Key Points
- Establishing baseline IT policies helps MSPs secure and standardize SMB client environments with no formal documentation.
- Use automation tools like PowerShell, GPOs, and RMM to enforce policies consistently across endpoints.
- Focus on core policies—passwords, MFA, remote access, admin rights, patching, and backups—to reduce risk and improve compliance.
- Maintain clear documentation and version control to track enforcement, changes, and exceptions.
- Regular governance and reporting ensure baselines stay current and demonstrate value to clients.
This guide explains how MSPs and IT service providers can enforce baseline IT security and operational standards for SMB clients without formal IT policies. Using automation tools like PowerShell, Group Policy Objects (GPOs), and RMM platforms, you can create consistent governance, reduce risk, and maintain compliance.
For MSPs, creating a default policy baseline can:
- Improve security and reduce risk.
- Provide consistent support across multiple clients.
- Speed up onboarding and reduce configuration drift.
- Establish standards even if the client has never written a single policy.
💡 Key point: Automation ensures policies are regularly enforced without requiring the client’s effort, while internal documentation fills the gap when clients don’t provide their own.
Steps to creating a strong IT policy framework
Step 1: Know which core policy strategies must be standardized
Before deploying any baselines, perform an environment assessment to document client systems, domains, and cloud platforms. This ensures your policy baseline aligns with Microsoft Security Baselines and current CISA MSP guidance (2024).
Acceptable use policy: An acceptable use policy (AUP) is the foundation for user behavior. It spells out what employees can and cannot do with company systems, networks, and internet access.
- Examples: Prohibiting personal software installations, peer-to-peer file sharing, or the use of unapproved cloud services.
Password and authentication standards: A password policy enforces length, complexity, and expiration standards while also requiring MFA whenever possible.
💡 Tip: We discuss this in more depth in our guide on credential management.
Remote access (VPN and MFA) requirements: Setting policies that require secure VPN connections and are secured by MFA ensures that only authorized users are allowed into a specific network.
💡 Tip: Read this guide on remote access best practices for more information.
Local admin restrictions: Restricting local admin rights is one of the simplest and most effective steps to reduce the attack surface in SMB environments.
💡 Tip: This is extensively discussed in our guide on privileged access management.
Backup and restore configuration: Backups are only valuable if they are both reliable and recoverable. A policy that standardizes backup schedules, retention periods, and restore testing ensures that every client has proven protection against data loss.
💡 Tip: Check out this guide on backup configuration with NinjaOne.
Antivirus and endpoint management guidelines: Standardizing this across your client base reduces variability and ensures every device is covered by the same visibility and response rules.
💡 Tip: Interested in learning more? We recommend this unified endpoint management strategy – a complete guide.
Patch management expectations: A consistent patch management policy defines how quickly security updates must be applied, what systems are included, and how exceptions are tracked.
💡 Tip: Read how to create a patch management policy for an extensive discussion.
Change control and incident response escalation paths: A change control policy sets the process for requesting, reviewing, and documenting changes. Paired with incident response escalation paths, it ensures that when something breaks or a security event occurs, everyone knows exactly who to call and what steps to take.
💡 Tip: Read this complete guide to IT change management for more information.
Step 2: Deploying baselines with PowerShell and GPO
Once you’ve defined your baseline IT policies, the next step is to make them stick. This is where Group Policy Objects (GPOs) and PowerShell scripts come in. Together, they allow MSPs to automate enforcement and ensure consistency across environments.
2.1. Applying GPO templates
GPOs are one of the most reliable ways to push security and access rules to Windows devices. By applying GPO templates, you can standardize settings such as automatic screen locks, password length and complexity, and local privilege restrictions.
For hybrid or cloud-only environments, similar baselines can be deployed through Microsoft Intune security baselines or Azure AD Conditional Access policies, which replace traditional GPO functionality for non-domain devices.
These policies prevent human error and risky shortcuts. For example, if a user forgets to lock their computer, the GPO will lock it automatically, reducing the chance of data exposure.
2.2. Using PowerShell scripts
Not every setting is easily covered by GPO, and some SMB environments may not have a domain at all. PowerShell bridges this gap by letting you enforce specific configurations directly. One effective technique is to use PowerShell to tag machines in the Windows Registry with compliance markers.
Registry tagging example:
New-Item -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Org\PolicyBaseline" -Force
Set-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Org\PolicyBaseline"
-Name "InitialConfigDate" -Value (Get-Date).ToString("u")
This marker acts like a digital “stamp” that lets you track which machines received the baseline. It’s useful for compliance reports, troubleshooting, and proving enforcement during audits.
Related articles:
- How to Automate Repetitive Tasks with PowerShell
- Comprehensive Guide to Using PowerShell for Efficient Event Log Searches
- How to Conduct a System Performance Check Using a PowerShell Script
2.3. Building repeatable scripts for registry validation and RMM integration
Once you have scripts that set and check policies, make them reusable and tie them into your Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) platform like NinjaOne. This ensures they can be run automatically on new machines and verified periodically.
💡 Tip: Reusable scripts save technician time and eliminate guesswork. Instead of wondering if a setting is applied, you can confirm it instantly, and across all clients at once. A great resource to check out is the NinjaOne Script Library, which shows numerous scripts you can use to automate common IT tasks.
Step 3: Start documentation for undocumented clients
Even the best policies lose value if no one knows they exist. Good documentation ensures that every technician, whether they’re onboarding a new client or troubleshooting at 2:00 A.M. has the information they need at their fingertips.
3.1. Log all deployed policies and settings in a PSA or IT documentation platform
Every time you roll out a new GPO, enforce a registry setting, or deploy a baseline script, you should record it in your Professional Services Automation (PSA) tool or IT documentation system. This step creates a single source of truth about what has been applied and when.
3.2. Maintain an internal knowledge base that tracks applied GPOs, scripts, and registry markers
Over time, your MSP will accumulate a set of reusable GPOs, scripts, and registry keys that enforce your standards. Building a structured internal knowledge base around these items ensures that your technicians don’t reinvent the wheel for each client.
3.3 Use post-deployment reports to populate each client’s documentation profile
After deploying policies, generate reports from your RMM or script logs and use them to update each client’s profile. This profile becomes a “snapshot” of that client’s environment, showing what standards are in place and how compliant the environment is.
💡 Tip: Tools like NinjaOne IT Documentation allow you to centralize documentation so you can solve issues faster and easily scale your service delivery.
Step 4: Maintain great policy governance and version control
You can avoid having your own IT horror story by keeping your policies current. Without governance, policies quickly become outdated, inconsistent, or ignored. By applying structured policy governance and version control, MSPs can ensure that baselines stay relevant and defensible over time.
4.1. Apply an initial “default” policy package at onboarding
When a new client signs on, one of the first steps should be to apply your default package of IT policies. This establishes a consistent baseline from day one and eliminates the risks of walking into an undocumented environment.
4.2. Review policies quarterly or during QBRs
Review policies quarterly or during QBRs, updating them to match evolving cybersecurity frameworks (e.g., CIS Controls v8, ISO 27001, NIST CSF).
4.3. Log deviations, exemptions, or legacy overrides in a version-controlled change log
Not every client can or will follow your baseline exactly. Some may need exemptions (for example, legacy software requiring admin rights), or temporary deviations. By logging these in a version-controlled change log, you preserve visibility into where standards differ and why.
4.4. Use PSA ticketing to handle formal change requests
Policies will need to change over time, whether due to client needs or industry shifts. Routing these requests through your PSA ticketing system ensures every change is tracked, approved, and documented.
Step 5: Generate compliance visualization and reporting
By generating clear dashboards and reports, MSPs can demonstrate accountability, highlight risks before they become problems, and strengthen client trust.
5.1. Use registry or GPO markers to generate compliance dashboards
When you deploy policies through GPO or PowerShell, you can set registry markers or other “flags” that indicate whether the endpoint has received and is following the policy. These markers can then be pulled into dashboards for easy visualization. Tools like NinjaOne RMM give you a 360-degree view of your environment so you can immediately see where enforcement is complete and where gaps remain.
5.2. Create RMM-based reports showing policy coverage across all endpoints
If you’re using an RMM, you can use it to generate standardized compliance reports. These reports can show which machines meet password requirements, have antivirus running, or are missing critical updates. Instead of manually checking machines, you can view a consolidated report across all endpoints, making it much easier to identify problem areas.
5.3. Highlight clients missing enforcement, with action plans
Some clients may have endpoints that resist certain policies due to legacy apps, misconfigurations, or user workarounds. Reporting should not only show these gaps but also include an action plan for remediation. This can help build client trust, as you show them not only what is not working, but how you exactly intend to fix it.
5.4. Add policy tracking summaries to QBR slides or monthly reviews
Compliance reports shouldn’t stay buried in your internal systems. Bring them into client-facing meetings like QBRs or monthly reviews. Show trends over time, improvements since onboarding, and areas that need attention. These reports help give clients confidence that they are always protected.
(Optional) Step 6: Use the NinjaOne Platform
NinjaOne, the automated endpoint management software, provides MSPs with automation, visibility, and reporting tools that make it easy to manage policies at scale. By leveraging NinjaOne’s scripting and monitoring capabilities, you can ensure policies aren’t just deployed once, but continually enforced and tracked.
6.1. Deploy policy scripts via NinjaOne’s script automation
Instead of manually running PowerShell scripts across multiple clients, you can push them out with NinjaOne’s script automation. This allows you to enforce baselines on hundreds or thousands of endpoints with a single action.
6.2. Use NinjaOne’s dashboards to display registry-based compliance flags
If you’re tagging machines in the registry to indicate compliance, NinjaOne dashboards can surface those markers visually. This gives technicians a quick way to see which systems are in compliance and which ones need attention.
6.3 Tag noncompliant systems for remediation and exclusion
NinjaOne allows you to tag systems that don’t meet baseline requirements. You can use these tags to trigger alerts, queue remediation actions, or exclude problem machines from sensitive operations until they are fixed.
6.4. Build policy coverage widgets into internal monitoring views
You can take compliance tracking further by creating widgets inside NinjaOne that display policy coverage across all your clients. This provides a high-level view of enforcement status across your MSP’s portfolio.
Creating a reliable and accurate IT policy documentation timeline
Establishing default cybersecurity and IT policy baselines ensures your MSP delivers consistent, secure, and compliant service to every client. With automation, documentation, and governance, you can transform unstructured IT environments into well-managed systems that scale confidently.
Ultimately, by making IT policies part of your MSP’s default service delivery, you move clients from a reactive, undocumented state to a proactive, governed, and secure IT environment.
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