(9 September 2019) – IT and risk management professionals must speak the same language to more effectively incorporate the benefits and uncertainties associated with data and technology into the organizations’ overall strategy and to add value, according to a newly published, complimentary white paper from ISACA and RIMS, “Bridging the Digital Risk Gap: How Collaboration Between IT and Risk Management Can Enhance Value Creation.” The white paper can be found on ISACA’s website: here and RIMS website: here.
The “Bridging the Digital Risk Gap” white paper outlines how the changing digital risk landscape, new regulatory requirements, and greater understanding of commonalities between IT and risk management make a strong case for aligning the two in order to realize significant benefits.
Additionally, the report highlights ISACA’s Risk IT Framework and how it integrates both IT and risk management, as well as demonstrates how risk management can be incorporated into the technology life cycle. The resource also points out how both IT and risk management professionals can integrate the frameworks that each uses—including the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework, the risk process from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) risk assessment standard RA.1—as well as integrate roles and methods of assessment.
“When enterprises examine the evolving risk environment and the benefits that can come from integrating risk management and IT, it becomes very clear that this collaboration is important to the overall business-risk portfolio,” said Paul W. Phillips, III, CISA, CISM, technical research manager at ISACA and a contributing author to the white paper. “This kind of strategic coordination can bring many positive outcomes, including better incident response and improved information protection.”
The report also includes RIMS’ Enterprise IT Risk Management Responsibility Assignment Matrix that shows organizations how they can visualize the roles within the IT ecosystem and the cross-functional expertise required, as well as a map for ISACA’s Risk IT Framework and the RIMS Maturity Model (RMM). The map emphasizes the alignment between each domain in ISACA’s Risk IT Framework and the seven attributes of the RMM.
“Collaboration between IT and risk management professionals facilitates strategic alignment of resources and promotes the creation of value across an enterprise. Understanding one another’s world is the first step for building a constructive and symbiotic relationship,” stated Carol Fox, RIMS VP of strategic initiatives and contributor. “In doing so, IT and risk management professionals can leverage their knowledge and resources to better inform decision makers on how business strategies and objectives can benefit from IT capabilities, and spur investment in new technology.”
To read the free white paper, visit www.isaca.org/digital-risk-gap or RIMS Bridging the Digital Risk Gap. More information about IT and risk management can be found at www.isaca.org/Knowledge-Center/ and https://www.rims.org/resources/strategic-enterprise-risk-center.
About ISACA
Now in its 50th anniversary year, ISACA® (isaca.org) is a global association helping individuals and enterprises achieve the positive potential of technology. Today’s world is powered by information and technology, and ISACA equips professionals with the knowledge, credentials, education and community to advance their careers and transform their organizations. ISACA leverages the expertise of its 460,000 engaged professionals—including its 140,000 members—in information and cyber security, governance, assurance, risk and innovation, as well as its enterprise performance subsidiary, CMMI® Institute, to help advance innovation through technology. ISACA has a presence in more than 188 countries, including more than 220 chapters worldwide and offices in both the United States and China.