Don’t Panic! What to do When Your IT Guy Leaves

IT employees play an important role in any business, which is why it can cause a moment of panic if they decide to leave the company. 

The maintenance of networks, security and hardware specific to the safe and smooth running of your business is vital. This can make it challenging when they leave, as IT is a very specialist role. 

If you find yourself in this position, here are 4 important things you can do to keep your business running while you find a solution. 

#1 Schedule a Hand Over 

If you are in the fortunate position where the employee has handed in their notice and there are a few weeks before they leave, it is important to schedule a handover. 

A handover allows you to sit with the employee (on multiple occasions if necessary) to learn as much as you can about their role, their work, previous issues and fixes, ongoing issues, software licenses, encryption and license keys, hardware warranties, security upgrades and more. This will help you to understand what needs to happen when they leave. 

You can ensure that all loose ends are tied up and as there is inevitably going to be a lot to learn, you may even ask the employee to create handover worksheets and make to-do lists that can be kept for reference. This will make it easier for anyone to step in and continue the work that needs completing. Make sure that you can locate important information, documents, systems, and passwords. 

This can be especially difficult if your IT employee leaves without notice. Try to get as much information as possible before they leave, and then learn as much of the basics as you can. 

#2 Learn the Basics to Keep Things Ticking 

It is vital that your business runs securely, and smoothly. Whether your employees work their notice or leaves immediately, you must learn the basic IT tasks that will keep business running as usual, and your infrastructure secure. This may take a little time and dedication but will be much less costly than a data breach. This will help you to keep things ticking over before a replacement comes in, inform the replacement but also comes in handy when your next IT employee goes on leave. 

#3 Remove Their Access

It’s nothing personal, but for the safety of your business and sensitive information, the former employee’s access must be revoked immediately after departing the company from all systems and access points. Their passwords should also be changed, and any phones/emails should be forwarded to the relevant parties.

#4 Take Preventative Action 

Consider hiring a managed service provider to help you run and control your IT infrastructure securely and efficiently. Not only will this reduce the cost of a full-time employee, but also helps prevent having to learn and train replacement employees as they come and go. 

Managed service providers are specialists in their field, who have the tools and experience to work with your business, have the means to scale with you, and will be able to take over all the tasks from your former employee. 

IT services will keep your software and hardware up-to-date and free from viruses, keep sensitive data secure, keep your data backup safe, create a custom strategy for your business, and monitor and support your business 24/7. 

If your IT employee suddenly decides to leave, there is no need to fret. There are many ways you can keep your business safe and secure.