User Management Resource Administrator

Delegation

User Management Resource Administrator (UMRA) is a technical and organisational solution for timely, accurate, uniform and, above all, simple user account management.  UMRA eliminates the need for manual user account management based on scripts or difficult manual procedures.  The scripts and manual procedures are defined within UMRA, so that account management can be securely delegated to non-skilled IT staff.

Automated provisioning

UMRA also streamlines the communication associated with user account changes.  UMRA can detect changes in source systems -HRM systems, BI/ data warehousing systems, work schedule systems, etc.- and implement these changes across the network via automated provisioning.

Auditing & reporting

It is also possible to make the organisation primarily responsible for managing user accounts, by having employees and/or managers perform user account management tasks themselves using self-service and workflow management / approval capabilities.

UMRA allows organisations to automate and standardise their user management processes to reduce the cost of their IT operations, eliminate labour-intensive tasks and meet compliance requirements for auditing & reporting.

Connectors

Based on procedures recorded in UMRA, and in accordance with a predefined plan, user account changes are implemented across the network.  To this end, UMRA can communicate with virtually any system or application through more than 130 business-ready connectors.

Click here for an overview of the out-of-the-box connectors.

Provision User Accounts Accurately and Securely with Delegated Rights

The complexity of user account management is proportional to the sise of the organisation in question — the larger the organisation, the more complex the management of user accounts.  Systems administrators face multi-faceted procedures associated with user account management across numerous systems and applications deployed by multiple users and departments.

Complicated processes

The multitude and variety of tasks involved in user account management makes it almost impossible to carry them out uniformly and securely.  Unfortunately, organisational changes are not always consistently reported to the IT department in a timely or accurate fashion, which complicates processes further.

Security risk

On occasion, new employees have already started their duties prior to a user account being requested.  There is no proper overview of the privileges and applications employees need to perform their duties effectively, or the overview is limited in scope.  Although additional privileges and access to applications are requested, they are seldom assigned.  in some instances, when employees leave the organisation, their user accounts are left active for months on end creating a security risk.

Connection to HR system and self service

Tools4ever helps organisations streamline the procedures involved in network changes resulting from staff changes.  To facilitate this, we offer self-service, workflow management and helpdesk delegation capabilities, integration with HR/SIS systems and automated provisioning.  We strive to process changes in user accounts as quickly as possible , e.g.  the responsible manager and/or a connection with a source registration system such as an HR/SIS application.

Uniformity

Changes are implemented across various systems using electronic UMRA templates.  Systems administrators and departments will no longer require direct access to sub-systems and applications.  UMRA ensures that user accounts are always managed uniformly.

Privilege and application management

Implementing changes in group memberships for authorisation and application distribution purposes rank among the top 10 of the most frequent helpdesk calls.  UMRA offers users the ability to record which authorisations and applications must be assigned to each job title or department.  Using a sophisticated mechanism, exceptions can be added by the manager and/or requested by employees themselves.

Direct results/ROI

Tools4ever uses a phased approach and implementation allowing us to achieve results and an ROI in just four months.  Read more on Return On Investment (ROI) for automated user account management.

Time and cost savings

Time and cost efficiencies can be achieved by automating common actions such as creating, editing and deleting users.  The organisation will be able to implement changes quickly, while IT staff, who were previously burdened with user management tasks, can be assigned to more business-critical projects.

Increased employee productivity

Automation of the user account management process ensures that employees can be productive far earlier.  Without automated procedures, creating a new user account will take 20 minutes on average.  With UMRA, this will only take 2 to 3 minutes.  This also applies to editing, updating and removing user accounts.  Users will have direct access to the relevant resources and are able to start work immediately.

Improved service levels

With UMRA, the helpdesk can perform user account management tasks independently, quickly and without errors.  The form interface imposes few demands on the user account administrator.  The organisation will benefit from directly updated user accounts, while systems administrators can focus on more business-critical issues.  This will give the IT department a more professional appearance.

Quicker and more exhaustive audits

UMRA automatically logs all activities occurring in the network.  This makes it possible to find out directly who has performed which action, at what time and at which location in the network.  This detailed information is available for auditing and reporting purposes.  It makes UMRA fully compliant with regulations including Sarbanes-Oxley, ITIL and HIPAA.

Enhanced security

Using UMRA, it will no longer be necessary to assign admin rights to staff members charged with user account management tasks.  Fewer privileges will be required, while helpdesk members are only allowed to perform the tasks for which UMRA has been configured.  Direct access (e.g.  through ADUC or NTFS) will no longer be possible.