Most IT problems don’t appear out of nowhere.
Backups quietly stop working. Updates sit waiting for a restart. Former employees still have active accounts. Software subscriptions continue billing long after someone stopped using them.
By the time anyone notices, fixing the problem can be much more expensive than preventing it.
The good news is that you don’t need to spend hours checking your IT every month. Around 30 minutes is enough to spot many of the problems that can otherwise turn into bigger issues.
Here’s what to check.
Why a monthly IT check is worth your time
It’s easy to assume that a cyberattack or IT failure happens suddenly. Often, there are warning signs that have been sitting there for weeks or months.
Verizon’s 2026 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 31% of breaches began with attackers exploiting unpatched software, making it the most common initial access method identified in the report. It also found that the median time to fully fix a known vulnerability had increased to 43 days.
In other words, many attacks exploit problems that were already known about and already had a fix available.
A quick monthly check won’t replace proper IT monitoring, but it can catch issues that are otherwise easy to overlook.
The six things to check
1. Updates
Check whether Windows updates are actually installing on your computers or whether machines have been sitting at “restart required” for weeks.
Don’t forget phones and the software your business relies on most, such as your web browser and accounting software.
If staff regularly choose “remind me later”, that’s a sign the process needs attention.
2. Backups
Open your backup system and check the most recent runs.
You’re looking for successful, recent backups, not a long list of warnings and failures.
Then ask when someone last restored a file from the backup.
A backup that has never been tested isn’t something you can rely on with confidence. The real test is whether you can actually recover your data when you need it.
3. Who has access?
Open your Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace user list and go through it.
Does every account belong to someone who still works for the business?
Look for:
- Employees who have left
- Contractors whose work has finished
- Old accounts that are no longer needed
- Shared accounts such as “office” or “admin”
Disable anything that shouldn’t still be active.
Former employee accounts are particularly important because an unused account can become an easy route into your systems if it remains accessible.
4. Multi-factor authentication
Check that MFA is enabled for everyone who needs it — not just the people who happened to set it up when you first introduced it.
Pay particular attention to administrator accounts and anyone who handles payments or sensitive information.
Microsoft’s research indicates that MFA blocks more than 99.2% of account compromise attacks.
If someone still doesn’t have MFA enabled, find out why and get it addressed.
5. Devices
Take a look at the devices connected to your business systems.
If you see a laptop, phone or other device you don’t recognise, find out who it belongs to.
While you’re checking, make sure:
- Business laptops are encrypted
- Company phones have a passcode or biometric lock
- Former employees’ devices have been removed
- Devices you no longer use aren’t still connected to your systems
You don’t need to understand every technical detail. The important question is whether you recognise the devices that have access to your business.
6. Subscriptions and licences
Finally, check what you’re actually paying for.
It’s surprisingly easy to keep paying for software licences belonging to employees who left months ago. You may also discover two different tools doing essentially the same job.
This is also a good opportunity to spot software that someone signed up for without the rest of the business knowing about it.
A monthly review can save money as well as improving your security.
Make it a routine
Pick a fixed day every month — perhaps the first Monday — and put the check in your calendar. Give it to the same person each time, whether that’s you or someone responsible for the business’s administration.
Keep a simple note of what you checked and anything you found. After a few months, you’ll start to see patterns. If the same laptop keeps missing updates or the same backup keeps failing, don’t just clear the problem again. Find out why it’s happening.
And don’t try to fix everything during the 30-minute check. Record what you’ve found and deal with the issues afterwards. The purpose of the check is to spot problems, not spend your entire morning fixing them.
Knowing when to call your IT provider
Some problems are straightforward. A laptop that needs restarting, a redundant software licence or an old user account can often be dealt with quickly. Others deserve professional attention.
Contact your IT provider if you find:
- Backups that repeatedly fail
- MFA that can’t be enabled for a user
- Devices nobody recognises
- Updates that repeatedly fail on the same machine
- Accounts or access permissions you’re unsure about
These can be signs of a bigger underlying problem.
What a monthly check doesn’t replace
This isn’t a replacement for professional IT monitoring.
A good IT provider will have systems monitoring your environment continuously, looking for security threats, failed backups, unusual activity and other issues that you wouldn’t spot during a monthly review.
The monthly check covers something those systems can’t necessarily know: your business.
You know who left the company. You know which subscriptions you’ve approved. You know which laptop belongs to which employee.
That context matters.
Make 30 minutes count
You don’t need to be an IT expert to keep an eye on the basics. Once a month, check your updates, backups, users, MFA, devices, and subscriptions. These six checks can uncover problems while they’re still relatively simple to fix, preventing a failed backup, compromised account, or unexpected bill from turning into a disaster.
But if you don’t have the time to manage this yourself, Novo IT is here to help. As a family-run business based in Crawley, we deliver proactive Managed IT Services to small businesses across West Sussex. We can handle all the monitoring, updates, and security checks in the background, so you can focus on running your business.
👉 Ready to take IT off your plate? Book your Free IT Audit today, and let our friendly, local team keep your systems secure and running smoothly.
Article used with permission from The Technology Press.
Comments are closed