Question: ๐—ช๐—ต๐˜† ๐——๐—ผ ๐—œ๐—ง ๐—ง๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—บ๐˜€ ๐—›๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—˜๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—•๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ข๐—ป๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ก๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐—–๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐˜€?

Is it fear of upsetting the status quo or “rocking the boat”? Too often, I see critical issues being overlooked during client onboarding, such as:

โ€ข ๐—ข๐—น๐—ฑ ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ lingering in M365, left active long after they’ve left the companyโ€”sometimes account which existed well before the IT firm took over.
โ€ข ๐—ข๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฑ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€ remaining in use, posing security risks and inefficiencies.
โ€ข ๐—จ๐—ป๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ธ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐˜€ purchased without IT’s knowledge, never making it into the Mobile Device Management (MDM) system.
โ€ข ๐—œ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜€๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€, where some users have MFA enforced while others do not, leaving gaps in protection.
โ€ข ๐—–๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ from the previous IT firm not reviewed, potentially leaving outdated or insecure settings in place.
โ€ข ๐—ฃ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐˜€ ๐—œ๐—ง ๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ not removed from the environment, creating unnecessary vulnerabilities and clutter.

These scenarios are disheartening, and these only scratch the surface. ๐Ÿ˜”

๐—”๐—ฑ๐˜ƒ๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐—œ๐—ง ๐—™๐—ถ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐˜€:
Your clients have chosen you for your expertiseโ€”now’s the time to show it. Step up, communicate clearly, and implement a structured plan to align the clientโ€™s environment with your standard processes.

Remember:
โ€ข Your client won’t leave you for taking charge and improving their infrastructure.
โ€ข If they do, they likely weren’t the right fit and could have led to bigger challenges down the road.

Stand firm in your role as experts and make the tough calls when needed. Your proactive approach will pay off in the long run.

๐—ช๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฑ๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ธ?
Why do you believe IT teams sometimes hesitate to step up during client onboarding? What are some of the other critical areas that IT might overlook in these transitions? What conversations around roles and responsibilities should be happening during this process? Iโ€™d love to hear your thoughts and experiences!