If you have an in-house IT expert, they may be your most vulnerable staff asset. Even before the Great Resignation/Reshuffle, IT professionals were in high demand and heavily recruited. As technology becomes increasingly sophisticated and provides even more opportunities for IT professionals, you need to ensure your business can withstand the talent and resource gap. Here’s what you need to know BEFORE your IT expert quits.
- Do you have updated, written network documentation about your computer network? What software licenses do you own? What are the critical administrator passwords to your systems and devices? How is your computer network structured? What hardware do you own and when do your equipment warranties expire? Do you have third-party vendors providing cloud services? You should NEVER allow a single IT person to keep this information under their full control over your network and company. Have a secure, complete network document, restricting access to one or two alternates who will fill any IT resource gaps.
- Do you know where your backup files are stored and if they are being stored properly? If your database is hacked or another disaster disables your access, your business operations will be at a complete standstill. It is critical to have regular system backups and have someone ready to step in and perform restoration immediately.
- Do you have a written plan for restoring your network fast in the case of an attack or other disaster? If you don’t have a fully tested disaster recovery plan for your office, you could be at serious risk without ever knowing it until something happens.
- Do you know what routine maintenance must be done to your network? While you hired an expert to handle keeping track of all the servers, workstations, and peripherals on your network, if/when that expert leaves, someone has to step in immediately to perform these duties. Missing a patch or upgrade increases your risk of cyber attack dramatically.
- Do you know how to protect yourself from an ugly security breach if your in-house computer expert leaves? Malicious former employees are a huge risk to your business. Even if they didn’t leave with ill-will, compromised employee credentials are rampant on the dark web. If your in-house IT expert leaves without notice, but with admin privileges to your entire computer network, how do you cut off that access? You or a designated alternate must be able to disable an individual’s access, including remote access and all cloud-based applications, immediately.
Working with an IT managed service provider (MSP) provides an ongoing monitoring and maintenance partnership that will keep your computer network up and running by preventing outages, downtime, and securing your data from loss, hackers, viruses, spyware, and a host of other problems. Pearl Solutions Group provides three levels of managed IT services and a co-managed program where we work alongside your in-house IT team to support your computer network (and step into gaps in expertise or employee turnover). Learn more.
