For this exciting webinar, we were joined by ESET North America’s Director, MSP Channels Cameron Tousley, and Roy Banon, Atera’s App Center Product Manager. The webinar centered around ESET’s innovative approach to cybersecurity and its partnership with Atera.

Didn’t get a chance to attend? No worries, you can watch it right here or continue reading for the highlights and summary of this talk!

Preventing viruses from showing up on your doorstep since the ’80s

With the dawn of new technologies comes the rise of threats, which couldn’t be more true for computers. The PC, or personal computer, began gaining popularity with the public around the 1970s and was susceptible to threats early on. This is why the four founders created ESET in 1987 and took on the role of the defender of the PC. Fast forward to 2023: ESET has 110M+ users relying on their innovative technology for threat detection and response and is used by MSPs for protecting their customers’ assets.

“Being preventative is the most important thing,” said Tousley. “We’re pouring our money into our R&D to ensure that we’re ahead of threats and preventing them before they even show up on the doorstep.” Since 2016, ESET has doubled its R&D investment to ensure they provide MSPs and IT technicians with the best protection.

Tousley turned our attention to the pillars of ESET’s solutions, which include:

Layered defense

• It’s important to have multiple solutions working together to protect against all types of cyber attacks.

Integrated architecture

• You must ensure that the solutions are built to work together, which is why ESET’s layered defense tools are built in-house.

Low-performance impact

• ESET has a light footprint on the endpoints and a light resource load. This means it is running strong and doing the work while staying quiet on the endpoints for users.

Ease of use

• ESET is extremely easy to deploy and configure, especially with its partnership with Atera. Their troubleshooting documentation is also well maintained, making it easy to read through and understand.

How ESET prevents threats and responds to detected risks

Over 400,000 businesses use ESET’s server-free, cloud-based solution to protect themselves from malware and zero-day threats. Here’s what’s included in their Protect Complete package:

• Endpoint protection (includes ESET Endpoint Security)
• File server security (includes ESET Server Security)
• Full disk encryption (includes ESET Full Disk Encryption)
• Cloud sandbox (includes ESET LiveGuard Advanced)
• Mail security (includes ESET Mail Security)
• Cloud app protection (includes ESET Cloud Office Security)

Atera’s ESET integration: better together

The ESET partnership with the Atera app center means easier onboarding, fortified technical support by both ESET and Atera, and a number of additional benefits, including:

• Full billing visibility and usage from inside Atera
• Experience the value first-hand with a 30-day free trial
• Diverse cyber security options to enhance your toolbox
• Competitive TCOs to boost profit margins

No time like the present

Toward the end of the webinar, you’ll see Atera’s App Center Product Manager Roy Banon give a demo on how to get started deploying ESET onto customer devices via Atera.

As aforementioned, if you try ESET through Atera, you’ll get a free 30-day trial to experience the incredible value and confidence ESET gives you and your customers.

ESET is one of many integrations Atera offers through the app center and marketplace. Discover more integrations here.

Are you feeling frustrated by crashes, errors, or other issues caused by a so-called bug fix? Trust us, you’re not alone. While patches are aimed at correcting malfunctioning code in software, or making an application more secure, these fixes can sometimes go wrong, leading to unpleasant experiences when using the technologies we know and typically love.  

If you’re trying to remove a troublesome patch, then the good news is that you’re in the right place. In this post, we will provide a step-by-step guide that you can follow in order to identify the problematic patch, check for alternative solutions, uninstall said patch, and prevent it from being reinstalled. In short, you can rest assured that your technology will be back to normal in no time.

What is patch management?

Patch management is the process of acquiring, testing, deploying, and managing software patches and updates on computer systems, applications, and other various software components. It is a critical aspect of maintaining the security, stability, and performance of any IT environment.

Why a patch may become troublesome

In the world of IT, a “patch” refers to a modification made to a program in order to improve its performance, security, or other feature that’s due for an update or change. You also might have heard of patches being referred to as “bug fixes” – that’s because patches are created with the purpose of smoothing over code imperfections which may be discovered by an app’s users or developers.

In order to make edits, developers harness the power of debugging software, or automated patch management—with the goal of creating patches that can be either permanent or temporary. So where can this process go wrong?

Well, it turns out that creating and executing patches is not always foolproof. Some patches can end up causing unforeseen negative effects on performance, or cause a ripple effect that ends up interrupting other features, even if the patch managed to successfully solve the original issue.

The step-by-step guide for removing a troublesome patch

Step 1: Identify the Problematic Patch

Sometimes, IT departments or software managers roll out multiple patches at once. So how do you know which one is causing the problem? It’s important to stay up-to-date on patches that aren’t highly rated across all devices so that you can avoid installing them in the first place – or find an automated solution that can do so for you.

But if you’ve already installed the patch (or a series of patches), the first step will be identifying which patch you need to remove to ensure you’re not creating additional problems by accidently uninstalling the wrong one.

Step 2: Check for Alternative Solutions

Although initiating patch rollback is one effective way to handle a flawed patch, there are often more practical, time-efficient ways to solve the problem. For example, you could use a workaround, which is when a developer essentially creates a new patch to fix the problems created by the existing patch.

Another solution could be uninstalling the software completely. If you have software that’s creating too many difficult issues while patching, you might want to consider a new, less problematic software solution instead. Alternately, you can accept whatever risk or issues an essential patch creates – this is essentially a process of weighing out benefits versus consequences.

Step 3: Uninstall the Patch

If you need to uninstall the patch, you will have to perform a patch rollback. That process essentially reverts software to the last version installed on a device, undoing any changes caused during the patching process.

The exact process of uninstalling a patch will depend on the tools you have on hand and the nature of the patch itself. You can use a script or powershell to manually uninstall a patch, but generally speaking, using a patch management tool will make the process much easier.

Step 4: Prevent the Patch From Being Reinstalled

In order to make sure the pesky patch you just got rid of doesn’t get reinstalled, you’ll need to disable, block, or hide that patch after the fact. The exact language here will depend on what software you’re updating.

When you invest in an all-encompassing patch management solution, these tasks will often be much easier to do—and less time-consuming.

Patching Tips You Need to Know

There are some best practices that you can use to ensure your patching routine goes as planned. First, it’s important to run patches on a schedule. You’ll want to ensure that you are applying patches at times when your network has few or no users present, to minimize any interruptions to their workflow. It’s also important to apply patches quickly for the sake of cybersecurity.

You should also be certain that you have a complete and robust understanding of all of the devices and inventory on your network. You can’t patch effectively if you don’t know what you’re working with. Generally, automating your patch management is the best path toward saving time and money, minimizing stress—and ensuring your network stays safe and up-to-date.

Conclusion

If you’ve struggled with troublesome patching before, you’re not the only one. Individual tech users and IT departments can often have issues in this area. Sometimes patches cause more issues than they’re worth. In which case you will need to remove a patch, or brainstorm an alternate solution.

We hope this article provided useful information about how to deal with a troublesome patch. Be sure to save it for the future so that you can refer back anytime you need a reminder about what you should do, should you find yourself in a patchy situation.

FAQs

What should I do if I accidentally remove a necessary patch?

If you accidentally remove a necessary patch, you should be able to reinstall it. Patches that you roll back are not removed from the system forever; they’re just temporarily uninstalled. If you realize a patch needs to be reinstalled, you can implement a workaround to fix whatever issue it may have caused.

Can I prevent patches from being installed automatically?

You can go into your program’s settings and disable automatic updates to prevent patches from being automatically deployed. You can also prevent patches from being installed after you roll them back by disabling, hiding, or blocking them.

Why do patches sometimes cause problems?

Patches are not perfect solutions, meaning that they sometimes cause problems even as they’re fixing others. That’s because patching isn’t a perfect science. They’re meant to quickly solve problems, which means that they’re not always compatible with every device interface.

The Top 5 ITSM Trends of 2023

#1: Employee-Focused IT Solutions

#2: Data-Driven ITSM Operations

#3: Intelligent Automation

#4: Personalized Support

#5: Value-Focused Initiatives

Conclusion

Every IT department must perform routine software deployment in order to ensure its end users are staying up to date on every program and application. Even if you’re calling it by another name, you’re probably already doing it. But what if you could do it faster, safer, and more effectively than ever before?

In this guide, we’ll be covering the ins and outs of software deployment as well as why it’s necessary for every IT department and managed service provider out there. Make sure that you’re setting up your organization for success with a strong software deployment program that’s made to keep your applications up to date while minimizing risk.

What is Software Deployment?

Software deployment refers to all of the steps, processes, and other activities required to make a software system or update accessible to its users. The process of software deployment includes steps like release, installation, testing, deployment, and monitoring. The terms “software deployment” and “application deployment” are often used interchangeably.

Most IT organizations and software developers in today’s landscape deploy software updates, patches, and new applications by combining manual and automated processes. There are many different types and methods of software deployment that offer differing levels of efficiency and risk. But overall, they all have the same goal – to make software available on devices or services for its intended users.

Stages of Software Deployment

There are five key stages that go into the software deployment process. Ensuring that your IT department follows these steps is an excellent way to ensure that your software deployment process will go smoothly. Setting up a streamlined process can also reduce mistakes and risk along the way.

Stage #1: Plan

The first stage in any effective software deployment process is to formulate a comprehensive plan. You’ll need to know what software or application you’re trying to deploy, how many end-users you have, and what risks are involved. A good plan will address these questions and many more.

Stage #2: Design

Once you have a comprehensive plan, you will need to design how the deployment will play out. Ask yourself what kind of deployment will minimize risk. Do end-users need to access software updates simultaneously, or would a slower rollout work? It’s important to conduct a cost-benefit analysis for each method here.

Stage #3: Test

To ensure nothing goes awry during the actual deployment, it’s a good idea to create a test environment. Use simulations and perform tests to ensure you can detect any hidden issues before the official deployment and fix anything that’s wrong. You want the software to be completely functional before you roll it out to users – that goes without saying.

Stage #4: Schedule

Project management comes into play in this step of the process. Break down your software deployment plan into manageable tasks. Then, either manually or automatically, create a schedule for task completion. Assigning and scheduling tasks are sure to streamline your software deployment process.

Stage #5: Deploy

Finally, the actual deployment! Deploy the software to your endpoints. If you’ve completed the previous four steps, the deployment should go to plan without any major hitches.

Why is Software Deployment Important?

Deployment is one of the key aspects of any software development process. It is the main mechanism that allows applications, updates, and patches to transfer from developers to users. Effective software deployment relies on developers using efficient methods to build, test, and deploy new code in order to respond to changes in customer preferences or other requirements.

If teams can streamline or automate the process of software deployment, they can respond more quickly to user needs. That, in turn, allows organizations to roll out updates faster and deliver new features more frequently, driving customer satisfaction and capitalizing on economic growth opportunities.

Software development and deployment have seen intensive innovation over the past couple of decades. Developers have created workflows that enable faster, more frequent deployment of software updates to the production environment – that is, where users can access them.

Benefits of Software Deployment

Thoughtful software deployment helps streamline the tasks required to ensure your software is available and running smoothly for all of your users. It comes with a number of different benefits, which we will explore in this section.

Save Time

Effective software deployment is a great way to cut down on time and become more efficient as an IT department. When set up correctly, the software deployment and patching process can take just a few hours. When you use automated systems, that time can be cut down even further, and you’ll be able to allocate your manpower and resources more effectively.

Improve RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management)

Software deployment enables you to exercise control in managing software and applications for end-users. In other words, you’ll be able to remotely monitor and manage applications no matter where you are physically. You will be able to rest easy knowing that your software is operating properly and without any issues.

Boost Security

More control over your organization’s endpoints equals more security. Deploying software in a structured manner, rather than counting on users to download and update the software themselves, means that you can ensure the security of one software application rather than tackling each device individually.

Smooth Installation and Patching

The primary benefit of software deployment is its effectiveness in installing or patching software on your network’s endpoints. That means that when your organization has an effective software deployment process in place, you’ll be able to facilitate smoother transitions from old to new software and fix codes more easily through patch management.

Final Thoughts

It’s essential for any IT department to have a robust software deployment system. There are many different benefits in play here, from saving time and resources to ensuring your organization’s security and preventing data breaches. There are plenty of different methods for software deployment, but no matter which one you choose, you need a clearly stated, streamlined process to make it happen.

When you adhere to a tried-and-true process for software deployment, you’ll be doing your team and your company a huge favor. It’s an excellent way to ensure that all of your end-users have the most updated versions of programs and receive all the necessary patches. Basically, smart software deployment is an essential function of any IT team.

Want to really take software deployment to the next level? Consider investing in a software deployment tool like Atera’s. Our system gives you monitoring for multiple sites, and its automated software deployment tool is helpfully integrated into a patch manager.

The tool runs on a schedule and can launch scripts alongside installers, enabling you to package environment preparation and reboot procedures. We also provide RMM, which allows you to inventory all endpoints on a network and ensure everything is up to date. Maintaining a current software inventory is an important part of software deployment.

With automated patch management and Atera’s best-in-class RMM the clear choice for anyone looking for a software deployment tool that will take their IT department to the next level. Software deployment is a crucial part of any IT team’s duties, and Atera can help you make the process more efficient, cost-effective, and risk-free. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our offerings.

With the recent popularity of ChatGPT, you’ve likely heard of its parent company, OpenAI. The company, which has a mission of ensuring that artificial intelligence (AI) benefits humanity, is the brains behind the internet’s trendy chatbot. But that’s not the only revolutionary AI innovation it has supported.

OpenAI is also the parent of OpenAI Codex, another AI model that’s designed to turn instructions given in simple, natural English into code using over a dozen popular coding languages. Codex was created with the goal of supplementing the work of developers and increasing development teams’ productivity.

It turns out that it’s instrumental in the world of IT as well. Microsoft Azure has begun providing its enterprise customers with a limited access preview of OpenAI services, but they’re not the only ones. At Atera, we have embedded Codex into our platform as well.

In this article, we’ll explore everything we hope to offer with our OpenAI Codex integration. We’ll cover what it means, what it can do, and how it can increase day-to-day productivity and efficiency for any IT professional.

What are Atera’s capabilities powered by OpenAI? 

Let’s start with the basics. We’ve integrated OpenAI’s advanced AI technology and language models into our platform, embedding the Codex within our product offerings. Why did we do it? We’re committed to empowering users to generate PowerShell scripts  .bat, .sh, or .ps1 file types at lightning speed. With our OpenAI integration, you can execute tasks even faster.

It all began with GPT-3 (which stands for generative pre-trained transformer three), a neural network machine learning model that uses deep learning and internet data mining to produce natural language text. Given an initial text-based prompt, GPT-3 can continue that prompt in a human-like manner through its autoregressive learning capabilities.

Since then, we’ve also added our Smart IT ticketing system powered by ChatGPT, that can summarize tickets, suggest replies and solutions, and then you can use it also to generate a solution for that particular ticket!

OpenAI Codex is a descendant of GPT-3, and it’s been trained with data consisting of both natural language and billions of lines of source code. Its source code comes from publicly available sources, such as GitHub repositories.

Tal Dagan, our company’s chief product officer, demonstrated how our OpenAI integration has allowed for an easy-to-use script-generating tool. He asked the tool to write a code that would create a restore point for a user’s computer.

Then he asked it to create a script that would reboot the computer from that restore point. This is just one of many use cases for the integration that can help automate common IT functions, including supercharging your helpdesk easily through Atera’s ticketing system.

But don’t worry – our OpenAI integration is by no means meant to replace the jobs of IT professionals.

The integration still requires users to be knowledgeable enough to improve the query in order to generate the script they’re looking for. Our goal is not to eliminate the jobs of hardworking IT professionals, but rather to provide a generative AI that can quickly generate codes or scripts for professionals to review and perform quality assurance checks.

In Dagan’s words, “It’s not replacing you… but it can speed up the process.” We see Codex and other AI models as productive additions to the suite of tools that IT professionals use to improve their day-to-day work. But it will never replace the human touch in an IT department.

What is the value of the OpenAI integration?

We’ve spent months fine-tuning our OpenAI Codex integration to ensure that it can provide value to our customers.

By typing in a set of instructions, whether they’re simple or complex, Atera users can now generate powerful scripts with just the click of a button. This level of automation provides the perfect combination of simplicity and sophistication, saving our users countless hours of manual coding and responding to helpdesk asks.

Plus, our Codex integration is simply unmatched. Because OpenAI Codex has much of the natural language understanding of GPT-3 but produces working code instead of natural language responses, you can issue simple commands. It is able to consider contextual information when performing tasks, making its output more accurate and relevant.

The Codex integration empowers computers to better understand user intent, which in turn helps Atera users create more accurate scripts on a much faster timeline. Having OpenAI integrated into the Atera system allows us to preserve functionality and user experience. You’re already familiar with where to go in order to upload or create a script, which dramatically improves the process.

Our OpenAI integration is just one of the many innovative IT automation solutions we offer. As an IT management software provider, we’re excited to provide our users with integrations and experiences that are at the forefront of our ever-evolving field.

What are some examples of scripts?

You might be wondering about the particulars of the integration and what kinds of scripts you can use it for. Here are a few examples of the types of scripts you could create using our Open AI:

• Delete temporary files for all users
• Flush the DNS cache to clear browsing history
• Clear all files from the recycle bin
• Run Windows cleanup to free up disk space
• And many more.

Our OpenAI Codex Integration allows you to automate the more mundane tasks your department is faced with in a much quicker and easier manner. That way, you’ll free up your team to focus their knowledge on more complex problems, best utilizing the talent you have available as seasoned IT professionals.

Where can I learn more?

We’ve put together plenty of resources to help users understand and utilize the capabilities of our generative AI script recommendations. To find out more information, check it out here.

When is it available for testing?

Our generative AI script recommendation tool is currently available as a beta feature for all our custimers. Because this tool is currently in beta, we recommend that you review all scripts that you generate in order to ensure proper functionality.

Join us and connect with your peers and colleagues, as well as industry leaders, for an exciting two-day virtual event tailored specifically for IT professionals. Ateraverse offers you a front-row seat to the latest innovations from Atera and a unique opportunity to learn from like-minded professionals.

The event will take place on May 3-4, 2023, and promises to be a unique opportunity for the Atera community to connect, engage, and grow together.

Our agenda is packed with inspiring sessions, workshops, and panels on the topics that matter most to IT professionals, including cybersecurity threats and changing market trends.

You can also add strategies to your arsenal that will help you remove redundancies and inefficiencies from your processes – something that all IT professionals can appreciate.

Some of the speakers you can look forward to hearing from include:

• Mike Massimino, former NASA astronaut
• Hether Ceylan, Zoom’s Deputy Chief Information Security Officer
• Itzik Tzalaf, Microsoft’s National Security Officer and Cybersecurity Expert
• Brian Kane, Malwarebytes’ Global MSP Cybersecurity Evangelist

The conference is built around the real-world concerns that IT professionals are expected to face in 2023 and beyond, such as mounting tech debt, increased cybersecurity threats, and growing workloads.

The “Year of Efficiency” has brought a focus on “lean and mean” IT operations, with organizations exploring redundancies and underutilized tools and processes. Ateraverse aims to provide attendees with ‌best practices and practical solutions for this evolving space. The two-day virtual event will feature eight sessions with industry leaders and peers discussing cutting-edge solutions such as intelligent automation, AI integrations, and zero-trust architecture.

Sponsored by Microsoft, Ateraverse promises to be an engaging conversation about the forefront of the IT field and help IT professionals transition smoothly into the new, automated age. The conference will also feature speakers who are thought leaders in the IT and cybersecurity space, as well as a surprise keynote speaker.

With remote work becoming a more and more popular option throughout the world, IT teams have to adapt to deal with the unique challenges associated with this shift. As many as 66% of U.S. employees work remotely at least part of the time, and 16% of companies are fully remote. It’s clear that IT departments need to tailor their strategies to this new trend.

In this article, we will aim to provide you with a robust understanding of the IT challenges that come with managing a remote team and offer coping strategies to help you overcome them. By the end of this post, we hope that you will feel empowered to take on specific challenges related to managing remote teams and be equipped with practical strategies to address them.

Different Types of IT Challenges in Remote Management

Let’s dive into the topic of remote monitoring and management, also called RMM. We will cover the challenges associated with these topics and elaborate on specific issues that remote teams may struggle with, including connectivity issues, software and hardware compatibility, and security risks.

Challenges in Managing a Remote Team From an IT Perspective

Remote work comes with all kinds of challenges and considerations, including employee engagement, retention, company culture, and team collaboration. In the world of IT, however, there are a number of specific challenges that are worth a second look.

Some of the most common challenges when it comes to remote team management include…

• Endpoint security
• Efficient deployment of changes, including patch management
• Secure access
• Security concerns related to personal devices
• Quick solution implementation
• Cost management
• Prevention of data loss

Using a robust RMM system can help your organization resolve these issues and make sure that you have proven strategies in place should a problem arise. This will help you maintain a strong security posture and ensure a positive employee experience.

IT Challenges in Remote Team Management

In this section, we’ll dive into some of the largest challenges that IT teams face when working with remote teams and the plethora of devices that come with them.

Connectivity Issues

One of the biggest problems that IT departments and organizations will need to overcome is the hurdle of providing reliable internet access for all employees. If an employee isn’t able to connect to the web, their productivity and output will almost certainly be affected.

Software and Hardware Compatibility

When it comes to IT, compatibility refers to the ability of software and hardware that comes from different sources to work together – ideally without having to be altered in order to do so. With that in mind, it’s important that programs, devices, and systems can interact with each other without issues. As more and more workplaces embrace bring-your-own-device policies, this becomes a more serious concern to watch out for.

Security Risks

With remote work comes plenty of security risks. Personal devices and the growing number of endpoints on a network lead to expanded attack surfaces that increase cybersecurity concerns. Plus, remote work can correspond to less oversight by security staff, unsecured and vulnerable hardware or networks, and a lack of education about safe data practices.

Coping Strategies for IT Challenges in Remote Team Management

In order to address these concerns, it’s important that IT departments adapt to the changing world of remote work and ensure that their support offerings and vulnerability management strategies are keeping up with current needs.

Providing Reliable Internet Access

It’s important that employees are able to access the internet when they’re working, but it’s also crucial that they’re not just using any network – that can seriously compromise security and enable malicious actors to access your organization’s files and data.

One solution to this is to employ a VPN, or virtual private network. A VPN allows you to restrict access so that employees have to connect directly through the system, providing them with an encrypted connection between their remote device(s) and the office’s main server.

Standardizing Software and Hardware

There are many good reasons to standardize your hardware and software – not the least of which is lower support and maintenance costs. Standardization helps your IT department technicians become experts on the hardware and software that’s relevant, meaning they’ll be able to provide more comprehensive and effective support.

It’s also important to consider that maintaining multiple software programs or hardware components comes with a significant price tag. Maintaining compliance with each application can be difficult and pricey. By standardizing the hardware and software your company’s employees are using, you’ll be able to perform your IT duties more effectively.

Implementing IT Security Measures

Remote workers are much more likely to access the corporate network from multiple different devices – for instance, they might use smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops all in one day. This increase in the use of personal, unvetted devices creates vulnerabilities that must be addressed in order to protect your company’s data and remain compliant.

In order to combat this issue, it’s worth considering implementing a strong RMM solution that will allow you to engage in robust network discovery and keep track of the devices used to access company information. You may also want to think about implementing policies that require remote employees to install an IT-approved security solution on their devices.

Final Thoughts

The world of remote work comes with a plethora of unique challenges and considerations for every IT department out there. That’s why it’s important for organizations to stay up-to-date on the solutions to these problems and employ strong RMM strategies in order to mitigate the security, connectivity, and productivity effects of remote work.

FAQs

How can I ensure that remote employees have access to reliable internet?

One solution to the problem of remote employees struggling to get internet access is to employ a VPN, or virtual private network. A VPN allows you to restrict access so that employees have to connect directly through the system, providing them with an encrypted connection between their remote device(s) and the office’s main server.

What are some effective ways to standardize software and hardware across a remote team?

There are many different ways to standardize software and hardware, one of which is to provide company computers that have already been updated with the most recent versions of each relevant software program. This will allow IT technicians to become experts on the hardware and software that’s relevant, meaning they’ll be able to provide more comprehensive and effective support.

What are some common security risks to remote team management, and how can I prevent them?

Remote team management leads to many common security risks, including a growing number of endpoints that create expanded attack surfaces and increase cybersecurity concerns. Plus, remote work can correspond to less oversight by security staff, unsecured and vulnerable hardware or networks, and a lack of education about safe data practices. A strong RMM solution can help you combat this issue.

In today’s digital environment, there is a huge emphasis on the customer journey. In other words, that means the path of interactions that an individual has engaged in with your brand, services, or product. It can include interactions such as working with customer service as well as more subtle forms of engagement like hearing about a brand at a conference.

In this article, we are going to be exploring the customer journey in terms of IT user onboarding and onboarding. This year’s ITSM (IT service management) trends center around user experience, making this a highly relevant topic.

User Onboarding and Offboarding in IT

The customer journey in the context of IT user onboarding and offboarding refers to the process a new user goes through to become familiar with a company’s technology or system and the process a departing user goes through to securely relinquish access to company technology or data.

Importance of Optimizing These Processes for a Positive User Experience and Security

The onboarding and offboarding processes are essential for establishing a positive initial experience with your organization as well as ensuring ongoing security after an individual departs. A user’s first interactions with your organization and your IT department will occur during their onboarding phase, so it’s crucial to get those interactions off on the right foot.

Then, when a user leaves the organization, you need to make sure that all endpoints are secured and that offboarding protocol is followed. That will help your company remain safe from cyber threats and remain in compliance with laws like the Strengthening American Cybersecurity Act of 2022.

Enhancing User Onboarding Procedures

When it comes to developing and training a strong workforce, a well-executed onboarding program is a crucial first step. The onboarding process allows new employees to learn about the company’s culture, meet and connect with their team, start initial tasks or projects, and set up any tools and technology they will be using.

As you might have guessed, the last point is the most important for IT departments. Many jobs these days require smartphones, computers, and other devices to perform day-to-day tasks. With that in mind, IT is an essential part of onboarding procedures.

Tips for Designing an Effective Onboarding Experience for IT Users

An effective onboarding experience for IT users is one that will set up new hires for success using the company’s technological systems and educating them on best practices. Generally speaking, this process should be holistic and should include tasks like:

• Creating new user accounts
• Creating new email addresses
• Setting up new workstations
• Acquiring any additional equipment
• Adding new licensees for software
• Setting up phone numbers and voicemail boxes
• Teaching employees how to use required devices and software programs
• Training employees on IT security best practices

Ensuring that your IT onboarding program encompasses all of these components is the key to success. But don’t overwhelm new hires too much all at once – it might be better to space out these training sessions and procedures over the course of a few days as the employee gets their bearings in their new workplace.

Best Practices for Communicating IT Policies and Procedures to New Users

There will be some steps of your onboarding checklist that you will complete prior to a new employee’s first day on the job. But once the employee has officially started, you’ll want to begin by meeting with them to review the accounts, systems, and procedures they’ll need.

You can do this either in a one-on-one setting or through group training, in which you’ll introduce all of the basic company applications, accounts, procedures, and systems to the new hires. Some details will apply to everyone, while some details will be more relevant to specific roles. For instance, marketing employees will use different applications than payroll employees.

Breaking up these training sessions into different meetings might be necessary if you have employees working with multiple types of hardware and software.

You can also follow up on this training by providing resources like digital manuals, one-page cheat sheets, or relevant webinars. You’ll also want to train the new hire on corporate equipment in the office, like printers or copiers.

Examples of Successful Onboarding Strategies in IT

If IT onboarding isn’t handled properly, it can have serious consequences for new employees, including delaying productive work, creating security loopholes, exposing data to risks, and negatively impacting the employee’s perception of their new workplace. However, grasping a successful onboarding strategy for your IT department isn’t too difficult.

In order to succeed with IT onboarding, you should make a checklist of everything you need to do before, on, and after a new hire’s first day. That checklist will include things like…

• Gathering all the required information about the new hire
• Ordering and setting up required technology and devices
• Creating accounts for necessary software and tools
• Scheduling an IT onboarding session
• Educating new employees about privacy and cybersecurity

When you harness the power of a checklist and ensure these strategies are handled in a time-sensitive manner, you’ll be able to set yourself and your company up for success in both training and retaining new talent.

Improving User Offboarding Procedures

Offboarding employees is usually a collaborative process involving both the IT and HR teams. You will need to revoke access to multiple systems, recover equipment, and help former employees to leave the company on as good terms as possible. A well-structured checklist and a strong understanding of the importance of offboarding can help you do this.

Reasons Why Offboarding is Important for IT Security

When you accomplish successful IT offboarding, you’ll be able to protect your data, minimize both legal and security threats, uphold compliance standards, ease the transition for both the remaining staff and the exciting employee, and part on good terms.

If you don’t properly offboard employees, your company will not be upholding a strong security posture. That’s because former employees may still be able to access your network, messing with servers, changing data, or stealing intellectual property. Plus, malicious actors may be able to discover forgotten credentials and infiltrate your systems. This is especially important for individuals who had wide-reaching access, like IT or security employees.

How to Make the Offboarding Process Smooth and Secure for the Departing User

Ensuring that your offboarding process is smooth and secure – both for your company and for the departing user – means that you will need to maintain an accurate IT inventory. That inventory should include who has access to what and where, looking at things like keys, credentials, certificates, and more.

Your aim when you’re offboarding is to prevent security breaches while fostering a smooth, easy transition out of the company. You’ll have to adopt a systematic way to revoke employee access. That checklist will involve team collaboration so that the IT department can quickly learn whenever a termination or transition occurs and act accordingly to revoke access.

Examples of Companies With Effective Offboarding Procedures in IT

There are many examples of companies that have truly understood the IT offboarding assignment. For example, Fair.com, which is an automotive fintech company, has stopped giving employees underlying keys or credentials – instead, everyone uses SSO, which can be easily revoked by the company’s network admins.

MediaOS, the company behind Hearst magazines (that includes publications like Elle, Cosmopolitan, and Esquire), has turned to intelligent automation to make staff turnover less of a labor-intensive process. MakeSpace has employed similar strategies in order to keep the onboarding process efficient and organized.

The Role of IT Support in Onboarding and Offboarding

IT departments play a crucial role in onboarding and offboarding employees. Both in the beginning and the end of their journey with the company, users will need IT support.

Importance of IT Support in the User Journey

IT support is one of the most important pieces of the onboarding process. New users depend on education and resources from IT departments to help them get acquainted with new devices and software and understand best practices around security and privacy.

At the end of an employee’s experience working for the company, the IT department is partially responsible for making the transition a smooth and easy one. IT support will help ensure that user access is properly revoked, which will help the company mitigate security risks. They can also make this process simple for the user, easing the transition.

Best Practices for IT Support During Onboarding and Offboarding

Whether you’re onboarding or offboarding an employee, it’s essential to stay organized and follow a checklist. You will need to collaborate with other teams, like HR, to understand what you need to do before, during, and after an employee’s first day on the job.

Your job is to educate employees to help them understand what they need to do, how to use their resources, and how technology can help them contribute to the company.

How Can Atera Help?

Atera offers a variety of solutions for both IT departments and MSPs (managed services providers). Our suite of products can help you streamline and automate many aspects of work in the IT space. With intelligent automations, integrations galore, and innovative products that will up your efficiency in the workplace, we’re the comprehensive solution for an IT team.

FAQs

What is user onboarding in IT and why is it important?

User onboarding in IT is the process of setting up new hires for success using the company’s technological systems and educating them on best practices of privacy and security. An effective onboarding process will allow users to feel confident using required technology, complete productive work, and get started on their new job responsibilities.

How can I design an effective onboarding experience for IT users?

To design an effective onboarding experience for IT users, consider tasks that need to be done before, on, and after their start date. These tasks might include creating new user and email accounts, setting up workstations, adding new software licenses, acquiring additional equipment, setting up phone numbers, and more. Make a checklist to cover these tasks.

What are some best practices for communicating IT policies and procedures to new users during onboarding?

You’ll want to set up either one-on-one or group IT training sessions during new employees’ first few days at work. Introduce all of the basic company applications, accounts, procedures, and systems to the new hires. You may have to split this training into multiple meetings if you have employees working with many types of software. You can also follow up with resources.

Why is offboarding important for IT security?

Without a strong offboarding process, former employees may still be able to access your network, messing with servers, changing data, or stealing intellectual property. Plus, malicious actors may be able to discover forgotten credentials and infiltrate your systems.

How can I make the offboarding process smooth and secure for the departing user?

Ensuring that your offboarding process is smooth and secure – both for your company and for the departing user – means that you will need to maintain an accurate IT inventory. That inventory should include who has access to what and where, looking at things like keys, credentials, certificates, and more.

What are some examples of companies with effective offboarding procedures in IT?

Fair.com, an automotive fintech company, as well as MediaOS, MakeSpace, and many others have effective IT offboarding procedures. They accomplish this by employing effective automations, keeping things organized, and working quickly.

Why is IT support important in the user journey for onboarding and offboarding?

IT support is one of the most important pieces of the onboarding process. New users depend on education and resources from IT departments to help them get acquainted with new devices and software and understand best practices around security and privacy. At the end of an employee’s experience working for the company, the IT department is partially responsible for making the transition a smooth and easy one.

What are some best practices for IT support during onboarding and offboarding?

Whether you’re onboarding or offboarding an employee, it’s essential to stay organized and follow a checklist. You will need to collaborate with other teams, like HR, to understand what you need to do before, during, and after an employee’s first day on the job.

In today’s day and age, cybersecurity is a common concern within companies and within IT departments in particular. It’s important to keep your IT environment as safe as possible – and that’s where patch management and vulnerability management come in. Not sure where to begin? Don’t worry, Atera’s here to help.

Patch management and vulnerability management products are often bundled together and assumed to serve the same purpose. But the reality of the situation is that, while these two processes are compatible and related, they are not the same.

In this article, we will dive deeper into both topics, explaining what they are, when they should be used, and their key similarities and differences. By the time you’re done reading, you’ll have a well-developed understanding of these two areas of IT and you’ll gain new knowledge about which one you should prioritize. (Hint: It’s both!)

What is patch management?

Patch management is a process that’s used to update software, operating systems, and applications in a logical way. When you purchase a patch management product, it should enable you to highlight, classify, and prioritize any patches that a given asset is missing.

Let’s back up a second: What exactly are patches? Well, they’re code changes that come from a program’s vendor and can contain anything from security fixes to new features and updates. Patch management should keep your programs running smoothly, but it’s not necessarily a catch-all. That’s why it’s important to combine patch management with vulnerability management.

What is vulnerability management?

While not all patches are related to security issues, vulnerability management is an area that’s entirely focused on security. This process is used to discover assets on a network, categorize the operating systems and applications on those assets, and then report vulnerabilities related to security.

A high-quality vulnerability management product will report both security vulnerabilities and suggest some remediation advice. This remediation process will usually involve patching the vulnerable system, but it may also involve implementing configuration changes. If there are multiple known vulnerabilities, you should get a report back that lists them in order of priority.

Once you address those vulnerabilities – your patches have been implemented and the changes have been made – you can repeat the vulnerability scan to ensure that the issues have been taken care of.

Patch management vs. vulnerability management key similarities

Patch management and vulnerability management do overlap in a number of areas, and their goals are deeply intertwined. Successful execution of both processes will require your IT department to have a comprehensive inventory of the hardware and software assets under its purview – as well as their configuration details.

Both patch and vulnerability management are also time-sensitive matters. In fact, more than 90% of exploitations occur after the patch for a vulnerability has been released. Think about it: Patch releases let the public know that a vulnerability exists, so you need to cover your bases quickly before you get taken advantage of.

That’s why IT automation has really taken off. With an automated patching system like Atera’s, you won’t have to worry so much about cyberattacks. The moment a vendor announces a vulnerability, hackers become aware of it too – and they’re ready to act. That means you need to act first, which is achieved much more easily with automation.

While patch management and vulnerability management are two strategies that can be used together in a tandem manner, IT professionals sometimes need to decide which is best for solving a problem. In the long term, true success and safety boil down to a strategy comprised of both patch and vulnerability management.

Patch management vs. vulnerability management key differences

Although they support common workflows and goals (such as risk assessment, prioritization, and mitigation of security vulnerabilities), patch management and vulnerability management tools are typically operated independently and are deployed and managed by different people within an IT department.

The key difference between the two systems is that a patch management system will generally not be able to tell you if there is an existing vulnerability in a piece of software – it’s not made to conduct scans, just to execute the patches and code rewrites that vendors put out. Vulnerability management systems, on the other hand, actively look for security risks.

That said, most vulnerability management systems cannot actually fix the problems they spot, although they may offer advice on how to go about doing so. That’s why vulnerability management and patch management need each other: One is the problem finder while the other is the problem fixer.

Patch management vs. vulnerability management key similarities: best practices

While there’s no magic code word that can lead you to totally seamless vulnerability and patch management. However, modern technology has allowed for innovations and workflow optimizations that have significantly reduced security risks in the It world.

First and foremost, it’s important to implement both patch management and vulnerability management. Using one without the other is like putting on just one of your shoes in the morning – you’re off-balance, more likely to trip, and frankly, neither of your feet is feeling incredibly good.

One way to ensure that your patch management and vulnerability management systems are working in tandem is to combine the teams working on these areas. Many IT departments have historically separated out these processes, but ensuring that end-to-end resolution is realized requires solid communication and teamwork between the people working on each.

Some of the top best practices we recommend are as follows:

• Scan daily. Automating your vulnerability management will save lots of time and resources in this area so that you’re able to have real-time visibility into your organization’s vulnerabilities.
• Prioritize vulnerabilities. When you get a report from a vulnerability scan, ensure that you’re addressing the issues it informs you of in order of highest to lowest risk. You don’t want malware, ransomware groups, or threat actors getting into your system.
• Patch high-risk vulnerabilities. Addressing the highest-risk issues first, especially those that are on the perimeter. It’s best to do this within 48 hours of discovering a risk.
• Automate patch management. When you automate the patching of applications that introduce the most vulnerabilities into your environment, you’ll save yourself tons of time and energy. You’ll be able to devote your team’s power to other, more mission-critical areas instead.

Generally speaking, it’s crucial that any IT department understands the connection between vulnerability management and patch management. In today’s modern world, automating these processes with features like those that Atera offers can give your team an opportunity to streamline this work while simultaneously keeping your systems safer than ever.

It seems like the whole internet is abuzz about Open AI — the creators of ChatGPT, the latest innovative AI program. While we’ve all seen screenshots of people asking hilarious questions and trying to test its limits, there are plenty of practical uses for the program. It’s not all just fun and games.

In fact, ChatGPT may just prove to be a game-changer in the day-to-day processes of IT departments. In particular, it appears very promising as a tool to generate code and scripts – plus, it has attractive debugging capabilities.

Scripting is an essential task in every IT department, as it allows users to automate tasks for websites and web-based applications through the use of an existing program. In this article, we’ll cover the many ways that ChatGPT can revolutionize your current scripting processes, saving you time and resources along the way.

Open AI: the next big thing

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is the hot new technology that everyone is raving about. It’s a free artificial intelligence (AI) program hosted by OpenAI, and it’s essentially a chatbot – but likely the most advanced chatbot you’ve ever seen.

You can ask ChatGPT a question about pretty much anything, and it will come up with a response. The technology is fine-tuned with both supervised and reinforcement learning techniques, meaning that anytime someone asks it something or requests that it write text, it gets even better at doing its job.

What can ChatGPT do?

You’d be impressed at the range of tasks that ChatGPT is able to complete. You can tell it to write just about anything, and it’ll spit out an answer within minutes. For example, you could ask it to write a poem using your child’s name, a song about your dog, a tagline for an e-commerce business, or even a research paper (colleges beware).

But one of ChatGPT’s most useful and interesting features – in our opinion, anyway – is that it can write code and generate scripts. Now, there are a few different AI models out there that can write code, but ChatGPT stands out because of its ability to dialogue with human users. While a typical AI model might simply spit out code per your requests, ChatGPT has the unique ability to go back and modify code after it’s created it.

After ChatGPT generates a script for you, you’ll be able to test it out and then modify it as needed. ChatGPT can respond to your issues and allow you to describe the bugs that you’re seeing. Once you tell it what’s not working, it can suggest fixes and modify the code.

What kinds of IT scripts can ChatGPT generate?

ChatGPT knows many different programming languages, including Python, JavaScript, C++, C#, Java, Ruby, PHP, Go, Swift, TypeScript, SQL, and PowerShell. It can write scripts for pretty much anything – remember, anytime anyone uses the tool for that purpose, it continues learning.

That’s because it uses Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback, or RLHF, in order to constantly teach itself new things. Its ability to dialogue with human users enhances its learning capabilities as it’s able to evaluate its own responses with hints from sentient users.

Really, you just need to tell ChatGPT what you want your script to accomplish and what language you want it to be written in. ChatGPT can take care of the rest.

Want to try our new integration with Open AI? sign up for the waitlist here!

How should I enter the instructions?

ChatGPT is trained in many different languages, both natural and programming. Therefore, you can enter the instructions to create the script you want to write in a casual format. You just need to ensure that you communicate the intended results of the script, the argument, and the language in which you’d like it to be produced.

You could try inputting “write a [language] script that does…” and then write out the tasks you’d like the script to accomplish. ChatGPT is fairly adept at understanding the script you want it to output. Of course, it does come across errors, so it’s important to always double-check the script and test it. In that stage, ChatGPT can also help you fix bugs.

Will ChatGPT write a perfect script?

ChatGPT isn’t perfect – it will make mistakes. But the important thing to keep in mind is that it will never admit to not knowing an answer. Therefore, it will confidently present wrong answers from time to time. Generally, it’s a good tool to generate plausible-sounding answers, but it won’t always be exactly right on the first go-around.

When it comes to resolving bugs and fixing issues in a script, ChatGPT successfully reformed its answers and created working code 77.5% of the time. One professor at the Wharton School of Business described it as an excellent tool that “produces elegant but oftentimes wrong answers – and fosters critical thinking.”

How generating scripts with AI save time for IT professionals

Essentially, ChatGPT is a great place to start when you want to generate a script. It can give you a solid foundation that you’ll have to check and potentially toy with, but it will save you the time and effort of building a script from the ground up.

When you’re devoting your time and energy to more complex tasks, you can leave the rote ones to AI tools like ChatGPT. As we all know, IT professionals are the behind-the-scenes heart of so many companies, and we’re counted upon to keep everything running smoothly. Using an AI like ChatGPT in order to generate scripts and enhance automation can further improve processes and efficiency in the workplace.

With Atera and ChatGPT, the future of IT is already here

While generating scripts with ChatGPT is not a catch-all solution, the AI-powered tool offers a great jumping off point much of the time. While you may have to debug and make changes to the script, ChatGPT can help with that too – and it can iterate existing scripts and processes, saving you time and energy.

It’s also important to remember that ChatGPT will likely only get better over time. Its supervised and reinforcement learning techniques allow it to constantly get smarter and better at certain tasks. As more and more users generate scripts with the tool, ChatGPT will become incredibly effective and accurate in these tasks.

Want to try our new integration with Open AI? sign up for the waitlist here!