{"id":44844,"date":"2019-09-11T11:38:59","date_gmt":"2019-09-11T10:38:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/?p=44844"},"modified":"2023-04-13T12:14:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-13T11:14:34","slug":"self-service-password-reset-tool-can-benefit-msps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.n-able.com\/es\/blog\/self-service-password-reset-tool-can-benefit-msps","title":{"rendered":"How a Self-Service Password Reset Tool Can Benefit MSPs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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    It happens all the time\u2014an employee forgets their password. Maybe they just got back from vacation, or maybe they just changed it yesterday but can\u2019t remember what it is now. It\u2019s no surprise an employee might forget their\u00a0login information<\/a>, since many businesses rely on multiple tools like email, G-Suite, Active Directory, OneDrive, SharePoint, and various other platforms that require a password for access.<\/p>\n

    Missing or forgotten passwords may seem like a minor business inconvenience. But when you multiply the effect of missing passwords over multiple employees, the impact on productivity quickly adds up. At the same time, when managed services providers (MSPs) are tasked with resetting customer passwords, managing many password requests can take over a day\u2019s schedule and prevent MSPs from working on more significant tasks. It\u2019s critical to have a streamlined solution in place so that employees can quickly reset their own passwords without requiring manual intervention every time a worker is having a forgetful day.<\/p>\n

    What is self-service password reset?<\/h2>\n

    Self-service password reset is the tech-enabled process by which a user can create a new functioning password, without requiring human intervention.\u00a0Password reset\u00a0for MSPs shouldn\u2019t require manual effort or rely on the MSP accessing a database of saved passwords.<\/p>\n

    Instead, self-service password security is all about the user generating a new password through an automated platform, usually a password manager app. Typically when a self-service password reset tool is used, it\u2019s simply because a user has forgotten their password\u2014generally for a program that they don\u2019t use often. In other cases, however, the system may require them to create a new password. A self-service reset tool could even come in handy if a user accidentally types their password incorrectly too many times, triggering an automatic lockdown. Whatever the reason, having to contact an MSP to make the changes may take too long for the employee, and it often slows down the MSP\u2019s schedule.<\/p>\n

    With a self-service password reset, the staff member will need to be able to positively establish their identity. For instance, they may need to answer a series of questions they established when first creating their password. That could include questions about their first pet\u2019s name, the street they grew up on, their high school mascot, or other common personalized questions. Alternatively, the reset function could require multifactor authentication (MFA). Another recent technology that is now more commonly being used for identification is biometric authentication, which allows a user to use their fingerprint to prove their identity through their smartphone.<\/p>\n

    Because automated reset requires at least one of these measures, self-service password security can actually be more secure than the former call-an-IT-guy method. These measures can potentially reduce the risk of phishing or identity theft, since there are automated protections in place between the person requesting the password and the new password. Self-service password resets aren\u2019t just convenient\u2014they can actually offer improved security by putting control in the user\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

    What are self-service password best practices?<\/h2>\n

    Self-service password reset is a good bet for company security. It\u2019s also a smart choice for productivity, both for busy staff who don\u2019t want to wait to access their needed files and for MSPs who have better things to do than field a dozen daily password requests. When configuring a self-service password reset process, it\u2019s important to remember to follow some of the following general password best practices. These might not all be relevant to your password system, but it\u2019s important to keep in mind the many dimensions of good password security:<\/p>\n