Operations

Is Your IT "Normal"?

A quick self-assessment to understand whether your technology setup is healthy, stretched, or quietly risky.

Most IT problems don't feel dramatic.

They show up as slow mornings, recurring small issues, or one person who holds all the answers. This assessment helps you sense-check whether what you're experiencing is typical, or a sign it's time to adjust.

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Marc Vaccaro
Jul 09 · 6 min read

Written for operations leaders who want clarity without diving into tools or vendor jargon.

How to use this assessment

Read each section and note which description feels closest to your environment. You don't need to be perfect patterns matter more than individual answers.

Support & Day-to-Day Issues
Healthy signal

Most issues are resolved quickly, recurring problems are documented, and users know where to go for help.

Common red flag

The same issues reappear monthly, fixes feel temporary, and support depends on a single person's memory.

Security & Access
Healthy signal

MFA is enforced, access is reviewed occasionally, and former employees are fully offboarded.

Common red flag

Shared accounts exist, no one is fully sure who has admin access, and security settings haven't been revisited in years.

Backups & Recovery
Healthy signal

Backups are monitored and restores have been tested within the last 90 days.

Common red flag

Backups "exist," but no one has actually restored data recently or knows how long recovery would take.

Planning & Visibility
Healthy signal

Hardware lifecycles, licensing, and upcoming projects are discussed before they become urgent.

Common red flag

Replacements and upgrades happen reactively, usually triggered by failure or surprise costs.

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Photo Credit: Unsplash

How to interpret your results

Seeing one or two red flags is normal especially during growth. What matters is whether issues are isolated or showing up across multiple areas.

When several red flags cluster together, IT tends to shift from being a support function into a bottleneck. That's usually the point where proactive planning starts paying off.

If this felt familiar

This assessment isn't about judging your setup it's about understanding it. Many teams reach this stage simply by growing faster than their original IT approach.


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Optional next step

If you want a second opinion, a short IT health review can help confirm priorities and reduce uncertainty.

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