Chapter 11 — Account administration

Chapter 11 — Account administration

Lesson map

Lesson 11 published. Map, example, EX031.

flowchart TD
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["11.1 Joiners"]
  N2["11.2 Movers and leavers"]
  N3["11.3 Shared and service accounts"]
  N4["11.4 Reviews"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4
  N4 --> EX["Worked example"]
  EX --> Q["Exercise EX031"]

Logical drawing

flowchart LR
  N0["Learning outcomes"]
  N1["11.1 Joiners"]
  N2["11.2 Movers and leavers"]
  N3["11.3 Shared and service accounts"]
  N4["11.4 Reviews"]
  N0 --> N1 --> N2 --> N3 --> N4 --> Q["EX031"]

[Learning outcomes]
    |
    v
[11.1 Joiners]
    |
    v
[11.2 Movers and leavers]
    |
    v
[11.3 Shared and service accounts]
    |
    v
[11.4 Reviews]
    |
    v
[Worked example] --> [Exercise EX031]

Learning outcomes

You will (1) run joiner, mover and leaver processes; (2) handle shared and service accounts; (3) review accounts regularly.

11.1 Joiners

In his second year, Jamal helps Riverbend's IT manager with account administration. Seasonal lifeguards and swimming teachers join in large numbers before summer. Each needs an account for the booking system and staff rota, but nothing else. Jamal creates a template for each role so new accounts receive exactly the right access. Ms. Grant explains that templates prevent the common mistake of copying an existing colleague's account, which carries extra rights the new person does not need. Templates also make setup faster during busy periods.

11.2 Movers and leavers

When staff change roles, old access should be removed. Jamal finds a former receptionist, now an instructor, who still has reception access to member payment screens. When staff leave, accounts should be disabled on their last day. Riverbend relies on centre managers emailing IT, which often happens late. Jamal proposes a weekly report from the payroll system listing leavers, which IT checks against active accounts. The IT manager agrees to try it for a term and record how many late removals it finds.

11.3 Shared and service accounts

Shared accounts make it impossible to know who did what. Each centre's reception uses one shared login. Jamal proposes individual logins with a quick badge sign-in, so actions are traceable without slowing reception. Service accounts, used by software rather than people, need named owners and strong passwords stored securely. He lists Riverbend's service accounts and finds one used by an old backup tool that no longer runs. He disables it after confirming with the IT manager. The badge sign-in is trialled at one centre first.

11.4 Reviews

Jamal runs a quarterly account review: compare active accounts with the staff list, check each account's access against its role template and list accounts unused for sixty days. His first review finds several seasonal staff from last summer still active and two accounts with unexplained finance access. All are fixed within a week. Ms. Grant notes that regular reviews catch what processes miss, and that the second review is usually much cleaner, which is itself evidence of improvement. He records each review's findings and fixes.

Worked example

Jamal builds role templates for seasonal joiners, finds a mover with old access, proposes a payroll leaver report, replaces shared reception logins and runs a quarterly review.

Synthetic case. Accounts are synthetic.

Errors and limits

Copying a colleague's account to create a new one spreads unneeded access.

Exercises

• EX031 — Seasonal access. What access do seasonal staff need? Rubric: 3 = booking system and rota only;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.
• EX032 — Leaver report. What source lists leavers weekly? Rubric: 3 = the payroll system;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = other;; 0 = none.
• EX033 — Old service account. Which service account is disabled? Rubric: 3 = one used by an old backup tool;; 2 = partly correct;; 1 = vague;; 0 = none.

Continue studying — lesson 11 (chapter 11 of 30)

← Chapter 10 · Course chapter index · Chapter 12 →

Continue to the next authored lesson.