You apply for IT job, and you get the job.
You are the only person in IT, maybe there was no one before
you or maybe you have taken over one’s job.
You are in charge of IT, what do you do?
What to do when you take over IT?
That is one of the most asked topic – what do I do in the first week in charge of IT.
Let me help you. I will compose a list of things you need to check in order to make your job easier.
List of things you need to check when you take over IT
Security
– Who has access to the server room?
– Do servers have RSA? Users that have access?
– What are passwords for switches, routers, firewalls, users?
– Are the director’s files in a secure area on the
file share?
– Are the manager’s files in a secure area on the
file share?
– What permissions do the shares have? Are they hidden($)?
– Are the servers and desktops up to date with patches?
– Is there any kind of automated patching (WSUS)
– Are there any group policy settings? If yes what are they?
– What shares are set on the file servers?
– What users have domain admin privileges?
– Review all users in Active Directory and compare with list of people no longer working for the company.
– What is allowed through the firewall, any odd rules?
– Are there any wireless networks connected to the LAN, if yes, why?
– What are all the administration usernames and passwords for:
1. Active Directory
2. Servers
3. Windows or any other OS, computers
4. UPS
5. Printers
6. CNS
Backups
1. Check backup software in use and check version, best to write down to a list.
2. Check for the current version and if there are any recent updates.
3. Check the backup schedule.
4. Time frames for backups on each server, write down dates and time.
5. Is any notification set for warnings or success?
6. How is exchange backed up?
7. Are you able to restore individual emails or only whole Exchange?
7. How are the databases backed up?
8. Check if the servers are completely backed up or only some folders.
9. How much data is backed up per day/night?
10. How long does the backup window take?
11. What tape drive/Library is used? Any firmware updates? Were cleaning tapes used?
12. Where are tapes stored, currently?,
13. Are the backup tapes stored offsite? If so how does this process work? Who does it?
14. Where are the tapes stored offsite?
15. Who has access to the tapes?
16. TEST RESTORE – of ALL servers
This is PART ONE of taking over IT,
Stay tuned for PART TWO
I guess the first thing to check is if any documentation available for probably all the listed above should be easily found. If it doesnt then the checklist is vital.
When I took over last job, there was some documentation, but later on, when I was checking documentation, I noticed that it was not updated, also AD was a mess, yes, it’s good to have some documentation, but don’t be fooled that all is well.