In May, I proudly joined VMware’s end-user computing team as a summer MBA intern. Most of the team is in California, while I’m located in North Carolina. Since the pandemic started in 2019, many major changes in everyone’s life took place, and remote first became the strategic organizational direction worldwide. When I onboarded into my position as Product Marketing Manager, I was delighted by the refreshing experience. A hassle-free and quick set-up onto VMware’s Workplace One Intelligent Hub allowed me to have all needed applications at my fingertips at day one, containing the perfect remote work solutions. In this blog post, I will share my seamless onboarding journey with you.
The first few days with Intelligent Hub
The day of my start date I received an email to my personal device including my corporate email address, my username and four easy steps to set-up and access the VMware system for secure remote access.
- Click on a one-time link to Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub.
- Set up multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Set up our Self Service Password Reset (SSPR) app in Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub.
- Access the Self Service Password Reset app to set my new password.
Once I followed these steps, I was able to access my work email, my calendar, join collaboration channels and virtual calls, find colleagues and fill out first-day HR paperwork conveniently on my personal device. VMware Horizon also let me jump head on into my virtual desktop to participate in orientation meetings without wasting time on lengthy onboarding procedures.
I received my hardware consisting of a laptop and headset via mail from California in the afternoon of my first day. Within a couple of minutes, I was signed on to the VMware system, with single sign-on for all important applications, and a connection to the corporate network through our VPN. The device was already enrolled and managed through Workspace ONE with preset apps and bookmarks ready for use, and help services like HR and IT ticketing were just a click away to provide support.
My colleague Adi Kunduri can show you how he set up a Dell laptop in just 8 minutes and 30 seconds:
Intelligent Hub feature walk-through
By the afternoon of my first day, my desk, hardware, desktop apps, virtual apps and SaaS apps had been completely configured. I was able to take full advantage of a range of VMware Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub features.
- Catalog – Allowed IT to provide me with access to native apps, web apps, SaaS apps and virtual apps from a single location. The customized categories helped me discover relevant apps.
- Branding – The interface of the VMware Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub is branded with organizational coloring, allowing brand identity to foster recognition and familiarity.
- Notifications – Under the ‘For You’ tab I receive corporate internal communications, as well as important updates from HR and IT. This feature is especially helpful in case anything happens with other systems. For example, if email is down, IT can inform employees that troubleshooting of the issue has already begun and avoid a flood of tickets.
- Self Service Support – This feature allows me to manage my devices, SSO for opening helpdesk tickets, easily onboard new devices and perform password management. It eliminates wait time for a ticket to be solved and provides autonomy to self-support issues.
- People – With this integrated corporate directory I was able to view my teammates, search for other colleagues and review organizational charts. This is a great help when starting out as a new employee or building new project teams.
- Hub templates – The experience and communication of the platform was completely customized to my needs and my role. VMware IT used Hub Templates for an effortless set-up.
Additional features on Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub include:
- VMware AVA – VMware AVA is the autonomous virtual assistant built on IBM Watson. The chatbot can assist with discoveries such as ‘How many PTO days do I have left’ or ‘When is the next holiday’ and provide Helpdesk ticketing assistance. For a walk-through of the VMware Hub assistant, click here.
- Custom tab – This feature uses Workspace ONE Tunnel to securely connect to virtual sites or apps without using VPN, by creating a tunnel to a single specific destination. Custom tabs can be created in the Intelligent Hub that link directly to an internal or external website.
- Verify – With Workspace ONE Access, a soft-token can be set up on a mobile phone for multi-factor authentication. It’s a simple ‘approve or deny’ process to access apps and services.
For a full Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub overview, I recommend reading What is Workspace ONE Intelligent Hub.
As you can see, my intern onboarding process took less than two days, allowing me to become a productive part of the team in a short amount of time. VMware influenced each of my professional touchpoints making my employee experience a success!
Learn more about Intelligent Hub
If your onboarding process is costing your organization valuable time and money leaving you and your new hires unsatisfied, connect with us. We’re here to help.
For an explicit Day 0 Onboarding Feature Walk-through please check out this video: VMware Workspace ONE: Intelligent Hub Day 0 Onboarding – Feature Walk-through.
