User account creation is a long-winded process that involves various configurations. Such a tiresome, manual process is naturally prone to errors, especially while creating user accounts in bulk. Errors made in the user provisioning process will result in frustrated users calling the service desk to request permission to access resources, to be added to the appropriate groups, to update missing profile details, etc.

Why provisioning users through the Admin Center is inefficient

Though the Microsoft 365 Admin Center allows admins to create user accounts in bulk, it still involves the tedious job of populating a CSV file with several attributes in which the values of most of the attributes are the same for all user accounts with a given condition. For example, office address; the manager of a particular department; roles to be assigned for a designation, country, postal code, etc. are static fields.

Why waste time entering redundant values when they can be autofilled? To help Office 365 users accomplish this feat, along with existing bulk management and automation features, ManageEngine has added template-based management capability to O365 Manager Plus, a comprehensive Office 365 administration solution.

How to optimize bulk object creation with Office 365 creation templates

O365 Manager Plus’ creation templates come with all the attributes required for Office 365 user, group, and contact creation. With these templates, you can:

  • Predefine values: With the help of creation templates, IT admins can standardize and predefine certain user and mailbox settings like naming format, mailbox storage limit, office address, mailbox permissions, license type, and more. The same applies to group and contact creation templates as well. 

  • Perform multiple actions from a single window: A typical user, mailbox, or any Office 365 object creation process involves multiple actions to be performed under multiple windows. These actions range from basic profile creation to granting permissions and configuring security settings. Management templates simplify this multi-window process by performing all the required actions in a single window.

  • Automate Office 365 management: Use management templates while creating automation policies with O365 Manager Plus. This speeds up your management processes as the templates come with predefined values, and automation policies run at specified intervals without any human intervention.

 

The O365 Manager Plus advantage

Management templates lift some of the burden off IT admins, and coupled with automation, they make Office 365 object creation a near error-free process. You can download the 30-day, free trial of O365 Manager Plus to see for yourself how management templates work, and explore the other features this tool has to offer. You can also contact us for a free, personalized demo on how to use management templates for user onboarding.