Performance evaluation
9.2.2
Audit programme(s)
Plan, set up, run and keep up an audit programme that fixes how often audits take place, the methods, who is responsible, planning requirements and reporting, giving weight to how important the processes involved are and what earlier audits found. Set the criteria and scope for every audit; choose auditors and run audits so that the process stays objective and impartial; report the results to the managers concerned; keep documented evidence of the programme and its results; make sure the corrective actions needed to remove detected nonconformities and their causes are taken promptly; and make sure follow-up checks what was done and reports what the check found.
What the baseline asks
Plan, set up, run and keep up an audit programme that fixes how often audits take place, the methods, who is responsible, planning requirements and reporting, giving weight to how important the processes involved are and what earlier audits found. Set the criteria and scope for every audit; choose auditors and run audits so that the process stays objective and impartial; report the results to the managers concerned; keep documented evidence of the programme and its results; make sure the corrective actions needed to remove detected nonconformities and their causes are taken promptly; and make sure follow-up checks what was done and reports what the check found.
What it means when the service runs in the cloud
The audit programme should cover the provider relationship at the frequency the dependency deserves. A service carrying a critical activity needs more than the annual contract review.
Evidence an auditor or a customer asks for
- Documented audit programme with frequency, method and responsibility, risk weighted
- Per audit criteria and scope statements
- Auditor selection records evidencing objectivity and impartiality
- Management reporting records
- Corrective action records with timeliness evidence and verification of the actions taken
Common gaps in a cloud estate
- Programme frequency uniform across all processes, ignoring importance and prior audit results
- Auditors selected for availability, auditing their own work
- Corrective actions raised without a due date, so undue delay cannot be detected
- Follow up confirms an action was recorded rather than verifying it worked
Done well, what the file shows
Done well, this clause leaves a documented audit programme with frequency, method and responsibility, risk weighted that names the service, the region and the date it was last tested, so a reviewer can follow it to the provider document without asking anyone. Where that record does not exist, the gap is visible in the next review whether or not the service is working.
A test you can run this month
Check the audit frequency matches the criticality of each provider dependency.