a type of auditing service.
Co-sourcing is a business practice where a service is performed by staff from inside an organization and also by an external service provider. It can be a service performed in concert with a client's existing internal audit department. The scope of work may focus on one or more aspects of the internal audit function. Co-sourcing earns advantage over Total Outsourcing in a way that it minimises sourcing risks, brings in transparency, clarity and better control over the processes outsourced.
Examples of co-sourcing services are supplementing the in-house internal audit staff with specialised skill such as information risk managment or integrity services, providing routine assistance to in-house auditing for operations and control evaluations in peak period activity and conduct special projects such as fraud investigation or plant investment appraisals. Another example of co-sourcing is outsourcing part of software development or software maintenance activities to an external organization, while keeping part of the development in-house.