For many MSPs, preparing for an IT audit can be time-intensive, with techs having to gather data from multiple sources to cover all bases from active users to security licenses. To save time and streamline what can be a painfully manual process, many MSPs are turning to automation to free up tech time and standardize reporting procedures.
We sat down with Liongard Sales Engineer Scott Davis to talk about how automation can help MSPs get through their current IT audit or proactively prepare for their next one.
Q: What should MSPs focus on when they’re preparing for an IT audit?
I’d say there are six main areas to focus on when you’re preparing for an audit:
Permissions
- How many active employees are there?
- Do old or terminated employees still have systems access?
Data Access
- Are passwords regularly being updated?
- Are employees following password policy?
- Are data backups working properly?
- Are vendor agreements aligned to security policy?
Security
- Have there been any recent breaches?
- Are all licenses up-to-date?
- Is MFA enabled in systems that support it?
- Is single sign on (SSO) enabled in systems that support it?
Patching
- Are all patches up-to-date?
- When were they installed?
Firmware
- Are all systems running the most current versions?
Licensing
- Are all software and device licenses current?
- Are you tracking expirations?
Q: How does Liongard help prepare for an IT audit?
Our Inspectors go out and pull all of this systems data in and aggregate it into one place, so that MSPs can have one view with all of this important information. For example, we pull licensing from across all systems—switches, firewalls, basically any device that has a license tied to it, we’re able to pull that information into our platform so MSPs can see it all in one place instead of having to use multiple different tools or apps to get the data.
Q: How can MSPs prepare for (and ace!) their next IT audit?
There are three things Liongard does for MSPs that they might not currently be able to do.
- With Liongard you can create best-practice workflows and Actionable Alerts for what matters to you as an MSP. We know that every MSP has different thresholds and priorities, and with our platform you’re able to customize your alerts so you can focus your attention where it’s needed. It’s going to give you that daily notification that something isn’t matching what you would expect to see if you were performing an audit today.
- We can do reporting for you. With Reports, you can run pre-built reports at any time and it’s going to give you a breakdown where things are not meeting expectations that you, as the MSP, have set and you can take action. You can also share these reports with the customer so they can see that data as part of the audit.
- Another thing Liongard does that’s unique is that we let you go back up to 18 months with your data. It allows you to really see what has changed and how your MSP has improved performance in security and other aspects. This is a great way to let you highlight your accomplishments over the past year with your customer and make sure you’re aligned on future projects, budgets and resource needs.
It All Starts with Data
Want to learn more about how your MSP can get full visibility across systems, all in one place? Schedule a personalized platform walk-through today.
Scott Davis is a sales engineer at Liongard. Read more guest blogs from Liongard here.
