Automated and secure administration

Company

Aurubis AG is one of the world‘s leading suppliers of nonferrous metals and copper recycling. The company processes complex metal concentrates and recycling raw materials into metals of the highest purity. Aurubis employs about 7,100 people at its production sites in Europe and the US and has an extensive service and distribution system in Europe, Asia and North America

Challenge

• Migration of all Aurubis sites to Microsoft 365 requires central administration while simultaneously meeting local requirements
• Certain IT processes require a procedure that differs locally from one another
• Administrators are dependent on standardized processes in order to delegate tasks
  
  

Solution

• Use of ScriptRunner based on the PowerShell scripting language with predefined scripts for task execution
• Role assignment with adequate rights for administration and helpdesk
• Standardization and automation of the processes for a high-quality execution of task
  
  

Benefit

• Standardized and automated execution and delegation of processes
• Reduced administrative workload thanks to delegation to the helpdesk
• Assured quality through predefined script design for the helpdesk
• Increased security through small number of high level administration rights
• Centralized platform for cross-site use of the scripts

Aurubis AG faced the challenge of migrating all of their sites to the Microsoft 365 environment. Despite centralized administration processes, it was also necessary to enable decentralized processes. The decisive factor here was that certain tasks require different processes from one location to the next. These include, for example, IT processes for onboarding, administration and offboarding of employees. A decentralized element was intended to enable the local IT administrators to adapt processes independently and quickly. Likewise, the goal was to delegate tasks to the help desk.

Efficient and easy completion of routine tasks with ScriptRunner

Based on the PowerShell scripting language, ScriptRunner was used. It frees IT administration staff from routine tasks by allowing the helpdesk to take over the work with predefined scripts. Especially the standardization and automation of the scripts with the guided input of values ensures low administration effort and reduces input errors. At the same time, the predefined scripts require only a small number of employees with high administration rights, which significantly increases the security of the scripts and accesses.

Pilot phase for successful implementation

The first step for the project was to develop a site administration concept in which the local requirements for the IT administration were defined. Based on this, a pilot team identified the necessary functions through use case analyses in order to later include them in ScriptRunner for an easy operation and implementation. Typical use cases were related to user management and included the automated deletion of users, the handling M365 licenses or the setting of the out-of-office agent. In the case of a corresponding task, it was determined that an automated execution of the tasks could take place in the future.

Centralized creation and decentralized use of scripts

After the pilot phase, a central repository for the PowerShell scripts was created in ScriptRunner so that they are available in a centralized manner. This allows scripts to be shared across locations once they are created. Locations benefit from each other as a script only needs to be created once and can be used by all when needed. The prepared scripts enable the helpdesk to perform tasks that previously required high administration rights.

Different role assignments and views

The administration and the helpdesk work in an individual dashboard, which differs depending on the assigned rights. As a result, different functions are visible to employees in the helpdesk than in the administration.

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