--- title: "Back from holidays: September's week of IT checks" description: "Workstations, backups, accounts, business Wi-Fi, licences and the 2027 budget reviewed in one week: the IT checklist for September. No-obligation proposal." language: en url: https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/september-it-checklist-after-summer/ source: https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/september-it-checklist-after-summer/ publisher: DataRoad IT (DataRoad - IT Services and Consulting), Portugal --- > Workstations, backups, accounts, business Wi-Fi, licences and the 2027 budget reviewed in one week: the IT checklist for September. No-obligation proposal. # Back from holidays: September's week of IT checks At a glance For decision-makers short on time. - 01 September brings start-up faults, failed backups and forgotten temporary accounts. - 02 One week is enough: workstations, servers, access, licences, then network and security. - 03 Test restoring a file and a mailbox before you trust the backups. - 04 Use the updated inventory to close the 2027 IT budget now. ### In this article **The first Monday of September can cost every employee a whole morning's work: laptops stuck on updates, a server that restarted in August without an alert, Wi-Fi buckling when the whole team comes back.** It is not bad luck. It is the predictable result of a month in which the IT infrastructure ran unsupervised. This back-from-holiday checklist sorts it out in a week and turns September into the starting point for the 2027 budget. ## What usually goes wrong after August? - **Failed start-ups** Laptops with flat batteries and old disks that do not survive weeks switched off. - **Silent failures** Servers restarted, disks nearly full and backups that did not run, with nobody watching the alerts. - **Forgotten access** Interns' and cover staff accounts still active, suppliers still on the VPN. - **Network under pressure** Wi-Fi that served ten people now takes fifty, plus new phones and laptops. - **Phantom costs** Summer licences and subscriptions that keep being billed. ## Monday: how do you prepare workstations before the team arrives? Switch them on the day before the return. A month idle piles up Windows, Office and antivirus patches; ideally they install and restart out of hours, so nobody is left staring at a progress bar. Roll updates out in batches, never across the whole estate on the same night: if a patch causes trouble, it stays confined to one group. Check laptop batteries and keep an eye on the oldest disks. Any workstations still on Windows 10? [Microsoft support ended in October 2025](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/windows-10-end-of-support-migration-plan/): now is the moment to replace them. ## Tuesday: do August's backups actually restore? Only a test will tell. Start with the servers: pending patches, restarts waiting, August logs with ignored warnings or disk space running out. Then the backups. No alerts proves nothing, it may simply mean the alerts reached nobody. Open the backup software, check every day of the month and restore, as proof, one file and one mailbox. See how a [managed backup with restore testing](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-backup-services-portugal/) works. ## Wednesday: who still has access they should not? Cross-check the list of active users against September's actual staff and close the gap the same day. - **Temporary staff** Interns and holiday cover deactivated. - **Permissions** Temporary access to folders and management software revoked. - **Third parties** VPNs for suppliers who worked over the summer closed. - **Second factor** Confirmed on every account, paying attention to those opened in a hurry before the summer. More in [MFA for businesses](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/mfa-business-14-day-plan/). ## Thursday: how much are you paying for licences nobody uses? Do the count: Microsoft 365 licences on closed accounts, services subscribed "for the summer" still active, contracts renewing automatically in October or November that can still be renegotiated. This inventory is the raw material for the budget. The 2027 budget is decided between September and October, and it is worth listing now what reaches end of life (Windows Server 2016 in January, equipment out of warranty, contracts), what growth will demand and what can move to a fixed cost. It is not too early: replacing servers and equipment requires lead times and migration windows months in advance. Details in [how to build your 2027 IT budget](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/it-budget-2027-managed-services-fixed-cost/). ## Friday: can the network handle the full team? Test it at the end of the week, with everyone back, to measure the real load. If there were Wi-Fi complaints in June, they will return; a coverage study fixes the cause. See [why business Wi-Fi fails](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/unstable-business-wifi-coverage-study/). And if the company got through the summer on a single internet connection, it was lucky, it did not have redundancy. Finish with security. In summer, phishing exploits reduced teams and hurried cover staff. Review the suspicious messages received, update the firewall firmware and signatures (subscriptions lapse without warning) and schedule awareness training for the second half of the month. Starting point: the [cybersecurity checklist for Portuguese SMEs](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-cybersecurity-smes-9-defences/). ## Which procedures should you write down now? Two, at a minimum. Joiners: whoever starts in September has an account, equipment and access ready on day one, not at the end of the week. Leavers: whoever left in August has their account disabled and their equipment collected and checked. Both are part of the [7 internal cybersecurity policies](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/seven-cybersecurity-policies-every-company/) recommended for any company. ## What if this checklist were not needed? For DataRoad - IT Services and Consulting's [IT Unlimited](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/managed-it-services/) clients, almost none of this waits for September. Patches are applied in planned windows, licences appear in the monthly report and, on the Premium 365 plan, [24/7 NOC monitoring](https://www.dataroad-it.com/en/noc-it-monitoring-portugal/) flags the restarted server or the failed backup in the middle of August. In September, the only meeting is about the plan for 2027. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do devices really fail more after the holidays? Yes. Laptops with drained batteries and old disks fail more often at start-up after weeks unused, and accumulated updates bring hidden problems to the surface. ### Is it safe to install all the updates at once? Yes, as long as it is out of hours and in batches of workstations. That way a faulty patch affects one group, not the whole company. ### What is the reliable way to validate summer backups? Read the backup software log day by day and restore, as a test, one file and one mailbox. Without a restore, there is no proof. ### Is there still time to plan the 2027 budget? There is. September and October are precisely the right months, because renewing servers and equipment takes months of preparation. ## Next step: the checklist done by us We review each point with your team, resolve whatever is overdue and deliver in writing what should go into the 2027 budget. No-commitment proposal. **More than 10 workstations · support contract · remote, on-site and telephone support.** Call +351 211 459 950 * or write to sales@dataroad.pt. **Call to a Portuguese landline.* Chosen by respected and international companies ★★★★★ 5,0 · 52 Google reviews ★★★★★ 5,0 · 52 Google reviews DataRoad ## Related articles [IT UnlimitedHow to measure the quality of your IT provider’s supportAlmost every IT provider says it responds quickly. Few show how they measure it. 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