Christmas shutdown IT checklist

A Christmas shutdown is the one time of year the office is empty for a week or more. That makes it a good time for some IT jobs, and a bad time for a problem nobody notices until January. Work through this list in the week before you close.

Tell people you are closed

1. Update your Google Business Profile hours. Google lets you set special hours for specific dates, so searchers see you are closed instead of finding a ringing phone.

2. Update your website and social pages. A line on your contact page and a short post on Facebook or LinkedIn with your closing and reopening dates.

3. Set an email auto-reply. Say when you close, when you reopen, and who to contact for anything urgent. Set it on shared mailboxes (accounts@, info@) as well as personal ones.

4. Update your phone system. Change the after-hours message and opening hours for the break, and check where calls go. Test it by calling your own number from a mobile.

5. Add a line to your email signature. A short “Closed 24 December to 5 January” in the signature catches people who email you in early December.

Protect the systems

6. Check your backups have been working, and test one. A backup report that says “success” is not the same as a file you have restored. Restore one file or folder and open it.

7. Check the UPS. If your server or network gear sits on a battery backup, check it is not showing a fault. Summer storms and power drops are common over the break.

8. Shut down what does not need to run. Turn off computers, screens and printers that do not need to be on. Leave anything your IT provider needs on for updates or backups, and ask if you are unsure.

9. Test remote access before you need it. If anyone will work from home over the break, have them sign in remotely before the office closes, not on 27 December.

Make sure your IT provider can reach you

10. Tell your IT provider your closure dates. So they know an alert from your office on 28 December is unusual, and when maintenance can safely run.

11. Give them an after-hours contact. Someone who can be reached if something urgent comes up: a break-in, a power failure, a security alert.

12. Agree what counts as urgent. A failed backup can wait until you reopen. A suspected security incident cannot.

Our Christmas hours

Interwise IT is closed on Queensland public holidays, and this year’s closure dates are on our support page. Over the break, requests are logged and triaged by urgency, and urgent issues for clients are handled as their agreement sets out.

If you would like help ticking off any of these, call us on 1800 468 379 or book a meeting before the break.