Is Password Reset the Pebble in Your Businesses’ Shoe?

In today’s business world, there is more of everything. In fact, 94 percent of Chief Information Officers believe the tech stack of the future will be more complex, consisting of more apps, data, devices, and transactions. Ninety-three percent of CIOs anticipate the pace of business will increase in the coming years, with 59 percent predicting the pace of business will more than double by 2025 (Source: The Future of Identity and Access Management: A CIO Survey”, Pulse Q&A, January 2019).

With more applications, more users, more types of users (full-time employees, contractors, partners, even customers), there are also far more password reset requests.

These requests pile up to form an endless barrage of helpdesk tickets, negatively impact employee productivity and the reputation of the Information Technology (IT) team internally, and inadvertently introduce unnecessary security risk.

The Three Password Reset Challenges

Challenge 1 Endless Helpdesk Tickets

  • Per Gartner, up to 50 percent of helpdesk inquiries are password reset requests.
  • Forrester Research found the average helpdesk labor cost for a single password reset is $70 (Source: “Best Practices: Selecting, Deploying, and Managing Enterprise Password Managers”, Merritt Maxim and Andras Cser, Forrester Research, January 8, 2018)
  • Forrester found some large US-based organizations allocate over $1 million annually for password-related support costs. (Source: “Best Practices: – Selecting, Deploying, and Managing Enterprise Password Managers”, Merritt Maxim and Andras Cser, Forrester Research, January 8, 2018)

Challenge 2 Risky Password Practices

  • Helpdesks typically use predictable schemes for temporary passwords (i.e., “MonthYear”). These weak passwords often go unchanged by users.
  • Cybercriminals spoof password reset requests to compromise accounts.

Challenge 3 Employee Productivity & Experience

  • When users are locked out of systems, they aren’t productive. But they are frustrated.
  • Second and third shift employees, night owls, and weekend warriors face extreme wait times.
  • Work slows down, and when it’s customer-facing, you risk reputational and relationship damage. Or even violating Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

How OneLogin Helps

OneLogin enables every employee to reset their own Active Directory passwords while adhering to secure password practices.

  • For IT professionals and helpdesk staff, OneLogin eliminates up to 50% of helpdesk requests, cutting considerable cost, saving time, and improving security.
  • For security professionals, OneLogin allows the enforcement of strong password policies.
  • For every employee, OneLogin provides simple and secure access from any location and device.

Don’t Take Our Word For It

Of all the solutions we offer, self-service password reset is one of the most consistent in its ability to relieve pain – and our customers aren’t shy about sharing their thoughts.

“We have implemented the password reset feature, reducing calls to our support team by approximately 45%, a percentage we expect to continue to rise.” – Ben Mollett, Application Delivery Engineer, Acuris

“We’ve seen a substantial reduction in the number of password reset requests flowing through the helpdesk. When you’re accessing through OneLogin, you never have to do anything with your password – it’s a huge time saver.” – Brim Bason, IT Solutions Architect, Susan G Komen

“OneLogin has given people in my department time back to take care of more interesting and productive things. We’re able to help our users get access before they contact the helpdesk. The impact has been a lot less user and password management.” – Patrick Scanlan, Technology Supervisor, San Jose Unified School District

Take the Pebble Out of Your Shoe

How are password resets handled at your business? Do you use an in-house helpdesk or outsource requests? What percentage of helpdesk tickets are related to passwords?

If you would like to learn how customers like Airbus, Berklee College of Music and Steelcase are empowering their users to reset their own passwords, be sure to visit Password Resets: IT Shouldn’t be in the Middle.

About the Author

Michael Gleason

Michael Gleason currently serves as OneLogin’s Director of Product Marketing. With a background in taking inventive IT & security offerings to market, Michael has held strategic go-to-market roles within the Cisco Cloud Security Group, CloudLock (acquired by Cisco), and SSH Communications Security.

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