Significant Weakness in the Acquisition of New Equipment

C.

The IS auditor is responsible for reviewing the acquisition of new equipment to ensure that the process is effective, efficient, and in compliance with relevant policies and regulations. Based on the given options, the significant weakness that the IS auditor would consider is:

C. Evaluation criteria were finalized after the initial assessment of responses.

Explanation:

Evaluation criteria should be established and finalized before the solicitation is sent to the vendors to ensure that all responses are evaluated against the same set of criteria. By finalizing evaluation criteria after the initial assessment of responses, there is a risk that some vendors may have been evaluated against different criteria than others, which could result in an unfair evaluation process. This can lead to the selection of a vendor who does not meet the organization's requirements and may result in a poor acquisition decision.

Option A: Staff involved in the evaluation were aware of the vendors being evaluated.

This is not necessarily a significant weakness as it is important for staff involved in the evaluation to be aware of the vendors being evaluated. However, proper controls should be in place to ensure that there is no conflict of interest or bias in the evaluation process.

Option B: Independent consultants prepared the request for proposal (RFP) documents.

This is not necessarily a significant weakness as independent consultants can provide valuable expertise and ensure that the RFP documents are comprehensive and complete. However, the organization should ensure that the independent consultants are qualified and have no conflicts of interest.

Option D: The closing date for responses was extended after a request from potential vendors.

This is not necessarily a significant weakness as it is common for organizations to extend the closing date for responses due to various reasons such as low response rate or a request from potential vendors. However, the organization should ensure that the extension is communicated to all vendors to ensure fairness and that the extension does not compromise the evaluation timeline.

Therefore, based on the options given, the most significant weakness in the acquisition of new equipment is option C, where the evaluation criteria were finalized after the initial assessment of responses.