INFOMM & THE AUDIT PROCESS

The Information Management Maturity Model (INFOMM) was adapted from the Information Evolution Model (IEM) to serve the dire needs of the South African local government structures. As the leader in business intelligence, SAS has developed an Information Evolution Model (IEM) to aid companies in assessing how they use Information to drive business. The model outlines how Information is managed and utilized as a corporate asset and enables organizations to objectively evaluate their use of Information and accurately lay out a road-map for improvements that optimize business returns. The principle of information evolution and its application in an organization is elaborated by Davis, Miller, and Russell (2006). In their book; Information Revolution, Davis et al. (2006) introduce steps to maximize the value of information and comments that:

 “the company’s success in managing information as a strategic asset is a function of infrastructure, process, people and culture”.

Given the prevailing situation in South African Local Government, the model presents an improvement process to alleviate and assist governance institutions like the Auditor General, National Treasury, Cooperative Governance Departments as value adds to its audit process. The value- adds is to be realized by considering an evolutionary process brought about by the Information Management Maturity Model (INFOMM). Government institutions are required to subscribe to statutory performance measures including efficiency, effectiveness, economy (3Es), and professional ethics, thus ensuring an outcome-based governance approach to service delivery (Merle & Qwabe, 2008).

CHANGE MANAGEMENT WHEN ADOPTING INFOMM

During these uncertain times, organizations and their management are leveled with a crisis of trust. Largely management tends to agree that gaining and maintaining the trust of others is critical to their effectiveness. In the current economic climate and trust in organizations at an all-time low, confidence in organizational leadership has to be shaken to the core.

…Character is destiny...                                           

As we hand-hold leaders and management to issues of information sharing, information security, data quality, knowledge sharing, and creation of integrity in the organization we emphasize “values in action”. This means that people have a clear set of values and are firmly committed to loving those values in all aspects of their lives. Their actions match their words, and their words and actions are congruent regardless of the changing circumstances.

          …….Integrity begins when we start accepting who we are…..

When an organization becomes more integrated, staff stop wasting energy and tend to be more focused and feel more strengthened towards a common goal. It is therefore extremely important to create a climate of trust and respect essential to facilitating the ability to develop positively and constructively.

The expectations we hold for others are a direct predictor of their performance. In simple terms it means that expecting less-than-greatness from those with whom we work, we are contributing to the less-than-greater results.

                    expectation shape performance… The pygmalion effect.

WHEN TO APPLY THE INFOMM IN AN AUDIT PROCESS

The INFOMM is a flexible model that can be adapted in two stages of the audit process. T

I.             Pre-Audit Planning

The model provides the auditor with a set of questions relevant to understanding the organization. These questions would cover issues of concern about the domains (Financial Management, Human resource, Information Technolgy, Politicsm, etc) to be tested for the year under review. Having completed the questionnaire the auditor would be able to get the maturity level of the organization under review. INFOMM would present possible steps that the organization needs to take to move to a more favorable level in line with the recommendation that the auditor suggests.

II.            Post- Audit Assessment

The Post -Audit Assessment is quite useful to the Internal Auditor (IA). The IA’s work is mostly used by the audit committee as an assurance tool to the board on the level of controls that the organization has deployed and how well are these controls mitigating risk. The board of directors would be interested in understanding the activities that management is deploying to improve the performance of the organization after understanding the level of maturity attained in the financial year. The board would value the consistent performance improvement that can be displayed by management in adopting the recommended activities contained in INFOMM set to help the organization attain the most Favourable maturity level. The issues that need attention in the stage are compliance to a statutory requirement, the quality of performance Information, efficiency, effectiveness, and economy of all resources necessary for performance improvement.

 In support of the audit process , the INFOMM presents a cornerstone of an organization's Information ManagementSstrategy (IMS). This process promotes steadily the identification of non-performance areas. In a government environment performance areas are defined in alignment with the integrated development Plan (IDP). These plans are further detailed in the Service Delivery Budget and Implementation Plan (SDBIP)  The non-performance is normally defined in terms of identified detailed activity gaps within the performance drivers. The greater part of the mandatory performance drivers finds definition within the local government legislation like the MFMA, PFMA, etc. The non-performance aspects largely result in not meeting set targets and therefore result in the extra cost of service delivery.

The INFOMM helps an organization to define the extra cost of non-performance. To assist organizations to improve the service delivery mandate, recommendations are made per maturity level to address the shortfall of the desired outcomes, define what type of resources are necessary to close the gap, and also help the organization to identify opportunities likely to improve the situation.

Conclusion and recommendation

The development of INFOMM presents a model alongside which external auditors and internal auditors can evaluate and assess their audit scope and enhance their understanding of the audit environments better timeously before starting the fieldwork. Besides, the Information Management Maturity Model (INFOMM) would influence the fulfillment aspect of organizational performance management continuously when applied consistently with the cooperation of management and external stakeholders.

It is highly recommended that the organization should have specific workshops and training sessions on the detailed process which would include evolutionary gravitation towards maintaining a level of continuous improvement.

We can create novelty, reinvent the mental setup of those who shun change and strive for new heights in an indelible part of the future organization of success and growth.

The visualization of performance measurements making use of selected dashboards ranks high in the value-add of the Information Management Strategy.

Contact

Terry Ramabulana

[email protected]

0834558115