I moved into IT about a year and a half ago after working in back-office operations for U.S. broker-dealers. IT has been a personal interest since I was young, and I initially learned quickly under a senior administrator with more than 30 years of experience. I advanced from basic desktop support and helpdesk work into networking and ERP administration within my first month.
That senior employee recently left after being pushed out by leadership, and I am now the only IT resource for the company. I handle helpdesk, systems administration, networking, ERP support, budgeting, and essentially every technology-related responsibility. Despite that scope, I am still earning entry-level helpdesk pay and only have a CompTIA A+ certification.
Our environment includes hybrid Active Directory, Azure, on-premises systems, remote employees, VMware vSphere hosts without centralized vCenter management, and older virtual machines that support critical shipping and reporting functions. We have no mobile device management, remote users do not consistently receive on-premises Group Policy updates, and our shipping servers lack an automated backup system. Some systems are old enough that compatibility with current operating systems and shipping software is becoming a concern.
I need practical guidance on prioritizing risks and building a plan. Backups and restore testing are probably the most urgent issues, but I do not know how to approach designing or implementing a backup strategy. I would also appreciate reliable training resources for Azure, Entra ID, Intune, VMware administration, security basics, and general infrastructure management. I am trying to keep the company running, but the workload and lack of support are becoming overwhelming. I would prefer to improve the situation rather than leave immediately, provided the company is willing to address the risks and workload.
4 Answers
Check what Microsoft licenses the company already owns. Business Premium or certain enterprise plans may provide access to Intune and additional security features, while basic Business Standard licenses generally will not cover the full endpoint-management setup. Even if only a few employees have higher-tier licenses, verify the exact entitlements before planning around them.
For learning, use Microsoft Learn for Azure, Entra ID, and Intune, and build a small test environment before changing production. Importing or recreating existing Group Policy settings in a cloud-management platform can be done gradually, but it should not be treated as a quick migration. Remote employees and device enrollment are good candidates for an initial pilot.
You should seriously consider looking for another job while continuing to document and improve what you can. The experience is valuable, but companies often normalize an underpaid employee carrying an entire IT department, especially when that person keeps the fires contained.
Ask directly whether leadership intends to hire help, fund outside assistance, and adjust your compensation to match the role. If the answer is no, limit your work to what your pay and staffing support, keep the environment reasonably stable, and maintain a written record of risks and recommendations. Update your resume with measurable accomplishments such as infrastructure projects, virtualization administration, identity management, disaster-recovery work, and business systems support. Do not wait for the company to give you an ultimatum before preparing to leave.
Your biggest problem is not having only 18 months of experience; it is that the company has made one relatively junior employee responsible for an entire business-critical environment. Start with risk instead of trying to learn every Azure feature at once.
Inventory the systems and processes that would stop shipping or operations if they failed. For each one, document dependencies, recovery requirements, current backups, and what would happen if it disappeared tomorrow. Put the risks and recommended fixes in writing to management. Prioritize reliable backups and restore testing, then identity and access, patching, endpoint management, monitoring, and documentation. Only after that should you tackle larger cleanup projects such as hybrid identity and virtualization changes.
Most importantly, do not silently accept personal responsibility for years of technical debt. Make management acknowledge the risks, required budget, and recovery priorities. You inherited an environment previously supported by a veteran administrator, so it is unreasonable to expect you to replace that experience instantly.
That makes sense. Backups are clearly the most urgent issue, but I am not sure how to design the process. I found that Veeam Community Edition might cover our small number of important virtual machines. I would really like a conceptual guide for setting up backups, testing restores, and deciding what needs to be protected first.
Treat this as a business continuity project. Begin by identifying the systems required for shipping, order processing, reporting, authentication, and network access. Establish recovery priorities and make sure backups are separate from the production environment, protected from accidental deletion or ransomware, and tested through actual restores. A backup that has never been restored is only an assumption.
Document every problem in terms management understands: downtime, lost shipments, lost revenue, compliance exposure, or recovery cost. Then provide a rough proposal for a backup platform, storage, implementation time, and ongoing maintenance. A vendor or value-added reseller may be able to help scope this, and Microsoft Learn is a useful starting point for Azure and Entra ID. The CIS Controls are also a good framework for building a broader security and infrastructure checklist.
Do not try to fix everything at once. Build a prioritized plan, get written approval for the risks and costs, and avoid making yourself the invisible safety net for unsupported systems.
Unfortunately, most employees only have Business Standard, and there is very little budget for contractors or new tools. I will check the existing license assignments carefully, but larger purchases require approval.