What You Need to Know About Self-Service Password Resets

How many of the calls to your help desk typically involve end user password resets? 20%? 40%? More? If you took a poll of your Help Desk, the answer would probably be a short and sweet, “Too frustrated businesswomanmany.” In our experience, password resets consume a huge chunk of the Help Desk’s time each day. Time which could be better spent on performing trending analysis and uncovering areas where IT might need to shore up its investments or focus its efforts.

The Help Desk staff aren’t the only ones feeling the pinch of the password. With periodic password expirations and complexity requirements, end users are frustrated with corporate policies. They just want to log in and get on with their day as quickly as possible. The sooner they do, the sooner they too can get back to delivering real value to the business.

Putting self-service password resets in the hands of end users is a great way to increase Help Desk and user efficiency. If you’re using Microsoft Azure’s Active Directory Premium as part of the Enterprise Mobility Suite, you can enable this self-service quickly and easily.

Four password reset options

Instead of having to put a ticket in with the help desk, end users can go to your company’s Office 365 page (https://portal.office.com) or the Access Panel (https://myapps.microsoft.com) from any modern web browser and correct the problem on their own. Once they’ve accessed the site, they’ll have four different ways (depending on what’s been enabled by IT) to prove they are who they say they are before they can perform a reset. These options are:

  • Phone Call – Users can receive an automated call directly to the number listed on their account as their work number. They’ll then need to validate via a prompt on their phone to reset their password in the browser.
  • Text Message – If users aren’t at their desk or simply prefer to handle things through their handheld device, they can choose to receive a PIN verification via text message. The PIN is used on the web browser to validate their identity.
  • Alternate email address – If users have a personal or secondary email listed on their account, they can choose to have their reset info sent to that address.
  • Security questions – Users can set their own security questions/answers which will allow them back into their account should they forget their password.

One password to rule them all

The benefits of Azure Directory Premium go beyond making the password reset process itself easier. It can also reduce the number of instances where an end user may need to perform a password reset in the first place. The result of this? Happier, more productive end users, which in turn makes for a happier, more productive company.

Azure Directory Premium does this through its Access Panel feature. This is a website users can go to and, with one username and password, access to all of the cloud-based applications they need to do their jobs. This includes SaaS apps like Workday, Salesforce, Marketo, etc. Rather than having to log in to each of those accounts individually, users only need to sign in to Access Panel. This saves the user from having to remember an endless amount of username/password combinations.

By consolidating all of these applications into the Access Panel and enabling self-service password reset, the footprint of password management has been significantly reduced. There are fewer passwords to keep track of and fewer steps – and touch points – needed to reset it.

Interested in learning more about the impact an Azure deployment can have at your facility? Arraya Solutions is a two-time winner (2014 & 2015) of the Microsoft Rising Star Award for the Mid-Atlantic region. Our team has the skill and experience to deliver a smooth Azure deployment and ensure full value is achieved throughout the life of the solution.

Want to strike up a conversation with one of our Account Executives about Azure or one of the range of other services and solutions we offer? Visit us at http://www.arrayasolutions.com/contact-us/.

Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter, @ArrayaSolutions, to stay on top of the latest industry and company news and special offers.

Arraya Insights