5 Undeniable Benefits of Orchestrated Offboarding

Today, there’s a misconception that deprovisioning and offboarding are one and the same. They aren’t.

Deprovisioning is just one small aspect of the greater offboarding process, which is much more complex than simply cutting off access to an application. (For example, think about document transfers, device wipes, autoresponders, inbox delegation, etc..)

Based on customer research, the offboarding process for a single G Suite user consists of 28 manual steps, on average.

This manual workload is exactly why companies can no longer ignore the increasing complexity and growing number of threats associated with offboarding.

As more applications are adopted, a more strategic approach is necessary. Fortunately, platforms built for multi-SaaS environments exist to help companies manage SaaS applications and simplify offboarding through orchestration.

But outside of IT, many employees don’t understand the ROI of orchestration and proving the value of a technical process to a non-technical person can be difficult.

This list will help you explain the benefits to anyone.

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Identifying and Eliminating Employee Offboarding Inefficiencies and Security Threats

#1 – Reduces Human Error and Improves Offboarding Precision

Orchestration and automation remove the human element from offboarding process execution, greatly reducing the probability of error. Additionally, offboarding procedures will routinely change. The more manual the process, the more room there is for mistakes. Just ask Verizon and WWE, as both companies experienced major data breaches caused by human error. Well-polished orchestrated offboarding operates with precision. What needs to be done gets done. Every time, exactly when expected, without fail. No matter what.

#2 – Provides Clean Audit Logs for Compliance and Internal Review

Audits aren’t fun for anyone. Companies fail audits because of improper offboarding, whether that’s caused by a lack of documentation or poor execution. A solution that enables orchestration, offers a user interface, and ensure every change and action is recorded makes passing an audit much simpler. It’s a huge time saver because companies don’t have to dig into the admin consoles of a bunch of apps to duct tape audit logs together. Orchestration also makes it easier to spot an error should it occur. It’s like finding a broken link in a chain instead of a needle in a haystack.

#3 – Enables Iterative, Scalable Customization that Evolves as Companies Change

Offboarding best practices from four years ago look totally different than today’s best practices. Technology has forced companies to adapt. Orchestration enables IT to keep up with the pace of change by allowing for iterative change instead of just adding another step to an already time-consuming process. Orchestrated offboarding is about tweaks, as opposed to overhauls. A new step is just another automated action. It’s simply an iteration of an existing workflow.

#4 – Carries Out Many Vital Offboarding Steps in Seconds

Many companies do offboarding 100% right, however, it takes too long. With orchestrated offboarding, companies can perform a flurry of tasks almost instantly. Not only does this free up valuable time, but it also reduces risks by performing important security-related tasks automatically and in quick succession. After all, every minute an exiting employee can still access company data is another minute a company is at risk of a data or compliance breach.

#5 – Offers Simplicity and Control Over Offboarding Processes

Offboarding isn’t simple. If it were, people wouldn’t shy away from it so much. With more automation, and fewer dashboards involved, offboarding becomes less taxing from a documentation and training perspective. If a member of a team leaves, a new person should be able to pick things up immediately. If not, a company is probably dependent on the capabilities of a single employee. It must be simpler.

Orchestration is the answer.

Download our latest whitepaper to learn how experts like Ryan Donnon, IT and data manager at First Round Capital, efficiently and securely offboard employees: Identifying and Eliminating Employee Offboarding Inefficiencies and Security Threats.