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In today’s digital environment, there is a significant emphasis on the customer journey. This journey refers to the path of interactions an individual has with your brand, services, or product. It encompasses interactions such as working with customer service and more subtle forms of engagement, like hearing about a brand at a conference.
In this article, we will explore the customer journey in terms of IT user onboarding and offboarding. This year’s ITSM (IT service management) trends center around user experience, making this a highly relevant topic.
User onboarding and offboarding in IT
The customer journey in the context of IT user onboarding and offboarding refers to the process a new user goes through to become familiar with a company’s technology or system and the process a departing user goes through to securely relinquish access to company technology or data.
Importance of optimizing these processes for a positive user experience and security
The onboarding and offboarding processes are essential for establishing a positive initial experience with your organization and ensuring ongoing security after an individual departs. A user’s first interactions with your organization and your IT department will occur during their onboarding phase, so it’s crucial to get those interactions off on the right foot.
When a user leaves the organization, you need to ensure that all endpoints are secured and that offboarding protocols are followed. This will help your company remain safe from cyber threats and comply with regulations such as the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act of 2022.
Enhancing user onboarding procedures
Developing and training a strong workforce starts with a well-executed onboarding program. This process allows new employees to learn about the company’s culture, connect with their team, begin initial tasks or projects, and set up the tools and technology they will be using.
As you might expect, the last point is the most important for IT departments. Many jobs today require smartphones, computers, and other devices to perform day-to-day tasks. Therefore, IT is a crucial part of onboarding procedures
Tips for designing an effective onboarding experience for IT users
An effective onboarding experience for IT users sets new hires up for success with the company’s technological systems and educates them on best practices. Generally speaking, this process should be holistic and include tasks such as:
- Creating new user accounts
- Setting up new email addresses
- Configuring new workstations
- Acquiring any additional equipment
- Adding new licensees for software
- Setting up phone numbers and voicemail boxes
- Training employees how to use required devices and software programs
- Educating employees on IT security best practices
Ensuring that your IT onboarding program encompasses all of these components is key to success. However, don’t overwhelm new hires all at once—spreading out these training sessions over a few days as the employee gets their bearings in their new workplace might be more effective.
Best practices for communicating IT policies and procedures to new users
Some steps of your onboarding checklist should be completed before a new employee’s first day. Once the employee has officially started, begin by meeting with them to review the accounts, systems, and procedures they’ll need.
You can do this either in a one-on-one setting or through group training, where you introduce all the basic company applications, accounts, procedures, and systems to the new hires. Some details will apply to everyone, while others will be more relevant to specific roles. For instance, marketing employees will use different applications than payroll employees.
Breaking up these training sessions into different meetings might be necessary if you have employees working with multiple types of hardware and software.
You can also follow up on this training by providing resources such as digital manuals, one-page cheat sheets, or relevant webinars. Additionally, ensure the new hire is familiar with corporate equipment in the office, like printers or copiers.
Examples of successful onboarding strategies in IT
If IT onboarding isn’t handled properly, it can have serious consequences for new employees, such as delaying productive work, creating security loopholes, exposing data to risks, and negatively impacting the employee’s perception of their new workplace. However, implementing a successful onboarding strategy for your IT department isn’t too difficult.
To succeed with IT onboarding, make a checklist of everything you need to do before, on, and after a new hire’s first day. This checklist should include tasks such as:
- Gathering all the required information about the new hire
- Ordering and setting up required technology and devices
- Creating accounts for necessary software and tools
- Scheduling an IT onboarding session
- Educating new employees about privacy and cybersecurity
Harnessing the power of a checklist and ensuring these strategies are handled in a time-sensitive manner will help you set yourself and your company up for success in both training and retaining new talent.
Improving user offboarding procedures
Offboarding employees is usually a collaborative process involving both the IT and HR teams. You will need to revoke access to multiple systems, recover equipment, and help former employees leave the company on as good terms as possible. A well-structured checklist and a strong understanding of the importance of offboarding can help you achieve this.
Reasons why offboarding is Important for IT Security
Successful IT offboarding protects your data, minimizes legal and security threats, uphold compliance standards, eases the transition for remaining staff and departing employees, and ensures a positive parting.
Without proper offboarding, former employees may still be able to access your network, tamper with servers, alter data, or steal intellectual property. Additionally, malicious actors may be able to discover forgotten credentials and infiltrate your systems. This is especially critical for individuals with extensive access, such as IT or security employees.
How to make the offboarding process smooth and secure for the departing user
To ensure a smooth and secure offboarding process for both your company and the departing user, maintain an accurate IT inventory. This inventory should include details on who has access to what and where, including keys, credentials, certificates, and more.
Your goal during offboarding is to prevent security breaches while fostering a smooth transition out of the company. Adopt a systematic approach to revoking employee access, involving team collaboration so that the IT department can promptly act on any terminations or transitions.
Examples of companies with effective offboarding procedures in IT
Many companies have successfully implemented effective IT offboarding procedures. For example, Fair.com, an automotive fintech company, uses SSO (single sign-on) to manage access, which can be easily revoked by network admins.
MediaOS, which manages Hearst magazines (including Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire), employs intelligent automation to streamline staff turnover. MakeSpace has adopted similar strategies to maintain an efficient and organized offboarding process.
The role of IT support in onboarding and offboarding
IT departments play a crucial role in both onboarding and offboarding employees. Both at the beginning and the end of their journey with the company, users will need IT support.
Importance of IT support in the user journey
IT support is one of the most important pieces of the onboarding process. New users depend on education and resources from IT departments to help them get acquainted with new devices and software and understand best practices around security and privacy.
At the end of an employee’s experience working for the company, the IT department is partially responsible for making the transition a smooth and easy one. IT support will help ensure that user access is properly revoked, which will help the company mitigate security risks. They can also make this process simple for the user, easing the transition.
Best practices for IT support during onboarding and offboarding
Whether onboarding or offboarding an employee, staying organized and following a checklist is essential. Collaborate with other teams, like HR, to understand what needs to be done before, during, and after an employee’s first day on the job.
Your role is to educate employees on how to use their resources and how technology can help them contribute to the company effectively.
How can Atera help?
Atera offers a variety of solutions for both IT departments and MSPs (managed services providers). Our suite of products can help you streamline and automate many aspects of work in the IT space. With intelligent automations, integrations galore, and innovative products that will up your efficiency in the workplace, we’re the comprehensive solution for an IT team.
Conclusion
Optimizing IT user onboarding and offboarding procedures is crucial for enhancing both the security and efficiency of your organization. By focusing on a streamlined onboarding process, you ensure that new hires are well-prepared to use your technology effectively and securely from day one. This not only boosts their productivity but also strengthens their perception of your company. On the flip side, a well-managed offboarding process protects your organization from potential security threats and ensures a smooth transition for departing employees.
Investing time and resources into refining these processes will pay off in the form of improved user experiences, enhanced security, and operational efficiency. Remember, successful onboarding and offboarding involve a collaborative effort between IT and other departments, such as HR. By leveraging best practices and utilizing tools like Atera, you can simplify and automate these procedures, ultimately setting your team up for long-term success.
For more insights on optimizing IT management and enhancing your team’s productivity, explore how Atera can support your IT department’s needs.
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