When you run a large organisation with several thousand users spread across multiple divisions, onboarding is never just onboarding.

Every new starter brings a unique combination of role, team, permissions, and security requirements. Multiply that across hundreds of employees each month, and even small inefficiencies quickly scale into operational friction.

For Wellways, that complexity was being managed, but at a cost.

A new employee’s details would be entered into the ERP system, passed to the internal service desk, replicated to Canon Business Services ANZ (CBS), actioned, and then confirmed back up the chain.

Four systems. Multiple handoffs. Repeated data entry at every stage.

The result? A process that took up to a full business day — and introduced risk at every step.

“We’re onboarding around 100 users a month,” says Vivek Patel, Wellways Support Hub Team Leader. “Each request required collaboration between our team and CBS, checking documentation, assigning groups, licences… it was quite complex and very time-consuming.”

Offboarding carried even greater risk. Disabling an account is simple. Ensuring every permission, licence, and access point is removed, immediately and consistently, is not.

And in a security-sensitive environment, delays aren’t both inefficient and expose the organisation to bad actors.

CBS approached the challenge with a clear objective: remove manual effort, eliminate duplication, and deliver a faster, more consistent, and more secure process.

But this wasn’t about applying automation blindly. It required a deep understanding of Wellways’ structure, systems, and edge cases.

“We wanted to streamline the process while ensuring it remained dependable and secure,” explains Brad Clarence, Senior Service Delivery Manager, CBS. “Every onboarding scenario is different, depending on role, division, and access requirements. The solution had to handle that complexity, not avoid it.”

CBS worked closely with Vivek and Wellways stakeholders through a series of workshops to map requirements in detail, including scenarios that weren’t immediately obvious.

“It’s really important to have those requirements mapped out before automation is built,” Vivek says. “There were use cases I didn’t initially think of. Working through those upfront made a huge difference.”

From there, the CBS automation team designed, tested, and refined the solution through a structured dev-to-production process. The entire implementation from workshops to go-live took just two to three months.

The solution uses Microsoft Power Automate, integrated directly with Wellways’ Zendesk ITSM platform via APIs and webhooks.

Now, when a manager enters a new employee into the ERP system, the automation:

All within minutes.

“The account is fully set up within minutes, based on the parameters specific to that employee’s role,” Brad explains.

From the service desk’s perspective, the change is simple.

“All we need to do now is copy and paste the temporary password to the end user and the manager,” says Vivek. “That’s it.”

Just as importantly, the solution integrates seamlessly with Wellways’ existing systems, despite CBS using a different ITSM platform internally.

“They took the initiative to understand Zendesk: how our system works and how we could use the API,” Vivek adds. “That made a huge difference.”

The trigger itself is flexible. A simple tag in Zendesk can initiate the process, giving Wellways control over how and when automation is activated.

If onboarding was complex, offboarding was critical.

With automation in place, the entire process now runs almost instantly:

“Offboarding is near instantaneous,” says Brad. “But more importantly, it’s done safely, securely, and consistently every time.”

For Vivek, one detail stood out. “It even converts the mailbox into a shared mailbox automatically,” he says. “I didn’t think that would be possible, but it does it.”

The impact goes beyond efficiency. An account left active, even briefly, is a potential vulnerability. Automation removes that window entirely.

“The account is decommissioned immediately, safely, securely, and consistently every time,” explains Brad.

Four months in, the numbers speak for themselves.

“The time savings are significant,” Vivek says. “We no longer rely on CBS to pick up and action tickets. We can trigger everything ourselves.”

For Brad, the benefits extend further. “It frees up time across both teams,” he says. “We’re no longer focused on repetitive tasks. We can focus on higher-value activities that actually improve outcomes for the business.”

The technology used matters, but the way it’s delivered is just as important to a project’s success.

“It was important we worked collaboratively and transparently with Vivek and the Wellways team,” Brad says. “That ensured the solution was well understood and correctly addressed their requirements.”

That collaboration extended beyond technical delivery. CBS took the time to understand Wellways’ environment, systems, and workflows, even where they differed from its own.

That effort paid off in adoption, usability, and long-term value. “It’s really important to have that requirement mapped out before the automation is done. There were use cases I didn’t think of. Mapping those out beforehand made a huge difference,” he says.

Canon Business Services ANZ helps organisations eliminate manual processes, reduce risk, and unlock faster, more consistent outcomes across critical workflows.

From onboarding and offboarding to end-to-end process automation, we design solutions that work within your systems and scale with your business.

Talk to CBS about what automation could unlock for your organisation.