Managing risks related to information technology systems is often done separately from companies' overall risk management programs, according to a recent survey by risk management software provider OpenPages.

Forty-three percent of companies use spreadsheets to manage IT risk management, while 30% use point solutions and just 28% are using an integrated solution that tracks all their risks, including IT risks, according to OpenPages' survey of IT executives. And the job of handling IT risk management falls to the CIO at 40% of companies, to the chief risk officer or head of enterprise risk at 24%, and to other executives, including IT security or audit managers, at 27%, the survey shows.

Both spreadsheets and stand-alone solutions introduce inefficiencies, says John Kelly, OpenPages' director of marketing. More importantly, he says, "if you're really looking to get an enterprise view of your risk and compliance and how you're doing, many times you're missing that IT piece."