In our previous blog post, we had touched upon the top three password related issues that plague IT admins. In this blog, we will take a look at how even something as simple as user provisioning is actually a lot more challenging than what meets the eye.

Provisioning user accounts is a major part of an IT administrator’s job. However, even tried and tested directory services like Microsoft Active Directory (AD) fall short when it comes to onboarding a huge number of users. In this article, we look at the top three problems that make manual user provisioning a challenge for administrators according to the survey conducted by ManageEngine. 

1) Too many applications

Employees seldom use just one application to get their work done. With a plethora of applications available to simplify work, users need many digital identities. An IT administrator must create these identities for multiple platforms without compromising consistency. Despite being a two-decade-old directory service, AD doesn’t have an option to simultaneously onboard users into work applications, including the company’s own Outlook and Office 365.

2) Data entry errors

IT admins are human, after all, and prone to making errors. This is especially true for IT admins manually creating and managing user accounts in an organization with a large, complex Windows infrastructure. When IT admins onboard users manually into AD and other work applications, errors are inevitable. Inconsistencies caused by these errors, like a user being granted inappropriate permissions, can prove catastrophic for an organization.

3) Lack of sanity checks

Apart from onboarding users successfully into work applications like AD, Office 365, and Skype for Business, IT admins have to keep watch over other vital aspects of IT, including security. For example, they need to ensure that no username is repeated between users, and different passwords are set for different users. With many users and a complex Windows network, performing sanity checks during AD onboarding can be a rather tedious task.

The solution

ManageEngine designs solutions that help IT admins solve complex IT issues. You might be surprised to learn how common these IT scenarios are and how easily ManageEngine solutions can fix them.

To know more about such issues faced by IT admins, check out our infographic of such common IT problems.

Thejas Sridhar
Product Consultant