How to Coordinate Shared Drive Permission Reviews Without Adding Overhead. Assign data access to the right people. Here’s how to review shared drive permissions without adding overhead. Before we begin, be sure to subscribe to NinjaOne’s IT video hub and our YouTube channel for more tech content like this. A Five-Step Guide to Conducting Shared Drive Permission Reviews. Enterprises that store data in shared drives need to ensure that access is permitted to the right people. And it is up to MSPs to conduct a regular review of shared drive permissions without overwhelming or confusing both IT teams and key stakeholders. Define review scope and cadence. To do this, you must first define the scope of your storage and the frequency of your review. Identify which files, folders and repositories are in scope for review, as well as the department owners or managers responsible for validating access. Likewise, determine how frequently reviews should be conducted based on the sensitivity of the data. Export current permissions with built-in tools. Next, export access reports with the built-in tools your organization currently uses. Whether you use Windows File Server, Google Workspace, or Microsoft 365, these tools enable users to export documents that record the shared drive’s current permissions and sharing settings. Step 3: Simplify reviews with lightweight checklists. After this, create a lightweight checklist to simplify the review process. This gives MSPs a repeatable process for conducting reviews efficiently while reducing the risk of oversight. Step 4: Engage department managers for validation. Then, work with department managers to validate whether users still require their current access. MSPs should share permission reports with department managers and ask them to confirm whether each user’s access is still appropriate. Step 5: Document outcomes in a permission review register. And lastly, the results of each review cycle in a Permission Review Register to ensure transparency, accountability, and audit readiness. Regularly checking access permissions of shared drives is a crucial step in securing your client’s sensitive data. For more information, check out our official blog post on How to Coordinate Shared Drive Permission Reviews, linked in the description below.