Which of the following is NOT a method for confirming effective segregation of duties within an IT department?

Confirming effective segregation of duties is crucial for minimizing risk and ensuring internal controls are maintained within an IT department. The distinction is important to understand the nature of the listed methods.

Researching past IT audit reports, while useful for many aspects of compliance and historical analysis, does not actively assess the current state of segregation of duties. Audit reports may indicate past issues or efficiencies but do not provide real-time validation of whether segregation of duties is effectively managed in the present environment.

In contrast, discussing with IT managers allows for direct and current insights into the roles and responsibilities assigned to personnel, offering valuable context on how duties are segregated. Reviewing IT job descriptions provides critical information on the defined roles and their separation, while evaluating the organizational structure visually maps out how responsibilities are distributed across the department. These methods are all proactive and facilitate an actual examination of current practices regarding segregation of duties.