COMP 4923 A2 Basic Green IT Audit

1. COMP 4923 A2Basic Green IT Audit Danny Silver JSOCS, Acadia University

2. The Goal • To conduct a Basic Green IT audit of a department of Acadia University • Focus is on desktops, laptops and servers • Not Computer Science or Technology Services (too complex for basic audit)

3. The Process • Create two person teams • Select a department to audit: • Contact department about audit and set date • Plan audit interview and create materials • Conduct audit • Analyse data • Make recommendations in the form of a ppt presentation

4. Create two person teams • This is a team effort / mark is shared • Preferably not a friend • Preferably a mix of skills • I will let you choose this time • Make your selections ….

5. Create two person teams • Jessica/Nader – Armour Transport (Kentville) • Fady, Sufi – ?? EAP program • James, Tellis – • Charlie, Eric – Open Acadia • Amanda, Jordan – • Vincent, Sarah - • Sky, Taha, Jon -

6. Create two person teams 2010 • Anquin/Temar • Daniel/Chengchao • Katie/Janna • John/Xufeng • Linda/Ray (geng zicheng) • Mike/Yong • Misfer/Sarah • Malte/Dylan • Justin/Johnny • Osama/Ali

7. Select a Department to Audit • Looking for a unit with 10 or more computers, printers, and other peripherals • Chem, Physics, Math, Psych, English, Business, Education • If you have a connection with a department make use of it • We will make an initial selection today for each team

8. Contact Department About Audit • Unit has to be willing to participate • Eliminate concerns • Recommendations will only go back to the unit • There will be no need for you to access private information • Establish interview and data collection date and times • You will need 2-3 hours, at minimum

9. Plan Audit Interview and Materials • Pre-audit interview (15-30 minutes) • Understand where equipment is and who to speak with • Create inventory of computers and peripherals – laptops, desktops, servers, other • A data collection sheet will be needed • Collect data on each piece of equipment • A detail sheet for each item will be needed (See next page) • Post-audit interview (15-30 minutes) • Clarify / ask questions that may have come up during data collection • Plan return visit to make presentation

10. Plan Audit Interview and Materials • Inventory Sheet – one row per piece of equipment, containing columns: • Equipment type (laptop, desktop, printer, server, etc) • Location • Major Use • Primary user • Power consumption (Kilowatts)

11. Plan Audit Interview and Materials • Detail Sheet – one row per detail item • Equipment type (laptop, desktop, printer, server, etc) • Location • Major Use • Primary user • Age • Power consumption (watts) • How many hours each day the unit is used, or must be left on • How many hours each day the unit is left on • Status of energy saving settings (screen, sleep) • Screen brightness • Sleep mode on harddrive enabled

12. Plan Audit Interview and Materials • Detail Sheet – one row per detail item • Elimination of unnecessary functions/processes (Bluetooth) • Use of a good (matching) AC adapter • Use of an energy saving power bar • Dual bootable, virtualization considered • Disposable consumption and recycling • Latest anti-virus software installed to eliminate Botnet • Backups regularly done • Plans to upgrade • Other …

13. Conduct Audit • Be on time / Be prepared / Look professional • Be efficient – divide and conquer • Pre-Audit interview • Iterate that this is for their department • Ask them what they would like from the audit • Find out where things are / who to speak with • Create inventory list first (perhaps have them do most of it for you in advance)

14. Conduct Audit • Collect data • You may not be able to get everything • Focus on what you can get (at least 10 items) • Focus on desktops and laptops • Focus on printers, plotters, external hardrives • Things consuming power that are left on • Keep notes for post-audit interview

15. Conduct Audit • Post-audit interview • Look to fill in blanks in columns on sheets • You may be surprised to find that know one knows what a particular computer does (but its is still on) • Clarify / ask questions that may have come up during data collection • Ask if they would like anything specifically discussed in the recommendations • Plan return visit to make recommendation presentation

16. Analyse Data • Enter data into Excel spreadsheet • Quantitative: • Plot data where it makes sense to analyse • Number of items of each type • Hours of use a day by item type • Age of equipment by number of pieces of equipment • Compute ratios: • Hours device is on / hours device is actually used • KWH needed / KWH used

17. Analyse Data • Qualitative: • Plans to replace equipment / upgrade • Knowledge of energy use / power management • Anti-virus protection

18. Make Recommendations • Make recommendations in the form of a ppt presentation • Concise = complete and accurate • Focus on: • reduction of power consumption • reduction of disposable consumption • recycling and reuse • Recommended actions should be measurable

19. Divide and Conquer Planning and Preparation Session • Break up into 4 groups: 1 Create a department contact email and plan pre-audit interview 2 Develop audit inventory spreadsheet and detail spreadshee 3 Consider data collection approach, analysis issues and data calculations 4 Plan post-audit interview and plan recommendation PPT template