Among the most heavily regulated industries, the financial services sector is faced with internal and external audits regularly. Banking audits may review an array of areas, including everything from fraud risk and system and process accuracy to financial services. With so much ground to cover, it’s imperative for financial companies to be prepared for auditors to comb through internal workflow and databases.
Successful IT asset management (ITAM) solutions can help banks and financial institutions hold their own against the scrutiny of a thorough audit. With the right software and automations in place, firms can prepare for any assessment and vet their own ITAM processes before an external party does.
There are several audit types banking and financial companies are faced with that feature an exhaustive list of requirements they must adhere to. Compliance, in general, can be an expensive ordeal, demanding steady internal reviews, process and system updates, and a substantial amount of preparation. This translates into a considerable amount of time and money spent avoiding fines and compliance setbacks. The banking sector, in particular, is saddled with steep audit-related expenses. Considering all the resources allocated to compliance efforts, a failed audit is a squandered investment.
When providing requisite materials to auditors, many financial organizations run into issues with outdated, inefficient asset tracking processes that prevent them from presenting a comprehensive audit trail.
A streamlined solution can do away with slow-moving auditing processes and create the all-inclusive documentation needed to satisfy independent assessments. Audit automation powered by real-time asset visibility benefits financial companies in myriad ways, including:
For the financial industry, audits are a fact of life. However, the more preparation organizations within this sector take, the better positioned they will be when it comes to meeting auditors’ criteria. ITAM tools can be used to show appropriate assets are in place to keep a company’s data secure, security measures are functioning as they should, and promote stability and performance of pertinent data.
When you turn to Asset Vue, you’re partnering with asset management software professionals that help you visualize asset lifecycles, including everything from mobile devices to office chairs. For more information about why Asset Vue’s IT asset management tools are instrumental for managing data, software compliance, hardware assets, and your financial service’s IT audit, contact us today.
Audits are important to IT asset management, but they are time consuming, tedious and unfortunately not reliable. Even regular audits, or incremental audits, waste resources and are only valuable until a move or add is not immediately logged.
An international financial services firm was struggling with accurately accounting their IT assets’ current locations and status. The firm knew their asset information was not up to date and needed a solution that was as dynamic as their business. They also discovered that assets in various offices across the country that had been counted as in service were in fact offline and had been decommissioned. The firm’s financial team felt that the firm was paying much too much in both annual use taxes in some states on assets not currently located in those states, and because the firm was not able to claim depreciation on decommissioned assets. They chose Asset Vue as a reliable way to prove these through more accurate audits with real time information on where their assets are worldwide.
Within weeks of the initial consult, the Asset Vue Services team stood up the application, performed an audit and tagged all assets within weeks to implement a sustainable solution. The on-site team worked closely with the financial services firm’s IT managers to replicate the installation across all sites nationally, and, for the first time, get an accurate audit of every IT asset in use. This immediately freed up hundreds of person hours previously spent on regular, incremental audits.
The new system from Asset Vue was quickly put through its paces through automating more of the receiving process and, through an integration with HP Asset Manager and Svc Now, automate more of the lifecycle process for critical assets.
As the client had suspected, Asset Vue Inventory was able to create an accurate audit of assets that were no longer located in a state with an annual use tax. The system was also able to notify managers in advance when warranties or the set useful life of assets was coming up, accelerate and automate more of the decommissioning process, and record depreciation on these assets. Claiming that depreciation saved the firm more money. In all, the cost avoidance for this firm as a result of implementing the Asset Vue system is in the millions, and the money saved exceeded the cost of the system in its first year deployed.
Not every Asset Vue client has so dramatic a tax situation as this one, but every IT department and data center can benefit from more accurately understanding the current status, lifecycle stage, and location of every critical asset in their inventory. The first step for any financial services firm – or any IT operation – is an accurate audit of assets. For a discussion how Asset Vue can benefit your company, feel free to schedule a call.
Here’s a list of few more strategies you can consider:
| Improvement Strategy | Description |
| Regular Auditing | Implement regular and systematic IT audits to ensure continuous monitoring and compliance. |
| Automation | Invest in audit automation tools to streamline data collection and analysis, reducing human errors. |
| Comprehensive Scope | Expand the scope of IT audits to cover all critical systems, data, and security measures. |
| Data Validation | Cross-verify data sources for accuracy, authenticity, and completeness before conducting audits. |
| Skilled Auditors | Employ experienced and certified IT auditors with a deep understanding of financial IT systems. |
| Real-time Monitoring | Utilize real-time monitoring and alerting systems to identify and address issues promptly. |
| Risk Assessment | Perform risk assessments to prioritize audit efforts based on potential vulnerabilities and impacts. |
| Documentation | Maintain detailed documentation of audit processes, findings, remediation, and compliance measures. |
| Continuous Training | Provide ongoing training for IT staff and auditors to stay updated with industry best practices. |
| External Review | Consider third-party audits to provide an independent and unbiased evaluation of IT controls. |
From our earliest conversations, we’ll be happy to provide a free demo and for qualified prospects we’ll also provide a free process evaluation. Learn more about how we work with new clients.
Asset Vue, LLC is a Paoli, Pennsylvania-based provider of RFID-enabled asset management solutions. With decades of experience as data centers directors, Asset Vue’s leadership knows the features asset management departments need, and our solutions are built through the lens of “For IT professionals, by IT professionals”. Our technology and solutions solve the challenge of maintaining asset and inventory information, continually keeping it up to date, and doing so throughout the entire asset lifecycle. Asset Vue has worked across industries and executed for companies of all sizes including small and medium-sized businesses, colleges and universities, federal agencies and municipalities, and Fortune 100 companies across multiple continents. With easy integrations, quick training, and rapid implementations, Asset Vue can have you operational and realize positive ROI quickly.
