Do your employees need administrator access?

Should your receptionist have administrator access? If you own a business in Lawton, Duncan or across Southwest Oklahoma, here is a good question to ask: Does this person need to make changes to the computer, or do they just need to use it?

Your receptionist needs to answer emails, manage appointments and help customers. A standard user account should be the starting point for that work. The same goes for your managers, accounting staff and you as the owner.

What is administrator access?

Administrator access allows someone to make changes that affect the whole computer. That includes installing programs for everyone who uses it, adding user accounts and changing certain security settings.

A standard user account lets employees do their daily work without giving them control over all those settings. For example, your receptionist can use the scheduling software but needs administrator approval to install a new program for everyone on that computer.

Think about the keys to your building. Someone who needs access to the front office does not automatically need a key to every locked room. Computer access should work the same way.

Why does it matter?

If an employee opens a harmful program with administrator access, that program can gain permission to make changes throughout the computer. Limiting that access helps limit what the program can do. Microsoft’s guidance on administrator access explains this principle.

You can trust an employee and still limit what their account can change. People make mistakes. Your security plan needs to account for that.

Account permissions are one part of that plan, along with updates, security software, employee training and backups.

What if an employee needs to install something?

They need a clear way to ask for help.

Before changing anyone’s access, your IT partner should check the programs your employees use and make sure they can still do their jobs. Then explain how to request a new program or get help when the computer asks for administrator approval.

Employees should know who to contact and how long they can expect to wait. An approval process needs to work during a busy day, when someone has a customer waiting.

The goal is to keep people working while controlling what changes on your company’s computers.

What about the business owner?

The same approach applies to you. Use a standard user account for email, browsing and everyday work. If you need administrator access, use a separate account for those tasks.

You still own the business and decide what happens. Your everyday account just does not need permission to change everything on the computer.

What should you do next?

Ask your IT partner who has administrator access and why they need it. Have them check whether each person needs that access for their work.

Before they remove it, make sure they test the programs your team relies on. Afterward, check with employees to confirm they can do their jobs and get help when they need it.

At Wolferdawg IT Consulting, we help you make these decisions as part of your managed IT services and cybersecurity. If you are unsure who has administrator access in your business, give us a call. We can help.