Most businesses wouldn’t want to entertain the idea of their IT guy suddenly quitting. The reality is that you never know when something could happen to leave the owner of the company needing to answer IT questions that only the computer guy could answer. Ask yourself the following questions to see if you are prepared for the loss of a very important employee.
Do you have 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? Are there cloud vendors for email, online storage, hosted line of business applications, etc. that you don’t currently have? You should NEVER allow a single IT person or company keep this information under their full control over your network and company.
Do you know if your backup files are being stored properly, and where? If you are like most business owners, you’re too busy dealing with the “crisis of the day” to think about system backups and probably leave tasks to your internal expert. This detail is easy to overlook, but very important to have written down and easy to access.
Do you have a written plan for restoring your network fast in the case of a disaster? If you don’t have a fully tested disaster recovery plan for your office, you should.
Do you know where all of your software is stored? Bad things can happen to computers and servers, and the situation can be made worse if you are not prepared. Taking a minute to organize and store your software in a secure place can save you a considerable chunk of money in the event that you need to restore a program on your systems. If you don’t have access to the software or don’t know where it is located,you might be forced to buy the software again.
Do you know what routine maintenance is being done on your network?The very idea of learning about and keeping track of all the servers, workstations, and peripherals on your network is quite mundane, but it is important information to maintain.
Do you know how to protect yourself from a security breach if your in-house computer expert leaves? What happens if your expert splits with no warning AND has access to your company’s network? As soon as humanly possible, you should disable his or her access, including remote access to your network and all cloud based applications.
Make sure that you have all the answers to these important questions to keep your company up and running even without your key expert on hand. Tandem CloudTop can help with many of these safeguards, rather than leaving all of your important information in one person’s hands. Call for more information 866-710-4228 or email support@cloudtopoffice.com.
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