What is the most effective compensating control when the same employee performs release management and application programming in a small organization?

In a scenario where an employee is responsible for both release management and application programming, the risk of conflicts of interest and potential fraudulent activities increases significantly. The most effective compensating control in such a situation involves ensuring that only approved program changes are implemented.

Verifying that only approved program changes are implemented provides a layer of oversight that can help mitigate the risks associated with a lack of segregation of duties. This control ensures that all changes to the application are appropriately reviewed and authorized before being released into production. By having a formal approval process, it limits the ability of an individual to make unauthorized changes, thereby enhancing accountability and reducing the risk of errors or malicious activity.

This approach is particularly crucial in small organizations where resources may be limited, and strict separation of duties can be challenging to achieve. Implementing an approval process acts as a safeguard, ensuring that despite the overlap in responsibilities, there is still a structured methodology to validate changes, which reduces the likelihood of harmful actions going unnoticed.

On the other hand, while other options such as hiring additional staff might seem beneficial, they could also incur additional costs and may not be feasible for all small organizations. Preventing the release manager from making program modifications limits their operational efficiency and could slow down the release process. Logging of