An organization has outsourced its help desk activities. An IS auditor’s GREATEST concern when
reviewing the contract and associated service level agreement (SLA) between the organization
and vendor should be the provisions for:

A.
documentation of staff background checks.

B.
independent audit reports or full audit access.

C.
reporting the year-to-year incremental cost reductions.

D.
reporting staff turnover, development or training.

Explanation:

When the functions of an IS department are outsourced, an IS auditor should ensure that a
provision is made for independent audit reports that cover all essential areas, or that the
outsourcer has full audit access. Although it is necessary to document the fact that background
checks are performed, this is not as important as provisions for audits. Financial measures such
as year-to-year incremental cost reductions are desirable to have in a service level agreement
(SLA); however, cost reductions are not as important as the availability of independent audit
reports or full audit access. An SLA might include human relationship measures such as resource
planning, staff turnover, development or training, but this is not as important as the requirements
for independent reports or full audit access by the outsourcing organization.