Optimising together

The Leibniz Supercomputing Centre (LRZ) and the IT Service Centre (ITS) of the University of Bayreuth (UBT) have entered into a consulting partnership. LRZ employees are to support UBT’s ITS with internal audits and already helped in 2020 with the preparation for the certification of information security according to international ISO/IEC standard 27001 in 2020. They analysed processes at the University’s computer centre and identified opportunities for optimisation. To renew the certificates, the two data centres now permanently assess each other's IT security and service quality. "The audits also promote the exchange of experience and cooperation between employees," says Prof. Dr. Torsten Eymann, Chair of Information Systems Management and Vice President of Digitalisation & Innovation at the University of Bayreuth.

In summer 2019, LRZ became the first scientific data centre in Germany to be certified in the areas of IT service management and information security. The IT team at the University of Bayreuth learned about this through joint working groups, and in turn received help with its own certification preparation.

Certificates must be renewed regularly. For this, relevant processes must be repeatedly analysed and security or service measures documented. "In addition to audits by accredited certification bodies, the standards provide for further examinations by independent auditors so that the organisation can continuously improve," explains Prof. Dr. Helmut Reiser, Deputy Director of LRZ. " Few commercial auditors have experience with scientific or university data centres. This special know-how is more than sufficiently available in the partnership." The first mutual audits have proven successful, and strengthen the desired exchange and cooperation. For the University of Bayreuth, this also means that an internal audit costs up to € 9,000. Within the framework of the cooperation with LRZ, only the travel and accommodation costs are incurred.

In April 2021, a team from Bayreuth will therefore once again scrutinise LRZ and vice versa. Both data centres are currently qualifying interested employees as auditors for this cooperation. LRZ and the UBT’s ITS will use this knowledge to expand their consulting and other services.