A good IT audit is a short, structured look at your devices, network, backups, accounts, and security, ending in a plain-language list of risks. Here is what to expect and what to ask.
What an audit is for
An IT and security audit answers three questions: what do you have, what condition is it in, and where are you exposed. It is not a sales presentation and it should not require you to change anything. You should come away with a written list you could hand to any provider.
What gets reviewed
- Devices: the age, operating system, and update status of every computer and server.
- Network: the firewall, switches, Wi-Fi, and how guests and staff are separated.
- Accounts: who has access to what, whether former staff still have logins, and whether multi-factor authentication is turned on.
- Email: spam and phishing protection, and whether your domain is set up to resist spoofing.
- Backups: what is backed up, how often, where the copies live, and whether a restore has ever been tested.
- Security tools: whether endpoint protection is installed everywhere and actually reporting.
- Vendors and licenses: what you are paying for, and whether any of it overlaps.
What you should receive
Ask for findings ranked by risk, in plain language, with the urgent items separated from the nice-to-haves. A report that lists forty issues at the same volume is hard to act on. The useful ones tell you which three things to fix first and why.
Questions to ask before you agree to one
- Will anything be installed on our systems, and will it be removed afterward?
- Who will see our data, and how is the information you collect stored?
- Do we keep the report if we decide not to work with you?
- How long will it take, and how much of our staff's time does it need?
How we run ours
Our process starts with a discovery call, then an assessment of your environment, then a written proposal you can take or leave. Every managed IT engagement we have begins this way, because we will not quote a plan for systems we have not looked at.