The arrival of the COVID pandemic transformed the way organisations do business, with auditing practices shifting from traditionally physical to digital environments as a result of on-going lockdowns, travel restrictions and remote working.
Although many countries and businesses are beginning to emerge into the next normal, a joint poll from the International Accreditation Forum (IAF), International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) and International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) suggests virtual assessment techniques are here to stay.
Support for remote audits post-pandemic
Surveying over 4,000 people who were both subject to and responsible for delivering remote audits, assessments and evaluations, the support for this method was overwhelming.
- 80% agreed remote audits provide the same confidence as onsite audits
- 90% felt a substantial increase in the use of remote auditing techniques would stimulate the use of new processes
- 79% would like to see continued or increased use of remote auditing in future
“The survey indicates a huge level of support for remote techniques, a clear understanding of the benefits and a desire to see these methods adopted more widely.”
Xiao Jianhua, IAF Chair.
Accelerating digital auditing capabilities
As a leading transparency software and services provider, we’ve been helping businesses to map, assess and manage supplier and supply chain risk since 2013.
Used by leading brands, our digital auditing tool empowers companies to create, send and collate the results of custom assessments. With the ability to score answers based on compliance or risk factors or set non-conformance levels, businesses are able to get visibility of supplier performance and risk against a range of issues from sustainability to quality and much more.
The platform has already enabled businesses to send 35,000 assessments and collate supplier answers to over 1.5million questions this year alone. Why not join them and leverage Authenticate to power your auditing processes?
The pros and cons of remote auditing
The benefits provided by remote auditing approaches are far-reaching, ranging from decrease in travel requirements and subsequent costs, process efficiencies and a reduced carbon footprint – especially important in light of the threats currently facing our planet.
On the other hand, some respondents felt issues including poor internet connection and possible threats to information security were a cause for concern when considering using remote auditing techniques.
We understand the importance of keeping our customer and member company supply chain data safe and we have multiple levels of security in place including firewalls, intrusion detection systems and secure VPN connections to provide businesses with peace of mind. If you’re interested in our data security credentials and policy, read the article from our Chief Technology Officer as he explains how we protect data online here.