CISM vs CISA: Your Ultimate guide to decide the right one for you

Posted by Rahul Dwivedi on May 30th, 2019

With several Information Security courses releasing every day, it is extremely difficult for the aspirants and IT professionals to decide which certification to choose, according to their interest areas and needs in the industry. With the recent developments, the need for Information security skilled professionals in the companies has been increasing. At a few places, there is a separate department to look after these issues, making Information Security skills high in demand. The Professionals who able to attain the certification are at a better position than the other in terms of better career avenues, remuneration, prospects, credibility and future avenues. Now, to begin with, let's figure out one of the most popular ISACA certifications in Information Security namely, CISA and CISM.

Both CISA and CISM are high-end credentials that open better career avenues for anyone who is a certification holder and can take you to your dream career. As every IT Recruitment Manager gives preference to certified students over the non-certified candidates. While CISA credential is mainly targeted towards those who meant to perform auditing work and have interest in information security auditing domain, CISM professionals are for those who are mostly focused into the business management or security management aspect of the organization.

CISA versus CISM

This write-up is more about figuring out the differences that both of these certifications provide to the IT professionals and which one is for whom. Let us quickly go through the details:

Domain Difference: It is interesting to know that both are Information Security credentials, while CISA upskills you in Auditing concepts while CISM validates your managerial aspects, it has more to do with the strategic side of information security in the business goals.

Target Audience: CISA certification targets mainly the IT working professionals who are working in governance and audit roles. These are those professionals working in profiles such as IS or IT auditor, audit managers, non-audit auditor and consultants, and other related profiles.

While CISM credential is mainly developed for Information Security managers who are individuals those who assess, manage, designs, oversee information security environments at an organization level.

Work & Engagement:

Being a CISA certification holder, you will be engaged in work related to security, assurance, governance, audit control and enterprise security leadership and other related work. CISA certification validates your ability and knowledge to control, assess, control, audit and perform ongoing monitoring enterprise IT business functioning as primary KRA for your profile.

As for CISM Certification, the aspirants must possess a complete understanding of available technologies and implementation of those technologies in the enterprise working. Some of the common job roles are consultants, CIO, risk management professionals, and enterprise leadership.

Domains that are covered in CISA:

With CISA, you will attain and validate your skills that are reflected in five CISA job practice domains, namely:

• Domain 1: The Process of Auditing Information Systems

• Domain 2: Governance and Management of IT

• Domain 3: Information Systems Acquisition, Development, and Implementation

• Domain 4: Information Systems Operations, Maintenance and Service Management

• Domain 5: Protection and Information Assets

Domains that are covered in CISM:

As with CISM, you validate as aspirant’s skill level and knowledge across these domains:

• Domain 1: Information Security Governance

• Domain 2: Information Risk Management

• Domain 3: Information Security Program Development and Management

• Domain 4: Information Security Incident Management

Your earning potential increases upon attaining both CISA or CISM credentials as you get better career prospects and financial benefits, having joined the elite group of professionals who are assets to the organizations.

While you are still in the journey of attaining these certifications, you may have to go for preparatory classes to pass the certification exam which will equip you with fundamental knowledge of domains, strategies, tools beside give you the opportunity to network with like-minded people. One must attend training programs that are interactive with engaging reference materials, live Mock Test series and or exam simulators. Gaining practical skills is important besides preparing only for the exam.

The bottom line is no certification go waste; however, you must choose wisely which way you want to go. All the best!