Closing Out the Year: Essential IT Steps for Pre- and Post-January

Most organizations review budgets, contracts, and goals at the end of the year. Your technology environment deserves the same level of attention. Over twelve months, user accounts pile up, software drifts out of date, and backups rarely get tested. All of that quietly increases risk.

A focused end of year IT cleanup helps you:

1. Reduce chances of a security incident
2. Avoid surprises from failed backups or old hardware
3. Start January with a clear picture of your environment
4. Support compliance and cyber insurance requirements

The key is to treat this as a simple before and after exercise. You handle the urgent cleanup before January, then put sustainable processes in place for the months that follow.

Below are three areas that give you the most return for your effort.

1. Tighten User Accounts and Access Before They Become a Problem

User accounts and permissions are a favorite target for attackers. Old logins and weak access controls are common in growing businesses.

Before January: Audit Who Has Access to What

Start with your core systems:

• Email and collaboration platforms
• File servers and cloud storage
• Line of business applications
• VPN, remote desktop, and firewall access
• Admin portals for cloud services

For each system, pull a list of active accounts and look for:

• Former employees or contractors who still have logins
• Vendor or third party accounts that are no longer needed
• Shared accounts where multiple people use the same credentials
• Users who have administrator or elevated rights without a clear reason

Actions to take before year end:

1. Disable or remove accounts that are no longer required
2. Remove unnecessary admin rights and replace them with standard access
3. Document any shared accounts you cannot remove immediately and plan to phase them out
4. Turning off even a handful of old or unused accounts can significantly reduce your attack surface.

After January: Put Ongoing Access Controls In Place

Once your account list is clean, build simple processes to keep it that way:

1. Use a checklist for onboarding and offboarding so accounts are created and removed on a predictable schedule
2. Review access for key systems at least twice a year
3. Require multi factor authentication on email, VPN, and any cloud admin portals

If you work with a managed IT provider like tekRESCUE, many of these processes can be automated or built into your HR workflow, so they do not depend on someone remembering to send an email.

2. Make Sure Backups And Recovery Actually Work

Backup is often treated as a set and forget item. Unfortunately, that means many businesses only find out something is wrong after data is already lost.

Before January: Test Your Ability to Recover

Use your end of year cleanup to answer three simple but important questions:

• What are you backing up?
• How often is it being backed up?
• Can you restore quickly when you need to?

Practical steps:

1. Confirm which systems and data are in your backup scope
2. Servers and virtual machines
3. Cloud services such as Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace
4. Financial systems and critical databases
5. Shared file locations
6. Review logs for your backup jobs and look for failures or recurring warnings
7. Perform at least one test restore for each major system
8. Restore a sample file or folder

If possible, test a full system restore in a non-production environment.

Document:

• How long the restore took
• How far back you can go in your backup history
• Where backups are stored, including offsite or cloud locations

If you cannot complete a successful restore, or if you do not know how to perform one, backup planning should move to the top of your priority list.

After January: Move From Backups To True Resilience

In the new year, treat backup and recovery as a continuous process:

• Schedule regular test restores, not just once a year
• Update backup scopes whenever you add, change, or retire systems
• Define recovery time objectives (RTO) and recovery point objectives (RPO) for critical systems

Many organizations benefit from managed backups and disaster recovery solutions. IT providers monitor your cloud, perform test restores, and design business continuity plans that match your risk tolerance.

3. Clean Up Systems, Updates, And Documentation

Unpatched software, unknown devices, and missing documentation all make troubleshooting harder and security weaker.

Before January: Get A Clear Picture Of Your Environment

Start with an asset and update snapshot:

1. List servers, desktops, laptops, and key network devices
2. Record operating systems, versions, and approximate age
3. Identify hardware that is near end of life or out of warranty

Then:

1. Apply pending security updates for operating systems and core applications
2. Remove unused applications and tools that are no longer part of daily operations
3. Flag any systems running unsupported software and plan for replacement or isolation

At the same time, capture at least basic documentation:

• A simple network diagram
• A list of business-critical systems and what they support
• Current vendor and support contact information

This does not need to be perfect. Even a modest amount of accurate documentation is better than having your IT knowledge spread across emails and sticky notes.

After January: Turn Cleanup into Routine Maintenance

To avoid another big catch up next December:

• Establish a monthly patching process for servers and endpoints
• Review installed software quarterly to ensure it is still needed and supported
• Plan hardware refresh cycles so you are replacing aging devices intentionally rather than after a failure

Keep documentation as a living set of documents:

• Update it when new systems are added or major changes are made
• Store it securely, but ensure that multiple authorized people can access it when needed

If compliance is a concern for your business, this ongoing documentation and maintenance work will also support audit requirements and cyber insurance questionnaires.

FAQs

How often should a business do an IT cleanup like this

A full review once a year is a good baseline, ideally around the end of your fiscal year. Some elements, such as patching and backup checks, should be done much more frequently. Many organizations combine an annual deep dive with lighter quarterly reviews to keep things in control.

Is this level of IT maintenance necessary for small businesses

Yes. Smaller companies are often more exposed because they have fewer internal controls and may not have dedicated IT staff. Attackers frequently target small and midsized businesses because they know defenses are weaker. Basic practices like account cleanup, reliable backups, and regular patching are essential regardless of size.

Will this kind of cleanup cause downtime for our team

Some tasks, particularly patching servers and network devices, may require short maintenance windows or reboots. With planning, these can often be scheduled outside core business hours or in phases to minimize impact. An IT provider can help coordinate and communicate these windows, so your team is not caught off guard.

How does an IT cleanup help with compliance requirements

Most security and compliance frameworks, such as HIPAA, PCI, and general cybersecurity standards, expect organizations to manage user access, maintain secure configurations, keep systems updated, and protect data with tested backups. An end-of-year cleanup directly supports these controls and provides documentation that can be useful during audits or when applying for cyber insurance.

Can our internal team handle this, or do we need external help

If you have an internal IT team with capacity and experience, they can handle many of these tasks. However, it can still be helpful to involve a managed service provider for tasks that require specialized tools or for an outside perspective on risk. Many businesses use a hybrid model where internal staff handle day to day issues and an external partner like tekRESCUE manages strategic cleanup, monitoring, and security layers.

Starting The New Year with a Stronger IT Foundation

IT cleanups are not meant to be perfect. Start small by reducing obvious risks and setting up realistic routines that protect your business through the coming year.

By focusing on three essential areas:

1. User accounts and access controls
2. Backups and recovery capabilities
3. System updates, hardware lifecycle, and documentation

You can move from reacting to issues to managing your IT environment with intention.

If you want help assessing where you stand or putting these practices in place, partnering with a managed IT provider like tekRESCUE can turn a once-a-year scramble into a structured, repeatable process that supports your business rather than distracting from it.