IT Onboarding Checklist: 10 Steps to Set Up New Hires for Success

Aurélien Marrast
Published on:
January 9, 2025

Onboarding is too often delivered on an ad hoc basis. Particularly in smaller companies with few HR processes, it can fall on the office manager or team lead to get new employees up and running.  

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While this might work at first, it leaves too much to chance. New employees need careful, systematic onboarding processes to set them up for success. That can be the difference between new hires getting comfortable in their roles quickly, or feeling disconnected and forgotten about. 

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This article looks specifically at IT setup during the onboarding process. Following these 10 steps, you’ll ensure that new hires have the equipment they need, with the guidance and security systems in place to succeed. 

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Why a formal IT onboarding process matters

While just one aspect of onboarding, IT is absolutely critical in the modern workplace. Without the right devices and permission sets, employees can barely function at all. 

Focusing specifically on IT and devices, a formal onboarding process: 

  • Saves time. While you need to invest a small amount of energy and effort to create the process itself, it should then be easy to repeat with each new employee. And you don’t have to think up a whole new process each time around.

  • Reduces human error. Particularly if you don’t have dedicated IT teams and on-demand support, it’s easy to overlook things in the setup process. A structured process (and a good checklist) ensures nothing is missed.

  • Gets employees up to speed faster. You want new employees working independently and delivering value to the business as soon as possible. A formal process makes this both more likely and more predictable. 
  • Creates fair, consistent experiences. It’s unfair if new team members have vastly different onboarding experiences. One person who gets VIP treatment has an advantage and will naturally feel more at home. More importantly, others with rushed or improvised onboarding may feel left behind. Consistency is key.

  • Helps new employees feel valued. New employees want to know that they’re valued colleagues, and that their new team is excited to have them. Showing that you’ve prepared for their arrival is a simple way to make newcomers feel welcome. 

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All of the above applies to onboarding overall. But too often, the practical IT aspects of this process are taken for granted or overlooked. To help you construct an effective IT onboarding process, here’s a simple checklist to follow. 

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10-step IT onboarding checklist

IT onboarding should never be left to chance. To make sure you get it right, here are 10 important steps to follow. 

These don’t necessarily all happen one after the other. Some can be done in tandem, and you may choose to put certain steps earlier or later in the process, to suit your own preferences and workflow.

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1. Understand the team structure

Before doing anything with hardware or software, you first need to establish who the new employee is and where they’ll fit in the organization. A high-level executive likely needs quite different tools and devices from your frontline support staff, for example. 

A few simple things to consider: 

  • Which team are they in? 
  • What is their level of experience and seniority?
  • What is their start date?

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It’s not complicated, but it does require a small amount of reflection. A one-size-fits-all setup won’t work in the majority of situations. 

Finally, ensure their manager and HR rep know that hardware is being ordered and delivered. 

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2. Prepare and set up hardware

Ensure that new hires have the devices they need on day one, ready to use. This is the bare minimum. Asking a newcomer to use their own computer for the first few weeks is almost as bad as them arriving at an empty desk with nothing at all. 

Ensure all necessary hardware—including laptops, monitors, peripherals, and phones if necessary—is ready and waiting for them on their first day. If the employee is remote, you’ll need to arrange delivery, too (see below).

Devices should be pre-configured with the required company software, security settings, and user profiles. Ideally they’ll also have the specific tools and software that employee needs in their specific role. 

Zero-touch deployment can be a lifesaver in these situations. This pre-configures everything you need onto devices before they’re sent out, so you don’t have to do this additional step yourself. 

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3. Install necessary software and tools

If you’re not using an efficient zero-touch deployment setup system, you’ll need to install critical software yourself. This likely includes email clients, collaboration tools, and project management apps.

You also need to ensure you have the required licenses for those software. Tools like Office 365, Slack, Zoom, and Salesforce all have packages that include a price per seat, and some software works in groups of licenses (0-10 or 11-50, for example). Don’t leave it until their first day to realize you can’t actually give a new employee the tool they need. 

Once again, zero-touch deployment tools help with all of the above. And mobile device management (MDM)—separate but related—can make setting up user profiles as simple as a few clicks. 

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4. Create and send login credentials

Get each new employee’s access live before they arrive on the first day. That includes generating user accounts for email, VPNs, project management tools, and other key systems.

You should also ensure they have access to Wi-Fi networks, shared drives, and any other protected environments they’ll need to work with. 

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5. Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA)

The last of our setup steps is to enroll the employee in multi-factor authentication (MFA) for secure access. This is now standard in security-conscious organizations, and you’ll doubtless have a process and provider specific to your business. 

They’ll need this up and running on all devices. This can include personal phones if they’re planning to use tools like Slack or email on them. 

Bear in mind that organizational MFA can be complicated and confusing for new users. So you may also need to provide guidance on day one, as well as further resources. 

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6. Arrange device delivery

Depending on your suppliers, you may be able to do all of the above without actually receiving the new employee’s devices. But come the start date, you need the devices in place. 

Whatever the employee’s location, ensure hardware is delivered on time to the right place. That’s relatively easy if they’re working from HQ, but potentially more complicated if remote. 

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7. Conduct IT orientation and walkthrough

IT should have its own moment during every onboarding process. If your employees arrive in waves, this could be an in-person seminar with an IT leader to introduce themselves, make sure everyone’s connected, and to see that devices are performing at a high level. 

If remote, this means a short Zoom or Teams call between the IT person and the new employees. Walk through key systems, software tools, and security protocols, plus any key tools they need for daily tasks. 

Be sure that all new devices are working well, and that new employees know who to turn to for tech support if they need it. Newcomers are often too shy to ask basic questions and will often suffer through their struggles. This short get to know each other is usually enough to avoid these issues. 

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8. Provide IT documentation and resources

It also pays to give new employees a welcome package of IT guidelines, quick-start guides, and FAQs. And crucially, to show them how to find answers to simple questions. Include troubleshooting steps for the most common issues and IT support contact info.

This is incredibly important if you work with external IT support. Employees need to know how and when it’s appropriate to contact these service providers directly, versus asking their manager or HR for help. 

Creating the documentation obviously involves some effort up front. But done well, it’s a huge timesaver down the road. 

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9. Provide cybersecurity and compliance training

Cybersecurity is increasingly important for modern organizations. And every new employee comes to you with their own approach and philosophies around safety online. 

Enroll new hires in mandatory cybersecurity training to cover data protection, phishing prevention, and safe internet practices. Also share guidelines on compliance, acceptable use, and privacy policies.

This is important for all businesses, but especially those with actual compliance certifications to achieve and maintain. 

Finally, share best practices for company tools like Slack and email, which can sometimes be misused. Even where misuse isn’t strictly a security issue, best practices can help keep their use consistent and enjoyable for all. 

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10. Schedule follow up and ongoing support

Great IT onboarding isn’t just for the first few days. Plan a check-in after one or two weeks to address any technical challenges. And make IT support resources available for continuous guidance and issue resolution.

This not only ensures there aren’t any problems, but also helps to solidify a lasting relationship with the new employee. You want them to know who to come to with any issues, and to be sure that they feel valued in the team. 

It shouldn’t take much—just a five minute call or a brief coffee chat a few weeks in, to make sure everything’s running smoothly.

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Automate the IT onboarding process

As we’ve just seen, IT setup involves a lot of steps and checks—and it’s just one part of the overall onboarding process. Even with your trusty checklist, there’s real potential to forget steps or miss an important starting date. 

And the more people you hire, the harder it gets. Thankfully, there are good systems that can automate most—if not all—of the above. An IT management system like Primo: 

  • Creates new user profiles directly from your HR system, with the correct setup based on their role
  • Lets you order, pre-configure, and deliver devices in a few clicks
  • Provides ongoing performance and security monitoring
  • Patches software and operating system updates instantly
  • Also simplifies offboarding, with the ability to lock or reset devices remotely

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You essentially remove all the manual, time-consuming aspects of IT onboarding. So you can focus on the human side: building lasting relationships and making your new teammates feel welcome and valued. 

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Talk to us to automate your IT onboarding process.

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