For managed (FLEX) customers the proactive maintenance tasks will be logged as a case and emailed to the customer contact giving them an opportunity to cancel the maintenance or request certain tasks to not be performed. We strongly recommend proactive maintenance as it is an important step to minimise downtime and improve the performance and security of your IT systems.

The amount of time required to complete the tasks below can vary, but for most customers the case will be completed in under two hours. Most tasks do not require any outages or end user involvement, however depending on the equipment used, there may be some short outages as devices are rebooted. If an outage is required, the service team will schedule this with you within the case. 

Below is a breakdown of the proactive maintenance tasks that our Service team performs during maintenance every time, as well as the different tasks performed each quarter. 

Every Time:

• Review case log to identify recurring issues and determine how they can be addressed/resolved to prevent reoccurrence.
• Check licenses to ensure they are the right type and all assigned correctly. Identify any over/under-assigned licenses and any licenses not purchased through us (these should have a scheduled task created).
• Manually check the array status of servers/NAS.
• Manually verify that backups are completing and being monitored.
• Generate and send the customer an up-to-date compliance report.
• Create assets for any managed devices that do not have an agent (e.g., switch, NAS).

Q1: Data Management

• Perform a test restore from the backup environment.
• Create and/or update the backup object in Dynamics.
• Verify that all data is included in the backups and that they are encrypted, offsite, and have suitable retention.
• Review data structure, organisation, and permissions to identify potential improvements.
• Review domain names, websites, and DNS locations.
• Review and update KB articles. Determine if manual steps can be automated for device/user setup.
• Manually review minimum standards (Data Management, Backups/DR).

Q2: Security & Risk Management

• Rotate local admin passwords.
• Complete an up-to-date security assessment.
• Review sign-in logs and conditional access logs in Entra ID/Google Identity.
• Review security score recommendations and create a new case if these need to be implemented.
• Ask the Primary Contact to confirm the list of active/licensed users and identify any that need to be disabled.
• Confirm if any shared mailboxes from previous users can be removed.
• Manually review minimum standards (Antivirus, Identity/Password, Policy/Procedures).

Q3: Device Management 

• Check installed software/OS to ensure it is all up-to-date and identify any software going EOL. Recommend applications that should be used. 

• Review Windows updates compliance. 

• Check Antivirus auto-deployment settings in NinjaOne & Deployment. 

• Review SOE and device setup KBs/scripts. 

• Review device authentication methods. 

• Check compliance reports/assets to identify any missing assets and organie agent installation. 

• Manually review minimum standards (Device Management, Training/Education, Business Systems). 

Q4: Resource Management / Network 

• Manually back up switch and firewall/router configurations (skip consumer devices or devices we do not have access to). 

• Upgrade switch/router/firewall firmware. 

• Rotate WiFi SSID/password. 

• Check the last onsite network checks (cables/free ports/tidy/photos). 

• Schedule an onsite review of network/equipment/UPS if we have not been onsite in the last 12 months. 

• Conduct a lite penetration test. 

• Perform a network scan for unknown devices. 

• Create additional network monitors. 

• Perform a WiFi scan for unknown devices. 

• Create and/or update the network diagram. 

• Manually review minimum standards (Networking, Email).