of success along the way.
“The results of data analytics can be useful in identifying areas of risk, fraud, errors and misuse; improving business efficiencies; verifying process effectiveness; and even influencing business decisions,” said Noble. “This ISACA guide helps enterprises by providing specific steps and guidance to create order among the sometimes chaotic pools of data.”
Additional guidance in the white paper includes examples of successes from enterprises, suggestions for time savers and strategies for maximizing a return on investment.
A free copy of “Data Analytics—A Practical Approach” is available at www.isaca.org/data-analytics. More information on all of ISACA’s white papers is available at www.isaca.org/whitepapers.
