Abstract
The progression of information technology (IT) has had an enormous impact on the growth and decision-making of organisations. Today, organisations are required to develop prompt cost-efficiencies and technological improvements to remain competitive in this digital age. The success of IT projects has therefore become crucial to organisations. Given the level of risk that organisations face during the development of new IT systems, it is vital that the audit function is involved in the project as an independent assessor of the project-related risks. Despite various studies conducted on systems development, it is evident that there is still a challenge regarding the risks that are experienced during systems development projects. It is further evident that the role of an auditor in system development projects is not clearly defined. The aim of this study is to analyse the system development processes and assess the role of the auditor in evaluating system development projects. It also seeks to propose guidelines for auditing a systems development project. Firstly, a literature review was conducted on system development processes and the skills and knowledge of auditors. Secondly, structured interviews were conducted with ten IT audit experts with experience in system development project reviews. The findings of this study confirm that auditors possess sufficient skills and expertise to minimise project-related risks. Furthermore, the auditor can add significant value to IT projects through performing various reviews throughout the life cycle of the project. Consequently, this dissertation concludes that auditors can contribute to the success of system development projects if they are involved from an early stage.
M.Com. (Computer Auditing)