Prevent Orphaned Groups
Aug 28, 2008
People come and go in any organization. As hard as we may try to retain our best and brightest, it's inevitable that from time to time, people will leave. So what if these people own groups?
In the rush to de-provision the departing employee's user accounts, it's easy to overlook groups that may have been managed by the now-deactivated account. Often these orphaned groups will go unnoticed until the hapless administrator finds himself in the position of trying to sort through a mountain of long-forgotten distribution lists.
Fortunately, the Imanami product suite contains a few tools that can help prevent this particular strain of group glut.
The first step is to identify all groups managed by the exiting user. The easiest way to do this is by using the Imanami SmartR reporting tool. Since SmartR is integrated with SmartDL, from the SmartDL console, select Tools -> Smart Reports, and walk through the wizard. Included in the report set is a report called "Owners and the objects they own." This report will group all DLs managed by each user under the user's name.
Once the new group owner has been identified, all of the old owner's groups may be transferred in a single stroke. SmartDL includes an Ownership Transfer Wizard; this tool can also be found under the Tools menu. With a few clicks of the mouse, any user's groups may be transferred to a new owner, eliminating the potential problem of groups orphaned by an employee's egress.
The hobgoblin of group glut has been kept at bay once again!
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