In most cases, an audit must be conducted by people with no direct responsibility or involvement in managing the process or the services, or by people external to Capgemini. By following this approach, a level of credibility is assured that adherence to the quality standards is maintained at all times, even during times when the services are under stress, such as when the service engagement deals with many incidents or breaches.

In most cases, an audit will run across a number of days (1 to 3), so that all relevant information can be collected. An audit will use a variety of information gathering techniques to identify any actual or perceived issues that exist on the service engagement, such as:

• interviewing key service engagement stakeholders and team members.
• questionnaires and checklists based on standard quality management criteria.

The Engagement Manager and other key members of the service team will support the independent auditor/reviewer in executing the audit, ensuring it is completed in a timely manner. The audit should identify all areas of non-compliance, observations and best practices found during the evaluation (including deviations from the contract), with the results being recorded with appropriate actions established to resolve such issues.