The last weeks of the year are often quieter, which makes them a good time to deal with the IT tasks that keep getting postponed. A few hours of housekeeping now prevents surprises in January, when renewals come due, staff return and new projects start. Work through this checklist, or pass it to whoever looks after your IT.
Accounts and access
- Remove old accounts. Disable email, Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, VPN and line-of-business accounts for anyone who has left, including contractors and temporary staff.
- Review admin rights. Only the people who need administrator access should have it, and they should use a separate admin account for admin tasks.
- Confirm MFA is on everywhere, especially for email, remote access, banking and accounting systems.
- Check shared passwords. Change shared logins that former staff knew, and move them into a business password manager.
Backups
- Confirm what is backed up. Servers, NAS devices, cloud email and files, and any laptops that store data locally.
- Test a restore. Pick a few files and a mailbox and actually restore them. A backup that has never been restored is untested.
- Check there is an off-site copy that ransomware on your network could not reach or delete.
Updates and security
- Patch everything: Windows and macOS, browsers, business applications, and the firmware on firewalls, routers, Wi-Fi access points and NAS devices.
- Retire unsupported systems. Identify any Windows 10 computers or other equipment that no longer receives security updates and plan their replacement.
- Review endpoint protection to make sure every computer is covered and reporting in.
- Refresh security awareness. A short session on phishing and payment fraud is worthwhile before the busy start of the year.
Renewals and subscriptions
- List every renewal date: domain names, website hosting, SSL certificates, software licenses, warranties and support contracts.
- Turn on auto-renew for domains and make sure the payment card on file is current. A lapsed domain can take your email and website down.
- Cancel unused subscriptions and remove licenses assigned to people who have left.
Hardware
- Update your inventory of computers, servers, network equipment and phones, with purchase dates and warranty status.
- Flag aging equipment. Computers over five years old, and NAS drives and UPS batteries over three to five years old, are worth budgeting to replace.
- Dispose of old equipment securely. Drives in retired computers and copiers can still hold client data.
Documentation
- Make sure there is a current record of your network, key accounts, vendors and support contacts, stored somewhere that would still be available if the office systems were down.
- Confirm the business, not an individual or former provider, owns the admin accounts for your domain, email, website and cloud services.
Plan for next year
- Set an IT budget covering replacements, subscriptions, security and projects, so purchases are planned rather than emergencies. Ask your accountant about the timing of equipment purchases.
- Review cyber insurance requirements. Insurers increasingly ask about MFA, backups and endpoint protection when you renew, and it is easier to meet them ahead of time.
- List the projects that would make the biggest difference next year, such as a network upgrade, cloud migration or better remote working.
Getting help
We help organizations across Los Angeles County, the Inland Empire and Ventura County with exactly this kind of review through IT audits and assessments and ongoing managed IT services. If you would like a second pair of eyes on your checklist, or help planning next year's budget, contact us.