Syed Abbas

IT Strategy and Governance
• Develop and implement IT strategy to support the DETs business goals and ensure alignment with the departments vision and mission.
• Develop and maintain the IT governance framework, policies, and procedures based on COBIT 2019 principles and practices, overseeing and managing the IT governance framework and processes.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to facilitate IT governance activities and initiatives.
• Implement and maintain a continuous improvement program for IT governance and processes, as well as develop and deliver training on IT governance to employees and stakeholders, promoting IT governance awareness and understanding throughout the organization.

IT Performance and Reporting
• Track and report on IT service performance, project delivery, post-implementation, and compliance with COBIT 2019, ITIL, and ISR.
• Monitor and report on IT performance, risks, compliance, and audit issues using a performance management system.
• Establish metrics and KPI reporting for continuous improvement.

IT Risk Management
• Manage IT risks by identifying, assessing, mitigating, and monitoring them in accordance with the departments risk appetite.
• Identify opportunities for process improvement and resource optimization.
• Identify and mitigate compliance risks.

Audit and Compliance Management
• Conduct self-assessments to assess the effectiveness of the IT governance framework, policies, and procedures.
• Support the management of compliance with external and internal audits, regulatory audits such as ISR, DESC.

PMO Support
• Support the PMO team to develop and implement IT project management best practices.
• Provide guidance to project managers on project planning, execution, and monitoring to ensure compliance with the IT governance framework.
• Collaborate with project managers to conduct post-implementation reviews.
• Manage compliance with external and internal audits, regulatory audits such as DESC, ISR.

• IT Governance Framework StandardizaƟon: Established the corporate ICT
governance framework for ICT department using COBIT 2019 and ISO 27001
standards to manage technology operaƟons and projects across diverse
subsidiary business units under the Group CIO, ensuring strategic alignment
and operaƟonal cohesion.
• Capital Expenditure Governance: Managed the ICT & IS Steering CommiƩee,
implemenƟng governance reviews for capital expenditure (CapEx) tracking,
budget planning, and mulƟ-year project prioriƟzaƟon.
• Risk Management Framework: Reengineered the enterprise-wide ICT Risk
Management Framework, replacing fragmented manual logging with an
automated, live IT risk registry to provide execuƟve leadership with real-Ɵme
exposure metrics.

IT Governance
Conducted IT gap assessments and developed improvement plans.
Designed and implemented IT governance and management practices based on COBIT 2019, ensuring alignment with best practices.
Trained stakeholders on IT governance and management practices, enabling them to effectively implement and maintain these practices.
Assessed IT practices against maturity level 3 COBIT practices and prepared action plans for improvement, to help the organization achieve a higher level of IT maturity.

IT Risk Management
Conducted quarterly IT risk assessments with IT stakeholders to identify, assess, and mitigate IT risks.
Maintained an IT risk register to track risks and controls, and followed up with IT stakeholders on risk treatment and remediation actions.
Identified critical risks and issues reported by the IT helpdesk and coordinated with IT and Operational Risk Management (ORM) for regular monitoring and reporting to senior management.
Maintained records related to KRIs, Root Cause Analysis, and Risk Acceptance and coordinated with IT and ORM to support continuous improvement in IT risk management.

IT Continuous Self-Assessment
Developed and implemented an approach for conducting quarterly IT continuous self-assessments of IT practices, including Project Management, Change Management, Issue Management, and Risk Management, to identify areas for improvement and track progress over time.
Identified areas for improvement in conducting IT self-assessments, including identifying IT domains where self-assessments can be conducted, to ensure the self-assessment process is effective and efficient.
Prepared IT continuous self-assessment reports and discussed them with stakeholders and management for review and approval.
Followed up with stakeholders on the status of previous self-assessment reports to ensure corrective actions are being taken.

• Control Environment TransformaƟon: Led a dedicated team of control
professionals to establish controls for core banking applicaƟon environment,
ensuring robust internal defense and alignment with central bank regulaƟons.
• COBIT 2019 Framework InsƟtuƟonalizaƟon: Migrated legacy technology
pracƟces into a structured COBIT 2019 framework across criƟcal banking
domains, elevaƟng the insƟtuƟons verified control posture to a mature Level
3 status.
• DownƟme PrevenƟon & ProacƟve Risk Management: Significantly reduced
criƟcal operaƟonal risk incidents by enforcing a mandatory quarterly Risk &
Control Self-Assessment (RCSA) and Design Assessment (RCDA) cadence across
change management and deployment pipelines.
• ExecuƟve Pipeline Streamlining: Redesigned the technical reporƟng pipeline
for senior risk and audit commiƩees, transforming dense technical logs and
vulnerabiliƟes into clear, quanƟfied risk metrics for accelerated execuƟve
decision-making.

Leadership
Manage a team of digital trust and IT risk assurance professionals in various industries in Oman.
Lead teams through the planning, execution, and completion stages of projects and audit engagements to help organizations build and maintain digital trust.

Digital Trust and IT Risk Assurance Expertise
Specialize in managing IT audits (internal and external), IT governance, project management, and cybersecurity engagements, with a focus on digital trust.
Collaborate with clients throughout the execution of projects to ensure high service quality and meet their requirements, including their digital trust needs.

Manage external and internal IT audit engagements, including:
Audit planning and risk assessments
Understanding the IT environment and cybersecurity controls
Developing risk-based audit approaches
Managing the team to conduct IT general controls (ITGC) testing, testing of the design, implementation, and operating effectiveness of controls, and evaluating service organizations SOC 1 Type II reports
Managing the testing of application, interface, and infrastructure controls
Assisting the financial audit team to determine if they can rely on IT controls or if they need to perform substantive testing or analytical procedures

Client Relationship Management
Establish effective working relationships with clients, communicate identified issues to the Head of IT and senior management, and obtain their buy-in and input for improvement.

Business Development
Conduct business development activities, including understanding client requirements and developing proposals, with a focus on digital trust.

Training and Development
Train, coach, and lead digital trust and IT risk assurance team members on core external and internal IT audit techniques, risk management, testing skills, and digital trust concepts

• Digital Trust & Risk Assurance: Led governance and risk assurance reviews for
major enterprises, benchmarking maturity against COBIT and ITIL to idenƟfy
criƟcal gaps and develop 3-5 year IT roadmaps for strategic improvement.
• ITGC & Financial Audit Support: Directed IT General Controls (ITGC) and
applicaƟon control tesƟng for financial statement audits of major banks and
insurance firms, enabling financial audit teams to rely on the IT control
environment.
• Post ImplementaƟon Reviews (PIR): Conducted post-implementaƟon reviews
based on PMBOK and PRINCE2 standards for large-scale IT projects at clients
such as Oman LNG and Oman Arab Bank to ensure governance and ROI.
• Team Leadership: Managed a team of digital trust and IT risk assurance
professionals in Oman, leading the planning, execuƟon, and compleƟon stages
of complex audit engagements.
• IT Audit & Cybersecurity: Managed internal and external IT audits, focusing on
IT governance, cybersecurity controls, and the design, implementaƟon, and
operaƟng effecƟveness of controls.
• Third-Party Risk (SOC): Evaluated service organizaƟon SOC 1 Type II reports to
miƟgate risks in outsourced IT environments.
• System Control TesƟng: Managed technical tesƟng of applicaƟon, interface,
and infrastructure controls.
• Risk-Based Audit Approach: Adopted risk-based audit strategies and
collaborated with financial audit teams to determine control reliance and
opƟmize substanƟve tesƟng.
• Regional Received PwC Middle East Performance Award for
excepƟonal achievement and service delivery.

• Managed the end-to-end design, implementaƟon, and audit preparaƟon of
InformaƟon Security Management Systems (ISMS / ISO 27001), successfully
steering regional telecom customer care and sales divisions to full compliance.

As a Project Manager, led a government-based quality assurance project with a military establishment and a multi-located client, demonstrating strong schedule and resource planning skills.
Managed the project of implementing ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 at a client site, developing and implementing policies and procedures that met the requirements of both standards.
Prepared Project Management Office (PMO) and Program management reports.
Provided support to the government project in terms of documentation and client management.
Conducted audits and presented corrective action reports.
EPM configuration and administration
Proposal writing and pre-sales activities

• Managed quality assurance and compliance audits for high-stakes public
sector and defense technology contracts, deploying integrated ISO 9001 and
ISO 27001 policies.

Project Management
Implemented a Project Management Office (PMO) and management portfolio using Earned Value Management (EVM) and Statistical Process Control (SPC) to enable management to make informed decisions.
Managed and coordinated the PMO office and provided project management and process support to all project managers.
Managed projects ranging from custom development to networks and out-of-the-box implementation projects.

Process Improvement
CMMI level 5 Implementation Champion and Appraisal Team Member for SCAMPI Class A and Class B.
ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System (QMS) Implementation and Certification Consultant.
Lead Internal Quality Auditor and Trainer for organizational processes.
ISO 27001 implementation initiative.
Risk Management, Root Cause Analysis and Resolution.
Gap analysis, development, and implementation of Agile Processes, CMMI, Information Security Management System (ISMS), and Project Management.
Developed standardized processes, templates, and metrics to continually improve process performance.
Created status and dashboard reports for the PMO.
Tracked corrective, preventive, and process improvement recommendations to closure.
Identified areas for improvement and defined initiatives and objectives.

• Managed comprehensive SDLC lifecycle controls, establishing policies and
procedures, and conducted internal audits that aligned soŌware development
teams with CMMI capability model for development.