The impact of S.O.A. on IT Auditing

IT auditing is a profession that has gained its position in the audit world over the years. From supporting a financial audit it has now its own purpose and goal. The development of new technologies and architectures is very fast, but still it can be said the IT auditing profession has grown the last years. Audit standards, compliance regulations and developments in education for the IT auditor have changed over the years. But is this enough to audit new technologies and can IT auditing cope with the fast development of new technologies? Service-oriented architecture emerged as new technology in literature since 1996. In the Netherlands this technology has been a hype between 2006 and 2007. IT auditors have stated in interviews that they are aware of the impact that SOA has on this profession. They are also aware that SOA will need another audit approach, because the environment is different than the traditional IT environments on which the audit programs are based on. SOA challenges the IT auditor in many ways. The demand for more control and monitoring will increase because of the rise of new technologies and changes in economical and political aspects.