Microsoft 365 may hold your email, files, calendars, conversations and access to other business systems.
Despite its importance, it is often set up once and then left largely unmanaged.
Employees join and leave, licences are added, files are shared and new Teams are created. Over time, security gaps and unnecessary costs can begin to build up.
These ten checks will help you identify whether your Microsoft 365 environment needs attention.
1. Is multifactor authentication enabled?
Multifactor authentication adds another verification step when someone signs in.
It provides valuable protection when a password is stolen and should be enabled for every active user wherever possible.
Administrator accounts need particularly strong protection because they can change settings and control other users.
2. How many Global Administrators do you have?
Global Administrator is one of the most powerful roles in Microsoft 365.
It should not be assigned simply because someone occasionally needs to make a change.
Review who has this access and whether a lower-level role would be more appropriate.
Everyday email and document work should usually be completed through a standard user account rather than one with permanent administrator privileges.
3. Are former employees still active?
Disabling an email address is only one part of a proper leaver process.
You may also need to review sign-in access, active sessions, mobile devices, email forwarding, shared mailboxes, OneDrive files and Teams membership.
Former employees should not continue to consume licences or retain access to company information.
Role changes should also trigger a review, as employees may no longer need access that was appropriate in a previous position.
4. Are forwarding rules being checked?
Mailbox rules can be useful, but they can also be abused.
Someone who gains access to a mailbox may create rules that forward messages externally or hide important replies.
Unexpected forwarding rules should be investigated, and external forwarding should be controlled.
Employees should also know how to report missing messages or unusual mailbox behaviour.
5. Do you know who can access your files?
OneDrive, Teams and SharePoint make sharing information easy.
That convenience can become a problem when links are shared too widely or remain active after a project has finished.
Review files shared with personal email addresses, former suppliers, external guests and anyone who no longer needs access.
Sharing controls should protect company information without making normal collaboration unnecessarily difficult.
6. Are company devices properly managed?
Security does not stop at the Microsoft 365 login screen.
Consider the computers, phones and tablets used to access company information.
Are they encrypted? Do they receive updates? Can company data be removed if a device is lost? Is endpoint protection monitored?
The available management options will depend on your Microsoft 365 licence and technical setup.
7. Is your email protection suitable?
Email remains one of the most common ways businesses are targeted.
Your protection should help identify suspicious links, impersonation attempts, malicious attachments and unwanted messages.
Technology cannot stop everything, so employees should also be cautious about urgent payment requests, login pages and unexpected changes to supplier bank details.
Technical controls and business procedures should support each other.
8. Is important Microsoft 365 data backed up?
Microsoft 365 includes retention and recovery features, but these should not automatically be treated as a complete backup strategy.
Decide what information is critical, how long it must remain recoverable and how quickly it needs to be restored.
This may include Exchange email, OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams data.
The correct approach will depend on the needs of your business.
9. Are you paying for licences you do not need?
Licensing costs can quietly increase when nobody reviews them.
You may have licences assigned to former employees, users on unsuitable plans or several products providing the same feature.
The cheapest licence is not always the right option, but neither is the most expensive.
Each user should have the tools and security features they genuinely need.
10. Who owns Microsoft 365?
Someone needs to be responsible for reviewing accounts, licences, security settings and how information is being shared.
Without clear ownership, important tasks are easily missed because everybody assumes someone else is dealing with them.
For a small business, this responsibility can form part of a managed IT support service rather than requiring a full-time administrator.
Make Microsoft 365 work for your business
A well-managed Microsoft 365 environment can improve communication, collaboration and security.
A poorly managed one can create confused permissions, unnecessary costs and avoidable risk.
The aim is not to enable every feature. It is to configure Microsoft 365 around the way your business actually works.
Lingard IT Consultancy helps small businesses across Kent and East Surrey manage, secure and improve Microsoft 365.
We can assist with migrations, security, user management, licensing, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and ongoing support.
Book a Microsoft 365 review with Lingard IT Consultancy to identify security gaps, wasted licences and opportunities to improve the way your team works.
David Lingard
