Integrating IT Frameworks into the AIS Course

Abstract

ABSTRACT The contemporary business and regulatory environment dictate that accountants develop greater expertise in information technology, particularly in its risk and control aspects. Several approaches exist to assist with these aspects of information technology, with the primary ones being COSO ERM, COBIT, ITIL, and the ISMS family of standards, each developed by different groups with different objectives. While accounting students likely receive training in COSO ERM and COBIT, exposure to ITIL and the ISMS family is less common. This paper is motivated from the view that all four approaches are vital to the accountant's professional toolbox and should be incorporated into the AIS course. In this paper, we provide AIS instructors with a concise overview of the four approaches and offer an integrated framework that can guide teaching plans. We discuss how the approaches should not be viewed as separate and redundant bureaucratic models, but as complementary approaches that help an organization manage r...