Top IT Checklist Every Business Needs - 13 Must Do!

Why Is This IT Checklist Important?

As the success of organizations is defined increasingly not just by its brand and service but by its online reputation, companies need to make sure IT solutions keep their users and data secure. As new technologies are adopted and service providers selected, IT is no longer just about the use of computers but about a business' security IQ and culture of belief. The ability for companies to operate securely reveals their modern-day philosophy and effectiveness (or lack thereof) online operations and security.

To help you get started, we've put together a must-have IT checklist that every business needs today to keep their company current and protected in an ever-increasing cyber threat climate. This new business checklist is meant to provide you an overview of some key IT solutions you may already have in place and help you verify that your current infrastructure is "up to par" to handle the expanding needs of your business and the growing risk of cyberattacks.

If you already have an internal or outsourced IT team in place, you can use this to make sure you have everything covered. The IT checklist is available as a PDF which you can share with your team and ask them to provide what solutions are in place for each line item. We will provide some vendors in the last paragraph that can be used for any line items that may not be in place yet.

IT Foundations

Asset Management

  • Know all the devices that your business has deployed throughout your organization, especially in production.
  • Know when your devices are hitting the end-of-life cycle for both OS and hardware.
  • Keep records of all of your devices (computers, laptops, tablets, phones, etc.) when hiring/firing employees/contractors.

Patch Management

  • Keep your devices up-to-date with the latest maintenance and security patches.
  • Delay any unwanted feature-release or OS upgrades until they have been fully tested by your team.
  • Keep records of your devices when hiring/firing employees/contractors.

Computer/Server/Firewall/Switch Backups

  • Cloud backups for all user devices.
  • Hybrid backups for all servers, file shares, and databases.
  • Cloud backups of Office 365.
  • Schedule backups for firewalls and switches.

VPN and Secure Remote Access

  • Encrypt all remote access connections to company resources.
  • Secure remote access to company desktops.
  • Enforce 2FA for all user logins.

Anti-Virus Stack: NextGen EndPoint Protection

  • Traditional endpoint protection on all computers/laptops.
  • Next generation AI-driven behavior endpoint protection.
  • Defined exclusions and proper scanning and logging.

Content Filtering

  • Block access to unwanted sites on all devices.
  • Stop browsing of social media in the office.
  • Lock down desktop & browser permissions to lower risk of malware attacks.

Anti-Phishing

  • Identify and block potential email phishing attempts.
  • AI-driven analyst filtering of emails.
  • Lower the risk of employees seeing a phishing email through new methods of detections.

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM)

  • Central dashboard that captures data on your network.
  • Analyze and catch abnormal behavior of potential cyberattacks.
  • Event logging.

Security Operations Center (SOC)

  • 24x7x365 monitoring of SIEM, NGEP, and anti-phishing.
  • 24x7x365 monitoring of content filtering.
  • 24x7x365 monitoring of Microsoft Office 365 for abnormal behavior.

Identity Access Management (IAM)

  • Easily give access to new employees upon hiring.
  • Efficiently remove all access of terminated employees.
  • Reporting of all licenses in use.

Encrypted Password Manager & Two Factor Authentication (2FA)

  • Securely share credentials when needed via encryption.
  • Never use the same/weak passwords again.
  • 2FA provides a strong counter to hacking attempts.

Mobile Device Management (MDM)

  • Know all the mobile devices that you have in production.
  • Remotely erase data from mobile devices held hostage.
  • Keep records of your devices when hiring/firing.

Cloud Apps and Virtual Desktop (VDI, AVD, WVD)

  • Provides unparalleled uptime and Return on Investment (ROI).
  • Access your application anywhere, on any device.
  • Scalable with your business.

Hopefully this has helped bring some clarity into IT solutions that would benefit your organization greatly. This new business checklist for small businesses will help you establish and maintain the proper security posture as your organization grows. This is not to say that these are the only solutions that should be recommended, there are SOPs, frameworks like ITIL, certifications like HIPAA, SOC1 & SOC2, Managed Detection Response (MDR), a suite of Azure tools, and best practices that can be used depending on the needs of your business, but this is a great place to start. Some vendors that can be found for these solutions are provided below.

Blue book cover with numbers 13 and IT solutions

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