As a business owner, you do not want to go into the festive season with unstable IT infrastructure as downtime can cost your business big money especially since this is your busiest time of the year. Although you cannot completely prevent downtime there are many things that you can do to mitigate it. Here’s a checklist to get you started.
CLEAN UP YOUR COMPUTERS
As a business owner, you do not want to go into the festive season with unstable IT infrastructure as downtime can cost your business big money especially since this is your busiest time of the year. Although you cannot completely prevent downtime there are many things that you can do to mitigate it. Here’s a checklist to get you started.
MANAGE YOUR CABLES
Other than wiping the thick coat of dust on computers’ cables, consider using cable management solutions that unclutter and untangle messy wires. These don’t just organize and secure your cables, they also help ensure your PCs run quieter and are less prone to overheating as a result of blocked air vents.
PRINTER MAINTENANCE
Clean the interiors and exteriors of your printers, including paper trays, which are sure to have accumulated dirt from years of use. You should also repair and/or replace parts and accessories such as printheads and cartridges that are no longer in good condition.
WINDOWS PATCHING
Ensure that all Windows operating systems for servers and workstations are fully patched and up to date. We recommend only updating critical and Important patches.
UPDATE ANTI-VIRUS
Update Anti-Virus on all servers and workstations. Run at least one full deep scan and schedule daily smart scans to run after hours.
FIREWALL
Harden your firewall and update policies to be in line with protecting your network from latest cyber threats.
Implement an email security solution that filters all emails and blocks potential cyber threats that could easily result in ransomware attacks, identity theft, CEO fraud etc.
BACKUPS
Backup your critical data daily and verify that backups are working.
We recommend image-based backups because unlike fragile external hard drive backups, image-based backups take “snapshots” of your systems, creating a copy of the operating system, software, and data stored in it. From here, you can easily boot the virtual image on any device, allowing you to back up and restore critical business systems in seconds.
TEST YOUR DISASTER RECOVERY PLAN
Certain parts of your IT are more mission-critical than others. Ask yourself which systems or data must be recovered in minutes, hours, or days to get your business back to running efficiently and plan accordingly.
For example, you may find that recovering point of sale systems take priority over recovering your email server. Whatever the case may be, prioritizing your systems ensures that the right ones are recovered quickly after a disaster.
After setting up your backups, check whether they are restoring your files accurately and on time. Your employees should be drilled on the recovery procedures and their responsibilities during and after disaster strikes. Your disaster recovery team should also be trained on how to failover to the backup before disaster strikes.
While it’s nearly impossible to experience little-to-no outages, with the right support, you can minimize this downtime. If you’re concerned about disasters putting you out of business, call us today. We offer comprehensive business continuity services that every company must-have.
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