Onboarding End Users — The Shifting Left Model to Handling User Entry and Exit

Now that we have defined our audience, identified the key elements of our IT self-service portal and the service catalog, and populated the knowledge base, the next critical step is to onboard end users into the IT ecosystem. With thousands of students enrolling every semester, onboarding all of them manually can be a challenge for any IT service desk team.

In the context of ITSM, the shifting left model involves moving the resolution process as close to the end user as possible, preferably through a self-service portal. When done correctly, this approach quickens the resolution process, reduces costs, and improves end-user satisfaction. Given how tech-savvy today’s students are, you should consider shifting the entire onboarding process left with thorough, relevant knowledge base articles and guides.

Universities with best-in-class processes follows the above principle and handles all its onboarding through a series of articles and step-by-step instructions. With detailed instructions at every step of the way, onboarding into the university’s IT ecosystem and, subsequently, the self-service portal to get access to service offerings, is hassle-free for the students and frees up the IT service desk team to work on other, more pressing matters.

These processes and workflows can serve as a helpful guideline for IT service desk teams looking to automate or left shift the onboarding and offboarding processes.