IT Insights by Julian Rouse

The Importance of a Post-Summer IT Audit   As summer ends, assessing your IT systems is crucial to ensure stability. Vacations, increased cyber threats, and deferred maintenance can lead to vulnerabilities. Conducting a thorough audit can identify and address these issues before they escalate in the fall. Audit Focus Areas Security : Start with a comprehensive security review, ensuring all firewalls, antivirus software, and access controls are up-to-date. Verify that patches are applied, and check for unauthorized access during the summer. Performance : Evaluate system performance by checking server loads, network latency, and storage utilization. Identify and resolve bottlenecks to prepare for increased workloads in the fall. Compliance : Review compliance with industry regulations and internal policies. Ensure all systems meet the latest standards, particularly if there have been changes in requirements. Backup and Recovery : Test your backup and disaster recovery systems to ensu...

As a cloud engineer, ensuring thoroughness, consistency, and efficiency in your work is paramount. One of the most effective ways to achieve these goals is by using checklists. Whether you're kicking off a new project, migrating to the cloud, or conducting a security audit, having a checklist can make a significant difference. In this first part of our three-part series, we'll explore some essential checklists that every IT professional, consultant, and cloud engineer should have in their toolkit. 1. Project Kickoff Checklist Starting a new project can be overwhelming. A well-structured kickoff checklist ensures that nothing falls through the cracks. Here’s what you need: Define project scope and objectives : Clear goals set the stage for success. Identify stakeholders and their roles : Knowing who’s who helps streamline communication. Establish timelines and milestones : Keeps the project on track. Determine budget and resources : Essential for planning and execution. Set up c...