An audit is defined as a systematic and independent examination to evaluate products / services and development processes and determine compliance with standards, guidelines, specifications, and/or processes. Audits are based on objective criteria and documents that accomplish the following:

• Determine the design or content of a product solution
• Describe the product’s development process
• Specify the methods and techniques used to prove or measure compliance or non-compliance with standards and guidelines

Besides checking compliance with standards and guidelines, audits can also check on the effectiveness of an implementation and evaluate an artifact.

There are three types of audits:

• The system audit examines the quality management system or selected parts of it with regard to structure and workflow.
• The process audit analyzes processes with regard to human resources allocation, process monitoring and the order of individual process steps.
• A product audit evaluates products/parts relative to their compliance with specification and adherence to standards and guidelines.

An audit usually lasts one to two days and the audit team is typically made up of two to four people. All audits aim at revealing weaknesses, documenting them and proposing concrete and lasting improvements. Useful steps are as follows:

• Determine the need for an audit (necessity for internal process improvement or external customer requirement)
• Plan the audit (content, team, formal basis, resources, dates etc.)
• Perform the audit in accordance with the plan and determine the achieved results.
• Discuss strengths and weaknesses and decide whether or not improvements are necessary.
• Implement the improvement suggestions and ensure appropriate reporting and archiving.

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