A Backup for Your IT Person: Vacations, New Jobs and Sudden Exits

In many small businesses, all the IT knowledge lives with one person. They know the admin passwords, which cupboard the firewall is in, why that one computer can't be updated, and who to call when the internet goes down. They're often very good at it. And they're a single point of failure.

That stays invisible until they go on vacation, take a new job, get sick, or quit with two weeks' notice, or none. Then the business finds out how much depended on one person's memory.

The questions to ask today

If your IT person were unreachable tomorrow, could someone else:

• Sign in as an administrator to Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace?
• Get into the firewall, the Wi-Fi controller and any server?
• Find out which vendors you use and how to reach them?
• Restore a deleted file, or a whole system, from backup?
• Renew the domain name before it expires?
• Add a new starter and remove a leaver?

Every "no" is a risk the business is carrying without knowing it. None of these are criticisms of your IT person. They are gaps in how the business has set things up.

Step 1: Put the keys in the company's hands

• Admin accounts should be in the company's name, on company email addresses, not anyone's personal account.
• Store passwords, recovery codes and licence keys in a business password manager, with at least two people (one of them senior and non-technical, if need be) able to get at the emergency entries.
• Make sure the domain registrar, DNS and key cloud subscriptions have a second contact who isn't the IT person.

Step 2: Write it down

It doesn't need to be a manual. A short, current set of documents covers most of it:

• A one-page overview of the network, the internet connection and where the equipment is
• A list of systems, what they do, and how they're backed up
• A vendor list with account numbers, contacts and renewal dates
• How-tos for the routine jobs: new starter, leaver, password reset, restore a file

The best time to write this is with your IT person, while they're there and not under pressure. Give them the time to do it: it protects them from being called on vacation, too.

Step 3: Arrange cover before you need it

Documentation tells someone what to do. You also need someone who can do it. The usual options:

• A second person inside the business trained on the basics. This works for simple tasks, but rarely for a firewall problem or a failed server.
• An outside provider on standby, who has already seen your setup, has their own accounts, and has agreed support hours and response times in writing. This is often called co-managed IT: your IT person stays in charge, and the provider covers holidays, overflow, specialist work and emergencies.
• Calling someone in a crisis, which is the most expensive way to do it. A stranger has to learn your environment while it's broken.

When your IT person leaves

If they resign, use the notice period well:

• Agree a handover list on day one: documentation, passwords moved into the company password manager, open projects.
• Have the person taking over (a new hire or a provider) shadow them for as much of the notice period as possible.
• On their last day, change the passwords they knew and remove their admin access, as you would for anyone else. It's good practice, not a judgment.

If they leave without notice, start with access: secure the admin accounts and the domain, then confirm backups are working, then rebuild the documentation as you go.

The goal: nobody is irreplaceable

A good IT person is valuable. The aim isn't to replace them. It's to make sure the business keeps running when they're away, and that they can take a real vacation. The same steps also make it far easier to bring in help, change providers or hire again later.