Case study: Onboarding a new employee at DevSoft solutions – A software company’s struggle with inefficient onboarding

Company background:

DevSoft Solutions is a mid-sized software company based in Austin, Texas, employing around 150 people. They specialize in developing custom software solutions for clients across different industries.

They use over 30 software tools, including SaaS platforms like Microsoft 365 and on-premises software for specific project management and development needs.

The onboarding dilemma:

A new developer, Emma, joins DevSoft Solutions. Emma is highly skilled and excited to work on the company’s new flagship project.

The HR team wants a smooth onboarding experience, and the IT team is responsible for setting up all the accounts and software that Emma will need.

The company uses Microsoft 365 Business Standard, with no automated ULM system in place.

Current onboarding process (without ULM):

Week 1: HR completes the initial steps

• Day 1: HR prepares all necessary documents and has Emma fill out forms for employment, software access, and tool requests. Once these forms are submitted, HR forwards the requests to IT.

• HR’s Point of View: They consider their job done as soon as they’ve processed the documents. They are unaware of the workload on the IT team or how long it will take before Emma gets all her access.

Week 2: IT struggles with workload

• IT Admin’s point of view: The IT team, consisting of just two system administrators, is already overburdened with daily maintenance tasks, helpdesk tickets, and system issues. Setting up new user access is just another item in an overwhelming to-do list. Here’s what the manual onboarding process looks like for Emma:

• Account setup in Microsoft 365 Business standard:
  The IT admin begins by creating a new user account for Emma in Microsoft 365. This involves filling out her details manually in the admin console and setting up her username and temporary password.

• Adding to appropriate groups:
  Emma needs access to specific resources such as SharePoint sites, Microsoft Teams groups, and company distribution lists. The IT admin manually adds her to each group. This is time-consuming as it involves understanding what access Emma needs, confirming it, and making sure she’s added to the correct groups.

• Permissions approval:
  To give Emma access to specific team sites and project folders, the IT admin needs her manager’s approval. An email is sent to Emma’s boss, requesting details on what permissions she should have. Emma’s boss, busy with other work, takes three days to respond to the email with the necessary details. During this time, Emma’s onboarding is at a standstill.

• Configuring Email and assigning SharePoint access:
  After receiving approval, the IT admin configures Emma’s email account, assigns permissions to SharePoint folders, and sets up her access to Microsoft Teams. This step involves checking multiple settings to ensure that Emma only has access to the relevant channels and files, adding further delays.

• Software installation:
  Emma needs ten different software applications to be installed on her laptop, ranging from development tools to project management software. The IT admin doesn’t have remote software deployment capabilities with Microsoft 365 Business Standard, so they have to install each program manually. They also need to wait for approvals from Emma’s boss to confirm that the right versions are installed, which adds further delays.

• Waiting on approvals and Conflicting priorities:
  Throughout this process, the IT admin is frequently interrupted by other critical tasks – from server maintenance to resolving urgent support tickets. As a result, Emma’s setup stretches over multiple days, during which she still does not have full access to the resources she needs.

Week 3: Delays and lost productivity

• Emma’s experience: Emma is left in limbo. Without access to critical tools like Microsoft Teams, project management software, and development environments, she cannot contribute meaningfully to the project. She spends her days reading internal documentation, attending introductory meetings, and, unfortunately, feeling increasingly bored.

• Negative impacts: With nothing else to do, Emma starts spending more time in non-productive activities like chatting with colleagues. The delay in access creates a perception that the company is disorganized, and she begins to question her decision to join DevSoft Solutions.

The financial impact:

• Emma’s monthly salary is $5,000.
• Due to inefficiencies in the onboarding process, she is zero productive during her first month.
• This means $5,000 in lost productivity – an amount that could have been avoided with proper onboarding.

The owner’s perspective

• Lost opportunities: The CEO of DevSoft Solutions, Mike, is frustrated. The company has invested heavily in productivity tools like Microsoft 365 Business Standard, but without an effective User Lifecycle Management (ULM) solution, they aren’t getting the expected return on investment.

• Cost-saving gone wrong: To save money, the company chose not to upgrade to Microsoft 365 Business Premium, which costs only an additional $100 per user per year. This version includes Microsoft Entra, Intune, and Defender, which could have automated the onboarding process. The additional cost per year for all 150 employees would have been just $15,000. However, the company has already lost $5,000 in Emma’s first month alone due to inefficiencies. This cost does not even account for the time lost by system administrators and the subsequent delays impacting other employees.

System administrator’s struggle:

• The IT team is often viewed as a catch-all for technical tasks, from break-fix issues to implementing new technologies. System admins can realistically handle only about 4 to 5 major tasks per day.

• With a team of two admins managing 150 employees, the workload is overwhelming. Onboarding tasks often get delayed because they have more pressing issues to deal with, like server outages or urgent support tickets.

What went wrong?

• Fragmented responsibilities:
  HR, IT, and management all see their roles in isolation. HR thinks onboarding is complete once paperwork is submitted, IT has other priorities, and the business owner expects productivity without understanding the operational bottlenecks.

• Lack of automation:
  Without automated tools, each step takes far longer than necessary. Account creation, software installation, and permissions assignment all require manual intervention, leading to mistakes, inconsistencies, and delays.

• False economy:
  In an effort to save on software licensing, the company decided not to upgrade to a version that included automated identity and device management. This cost-saving measure backfired, resulting in lost productivity worth far more than the savings.

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