I know it’s super easy to get into a routine. And not all routines are bad. But have you ever thought about some of the little habits that technicians and engineers might develop that could jeopardize your entire business?
For example, imagine you came into the office on Monday and had an emergency call from one of your client’s users—a Linda from HR. She is frantic about not being able to access a payroll application. Her deadline for ensuring everyone receives pay this week is 2 PM today; so, you record the problem, create an emergency ticket, and begin work immediately.
You realize that a rule in your firewall is blocking the payroll application from working. To remediate the problem and solve the emergency, you turn off the firewall rule. You make a note that this was done in the ticket and make sure Linda is all set. She raves about your quick service and is super thankful that you figured out her problem.
The next day, you’re tasked with following up on that client’s firewall. You decide not to update the rules. After all, you can always come back to the issue at another point, right?
Weeks go by and you continue to let that firewall change linger. Nothing has happened yet, so the likelihood of something happening seems remote.
What you’ve just done is created a habit with potentially disastrous consequences. You’ve habituated yourself to that firewall rule not getting updated back to what it should have been.
The firewall example may or may not have consequences later on. But I imagine you can think of situations where making a change or not taking action for what may have seemed like a good reason in the moment may lead to big problems later.
My aging parents had a small firewall problem a couple of years ago. They noticed a small drip from a pipe in the bathroom. They decided it really was nothing and ignored it. After a full year and half of dripping, the problem became a black mold fiasco. We ended up having to move them out of their house because it was deemed uninhabitable by three mold experts.
Small changes that we accept or habituate to can have serious implications.
In IT, it is very easy to let things go for awhile and lose track of them—especially when you are managing multiple clients and have so many daily issues popping up.
How in the heck can you get back on track when something like this happens?
Here are 3 steps I would recommend taking in your environment and that of all of your clients:
STEP 1: Build awareness in your team.
Get them to think about what they are doing on a daily basis. Guide them to recognize when they’re making changes in environments.
STEP 2: Document changes in every environment in a way that is visible to your team.
This may be as simple as a daily huddle. We used to go through changes as one of every team member’s metrics from the day before. If you aren’t made aware of changes, your team won’t be able to help identify ones that may be problematic or have bigger implications.
STEP 3: Validate that your security is working.
If you’re not validating that your configurations and security are working, how will you know when things aren’t? One of the easiest ways to approach this is to check that everything is working and that changes are not impacting your security status. One of the easiest ways to do this within your MSP is by getting a free third-party stack review.
Developing healthy habits can empower your team, and help you take your business to higher levels.
