The users in this process specify their information resource
needs, nonautomated as well as automated, and how they wish
to have them addressed by the system (e.g., access confrols,
regulatory requirements, management information needs and
interface requirements),
From this interactive process, a general preliminary design of the
system may be developed and presented to user management for
their review, modification, approval and endorsement. A project
schedule is created for developing, testing and implementing
the system. Also, commitments are obtained from the system's
developers and affected user departments to contribute the
necessary resources to complete the project. It is important to
note that all concerned management and user groups must be
actively involved in the requirements definition phase to prevent
problems such as expending resources on a system that will not
satisfy the business requirements. User involvement is necessary
to obtain commitment and full benefit from the system. Without
management sponsorship, ciearly defined requirements and user
involvement, the benefits may never be realized.
IS auditors are involved at this stage to determine whether
adequate security requirements have been defined to address,
at a minimum, the confidentiality, integrity and availability
requirements of the system. This includes whether adequate
audit trails are defined as part ofthe system since these affect the
auditor's ability to identify issues for proper follow-up.