Organisations often conflate ICT reviews and audits — but they serve fundamentally different purposes. Understanding the distinction will help you commission the right engagement at the right time.
When boards, CEOs, or risk committees decide it's time to "get an independent view of our technology," the brief is often vague. Two distinct types of engagement — the ICT review and the ICT audit — are frequently conflated, commissioned interchangeably, or confused entirely.
The distinction matters. Commissioning the wrong engagement wastes money, produces the wrong outputs, and can leave the actual problem unaddressed.
What an ICT audit is
An ICT audit is a formal, structured assessment of whether an organisation's technology controls, processes, and governance meet a defined standard or set of requirements. It's backward-looking by nature — evaluating what exists against what *should* exist according to a framework, policy, or regulatory requirement.
Audits produce findings: gaps, non-conformances, and recommendations against a specific standard. They're typically required by regulators, boards, or insurers who need assurance that controls are in place and operating effectively. The output is assurance — or the absence of it.
What an ICT review is
An ICT review is a strategic, diagnostic engagement. It's designed to provide leadership with an independent, evidence based understanding of the current technology environment — not against a fixed standard, but against the organisation's own strategic goals, operational needs, and risk appetite.
Reviews are forward-looking. The question isn't "do our controls meet the standard?" It's "what's working, what's creating risk, and what should we prioritise to move the organisation forward?"
The output is insight and a roadmap — actionable priorities that help leadership make confident, well informed technology decisions.
Which do you need?
If you're preparing for an external audit, regulatory review, or insurance renewal — you likely need an audit, or at minimum a pre-audit readiness assessment.
If you're uncertain about your technology direction, feeling like spending isn't translating to capability, or needing to present a credible technology plan to your board — an ICT review is the right starting point.
In practice, many organisations benefit from both — in sequence. An ICT review establishes strategic priorities and identifies areas of risk. An audit then provides formal assurance that specific controls in those areas are operating effectively.
The trap to avoid
The most common mistake is commissioning an ICT audit when what's actually needed is strategic clarity. Audits produce structured findings against a standard — but they don't tell you what to do next, how to sequence priorities, or how to align technology investment to business goals. If leadership is genuinely uncertain about direction, an audit will confirm that controls aren't perfect (they rarely are) without providing the strategic context needed to act on the findings.
Start with clarity. The right engagement depends entirely on the question you're actually trying to answer.