We know you’ve set your own personal new year’s resolutions (haven’t you?) — but what about your business resolutions for the new year?
The same principles apply: it’s good to think about the big picture, but to make sure your resolutions don’t fall by the wayside, make them specific, relevant, and actionable.
Here are some suggestions … from an IT point of view:
Resolution #1
Finalize and distribute your business continuity plan in Q3
Business continuity planning is a survival guide for your revenue stream, detailing how your team will communicate and continue working through disruptions like natural disasters, cyberattacks, or power outages. A finalized plan minimizes downtime so clients and customers never feel the impact of internal issues.
Get started:
- Identify critical functions: List the 3-5 business functions that are absolutely essential for revenue generation and client service (e.g., sales processing, client support communication, data backup).
- Assign a BCP lead and team: Nominate a project manager to lead the effort and create a small, cross-functional team (e.g., IT, Operations, HR) to contribute to the plan’s development.
- Conduct a risk assessment: Brainstorm and document the most probable threats to your business based on your location and industry (e.g., regional power grid failure, major server outage, key staff illness).
Resolution #2
Initiate mandatory monthly security awareness training for all staff by March 1
Staff are the frontline of defence and should act as a sophisticated human firewall to keep malicious actors at bay. Short, engaging training sessions that teach your team how to identify and avoid falling prey to phishing emails, social engineering scams, and other threats can stop attacks before they ever require a technical intervention.
Get started:
- Define a training cadence: Commit to a frequency for training (e.g., monthly 15-minute micro-learnings or quarterly hour-long workshops).
- Identify a training platform/tool: Decide how the training will be delivered (e.g., in-person meeting, dedicated security training vendor, or existing platform).
Resolution #3
Centralize all critical business data into secure, managed repositories by the end of Q2
Critical business data must be owned and managed by the organization. If data lives on individual laptops, individual cloud storage accounts, or random USB drives, you are one spilled coffee or lost device away from a crisis. Centralized, secure, and backed-up data repositories ensure everyone has access to the correct, most up-to-date versions of files and prevents data loss due to lost or damaged individual devices.
Get started:
- Audit current data storage: Identify where critical business data currently resides (laptops, personal clouds, servers, etc.).
- Select a centralized solution: Choose a secure, business-grade cloud storage and collaboration platform (e.g., Google Drive, Microsoft SharePoint) that meets your security and compliance needs.
- Assign a lead to migrate data: Pick a project manager to work with your IT team for non-disruptive data migration.
Resolution #4
Implement unified identity and workstation management by April
Managing who has access to what, and ensuring their computers are updated and secured can become a logistical nightmare without proper tools for managing both user identities and computer hardware. Streamline onboarding and offboarding, ensuring new hires are productive on day one and that former employees’ access is revoked immediately upon termination.
Get started:
- Define ideal outcomes: Document the requirements for a unified, automated onboarding/offboarding process.
- Research solutions: Watch demos of 2-3 integrated platforms that meet the defined requirements.
- Select an IT partner: Work with someone you trust to navigate implementation and security.
Resolution #5
Distribute an internal AI usage policy in January
Employees are likely already using various AI tools to draft emails or analyze data, but are they accidentally feeding those models confidential or sensitive information? While you don’t want to stifle innovation, you must have a clear policy on which data is safe to share with AI tools and which tools the organization has licensed for team use. Having guardrails can encourage productivity while keeping proprietary data confidential.
Get started:
- Conduct an AI tool audit: Create a list of all AI tools currently used by employees and indicate which tools the organization has licensed.
- Draft a data sharing policy: Define clear guidelines for what constitutes confidential or sensitive data and which categories of data are prohibited from being shared with any unlicensed AI tool.
- Solicit feedback: Allow colleagues to contribute suggestions to the policy based on how they are using AI tools to encourage relevance and compliance.
Resolution #6
Complete a SaaS audit — and cancel all unused subscriptions — by the end of Q2
Everything is a subscription these days, and accumulating monthly software subscriptions that no one is aware of or perhaps are not even being used can silently and significantly drain your budget. Auditing tool usage and subscriptions helps align the tools you’re paying for with what your team is actually using. Canceling “zombie” subscriptions puts that cash directly back into your bottom line.
Get started:
- Generate a comprehensive list: Start with credit card and bank statements to find all recurring charges.
- Ask department heads to review: Get feedback from users to determine what services are actually used and needed.
- Set a deadline for feedback: Ensure the project moves forward to stick to your Q2 goal.
Resolution #7
Establish a 4-year hardware replacement schedule for all employee workstations for your next FY budget
A standardized replacement schedule helps keep your team running at full speed. Holding computers for “one more year” to save money is often counterproductive when you calculate the cost of employee downtime and frustration. Planned, scheduled replacement prevents unpredictable emergency capital expenses from unexpected hardware failure and saves money by minimizing employee downtime and frustration with old equipment.
Get started:
- Audit current hardware inventory: Catalog all computers in use, noting the purchase date and current user for each.
- Create a budget forecast: Use the inventory and defined cycle to project the expected capital expense for replacements in the coming year.
It goes without saying — these are all topics we collaborate on regularly with our clients. Let us know if you want to discuss how your organization might prioritize, budget for, and implement any (or all!) of these in 2026.
Happy new year!