Information System

1.4.4 Information Systems for the Banking & Financial Sector: Audit is one of the major controls for monitoring management activities in the banks and financial institutions. In a computerized environment, IS audit is a very effective and necessary activity. Usually the IT implementation in the banking and financial organizations is done by adopting a mix of different methodologies – internal development and deployment and third party product development and deployment. In case of internally developed and deployed IT systems, IS audit will require to be done by a team of specially trained internal or external auditors. However, it is preferable to have the IS audit conducted with the help of suitable external agencies with the required skills and expertise to ensure independent nature of audit.
In case of development and deployment of the IT systems by third parties, the IS audit requires to be conducted by trusted auditor/s with skills and expertise, required for the purpose. IS audit assumes greater significance because a large number of critical and strategic financial operations in the banking and financial sector are wholly or partly being handled by the computerized systems.
There is a significant need for determining the role of IS in banks. This would assure the top manage- ment that the IS development is in the right direction. This would also help in exploring the intended and the real role of IS in banks. The knowledge of the real role of IS in banks would help IS managers in managing information systems by judging the business needs of the IS projects, associated risks, importance and ranking of IS managers in organizational hierarchy, need for innovation and flexibility in IS planning approach, etc. The IS practitioners may use the variables used here for self-evaluation and for deciding about the IS development. It has been well recognized that IS plays different roles in different industries. However, there is limited research examining the