SaaS governance: Five key questions

Grazed from TechRepublic. Author: Mary Shacklett.

IT governance is linked to security and data protection standards—but it is more than that. Governance includes aligning IT with business strategies, optimizing operational and system workflows and processes, and the insertion of an IT control structure for IT assets that meets the needs of auditors and regulators.

As more companies move to cloud-based solutions like SaaS (software as a service), regulators and auditors are also sharpening their requirements. “What we are seeing is an increased number of our corporate clients asking us for our own IT audits, which they, in turn, insert into their enterprise audit papers that they show auditors and regulators,” said one SaaS manager…

This places more pressure on SaaS providers, which still do not consistently perform audits, and often will admit that when they do, it is usually at the request of a prospect before the prospect signs with them. Should enterprise IT and its regulators be concerned? The answer is fast changing to “yes.” This means that now is the time for SaaS providers to get their governance in order. Here are five questions that SaaS providers can soon expect to hear from clients and prospects:…

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