Self Service Password Reset Tool For Active Directory End Users

By Author: Esther Ross
Total Articles: 1
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For any help desk personnel or user account administrator, updating user account information in the Active Directory can be an annoying task in the absence of an efficient self service password reset system. The number of requests administrators receive on a daily basis can be overwhelming and time consuming. Even the most trivial matters like updating the user contact number or resetting the account passwords can take up a lot of time, but is nevertheless essential to keep the Active Directory up-to-date. However, the time taken in changing or updating the basic user information affects the overall productivity of the users and administrators.

It is not difficult to imagine a situation where a user has entered wrong password three times in a row and his account has got locked. Now, with no other option left, the user calls the help desk for assistance. The help desk person raises a ticket corresponding the user’s request to unlock his account. It is possible that the administrator is addressing the user’s request in the midst of some other critical work. And, till the time the account is not getting unlocked, ...
... the user is sitting idle. This scenario clearly shows how productive time is getting wasted. Now, imagine the same situation with many users sending simultaneous requests to the admin for account unlock or account update or password reset tasks and the problem magnifies. Clearly, what is need in this situation is a reliable and efficient self service password reset facility.

Lepide Active Directory Self Service is an outstanding active directory tool that allows AD end users to perform certain basic tasks such as self service password reset; self account unlocking and self profile update. With the help of this utility, users are no longer needed to rely on the administrator or the help desk person to make the changes on his or her behalf. In addition to this, this tool also allows users to reset passwords and unlock accounts on the behalf of their co-workers. With the advanced features present in this application, users can easily update their profile information, change their passwords and also give authority to their co-workers to the same on their behalf.

It may seem like that with the control passed over to the end users, the product can be misused. However, it is not true since, every task will be decided and governed by the administrator. AD administrators will be able to define the number of users in each domain who will be authorized to use this remarkable self service password feature. Secondly, they will be able to configure the password policy, unlock policy, self update policy and question-answer policy for security purpose. Furthermore, attributes which the users will be able to change or update will also be defined by the administrator. Hence, the AD administrator will be able to keep a track on all the changes without bothering about constant user requests.

For active directory administrators, keeping the directory structure information current and correct is a priority. Especially for organizations which use the Active Directory service on Microsoft Exchange Server and where GAL (Global Address List) is used to access user profile information. If the information on GAL is incorrect, it creates further problems for the administrators and end users alike. Self service password reset service like the one developed by Lepide can resolve this problem. Since, with this tool users are able to update their profile information as well; errors in the database can be largely curbed.

Author Bio...

The author of this article is a network administrator with over a decade of experience in managing Active Directory services over a domain. In this article, the author has explained about the benefits of self service password reset feature of AD self service tools that enable end users to manage their own account information.