2013-09-01
We recently announced the winners of our ACL Analytics EXECUTE Command Contest. Dave Coderre, Christian Lohyer and Jorge Cortes Camero earned themselves the title of MASTER SCRIPT INTEGRATOR with their innovative entries.
Here’s what contest judge Phil Lim had to say about Jorge’s submission:
I’m thrilled with this entry. As soon as I found out that AN10 was to have the EXECUTE Command, the automated query of the active directory list for termination testing was an obvious application. I think most folks would agree. Jorge took it 10 steps further and actually implemented it. This was a case of a well-defined business need (to monitor employee termination deactivations) coupled with effective execution that integrated seamlessly with data analytics.
We caught up with Jorge recently to ask some follow-up questions:
How long have you been using ACL Analytics?
My story with ACL goes hand in hand with my career as an auditor. I joined a Big 4 firm in 2005, and the first training course I took there was on ACL basics, so I started using the tool for the very first engagements I was involved in.
During these 8 years I have participated in many Data Analytics projects, they have allowed me to develop a good set of skills in the handling of the tool. I’ve een had the opportunity to try other analytics solutions in the market but, always, all roads lead me back to ACL.
Have you identified any interesting findings with your AN10 EXECUTE Command entry?
Fortunately, we have not detected any impactful finding (well, not yet), but I think that’s good for the company. However, as the test is fully automated, it gives us confidence to catch exceptions in a reasonable time to be properly addressed.
I think the benefits right now can be measured on the great savings on audit resources by using this centralized approach, increasing of the audit coverage as well as ensuring compliance.
Did you run into any resistance from I.T.?
By definition I.T. department is synonymous of resistance. Hence, the challenge for auditors is how to create a collaborative environment where both sides can share knowledge and expertise to meet the same objectives.
In my experience, I.T. folks are frustrated with weakly founded findings but great discoveries are always welcome. In that sense, ACL has helped me to perform solid tests. Several times I had shared the logic of my scripts for I.T. guys to reply and include them in their own monitor procedures.
My contest entry use EXECUTE command to obtain AD and HR information directly from the systems by ourselves, so I think I.T. folks must be happy with that since they do not need to provide us such data every time we audit it.
What’s your next idea for using the EXECUTE Command?
I think the great advantage of the EXECUTE command is the possibility to include tasks from other applications into the ACL routines so possibilities of usage are vast. I have though in perform a quality review of my analytics scripts to identify where I can improve them using this Command and I have also downloaded all the other contestants’ entries so right now I’m engaged in seeing how to customize and implement most of them.
You’re an ACDA (ACL Certified Data Analyst). What made you decide to get the certification?
Being an ACDA not only means that I own the technical skills to use ACL software but also proves that I have the experience to translate them into analytics solutions which obey particular business needs. Other reason to apply for the certification was to give credibility to my expertise as leader of the Data Analytics practice obtaining great recognition and growth opportunities.
Access Jorge’s entry on GitHub:
https://github.com/JCCamero/AD_Employees_Termination_testing
(Source: ACL Blog)
