Start with the Fundamentals
A basic IT approach for any business is fundamental to balancing what you need to operate vs. where you want to be in the future. The future could mean three months, a year, or five years from now, but setting a date can help you make good financial decisions during that period. What are some basic documents you should have in your business for IT? Glad you asked!
Acceptable Use Policy
This document is your Terms to end users, administrators, and owners. It covers the acceptable use of IT systems.
Typically, the following are included:
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General Use and Ownership
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Security Practices and Expectations
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Agreement of Access to Information
IT Security Practices
This document outlines security for the IT environment configuration and systems.
Typically, the following are included:
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Baseline Configuration Practices
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Requirements for Anti-Virus, Logging, Authorization and Authentication
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Business Continuity Plan
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Change Mitigation
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Incident Response Policy
IT Systems Processes
This document or set of documents is an outlined definition of the entire IT system for the organization.
Typically, the following are included:
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Topology and Logical Network Map
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System Roles and Definitions
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IT Processes – Onboarding, Termination, Deployment, Decommission
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Automation Flow Charts and Scripts – Application Dependency Matrix
Is All this Really Necessary?
Most organizations under 25 Employees do not need an Acceptable Use Policy. However, depending on your industry, you could have only one employee and need this level of documentation. A good example of this is the Title Industry. If we take a look at the American Land and Title Association requirements, you would need everything listed above and possibly more.
That which you do not measure, you cannot track. That which you cannot track, you cannot manage. That which you cannot manage you cannot cause to operate effectively or efficiently.
This means if you do not keep track of your IT systems then there will be a lot of rework because it was not documented or done correctly to begin.
How to Get Started
Step One
Create some documentation about the IT environment, this is important even if you only do it to a basic level or even if it’s not understood completely. Next ask vendors to help explain to you what you have and improve the documentation, so it is accurate.
Now look at each component of your IT infrastructure and break it out into segments that are related. Like this:
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Website, Domain Hosting, Web Service (Dropbox)
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Computers, Anti-Virus, Office, Support
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Network, Internet Service Provider, Wifi
Try to break it down into manageable components with as much detail to prices and quantity as you can. This table will help you organize and prioritize as well. Which parts are more important to the business and which are less important.
Step Two
Decide if you want to manage it, or if you want to hire someone to do it. Bit-Wizards is highly processed and efficient at this. We know IT and can complete this task for any customer in a couple of hours. If you are not in the business of IT, there is nothing wrong with not doing it yourself.
According to the State of IT report from Spiceworks, 1 in 3 businesses did not draft an IT budget. This statistic means that most IT departments have no plan or strategy beyond doing what they are asked.
67% of Purchases are driven by end-of-life scenarios – using equipment till it cannot be used any longer. The report also states that 62% of IT Pros say they do not conduct regular security audits. So outsourcing your IT needs could be the best value for your company. Just like dentists, CPAs, and rental management firms, we hire people to do specific things for us and make our business better – IT is no different.
Step Three
If you are working in IT for your organization, find a partner that will work with you. If you are going to take on IT systems for yourself, keep them up-to-date, follow tech news and try to keep it as simple as possible. Don’t be afraid to bring someone in to help you with the difficult parts, but make sure they document everything and provide the information to go back into your IT Business Portfolio.