How to Properly Offboard a Tech Employee with Access to Data
Occasionally your company needs to offboard an employee as quickly as possible. Whether they are laid-off, fired due to poor performance, or leaving on their own, offboarding the worker needs to happen securely. However, things get complex if that soon-to-be former employee has access to your technical infrastructure, including servers and critical data.
With a secure process in mind, here are a few insights on how to properly exit an IT employee with access to critical systems. Leverage these ideas to ensure your company’s data and servers stay safe. Note this is a very important issue in an era of heightened cybersecurity.
Ensuring Security When an Employee Leaves Involves More Than Their Laptop
The advent of the Cloud and mobile computing makes things more difficult when offboarding an employee. The days of simply taking back their company-assigned laptop are over. What about their access to Cloud-based applications and data? What about their smartphone and/or tablet computer?
This is a complex undertaking that needs to be approached with a standardized process.
A Partnership Between HR and IT is Essential
When offboarding an employee, your company’s HR team needs to work closely with IT to ensure the former employee’s access to systems is quickly terminated. This effort becomes easier when IT knows every server – Cloud and on-premises – where the user has credentials. So, having well-documented notes on internal access to the company’s technical infrastructure makes it easier for HR to offboard an employee.
In this scenario, centralized authentication using Active Directory or something similar helps when offboarding. Additionally, change the passwords for any common “superuser” accounts used by developers and network administrators.
What About the Employee’s Mobile Devices?
When considering an employee’s mobile devices when offboarding, a robust MDM (mobile device management) policy is essential. A tool that allows the remote deleting of company data from a mobile device and/or a laptop also helps keep things secure. These same tools typically keep the employee’s data in sync with the corporate data store, ensuring nothing gets lost after they leave.
Ultimately, the importance of using centralized authentication and a strong MDM program cannot be understated to ensure your company’s data and technical assets stay secure after offboarding an employee. In the end, ensure your IT team stays vigilant and proactive.
If your organization needs advice on building a great tech team, talk to the experts at Digital Prospectors. As one of the top IT staffing agencies in New England, we provide great candidates able to make a difference for you. Schedule a meeting with us soon.