Christmas holidays to-do list (for IT!)

Everyone makes to-do lists when they’re going away. Things to pack, things to switch off, mail to redirect, food to clean out of the fridge, you name it. But one thing people often forget (businesses included) is how to prepare your IT equipment and related infrastructure for your holiday closure period.

Below I’ve listed a few tips that I use when preparing to go on holidays, both at home and at work, that can help you ensure that your holiday period isn’t tainted by an IT gremlin when you get back.

• Switch off and unplug any non-essential infrastructure. If you aren’t using your desktops, printers, copiers, etc. while you’re away then switch them off and unplug them from the wall. This not only saves you a smidge on your power bill but also ensures that no rogue storm shorts out any of your IT gear (Pasha Bulker weekend anyone?)
• Make sure you set your email out of office auto-reply so that anyone who emails you over the Christmas period knows that you’re un-contactable, and more importantly, who to contact if it’s urgent.
  • Alternatively, you can temporarily divert your emails during this period if you don’t want to be disturbed while you’re away or if someone is scheduled to monitor and respond to incoming emails.
  • For those of you with iPhones, you can go into Settings > Mail, Contacts & Calendars and toggle off your work email account – this won’t delete the account from your phone, and it won’t stop anyone emailing your account, it will just temporarily stop them coming to your phone (great if you don’t want to be disturbed if you’re like me and can’t help but check every new email you receive) – just remember to toggle it back on when you get back!
• If you’re a business owner or have access to the premises after hours, drop by the office the day before it re-opens, or start an hour or two early on the first day back, to make sure all your servers/network/power/etc. is all running as expected. Nothing worse than dead IT systems first day back from holidays.
  • Be sure to check your charge levels on your server’s UPS if you have one, if it’s gone dead during the shutdown period make sure it charges back to full correctly, if it doesn’t it could be an indicator that it’s on its last legs.
• Chargers! How many times have you, or someone you know, gone on holidays and forgotten your mobile phone charger? Same applies for iPads/Android tablets, iPods, Laptops, Cameras, PDAs, etc. make sure you take the appropriate charger(s) for your IT gear.
• It’s always good to include a holiday message in your email footers and also on your website if you have one so your clients and customers know when you’ll be closed. Additionally, if you do a lot of business-to-business commerce, try to find out when other businesses you interact with regularly are closed over the holiday period – it can save you a lot of time and hassle knowing beforehand when your partners/clients/etc. are back and available in the new year.

That’s about all from me, so let me wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year’s holiday period and I hope everything goes well (and that the gremlins stay away.)

Chris O'Hare

I.T. Consultant

Chris is a senior I.T. & Online Consultant. His areas of expertise include social media marketing, website development and search engine optimisation. Chris' commitment to client satisfaction is evident from positive customer feedback and a strong rapport with his portfolio of clients.

Chris holds a Bachelor of Information Technology (Business Information Systems Major) degree from The University of Newcastle and is currently working towards his MCITP: Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server 2008 certification.

Contact Chris directly by emailing chris.ohare@myrtec.com.au