TECHNOLOGY AUDIT – GENERAL AND PRACTICAL LINES

The present paper is a mixture between the theoretical notions regarding the procedure of technology audit (TA) and the experience the authors have gained from actually applying it on SMEs, so that the provided viewpoint shall be a realistic one. It starts with a general presentation of the technology audit process (TA), its main parts and subdivisions, emphasizing the role and importance of each single one. There are detailed descriptions of the benefits recurring from performing a TA, as well as the implication of the analyzed company in these activities. We have considered useful to resume the process into a graphic representation, showing the interconnection between all the parts of a TA, as well as their order. At the end, one has mentioned the action plan, the component of the TA that provides specific solutions for the deficiencies determined with the help of a SWOT analysis. Last but not least, extending the procedure to macro level, one has presented some of TAs general utilities and impacts, correlated with the cooperation with the local and central authorities.