AUDIT COMMITTEE SUMMARY
November 15, 2016
Audit of ITSD Hardware and Software Lifecycle Management Process
Report Issued October 17, 2016
Background
ITSD provides services and support for City employees' information technology needs. To ensure adequate support, personnel within the Client Services Division are responsible for responding to and resolving City employees' technology needs.
All requests for new hardware and software should be coordinated with ITSD. Service Coordinators facilitate the purchase-approval process by ensuring all required information is gathered from the customer and assigned to the appropriate personnel for processing.
The City spent approximately $17.9 million on the purchase and maintenance of computer hardware and software in FY2016. According to the ITSD records, the City owns approximately 12,900 laptop and desktop computers, each with various software packages installed such as Microsoft Office and Adobe products.
Audit Objective
Determine if current processes for managing the lifecycle of hardware and software for general office use throughout the City are appropriate and meeting the needs of City staff.
Audit Scope & Methodology
Our audit scope was from October 1, 2014 through December 31, 2015.
To gain an understanding of internal controls, we conducted interviews of appropriate personnel to identify controls related to the IT hardware and software lifecycle. As part of our testing procedures, we examined the following IT lifecycle management areas:
* IT Governance
* IT service request management
* Purchasing, receiving, and installing IT hardware/software
* Maintenance (Microsoft patch management and updates)
* Physical inventories and reconciliations of IT assets
* Disposal of hardware and software
* Asset management software user privileges
Audit Conclusions
Overall, internal controls need improvement to ensure that the lifecycle of hardware and software are effectively managed. While ITSD has procedures in...
Click here for full text