From Chaos to Clarity: The Power of IT Auditing
Audit is a fantastic tool that, when applied correctly, can bring immense value. Every company eventually reaches a point where it’s necessary to take an external look at internal processes, data security, and infrastructure costs. This becomes especially crucial during periods of expansion, structural transformation, or when trying to cut costs in a crisis.
A simple example: investor money is flowing in, the market is growing, and everything looks great. The decision is made to use AWS RDS (Relational Database Service) as a straightforward solution to rapidly scale the business and launch an application without hiring an expensive DBA expert. SaaS is an excellent business model that can often be a lifesaver. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most expensive. A well-conducted audit might reveal that in a stagnating market, migrating to bare-metal servers could save tens of thousands of dollars while maintaining comparable reliability and performance. In one project, we managed to decommission 72% of servers and reduce operational costs by 54.7%.
Let’s dive deeper into why audits are necessary and how they typically work.
A simple example: investor money is flowing in, the market is growing, and everything looks great. The decision is made to use AWS RDS (Relational Database Service) as a straightforward solution to rapidly scale the business and launch an application without hiring an expensive DBA expert. SaaS is an excellent business model that can often be a lifesaver. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most expensive. A well-conducted audit might reveal that in a stagnating market, migrating to bare-metal servers could save tens of thousands of dollars while maintaining comparable reliability and performance. In one project, we managed to decommission 72% of servers and reduce operational costs by 54.7%.
Let’s dive deeper into why audits are necessary and how they typically work.
The Importance of a Clear Objective
Every audit needs a well-defined goal. You could endlessly comb through a company’s IT infrastructure and business processes, down to the tiniest details. In the end, you’d end up with a shiny, polished showpiece you can proudly display on a pedestal. However, business objectives would likely remain unmet.
Typically, before starting an audit, we conduct interviews to identify the areas that hurt the most. Here are the most common pain points:
● Cutting Costs: Many clients want to reduce expenses by eliminating excess infrastructure or unnecessary services. We completely understand this. In one case, we helped a client cut 72% of their most expensive servers while improving overall fault tolerance and performance.
● Security Concerns: A CEO once shared how his company faced massive fines due to a data breach after being hacked. In many cases, simple and affordable solutions would have been enough to ensure reliable protection.
● Overly Complex Infrastructure: Developers feel the urge to jump out the window every time a major deploy happens. You need someone who can untangle and streamline everything.
● Disaster Recovery Doubts: Backups might exist, but no one knows what to do in the event of a serious failure. You need a solid DRP and a thorough review of backup processes.
● Scaling Uncertainty: The company wants to grow, but it’s unclear which architectural solution will work best now, in six months, or five years. You need to align business strategy with the “maturity” and growth of your infrastructure.
When there’s a clear business request, we can focus on the key pain points and break down exactly what needs attention.
Typically, before starting an audit, we conduct interviews to identify the areas that hurt the most. Here are the most common pain points:
● Cutting Costs: Many clients want to reduce expenses by eliminating excess infrastructure or unnecessary services. We completely understand this. In one case, we helped a client cut 72% of their most expensive servers while improving overall fault tolerance and performance.
● Security Concerns: A CEO once shared how his company faced massive fines due to a data breach after being hacked. In many cases, simple and affordable solutions would have been enough to ensure reliable protection.
● Overly Complex Infrastructure: Developers feel the urge to jump out the window every time a major deploy happens. You need someone who can untangle and streamline everything.
● Disaster Recovery Doubts: Backups might exist, but no one knows what to do in the event of a serious failure. You need a solid DRP and a thorough review of backup processes.
● Scaling Uncertainty: The company wants to grow, but it’s unclear which architectural solution will work best now, in six months, or five years. You need to align business strategy with the “maturity” and growth of your infrastructure.
When there’s a clear business request, we can focus on the key pain points and break down exactly what needs attention.
How an Audit Works
Every audit is a story of transparency. In any company with more than one employee and any form of management hierarchy, reports tend to become more polished as they move up the chain. Within certain limits, this is a natural process—everyone wants to look better during evaluations, secure bonuses, and “smooth out the wrinkles” caused by accidents or poor managerial decisions. Simply put, we all want to present ourselves in the best light.
The real problems start when reports and formal documentation deviate significantly from reality. This is where external experts are essential—they can provide an unbiased assessment and uncover issues that were previously hidden.
An audit typically involves several key stages:
1) Initial Meeting
We define the objectives and scope of work. This is where we identify the main issues and outline the boundaries of our upcoming work. For example, if the client urgently needs to reduce infrastructure costs, we won’t focus on producing elaborate documentation, although we’re perfectly capable of doing that too.
2) Meetings with Stakeholders
We meet with all stakeholders involved in the audit’s scope. This stage often reveals communication gaps between team members and differing perspectives on the current state of affairs.
3) Documentation Gathering
We collect all relevant materials you’ve accumulated over the years. This might include information about your IT resources and procedures. A unified, automated CMDB (Configuration Management Database) can be incredibly helpful here. If you don’t have one yet, we’ll help you implement it or provide recommendations.
4) Risk and Impact Assessment
At this stage, we identify and describe the primary risks, which depend on the audit’s focus. For instance, during a resilience assessment, we often discover that a meticulously designed, highly redundant infrastructure could still be completely brought down by the failure of a single virtual machine running critical processes. Remember, the strength of the entire chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
5) Testing and Validation
Here, we practically evaluate the severity of the previously identified risks. During a security audit, for example, we test the feasibility of potential attacks on your infrastructure and identify key vulnerabilities accessible to an external attacker. For a DRP audit, we verify that backups can actually be restored and ensure the playbooks you’ve written still reflect current realities.
6) Final Report Preparation
We consult stakeholders to confirm the severity of identified issues and create a roadmap for digital transformation of processes and infrastructure. You’ll receive a detailed roadmap of what might blindside your business—or shoot it in the foot—and how to ensure everything runs smoothly.
7) Implementation Support
Naturally, we don’t leave clients with just a stack of documents, proudly riding off into the sunset. We support the entire implementation process, providing consultations and adapting to your business needs.
The real problems start when reports and formal documentation deviate significantly from reality. This is where external experts are essential—they can provide an unbiased assessment and uncover issues that were previously hidden.
An audit typically involves several key stages:
1) Initial Meeting
We define the objectives and scope of work. This is where we identify the main issues and outline the boundaries of our upcoming work. For example, if the client urgently needs to reduce infrastructure costs, we won’t focus on producing elaborate documentation, although we’re perfectly capable of doing that too.
2) Meetings with Stakeholders
We meet with all stakeholders involved in the audit’s scope. This stage often reveals communication gaps between team members and differing perspectives on the current state of affairs.
3) Documentation Gathering
We collect all relevant materials you’ve accumulated over the years. This might include information about your IT resources and procedures. A unified, automated CMDB (Configuration Management Database) can be incredibly helpful here. If you don’t have one yet, we’ll help you implement it or provide recommendations.
4) Risk and Impact Assessment
At this stage, we identify and describe the primary risks, which depend on the audit’s focus. For instance, during a resilience assessment, we often discover that a meticulously designed, highly redundant infrastructure could still be completely brought down by the failure of a single virtual machine running critical processes. Remember, the strength of the entire chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
5) Testing and Validation
Here, we practically evaluate the severity of the previously identified risks. During a security audit, for example, we test the feasibility of potential attacks on your infrastructure and identify key vulnerabilities accessible to an external attacker. For a DRP audit, we verify that backups can actually be restored and ensure the playbooks you’ve written still reflect current realities.
6) Final Report Preparation
We consult stakeholders to confirm the severity of identified issues and create a roadmap for digital transformation of processes and infrastructure. You’ll receive a detailed roadmap of what might blindside your business—or shoot it in the foot—and how to ensure everything runs smoothly.
7) Implementation Support
Naturally, we don’t leave clients with just a stack of documents, proudly riding off into the sunset. We support the entire implementation process, providing consultations and adapting to your business needs.
What Results Can a Business Expect?
The outcomes depend on the type of audit conducted. We’ve handled many fascinating cases where we deconstructed legacy projects and rebuilt them into more efficient systems, reduced risks, and cut costs. Here are a few examples:
1) Optimizing a Massive Monolith:
We broke down a massive monolith for a project with a daily audience of around one million users. This reduced per-client maintenance costs by 8% and enabled the business to scale for a fourfold audience growth within a year.
2) Addressing Critical Security Issues:
We identified severe security vulnerabilities. Due to a poorly designed architecture, more than 10 external contractors could gain unauthorized access to highly sensitive information. The potential damage was estimated at over $5 million. We implemented HashiCorp Vault and redesigned key business processes to ensure not only robust security but also user convenience.
3) Optimizing a Complex Self-Hosted CDN:
For a client with monthly outbound traffic exceeding 3 petabytes per group of bare-metal servers, we discovered bottlenecks in their infrastructure. By improving node performance by 20-30 times, we reduced server numbers by 72% and cut operational costs by 54.7%.
1) Optimizing a Massive Monolith:
We broke down a massive monolith for a project with a daily audience of around one million users. This reduced per-client maintenance costs by 8% and enabled the business to scale for a fourfold audience growth within a year.
2) Addressing Critical Security Issues:
We identified severe security vulnerabilities. Due to a poorly designed architecture, more than 10 external contractors could gain unauthorized access to highly sensitive information. The potential damage was estimated at over $5 million. We implemented HashiCorp Vault and redesigned key business processes to ensure not only robust security but also user convenience.
3) Optimizing a Complex Self-Hosted CDN:
For a client with monthly outbound traffic exceeding 3 petabytes per group of bare-metal servers, we discovered bottlenecks in their infrastructure. By improving node performance by 20-30 times, we reduced server numbers by 72% and cut operational costs by 54.7%.
Tailored Solutions for Every Business
We’ve worked with a wide variety of clients, from aging legacy projects to fresh startups, each with unique challenges and tech stacks. For every case, our experts develop and support a customized solution. If all you need is an audit, we’ll conduct it comprehensively and provide you with a detailed roadmap for optimization. Should you decide to proceed with implementation, we’ll gladly assist every step of the way.
Gumeniuk Ivan
DevOps Engineer