For week 1 discussion you will research the relationship between Architecture and Auditing and discuss the following:
- Who is an IT Auditor?
- Why do you think having system architecture is important?
- What roles do auditors play in relation to system architecture?
Note: Review the Chapter Supplemental Materials in Week 1
Reminder: Discussion Board Rules
Discussion Boards open Sunday evenings at midnight. Initial postings are due Thursday evenings by midnight. Response posting are due by Sunday midnight. This schedule is designed to provide you time to complete your discussion board on time.
Each Discussion Board has three (3) components:
- First, create a thread responding to the topic posted for the week by Thursday 11:59PM each week
- Second, discuss another student postings by giving comments. The focus of your comments should be primarily on the topic of the week.
- Third, You should post at least two (2) responses/comments to other students’ postings.
Grading – If you complete all three areas of the discussion listed above, you will receive a score of ‘Excellent/100%’. If you complete some, but not all elements, you will receive a score of Satisfactory/50%-75%. If you do not complete any of the elements (or a very limited amount of effort), you will receive a score of Unsatisfactory/0%.
Lezlie Jiles says
1. Who is an IT Auditor?
An IT Auditor assists the audit manager with the overall engagement of an audit. Along with the auditing team, an IT Auditor’s responsibility is to understand the purpose of the engagement to express an opinion on the effectiveness of an identified control(s). The auditor collaborates will the organization’s relevant teams to obtain input and review appropriate documentation. Every audit must be conducted in accordance with ISACA’s IS audit and assurance standards and guidelines. Once a comprehensive audit plan is developed the auditor will set the audit key concerns and determine the timeframe needed to complete each assessment.
2. Why do you think having system architecture is important?
Systems Architecture (SA) is important because it is the roadmap of how a system will be developed. It is a conceptual model which details the structure and performance of a complex system. System architecture encompasses the technical framework for the hardware and software in which will be utilized to create the new system or modify an existing one. SA will ultimately define the efficiency and effectiveness of the end users stated tasks completion.
3. What roles do auditors play in relation to system architecture?
An IT Auditor would be the best resource to assist with the developing the SA. Based on their understanding of the organization’s expected outcomes an IT auditor could detect unforeseen risks that may not be obvious to the architecture. An auditor’s input during systems architecture would reduce/eliminate costly repairs, or even replacements of the created system.
Candace T Nelson says
Hi Lezlie,
I like your explanation of the importance of system architecture. I also found the following information that I encountered while researching this topic to be of interest:
System architecture is “…a description of the design and contents of a computer system. If documented, it may include information such as a detailed inventory of current hardware, software and networking capabilities; a description of long-range plans and priorities for future purchases, and a plan for upgrading and/or replacing dated equipment and software.”
https://nces.ed.gov/pubs98/tech/glossary.asp
F. Walden says
I like the roadmap analogy. It clearly conveys what the system architecture should do.
F. Walden says
1. Who is an IT Auditor?
The IT auditor establishes the purpose, objective, scope, and intent of the audit function. An IT auditor reviews, test, evaluate and collects supporting evidence to help validate and ensure the veracity of a company’s IT systems. The IT auditor must ensure that all material items, statutory requirements, audit objectives and areas of significant risk are addressed.
2. Why do you think having system architecture is important?
System architecture is extremely important, because, it provides the framework under which an organization’s systems function/don’t function properly. If properly configured, the framework will help ensure the viability of a business now and in the future iterations. Well-designed system architecture will be flexible in designed and upgradeable when new technological advances are available. If configured correctly, it will allow a business to operate at maximum efficiency at peak times while meeting customer needs and expectations.
3. What roles do auditors play in relation to system architecture?
Auditors can play a significate role in helping to evaluate the system architecture of a business. They can identify areas of risk and exposure. They are able to provide an outside view of the system architecture while having access to the intimate inner workings of a system.
Candace T Nelson says
Hi Felice,
As an auditor, I was curious about your background based on the thorough and accurate description you provided of the IT audit function. I see that you are the Manager, Technical Support for the Cashiering function at Temple U. No wonder you know so much about technology!
I also like your responses to questions 2 and 3, especially your comment that auditors “…are able to provide an outside view of the system architecture having access to the intimate inner workings of a system.” The last portion of that sentence is my main objective for enrolling in this course – if I am fortunate enough to have access to the inner workings of a system I want to understand what I am looking at and how to conduct an IT audit of that system!
F. Walden says
My background is strictly on the software side. Taking this class has opened my eyes to all of the details behind pressing the return key and of the other functions.
Ariana Levinson says
1) I like to think of an IT Auditor as sort of a detective. We look at business processes that are executed through or involving technology. Everything we do in business involves technology and we must have a way of ensuring that our technology is secure. Auditors fill that need. External auditors provide a neutral third party that can test technology systems and attest to their security (or lack thereof as the case may be) and internal auditors perform that same function on behalf of their own company both to provide stakeholders assurance that all is well with the systems in place, to ensure operations run smoothly for the betterment of the business, and to identify issues that can and do regularly crop up that affect business functioning.
2) System architecture is literally all of the technology we have. Everything we work with, almost everything we have that requires an electrical current to function is based on a system architecture. If you want to get down to the very basics, an argument could be made for a lightbulb having a system architecture in a now technological/computing capacity. There is no internet, no computers, no phones, no credit cards without all of the components that make up the underlying systems.
3) As an IT Auditor myself, I can confidently say I’ve conducted (and currently am working on) an SAP infrastructure and architecture audit. Ensuring servers are configured correctly, firewalls have been placed in the correct and most effective location in a network, and that unauthorized users can’t gain access to the data centers servers reside in are all IT Audit functions.