COMP 2923 A2Basic Green IT Audit

Danny SilverJSOCS, Acadia University

The Goal

• To conduct a Basic Green IT audit of a department of Acadia University or another organization or a small business– Focus is on desktops, laptops and servers– Not Computer Science or Technology Services (too

complex for basic audit)

The Process

• 1. Create two person teams• 2. Select a department to audit• 3. Contact department about audit and set date• 4. Plan audit interview and create materials• 5. Conduct audit• 6. Analyse data• 7. Make recommendations (presentation)

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 ….• Deal with problems as early as possible

Create two person teams

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

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

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

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)

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

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 …

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)

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, printers, plotters, external hardrives – Look for devices consuming power that are left on– Record the numbers off equipment

• will mean getting dirty; be careful not to break anything

– Record use of consumables / disposables (paper, toner, CDs, etc)– Do not be critical during audit

• Keep notes for post-audit interview

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

Analyse Data

• Enter data into Excel spreadsheet• Quantitative:– Plot data where it makes sense to analyse

• Number of items of each type• Average hours of use per 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

Analyse Data

• Qualitative:– Assess knowledge of: • IT energy use• power management• peripheral consumable consumption

– Plans to replace equipment / upgrade– Do they know anti-virus protection can sve energy– Are the doing regular backups

Make Recommendations

• Slide presentation for client dept or organization• Concise = complete and accurate. • Summarize approach, findings and recommendations• Focus on:– reduction of power consumption and costs– reduction of disposable consumption and costs– recycling and reuse for the environment

• Recommended actions should be measurable• Suggest how they can monitor improvements

Divide and Conquer Planning and Preparation Session

• Break up into 4 groups:1 Create a department contact email and plan pre-

audit interview2 Develop audit inventory spreadsheet and detail

spreadshee3 Consider data collection approach, analysis issues

and data calculations4 Plan post-audit interview and plan

recommendation PPT template