Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are essential for any organization, especially for MSPs. These documents define the workflows and frameworks that guide your operations. They’re the key to consistent service delivery.
One crucial area that can greatly benefit from standardization is back deployment. Although companies have varying backup needs, relying on inconsistent practices across several clients can lead to data loss, failed recovery attempts, and even compliance violations.
This is where automating your onboarding workflows can help. Tools like onboarding templates ensure your clients have all the critical backup configurations from day one.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to use onboarding templates to enforce backup SOPs across all your tenants.
A step-by-step guide to enforcing client backup SOPs using onboarding templates
📌 Prerequisites:
- A reliable backup solution, such as the NinjaOne backup module
- An RMM or onboarding automation tool, like the NinjaOne policy engine
- Domain Admin or Local Admin access on client machines
- PowerShell remoting and scripting
- Group Policy and Registry write access
- A predefined backup SOP document or checklist
📌 Recommended deployment strategies:
Click to Choose a Method | 💻 Best for Individual Users | 💻💻💻 Best for Enterprises |
| Method 1: Enforce backup settings via Group Policy | ✓ | |
| Method 2: Enforce backup policies using the Registry | ✓ |
Step 1: Create a Master Onboarding Template for Backup Policy
First, you must create a master onboarding template for your backup policy that includes the following information:
- Backup software to install
- Destination target
- Frequency (e.g., daily incremental, weekly full)
- Retention policies (e.g., 30, 90, 365 days)
- Encryption and compression settings
- Alerting and test restore procedures
Configure backup-related variables, such as backup type and target path, as fields for per-client customization.
Use this template during client provisioning via NinjaOne to standardize backup deployment.
Step 2: Automate Backup Agent Installation via PowerShell
Next, you need to automate the installation of your backup agent via PowerShell.
Example:
- Silent installation script for NinjaOne or Veeam agent:
Start-Process “backupagent.exe” -ArgumentList “/quiet /norestart
/target=D:\Backups /policy=Workstation_Default” -Wait
- Add post-install logic:
Set-ItemProperty -Path “HKLM:\Software\
BackupTool” -Name “BackupEnforced” -Value “True”
You can deploy these scripts using your RMM platform or include them in your onboarding packages.
Step 3: Enforce backup policies via Group Policy or using the Registry.
There are two methods you can use to enforce your backup policies across multiple clients:
Method 1: Enforce backup settings via Group Policy
📌 Use Case: Prevent users from configuring backup settings by applying Group Policy Objects (GPOs).
- Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Backup.
- Enable Prevent the user from modifying backup settings.
- Set Specify location for user backups.
- Require Volume Shadow Copy and BitLocker encryption if using local targets.
Method 2: Enforce backup policies using the Registry.
📌 Use Case: Confirm or enforce your backup policies via the Registry.
- Standard registry keys for backup confirmation:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Org\BackupPolicy
– AgentInstalled (DWORD) = 1
– LastBackupDate (String) = “2025-07-01T03:00:00Z”
– TargetDrive (String) = “D:\Backups”
– Encrypted (DWORD) = 1
You can use RMM tools to scan for these values and confirm compliance during audits.
💡Tip: You can also use this method to confirm if your backup policies have been enforced properly.
Step 4: Validate backup functionality via CMD
After the installation, check if the backup agent is working properly using these commands:
- Check last backup job logs or output files:
dir “D:\Backups\*.vib” /OD
- Verify backup agent service status:
sc query backupagent
- Confirm recent run timestamps:
wevtutil qe Microsoft-Windows-Backup/Operational /c:5 /f:text
Integrate these checks into your onboarding scripts or ongoing compliance checks to ensure compliance.
Step 5: Use scheduled tasks or policies to enforce retention
Finally, you should incorporate scheduled tasks into your onboarding templates to enforce retention policies.
Register-ScheduledTask -Action (New-ScheduledTaskAction -Execute “powershell.exe” -Argument “Check-BackupStatus.ps1”) `
-Trigger (New-ScheduledTaskTrigger -Daily -At 6am) -TaskName “BackupPolicyValidation” -RunLevel Highest
💡 Tip: Alternatively, you can use the NinjaOne policy engine to schedule recurring scripts that verify retention, encryption, and completion logs.
⚠️ Things to look out for
Keep these pitfalls in mind when using our guide:
| Risks | Potential consequences | Reversal |
| Agent failed to install | Backup jobs will never initiate. | Verify network access to the backup repository and check if your PowerShell scripts have the correct silent install syntax. |
| Backup is not running on schedule | The risk of missed backups and accidental data loss will increase. | Validate Windows Task Scheduler logs or check for conflicting GPOs. |
| Registry keys are not applied | Backup policies will not be enforced. | Ensure RMM deployment is completed successfully. |
| GPO is not enforcing backup settings | Users may be able to modify or disable your backup configurations. | Confirm OU linkage and use gpresult to verify GPO application. |
Tips for enforcing client backup SOPs
Make your backup SOP accessible to everyone
Each of your onboarding templates should include a reference to your backup SOP. This could be a link to a PDF copy of the document or an easy-to-follow checklist.
Including a reference on your boarding template ensures that everyone, from your internal team to the client, knows your standard backup process.
Create versions of your onboarding template
Once your MSP’s backup policies and compliance requirements change, you want to ensure that your current onboarding template is aligned with them. That said, it’s best to create versions of your onboarding materials.
At the end of each template, include a version number and a “last updated” date to let people know whether they’re working with the latest information.
Maintaining a simple changelog for onboard templates can also help. These logs should highlight all the key updates made to the document, whether it’s a new retention policy or an additional validation step.
Implement tenant-level tags on your policies
Not all organizations have the same backup requirements. Some clients may be subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), while others may be required to follow financial regulations.
To address these differences, use tenant-level policy tags to classify clients based on their industry or compliance backup requirements. Once you tag a client as HIPAA or Financial, your onboarding system will assign them the appropriate backup SOP.
These tags will help you reduce the risk of manual errors and make onboarding new clients easier.
Be audit-ready
Being audit-ready builds trust and demonstrates that your organization is committed to protecting client data.
One way to achieve this is by including audit prep into your onboarding processes. Include the following fields in your template:
- The last restore date.
- Next scheduled restore date.
- Auto-generated logs of backup activities.
Better yet, automate the documentation so that these records will be available in your client’s folder any time they need them.
NinjaOne services for ensuring backup SOP compliance
NinjaOne Backup strengthens SOP enforcement for client backup setups through:
| NinjaOne Service | What it is | How it helps |
| Template-Based Automation | Build onboarding templates that include agent installation, registry validation, and policy deployment. | Eliminates manual work in client onboarding and device setup by creating templates that automatically install agents, validate registry keys, and deploy policies |
| Policy Engine | Defines backup monitoring scripts and enforcement logic triggered on device provisioning | Ensures all new devices comply with your backup SOP |
| Registry Scanning | Validates critical keys such as LastBackupDate or AgentInstalled across all endpoints | Automates the process of validating critical registry keys across multiple endpoints |
| Custom Alerting | Notifies technicians when backups are out of date or encryption is not applied | Allows you to proactively mitigate potential issues |
| Restore Testing | Integrates periodic restore checks as part of SOP verification | Verifies that all your backups work and helps reduce the risk of failed recovery |
NinjaOne ensures that your backup SOPs are not only enforced but maintained consistently across all managed tenants.
Ensure backup SOP compliance across all clients by automating onboarding workflows
Standardizing backup deployment is a must for MSPs. It ensures consistent service delivery by automatically enforcing standard backup policies on all client devices from day one.
More importantly, it reduces the risk of misconfigurations. By creating different templates for different client requirements, you can rest easy knowing your tenants have the protection that aligns with their specific needs.
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