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Gone are the days when businesses had employees working from a single office location. Now, more and more businesses are turning to remote working to cut overhead costs, increase productivity and improve work-life balance among other benefits.
As a result, businesses need to find ways to efficiently manage their remote workforces, which begins with ensuring they have a laptop to work from. This is where zero touch deployment comes in.
Zero touch deployment is the process of onboarding and sending devices to employees, without needing an IT technician to manually set them up. Devices are automatically pre-configured with settings, applications, and security policies before shipping.
For remote organizations, this means your team members do not have to physically visit a data center or manually set up their devices. Zero touch deployment also removes the burden on IT teams to configure and deploy devices themselves - freeing up hours of IT time while ensuring a smooth onboarding experience for new hires.
But these are only a few of the benefits.
The main benefits of using zero touch deployment, instead of manually configuring devices before shipping, or asking team members to set up their devices when they receive them, are:
Improved security
Cost savings
Increased efficiency
Better onboarding experience
Below, we explore each benefit in detail.
Cyber attacks increased globally by 38% in 2022. In the UK and US, they increased by a staggering 77% and 57% respectively. With the growing prevalence of AI, Check Point Research warns that these figures are only likely to increase in 2023.
Zero touch deployment enables IT departments to apply security measures right from the initial setup. By enforcing encryption, password policies, and device restrictions before shipping the devices, companies can significantly reduce the risk of data breaches and ensure compliance with industry regulations.
Manual processes (involving an IT technician or new starter setting up a device) are prone to human error, such as misconfigurations or incorrect settings. Zero touch deployment eliminates these risks, as the deployment process is automated, and the same configuration settings are used every time.
When remote team members set up their own devices, they often have to access sensitive servers and infrastructure, increasing the risk of security breaches. With zero touch deployment, however, the entire process is automated, reducing the likelihood of human error or malicious activity.
To put the risk into perspective, the average data breach costs an organization $4.35 million. You really can’t afford to not secure your devices before deploying them to your remote teams.
Aside from the huge potential costs that can arise from a data breach, there are direct labor and shipping costs associated with configuring and deploying a device in-house.
This is because manually setting up and configuring devices takes time. And time is money. The more you scale, the more these costs will pile up.
Many organizations that don’t use zero touch deployment end up shipping devices to a central location, like a warehouse or company headquarters, so an IT technician can manually configure them, before dispatching them to new remote hires.
If you go down this route, you’ll need to factor the additional shipping costs, time spent organizing couriers, the technicians time etc.
With zero-touch deployment, however, devices can be shipped directly from the manufacturer or supplier to the end user, cutting down additional admin and expense.
If neither your IT team, nor your employees, needs to set up devices, you not only free up time for your IT Engineers, but also eliminate downtime for your remote hires during onboarding.
When first days are in the office, new hires can spend time training and meeting new colleagues while their device is being set up. But when employees are remote, the only way to connect with their team is through their device. Any time spent setting it up, is time not spent onboarding.
With zero touch deployment, your new hires’ laptops are set up with everything they need to get started, from the moment they open them. This means there’s no need for your IT team to assist with setting up the devices, and your new hires don’t have to wait around for applications to install.
The majority (69%) of employees that experience great onboarding are likely to stay at the company for at least three years. So getting onboarding right can work wonders for your company culture and your overall brand.
If a new hire spends a large portion of their day setting up their device, with no way to enjoy more meaningful onboarding events or meet colleagues, the experience won’t be one to remember.
Receiving a ready-to-use device before their first day, on the other hand, lays the foundations for a memorable first-day - giving them all the time they need to feel excited about their new journey.
When it comes to remote onboarding, and teams are spread across different regions and time zones, consistency can be hard to achieve. But it should never be overlooked.
If some employees receive their devices fully set-up and others do not, or employees in certain time zones have to wait a few hours for IT support, while others receive support straight away, you’re creating an unequal employee experience.
With zero touch deployment, you can ensure every team member receives their device configured and ready-to-work, so your onboarding experience is standardized for all.
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