i recently started working for a big4 firm outside of the london area.my background is IT systems integration in industry.i want to make a decision as to which direction i should take my career in.the two options i am considering are IT audit/advisory (i can study for CISA CISM etc) within their audit practice or continue systems integration within their consulting practice.my preference at the mo is IT audit/advisory. is this a good area to get into in terms of prospects? are CISA/CISM valuable?

I originally started out in IT Audit before moving to consulting, so I can give you my insight on this, however biased it may be.I think the thing to be aware with my exp of Big4 IT Audit/Advisory is that generally the work you will be doing does not really fall under the Advisory bracket (even if it sits within that workstream), the type of "Advisory" work you will do tends to focus on software asset management and the like. IT Audit work will from my perspective is highly reptitive and not overly stimulating, that may just be me however, this is all subjective.In terms of exit prospects, I won't go into consulting exit ops, there have been many threads on this forum around those, and generally they are pretty open.IT Audit(I will refrain from classing it as Audit/Advisory as it really is more of an Advisory-Lite role, if at all) exit opportunities tend to be, and this is from my experience of a number of colleagues in this area tend to be cross-big4 roles or out into internal audit roles. Furthermore, while I can't speak for other members of the big4, the one I am currently at is sizing down their IT Audit function with some members moving into the IT Advisory/Consulting practice and, I believe, others in time will move into the Audit Assurance function. I don't know if that is the case across the other firms, but to me it is a sign that the future of IT Audit is relatively weak.I think my appraisal on this may have come across as a bit damming of IT Audit, however please remember it is from the biased perspective of someone who found the work unstimulating and was fortunate to recieve an offer in consulting. Also, may appraisal of the market for IT Audit work might be well off as well :)All in all, do something you enjoy! If you enjoy IT Audit work go for it

I originally started out in IT Audit before moving to consulting, so I can give you my insight on this, however biased it may be.I think the thing to be aware with my exp of Big4 IT Audit/Advisory is that generally the work you will be doing does not really fall under the Advisory bracket (even if it sits within that workstream), the type of "Advisory" work you will do tends to focus on software asset management and the like. IT Audit work will from my perspective is highly reptitive and not overly stimulating, that may just be me however, this is all subjective.In terms of exit prospects, I won't go into consulting exit ops, there have been many threads on this forum around those, and generally they are pretty open.IT Audit(I will refrain from classing it as Audit/Advisory as it really is more of an Advisory-Lite role, if at all) exit opportunities tend to be, and this is from my experience of a number of colleagues in this area tend to be cross-big4 roles or out into internal audit roles. Furthermore, while I can't speak for other members of the big4, the one I am currently at is sizing down their IT Audit function with some members moving into the IT Advisory/Consulting practice and, I believe, others in time will move into the Audit Assurance function. I don't know if that is the case across the other firms, but to me it is a sign that the future of IT Audit is relatively weak.I think my appraisal on this may have come across as a bit damming of IT Audit, however please remember it is from the biased perspective of someone who found the work unstimulating and was fortunate to recieve an offer in consulting. Also, may appraisal of the market for IT Audit work might be well off as well :)All in all, do something you enjoy! If you enjoy IT Audit work go for it