GUIDES AND ASSESSMENTS
IT Resources
Practical reference points for understanding an IT problem, preparing a decision and choosing the next useful review.
Start with the situation closest to yours. Each group leads to a practical guide or a bounded assessment.
Access, ownership and provider change
When responsibilities, access or an IT provider are changing hands, start by clarifying what the business must continue to control.
Guide
Changing IT providers
Twelve warning signs, a transition inventory and mistakes to avoid before access is revoked.
See the transition guideAccess
Employee leaving: the access checklist
A practical checklist to remove access, preserve data and transfer ownership.
Review access changesAssessment
IT provider second opinion
An independent review before deciding whether a correction, project or transition is needed.
See the second opinionEmail and Microsoft 365
For account, messaging, sign-in and sending-service questions, these references help separate the symptom from the cause.
Guide
Microsoft 365 security baseline
Ten practical controls for identity, devices, sharing, logging and recovery.
Read the Microsoft 365 baselineGuide
Is classic Outlook going away?
Test add-ins, archives, shared mailboxes and workflows before a change.
Read Outlook readinessWhy company email goes to spam
Review SPF, DKIM, DMARC and sending services before tightening the domain policy.
Understand the email problemTechnical assessment
Microsoft 365 and Quebec Law 25 support
A technical review bounded by licensing, configuration and examined evidence — not legal advice or certification.
See the Microsoft 365 assessmentGuide
Microsoft Project: subscription or one-time purchase
Compare Project 2024, Planner and Plan 3 before adding a licence to your organization.
Compare the optionsBackup and continuity
When a file, mailbox or server may be unavailable, separate a copy being produced from recovery that has actually been demonstrated.
Guide
Test backup restoration
What a useful exercise should verify: access, recovery points, dependencies and observed results.
Read the restore-testing guideContinuity
If email or the server stop tomorrow
Connect business activities, dependencies, acceptable downtime and recovery evidence.
Prepare for continuityRecovery assessment
Backup and recovery readiness
An agreed scope, approved samples and conclusions limited to restores actually tested.
See the recovery auditLifecycle and upcoming decisions
For a support deadline, migration or replacement, bring roles, dependencies and options together before choosing a sequence.
Lifecycle
Windows Server 2016 before January 2027
Review roles, applications, backups and dependencies before extended support ends.
Read about Windows Server 2016Lifecycle
Windows 10 after end of support
Compare upgrade, replacement and temporary measures based on hardware and applications.
Plan the Windows 10 decisionLifecycle
SQL Server 2016 is out of support
Find dependent databases and applications, then compare migration, modernization and eligible options.
Review the SQL Server optionsLifecycle
Microsoft support deadlines 2026–2027
Bring support dates, dependencies and decisions together in a useful lifecycle plan.
See the support deadlines