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Free tools for the business community
Business Technology Tips, Checklists & Free AI Prompts
Practical technology guidance should be useful before a business ever hires a provider.
Use these field-tested prompts, checklists and operating tips to reduce avoidable downtime, ask vendors better questions and make clearer technology decisions.
Ten-minute business technology health check
Can your team answer these questions without guessing?
A “no” does not automatically mean you need a new product. It identifies where ownership, documentation or testing may be missing.
- Who owns the response when internet, cloud software or a critical device fails?
- Where are current carrier, software and support contacts documented?
- When was a real file restored from backup—not merely reported as backed up?
- Which accounts have administrator access, and is MFA enforced?
- Can departing employees lose access across every system on the same day?
- What business processes stop if the primary internet circuit fails?
- Are network, firewall, Wi-Fi and equipment-room records current?
- Which contracts renew within the next 12 months?
- Who can approve an emergency change after hours?
- What evidence proves a technology project is complete and operational?
Small controls with practical value
Technology habits that prevent larger business problems
These are operational controls, not product recommendations. Assign an owner and verify the result.
Use MFA beyond email
Protect accounting, payroll, banking, domain, remote-access and administrator accounts—not only Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace.
Verify before changing payment details
Confirm bank, vendor and payroll changes through a known phone number or established secondary channel.
Test one backup restore
Select a real file, record the restore time and confirm the recovered file opens. A green dashboard is not recovery evidence.
Photograph the technology room
Keep current wide and close photos of racks, carrier equipment, UPS units and cable labels without exposing them publicly.
Record circuit identifiers
Document provider, account, circuit ID, service address, bandwidth, renewal date and escalation number.
Separate guest access
Do not place visitors, personal devices, cameras and business systems on one unrestricted network.
Review administrators quarterly
Remove unnecessary privilege and accounts belonging to former employees, contractors or past providers.
Plan before equipment reaches end of life
Track warranty, support and software-support dates so replacement happens by decision instead of failure.
Free AI prompts
Use AI to organize the decision—not to replace accountable expertise
Copy a prompt, replace the bracketed fields and review the output with the person responsible for the business result.
Privacy rule: Do not paste passwords, private IP addresses, employee records, customer data, contracts, medical information, security configurations or other confidential material into a public AI tool.
Free prompt
Compare two technology proposals
Act as an independent technology procurement analyst. Compare the two proposals below against this business requirement: [OUTCOME]. Build a table covering scope, exclusions, assumptions, implementation responsibility, ongoing support, contract term, renewal, total cost, dependencies, operational risk and acceptance evidence. Identify questions that must be answered before selection. Do not recommend a vendor when the evidence is incomplete. Proposals: [REMOVE CONFIDENTIAL DATA AND PASTE SUMMARIES].
Free prompt
Prepare an outage escalation brief
Turn these facts into a concise vendor escalation brief: affected location [LOCATION], start time [TIME], affected users/processes [IMPACT], symptoms [SYMPTOMS], recent changes [CHANGES], tests completed [TESTS], workaround [WORKAROUND], provider ticket [TICKET]. Separate confirmed facts from assumptions. End with the next technical action, responsible party and requested update time.
Free prompt
Find gaps in an office-move plan
Review this office-move summary as a technology program manager. Identify dependencies across carrier service, landlord access, cabling, MDF/IDF rooms, power, UPS, network, Wi-Fi, voice, AV, cameras, access control, application access, testing, cutover, rollback and day-one support. Return a risk register with owner, predecessor, target date, evidence required and escalation trigger. Project summary: [NON-CONFIDENTIAL SUMMARY].
Free prompt
Interview the business about recovery priorities
Create a plain-language interview for a business owner to identify technology recovery priorities. Ask about revenue-producing processes, customer communication, payroll, scheduling, records, phones, internet, cloud applications, onsite systems, maximum tolerable interruption and manual workarounds. Do not claim compliance or prescribe a product. Convert the answers into a prioritized dependency list and unresolved questions.
Free prompt
Normalize internet-service quotes
Compare these business-internet options by physical service address, access technology, committed bandwidth, upload speed, SLA, repair target, construction, demarcation, equipment, static IPs, term, installation charge, monthly recurring cost, renewal and early termination. Flag anything that is marketing language rather than a contractual commitment. Business requirements: [REQUIREMENTS]. Quote summaries: [REMOVE ACCOUNT DATA AND PASTE].
Reusable operating templates
What to capture before the call becomes urgent
Copy these fields into your existing spreadsheet, ticketing system or project tracker. The value is consistent ownership—not another unused document.
Outage record
Date/time • location • affected process • affected users • symptoms • changes • tests • workaround • tickets • current owner • next update
Vendor register
Service • provider • account/circuit ID • support contact • escalation contact • renewal date • notice date • operating owner
Technology inventory
System • role • location • owner • model/service • support status • lifecycle date • backup method • dependency • documentation location
Project risk register
Risk • business impact • probability • owner • predecessor • mitigation • decision date • escalation trigger • closure evidence
New-hire access list
Role • device • email • applications • groups • MFA • physical access • training • approving manager • completion evidence
Departure control list
Disable identity • revoke sessions • recover devices • transfer files • redirect communications • remove vendor access • preserve required records
Know the limit of self-help
Stop troubleshooting and escalate when consequence exceeds certainty.
Free guidance should reduce confusion. It should not encourage an unqualified person to make a risky production change.
- Suspected account compromise, ransomware or unauthorized access
- Backup failure where recovery has not been tested
- Repeated outages involving multiple providers
- Firewall, routing, identity or administrator changes without rollback
- Carrier construction or office-move deadlines affecting occupancy
- Systems involving regulated, financial, medical or client-confidential data
Using the resource center
Common questions
Are these resources really free?
Yes. They can be used without submitting contact information or hiring CompFlorida.
Can a business paste its technical records into an AI prompt?
Not without understanding the tool, account controls, retention terms and data policy. Remove confidential and identifying information from public AI tools.
Do these prompts replace professional review?
No. They help structure facts and questions. Business, legal, security, compliance and technical decisions still require accountable human review.
May another local organization share these tools?
Yes. Share the page with businesses, chambers, associations and community organizations. Do not represent the guidance as a guarantee or substitute for qualified advice.
Will more tools be added?
Yes. CompFlorida will expand the library around recurring field problems that businesses can prevent or prepare for.
A practical community resource
Use what helps. Share it with another business.
If a situation crosses several providers, affects a facility deadline or carries material operational risk, CompFlorida can help define the requirement and accountable next step.
