Just knowing that MFA is the right move for your business isn’t enough. You have to know how to roll it out to your team and, remember, change brings a bit of resistance and fear with it. Here is a plan to get through the multi factor authentication setup transition smoothly.
Whether you have an internal IT team or a managed service provider (MSP), let them all know that MFA needs to be rolled out across your networks and systems for all users. Specify that the transition must include end-user training and support for the entire team. Use empathy and training to help your team understand why MFA is so important and become comfortable with the new protocols. This will limit the stress on your team and the impact on productivity. Require that your vendors and partners also have MFA enabled. If any don’t offer MFA security, consider switching to a provider that does. Monitor invalid access attempts and establish a process to use this information to improve your cyber security. Now that people are working from spread-out locations, monitoring is especially critical. Some people might be locked out or otherwise unable to authenticate. Provide them with quick support options to minimize any attempts to work around the system. This will also make sure that your MFA rollout has as little negative impact as possible on productivity.
MFA is not self-intuitive. Many small and midsize businesses need some help with multi factor authentication setup. A trusted IT partner can train teams, provide ongoing support and monitor access attempts. Even companies with in-house IT teams often find it more cost effective to partner with a managed service provider (MSP) to support their internal teams.