The Annual IT Health Check: A Checklist for the New Year

Things most offices check once a year: the insurance renewal, the fire extinguisher sticker, the KRA deadline, usually with some panic. Things most offices never check: whether the backups actually work, who still has access to the email system, and when the website domain expires. An annual IT health check for businesses in Kenya is the boring, sensible habit that prevents dramatic January surprises. December is quieter for many offices, so here is a checklist to work through before the new year begins.

Your IT health check, part one: accounts and access

Start with people, because most problems start there. Over a year, staff join, leave and change roles, and their access rarely keeps up.

• List every account for email, banking, accounting, payroll and cloud storage

• Remove access for anyone who has left, including that intern from March

• Check that admin rights belong only to people who need them

• Confirm two-factor authentication is on for email, banking and key systems

• Change shared passwords, especially the Wi-Fi one everyone has given to their cousins

If finding out who has access to what takes you a whole afternoon, that is a finding in itself. Write it down so next year takes ten minutes.

Backups: test, do not assume

Halima, who runs a small clinic, discovered during a power surge that her backup drive had stopped working eight months earlier. The software had been showing a little warning the whole time. Nobody had looked.

• Confirm backups are running, and check the date of the latest one

• Restore a few files to prove the backup can actually be used

• Keep at least one copy off-site or in the cloud, not just in the office

• Make sure important data on laptops and phones is included, not only the server

A backup you have never restored is not a backup. It is a hope.

Hardware and software

Walk around the office with a notebook. Note each computer, its age, condition and whether it is running a supported, genuine operating system. Machines that no longer get security updates should be upgraded or replaced, starting with those handling money or client data.

• Install pending updates on computers, phones and routers

• Check antivirus is active and up to date on every machine

• Review software subscriptions and cancel the ones nobody uses

• Test the UPS batteries, since they quietly wear out after a few years

• Clean dusty equipment, because dust and heat are old enemies of electronics

Network, website and renewals

Change the router admin password if it is still the factory default printed on the sticker. Set up a separate guest Wi-Fi network so visitors do not share a network with your accounts computer. Check that your internet backup, perhaps a mobile data router, actually works when the main line goes down.

Then list every renewal date: domain names, website hosting, software licences and support contracts. Put them in a shared calendar with reminders a month ahead. Losing your domain because the renewal email went to someone who left the company is a very avoidable disaster.

Compliance and housekeeping

Finally, check the paperwork side. Make sure your systems still meet your obligations under the Data Protection Act 2019, especially for client and staff records. If you issue invoices through KRA's eTIMS, confirm your integration is working smoothly before the January rush. Review your ICT policy and update anything that has changed during the year.

Your next step: book half a day in your calendar now, before December fills up with end-of-year parties. If you would prefer someone else to run the check and hand you a clear report, talk to Philsoft about our IT support services. Either way, your future self, sitting calmly in January while competitors panic, will thank you.