An IT audit is a check-up on your business’s digital systems, helping you spot risks, improve security, and stay compliant. It looks at how your IT is set up, how data is managed, and whether key controls are in place.
Regular audits are essential for keeping your business safe, efficient, and in line with regulations.
At DMS Group, we support UK organisations with clear, practical IT audits as part of our managed IT services, helping you make informed decisions with confidence.
What Is an IT Digital Audit?
An IT audit is a structured review of your business’s technology systems. It checks whether your IT setup is working effectively, securely, and in line with best practices or compliance requirements.
Rather than digging into lines of code or overly technical systems, a digital audit focuses on how your IT is being used day to day and whether it supports your organisation’s goals. It typically assesses areas like:
Hardware and software infrastructure
Data protection and access controls
Cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities
Backup and disaster recovery processes
Compliance with standards such as GDPR or Cyber Essentials
An audit can help you uncover gaps, reduce risks, and find smarter ways to use technology across your organisation.
Internal vs External IT Audits
There are two main types of IT audits: internal and external.
An internal audit is carried out by your own IT team or an internal audit function. It’s useful for ongoing monitoring, risk management, or preparing for formal inspections.
An external audit is carried out by an independent third party. This gives you an objective view of your IT performance and may be required for certifications, due diligence, or regulatory purposes.
At DMS Group, we offer both independent IT audits and managed support for internal reviews. Whether you’re looking for a one-off health check or ongoing auditing as part of a broader IT strategy, we help you understand where you stand and where to improve.
IT Audit Process: Step-by-Step Guide
Running an IT audit doesn’t have to be overly technical or overwhelming. A good audit follows a clear process, helping you identify risks, improve performance, and stay compliant. Here’s how a typical digital IT audit works, step by step.
1. Planning and Scoping
Every audit starts with clear objectives. Whether you're aiming to strengthen cybersecurity, improve operational efficiency, or meet compliance requirements like GDPR or ISO 27001, defining the purpose is essential.
At this stage, you’ll also identify what systems, departments, or locations are in scope. For example, you might focus on reviewing your finance systems, your entire IT infrastructure, or just remote access controls.
Understanding your business goals and regulatory obligations upfront keeps the audit focused and relevant.
2. Risk Assessment
Before diving into the detail, an audit should assess what’s at stake. A risk assessment helps you identify potential weaknesses in your current setup like outdated software, excessive user access, or poor backup routines.
The goal isn’t to catch people out, but to highlight areas where improvements can prevent future issues. Risk assessments are often supported by vulnerability scans or security reports, which give a clearer picture of exposure points across your systems.
3. Reviewing IT Controls
Once risks are understood, the next step is to review the controls you have in place to manage them. These could include anything from password policies and two-factor authentication to automated backups or antivirus tools.
Controls typically fall into three categories: those that prevent issues, those that detect them, and those that help you recover. The audit checks whether your policies are effective, consistent, and actually being followed, not just documented.
Common focus areas include access permissions, data backup routines, change management processes, and how updates and patches are rolled out across devices.
4. Conducting the Audit
With a clear scope and risk picture, the audit moves into hands-on review. This may involve speaking to team members, reviewing documentation, checking system logs, or inspecting devices.
Some of this can be automated using diagnostic tools or checklists, but human insight is still essential. Auditors combine technical findings with practical understanding of how your business operates, ensuring that the results are not only accurate, but meaningful.
5. Vulnerability Assessment
Vulnerability assessments are often included as part of a wider IT audit. These help uncover technical weaknesses that may not be visible through manual review alone,such as unpatched software, misconfigured systems, or insecure ports.
Unlike penetration testing, which simulates a cyber attack, a vulnerability assessment scans for known issues. It’s a useful way to proactively identify risks before they’re exploited, and the findings often form a key part of the final audit report.
6. Reporting and Recommendations
Finally, the audit findings are compiled into a report. This document doesn’t just list problems, it gives you context, prioritisation, and next steps.
A good IT audit report will explain what was assessed, highlight key risks, rate them by severity, and offer clear recommendations for remediation. It should also help you decide where to focus time, budget, and resources to get the most impact.
At DMS Group, we provide IT audit reports that are easy to follow, even for non-technical stakeholders. We also work with you to turn recommendations into action, offering hands-on support where needed.
Using an IT Audit Checklist
A well-structured checklist keeps your audit focused, consistent, and actionable. Whether you're conducting an internal review or working with a provider like DMS Group, a clear checklist helps ensure that nothing important is missed.
Below are the key areas every IT audit checklist should cover. Each item plays a role in protecting your business, improving efficiency, or supporting compliance.
Infrastructure Inventory
Start by documenting all hardware, software, and cloud services used across the business. Knowing what you have (and where it is) is the foundation for everything else in your audit.
User Access Permissions
Review who has access to what systems, and whether those permissions are appropriate. Pay special attention to admin rights, shared accounts, and leavers who may still have access.
Firewall and Network Settings
Check your firewall configurations, open ports, and internal network segmentation. Poorly configured firewalls are a common weak spot in small and mid-sized businesses.
Backup Frequency and Integrity
Verify that data backups are being run regularly, stored securely, and tested for recovery. A backup is only useful if it actually works when you need it.
Software Licence Compliance
Make sure all software in use is properly licensed. This not only helps you avoid legal issues, but also reduces security risks from unverified or outdated applications.
Security Policy Reviews
Assess whether your current IT security policies are up to date and being followed. This might include password rules, device usage guidelines, and remote working procedures.
Logging and Monitoring
Confirm that critical systems are being monitored and that logs are being kept and reviewed. This supports both real-time security and long-term accountability.
Change Control Documentation
Check whether any recent system changes have been documented and approved properly. This helps you avoid confusion and reduce risk from unauthorised or undocumented changes.
IT Audit KPIs and Metrics
Once an IT audit is complete, it’s important to measure the impact of your efforts. Tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) helps you monitor improvements over time, identify new risks, and demonstrate progress to senior leadership or compliance bodies.
How to Measure Audit Outcomes
Audits shouldn't just highlight problems, they should also help you improve. The right KPIs give you a practical way to track those improvements across areas like security, backup, and user access.
Here are some of the most useful metrics to monitor after an audit:
Mean Time to Detect and Respond (MTTD / MTTR)
How long does it take your team (or IT provider) to detect and respond to a threat or incident? The faster the response, the lower the potential impact.Patch Management Cycle Times
How quickly are you applying critical software updates or security patches? This is a strong indicator of how well your systems are protected against known vulnerabilities.Backup Recovery Success Rate
It's not enough to just run backups, you need to know that data can be successfully recovered. This metric helps you ensure business continuity.Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Coverage
What percentage of your systems and users have MFA enabled? A high coverage rate significantly reduces the risk of unauthorised access.Compliance Readiness or Score
Whether you’re aiming for Cyber Essentials, ISO 27001, or industry-specific regulations, you can track how close you are to meeting the required controls or standards.
Over time, these metrics provide a clear picture of where your IT environment is improving and where more attention may still be needed.
Common IT Audit Findings (and How to Fix Them)
IT audits often highlight recurring weaknesses in business systems. These may not seem urgent on the surface, but they can create serious risks if left unresolved. Here are some of the most common issues and how to tackle them.
Shared Logins or Weak Password Controls
Using shared logins might feel convenient, but it creates accountability issues and increases the risk of unauthorised access. In many audits, we also see weak or recycled passwords in use. A better approach is to assign individual credentials to every user, enforce strong password policies, and enable multi-factor authentication where possible.
Unpatched or Outdated Systems
Failing to keep software and operating systems up to date is one of the most common security gaps. It gives attackers an easy route in through known vulnerabilities. Regular patching is key to staying protected. Part of the audit process involves checking whether updates are being applied consistently across your network.
Inadequate Backup Routines
Backups are only useful if they’re reliable. Unfortunately, many businesses discover too late that their backups haven’t been running properly or haven’t been tested. A good IT audit checks the frequency, scope, and success rate of your backups, and whether recovery has been tested in practice.
No Formal Incident Response Plan
If something goes wrong, you need to act fast. Without a documented and tested incident response plan, it’s easy to waste time or make mistakes. Many businesses don’t have anything in place or the plan hasn’t been reviewed in years. Regular audits help ensure your response processes are up to date, practical, and clearly understood by your team.
Shadow IT (Unapproved Apps and Devices)
Staff sometimes use apps, cloud services, or devices without informing IT. This is known as "shadow IT" and is a growing issue in hybrid workplaces. It can expose your business to data leaks, compliance failures, or security breaches. Audits help identify where shadow IT exists and provide the opportunity to either bring tools into policy or replace them with approved alternatives.
Fixing and Preventing These Issues
Most audit findings are fixable and preventable with a mix of clear policies, user training, and proactive support. Managed IT providers like DMS Group not only help identify these issues, but also support the remediation process, offer staff training, and review systems regularly to prevent the same problems recurring.
How DMS Group Supports IT Audits
Our Approach to Digital Audits
At DMS Group, we don’t treat IT audits as a tick-box exercise. Our goal is to give you a clear, accurate picture of how your IT systems are performing and where the risks are.
We start by understanding your business and any specific compliance or operational goals. From there, we carry out an independent review of your infrastructure, policies, software, and processes. This includes both technical checks and practical observations.
Rather than drowning you in jargon or overly complex documentation, we provide clear, actionable insights. Every audit ends with a plain-English report highlighting the key findings, what they mean for your business, and how to fix any issues we’ve uncovered. We can then work with you to implement those fixes as part of your ongoing IT support.
Ongoing IT Health Monitoring
A one-off audit is a great place to start but real protection comes from consistency. That’s why we embed regular checks and reviews into our managed IT support packages.
From patching and backup testing to reviewing access permissions and monitoring endpoint health, we keep an eye on the day-to-day risks so you don’t have to. Our team carries out floor walks, policy reviews, and performance checks at agreed intervals, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.
It’s all part of our commitment to helping you stay secure, compliant, and in control of your IT environment over the long term.
AQs About IT Digital Audits
What is the difference between an IT audit and a vulnerability assessment?
An IT audit is a broad review of your systems, controls, and policies to check for risks, inefficiencies, and compliance gaps. It covers areas like access control, backup routines, software licensing, and change management.
A vulnerability assessment focuses specifically on identifying known security weaknesses in your systems, such as unpatched software or misconfigured firewalls. It’s often part of a wider IT audit but can also be run as a standalone check.
How often should my business conduct an IT audit?
Most businesses should conduct a full IT audit annually. However, audits may be needed more frequently if you’re:
Preparing for a certification like ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials
Scaling your operations or migrating to the cloud
Recovering from a major incident or breach
Regular audits help you catch small issues before they become big problems.
What should I expect in an IT audit report?
A good IT audit report includes:
A summary of findings across all key areas
A risk rating for each issue identified
Clear, practical recommendations for remediation
A prioritised action plan for next steps
At DMS Group, we make sure your report is jargon-free and tailored to your business, so you know exactly what to focus on.
Do I need an external IT audit for Cyber Essentials or ISO compliance?
Yes, if you’re pursuing certifications like Cyber Essentials Plus or ISO 27001, an independent audit is often required. These standards rely on verified evidence that your controls and systems meet defined benchmarks. External audits also give you a more objective view of your setup.
DMS Group can support you through the full compliance journey, from gap analysis to implementation and re-audit.
What’s the cost of an IT audit?
The cost depends on the size of your business, the complexity of your IT environment, and the depth of the audit required. At DMS, we offer flexible options ranging from focused audits of specific departments to full business-wide reviews.
We’ll always provide a clear, upfront quote with no hidden costs.
Can small businesses benefit from IT audits too?
Absolutely. In fact, smaller businesses often have the most to gain. Without dedicated IT staff, it’s easy for risks to go unnoticed. A simple audit can highlight weak spots and help you build a more secure and efficient setup, often with minimal investment.
How long does an IT audit take?
Most audits can be completed in a few days, though this depends on your setup. A basic review might take a day or two, while more detailed audits covering multiple sites or complex systems may take longer.
We’ll agree on a timeline in advance and aim to minimise any disruption to your team.
Need help getting your systems in shape?
Get in touch with DMS Group to book a no-jargon audit and see how your current IT setup measures up.
