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IT General Controls
(ITGC)

Enterprise ITGC assessments aligned to financial reporting and governance frameworks. Ensure the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of your critical IT systems.

IT Governance SOX Aligned Trusted by 650+ Clients Control Effectiveness
Assessment Scope
1000+Controls Tested
100%Audit Readiness
48hrReport Delivery
0Compliance Failures
  • Access management
  • Change management
  • Logical security
  • Backup & recovery
  • System operations
Overview

What are IT General Controls (ITGC)?

IT General Controls (ITGC) are the foundational policies, procedures, and practices that ensure the secure and stable operation of an organization's IT environment. They form the basis for the overall IT control environment, directly impacting financial reporting, regulatory compliance, and corporate governance.

Our enterprise ITGC assessments evaluate your controls against established frameworks to ensure they are designed appropriately and operating effectively. We help minimize the risk of unauthorized access, system failures, and data breaches, paving the way for seamless external audits.

Controls Evaluated:

  • Access management
  • Change management
  • Logical security
  • Backup & recovery
  • System operations
Service At a Glance
Service TypeITGC Assessment
Focus AreaGeneral IT Environment
OutcomeAudit Readiness
FrameworksCOBIT / SOX / ITIL
ReportingControl Effectiveness
DeliverableRemediation Roadmap
EngagementNDA Protected
Our Methodology

Approach to ITGC Assessment

Scoping & Planning
Access Management
Change Management
System Operations
Reporting & Remediation
🔍

Scoping & Planning

We begin by defining the boundaries of the ITGC assessment. This involves identifying critical business processes, the underlying applications that support them, and the supporting IT infrastructure (operating systems, databases, networks).

Proper scoping ensures that our testing aligns with your specific financial reporting, SOX compliance, or internal governance requirements, preventing wasted effort on low-risk systems.

Environment Mapping Critical System ID Risk Assessment Audit Planning
🔑

Logical Security & Access Management

We rigorously evaluate how users are granted access to your critical systems. This includes reviewing the provisioning (onboarding) and de-provisioning (offboarding) procedures to ensure only authorized personnel have access.

We test password policies, multi-factor authentication (MFA) enforcement, and the management of privileged/administrative accounts to prevent unauthorized access and data manipulation.

Provisioning Review Segregation of Duties (SoD) Privileged Access Password Policies
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Change Management Controls

Unauthorized or poorly tested changes to IT systems can cause massive disruptions. We review the end-to-end Change Management lifecycle, from the initial request to testing, approval, and deployment into the production environment.

We ensure that developers do not have the ability to move their own code into production (Segregation of Duties) and that all changes are appropriately documented and authorized.

SDLC Review Change Approvals Code Promotion Patch Management
⚙️

System Operations & Resilience

This phase evaluates the daily IT operations that keep your business running. We verify the configuration, scheduling, and monitoring of critical batch jobs and automated processes.

Crucially, we review backup and recovery procedures. We ensure backups are executed successfully, stored securely off-site (or immutably), and that restoration tests are performed regularly to guarantee business continuity.

Backup Verification Disaster Recovery Job Scheduling Incident Management
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Reporting & Remediation

We compile all findings into a comprehensive ITGC report detailing the Test of Design (ToD) and Test of Operating Effectiveness (ToE) for each control evaluated.

We don't just point out the flaws; we provide practical, prioritized remediation recommendations to help your IT team close the gaps and dramatically improve your internal control effectiveness before formal external audits occur.

ToD & ToE Results Gap Identification Remediation Roadmap Audit Readiness
Core Domains

Pillars of IT General Controls

The foundational elements required to maintain a secure and compliant IT environment

Identity & Authorization

Access Management & Logical Security

Ensuring that only authorized individuals have access to critical systems and data. This domain covers the lifecycle of user identities, the enforcement of Segregation of Duties (SoD), and the strict control over super-user or administrative accounts.

  • User provisioning / de-provisioning
  • Periodic access reviews
  • Password & authentication policies
  • Privileged access management
System Integrity

Change Management

Controlling how modifications to applications, databases, and infrastructure are handled. This ensures that all changes are properly requested, tested, approved by management, and migrated to production without introducing errors or vulnerabilities.

  • Change authorization workflows
  • Segregation in code deployment
  • System testing & QA validation
  • Emergency change procedures
Availability & Processing

System Operations, Backup & Recovery

Guaranteeing the reliable processing of financial and operational data, and the ability to recover that data in the event of a failure. This includes monitoring scheduled jobs, managing IT incidents, and rigorously testing data backup and restoration capabilities.

  • Backup configuration & monitoring
  • Data restoration testing
  • Batch job scheduling & error handling
  • Incident and problem management
Why It Matters

Outcomes of ITGC Assessments

Improved Audit Readiness

Proactively identify and fix control deficiencies so you can pass external statutory and SOX audits smoothly and without stressful surprises.

Control Effectiveness

Ensure your designed security policies are actually operating as intended in the real world, preventing unauthorized access and data loss.

Financial Integrity

Secure the underlying IT systems that process your financial data, ensuring accuracy and reliability in your corporate financial reporting.

Risk Mitigation

Reduce operational risks by enforcing strict change management and ensuring robust backup and disaster recovery processes are in place.

Common Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

What are IT General Controls (ITGC)?
IT General Controls (ITGC) are the basic controls that apply to all systems, components, processes, and data within an organization's IT environment. They include logical access, change management, and IT operations, acting as the foundation that ensures the reliability of data generated by IT systems.
Why are ITGCs important for financial reporting?
For financial reports to be accurate (especially under regulations like SOX), the systems generating those reports must be secure. If anyone can freely change code or access financial databases without approval, the financial data cannot be trusted. ITGCs ensure that data integrity is maintained.
What is the difference between ITGC and ITAC?
IT General Controls (ITGC) apply broadly to the IT environment (e.g., password policies, server backups). IT Application Controls (ITAC) are specific to a single software application and its transactions (e.g., an automated check that prevents an invoice from being processed if it lacks a purchase order number).
What frameworks guide an ITGC assessment?
Our assessments are typically aligned with widely accepted IT governance frameworks such as COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies), ITIL for service management, and specific regulatory standards like the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).
How long does an ITGC assessment take?
The duration depends heavily on the size of the organization, the number of in-scope applications, and the complexity of the IT infrastructure. A typical enterprise assessment ranges from 3 to 6 weeks, resulting in a detailed report of findings and a remediation roadmap.

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