A technical audit is an assessment of the technology infrastructure of an organisation. The goal is to identify strengths and weaknesses within the tech stack and make sure that it’s in line with the business objectives. This is a crucial step before launching a new venture and gives valuable insight on how the technology will work.
Tech audits differ from IT reviews and security assessment which focus more on evaluating systems for compliance and security. Tech audits look at the tools your company employs for work, their effectiveness, costs, and integrations with other technologies.
The specifics of a tech audit are determined by the person conducting the review. It can be requested by a CFO, who wants to cut the cost of software or motivated by a leadership team looking to become more efficient and agile.
One of the most common outcomes of a technology stack audit is that several tools are being used for similar purposes. For instance marketing teams may use Asana and Wrike while engineering teams might utilize Jira. The data doesn’t flow freely between departments, and there is no single source of truth.
These applications are often used by specific teams or departments. Some of these apps might be useful and have value, but they could also be risky, particularly when integrations and security are not vetted. Tech audits give the top management an understanding of the tools they use and how they are used to determine whether they are a part of the image source overall technology stack.