Why the Days of Lengthy and Expensive Onboarding May be Over
When consumers buy a new device, they’ve come to expect a seamless configuration and setup process. While enterprise technology has failed to keep up, there may be hope yet.
A new partnership between Microsoft and VMware will likely make that process simpler. That is because many of the VMware’s desktop services are now available on the Microsoft Azure cloud.
“In addition to that, a new product called Autopilot was implemented in Windows 10, which allows organizations to build these configuration settings,” said Scott Mathewson, Softchoice’s Datacenter Software Practice Lead. “Those settings can be customized and configured as it relates to Windows specifically.”
From Days to Seconds
Mathewson says that with Softchoice, companies are now able to automate much of the employee onboarding process. They can even add new users to its existing infrastructure, often without the help of an IT professional.
“The great thing now is we can take advantage of the relationship between VMware and Microsoft,” he said. “We can offer those virtual desktops in Azure on the Microsoft platform. Furthermore, we can now integrate that virtual desktop and configuration aspect for Windows 10 desktops using Autopilot”
Mathewson adds that adding new tools can be very difficult when configuring manually. Now users are able to complete complex onboarding processes—which used to take hours or days—automatically in a matter of seconds.
Built-in Customization
“There are many layers of configuration that have to go on, and unless there’s some wide-scale corporate imaging software that’s being used, that’s going to be a fairly manual task,” he said. Matthewson adds that each department also has its own considerations and needs.
As an example, he explains that HR often has to work with sensitive personal information. “So I’d have to build a different image for HR than finance or marketing,” he said.
These department-specific customizations once required hours of labor and countless additional layers of complexity, which also opened the door to manual errors, adds Mathewson.
“Businesses can be sure that that image has been created in the most secure way,” he said. “I don’t need to worry about those manual interactions, and I know I’m going to get very quickly up to speed, and that user will have all the tools and resources they need at one time with one process that combines multiple technologies.”
How to Get Started
Those interested should begin with an audit of their existing systems, servers, and procedures. You really need to get a holistic view of your environment to understand the best starting point as the roadmap will be different for everyone.
