What happens to users data when a user is removed from Axonius?

Overview:

We often focus our time and attention on getting data into the system and making sure the data is usable for the general population.

Today we are going to talk about what happens when we have a user who leaves or when the user account gets deleted. What happens to the users queries and charts and how does it affect the organization?

Setup and Step-By-Step

One of our employees, Mr. Tester McTesterson has been integral to setting up Axonius from the beginning. He has some fantastic queries and charts that we use all the time.

One day, Mr. McTesteron lets you know that he has won the lottery and has taken up a life of charity and is retiring. We are so happy for Tester! This is great for him, but not so much for you. You regroup and know there is quite a bit of information that Tester has added to the Axonius system. Don't worry! We have you covered…

Let's go through the action of removing Tester from the Axonius UI. You can also do this through the API, but this is a pretty straightforward process and you can see the end results.

If you look at the query library, you will see that tester built out a Type= Windows Devices. Well, once you take Tester out, the query will look the same. No issues, no problems.

Below, you will see Tester in the “manage user” role. Let’s see about removing McTesterson from the system:

In order to get here, from anywhere in the UI, click on the settings (see orange arrow above) and then click on the tab that is highlighted in orange.

Now we are going to click on the box next to Tester McTesterson’s name and then go up to actions. You will see a drop down menu from actions where you can click on Delete Users. Go ahead and do this. This will get rid of McTesterson from the system.

You have clicked, and McTesterson is gone!

Now Tester has retired and is no longer in your organization. Therefore he cannot access the Axonius platform. What now? What happens to his data? Well let’s look:

In this case, “All Windows OS” was built by Tester and it continues on! No changes to the chart are needed and we are good to go. Let's also look at the Query Library:

Check that out! No issues there either. How great is that?

At the end of the day, in the same way that Axonius is a sum of all its parts, we believe that your platform should not be dependent on if a user created and left or if they are still there.

Exceptions

The only caveat is if Tester built out private queries. No matter what, you will not be able to see Tester’s private queries as they were never set to be shared to begin with.

Removing Queries

What about if you do want to get rid of someone else’s query? Well, if you are an admin, you can delete the query the same way that you deleted the user. Check the box next to the query in the query library, then go to Actions button, click on it and then click delete. It will prompt to make sure you want to delete it and then from there, you never have to see it again.

Best Practices

Make sure you do your best to create nomenclature for the organization queries so you know where things are. If you have many people who are creating and saving queries, it may not be a bad idea to make sure to add in the nomenclature what adapters or function the query is used for.

For charts, you want to be succinct and straightforward. We do have descriptions in the charts which makes this easier. Always remember that if you use the tab called my dashboard on the dashboard page, you will have a private page. You can also create private dashboards as well.

Conclusion

If you are worried about your data if one of your users leaves, don't stress! Once someone adds something to be shared, it is available whether or not they are still with the company. This is true for charts, graphs, and queries.

I hope this helps. Let your TAM or SE know if you have any questions. Just know, if someone leaves, their information does not leave with them.

Have a great day!