Hey everyone! I'm about to start my first job as a systems administrator, and I'm working on a list of important questions to ask beforehand. The environment is primarily Microsoft-based, with some on-premise hardware running custom software. Here's what I've come up with so far. Am I missing anything critical? Any feedback or additional questions would be greatly appreciated!
1. What's the most critical piece of infrastructure?
2. When were the on-premise systems last patched or updated?
3. What's the setup for the employee lifecycle, including onboarding and offboarding via HR software?
4. What firewall is in use, and are there configured ACLs available?
5. What's the update cycle for internally developed software, and is there CI/CD in place? Does it run on Kubernetes or just virtual machines?
6. When were the last updates and patches done, and on which user devices?
7. How is privileged identity management set up?
8. Is conditional access configured, and for what reasons?
9. How is Microsoft Defender configured for cloud and devices?
10. What does the backup configuration look like, including frequency and restore processes?
11. Can I get the network diagrams and subnets info?
12. Is Intune utilized, and what are its policies?
13. How is the intranet used and what's stored there?
14. How is monitoring implemented, and what tools are used (like Sentinel or Grafana)?
15. Is there any documentation available for current configurations in networks, Azure, and on-prem servers?
16. Are there any Linux devices in use, and what distributions?
17. What current automations are in place?
18. Is there an inventory of all devices, and are they registered with suppliers?
19. When was the last audit, and for which standards did it cover, like ISO27001 or SOC2?
20. Are there any frequently used PowerShell scripts?
1 Answer
Looks like you're off to a great start! One important thing you might want to add is understanding the actual written policies and procedures in place, and what’s really being followed. It's crucial to know the difference between the documented processes and what’s practiced day-to-day. Just make sure to ask if any policies exist at all!
Thanks for that! I'll definitely look into it. Just to clarify, are you referring to policies that apply to clients and employees?