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Electric
Getting Started
The Electric platform empowers your organization to streamline IT operations, regardless of technical expertise. Enjoy complete visibility and security with less effort and more time to get work done.
When you log into the Electric Admin Console, you'll see a Getting Started Guide on the right hand side of the Dashboard that walks you through the essential actions needed to set your organization up for success. This guide, along with the linked articles below, will take your through all the necessary steps needed to configure the basics of the platform. Following these steps will get you up and running in no time!
Looking for a checklist? Download them here:
Migrating from an MSP? Check out our guide on things to consider here.
Already using an MDM?
Using an
1. Complete your IT Questionnaire
(~ 3 minutes)
When you first log in to the Electric Admin Console you'll be prompted to complete your IT Questionnaire. This helps us better understand your role, company, and how you’ll be using the platform.
Already activated your account? There's a good chance you've completed this step! If not, click the Complete IT Questionnaire button on step 1 to get started.
This step will be marked completed once you complete your IT Questionnaire.
2. Connect your HR system
(~ 5 minutes)
The Electric Admin Console is designed to work seamlessly with and for your employees, as well as for you as the account administrator. For Pro customers, connecting your HR system now creates an automated employee ingestion experience and significantly reduces manual steps when adding employees and groups.
Click the Connect HR system button to start this process.
Need detailed instructions? Find them here.
This step will be marked completed once you have connected your HR system or clicked the skip button.
3. Add Employees & Invite Admins
3.1 Add employees
(~ 5 minutes)
There are multiple ways to ingest your employees into the Electric console, and the options you see depend on your previous setup:
Connected your HR system? You'll see Verify pending employees, which takes you to a page showing all employees the platform detected via your HR system. From there, you can select which employees should receive a license.
Adding employees manually? Click Add new employees to access the employees page where you can start adding your team. If you have fewer than 10 employees, adding each manually is likely your fastest path. For 10+ employees or if you have employee information in a spreadsheet, bulk upload will save time.
More detailed instructions on how to add employees can be found here:
This step will be marked completed once you have added 1 employee to your organization.
3.2 Invite Additional Admins
(~ 2 minutes)
Now that you’ve added your employees, you can select additional Admins:
Select the employee whose role you want to update
Click the Edit Employee button in the upper right corner of the employee detail page
Update the Role attribute to Admin
Select Save
This will trigger an email notification to the Admin to log into their account.
4. Configure organization settings
The following three steps will guide you through essential configurations from the Settings page: adding a payment method, enabling Mobile Device Management (MDM), and connecting your Apple Business Manager account (ABM).
4.1 Add payment method for services
(~ 1 minute)
Setting up your billing information now prevents delays down the road! This payment method covers all service invoices including your Electric licenses, warehousing, QR codes, and any other subscriptions you have with us.
Click the Add payment method button to open the billing modal where you can enter your information and payment details.
This step will be marked as completed once you enter a payment method on file.
4.2 Enable mobile device management (MDM)
(~ 10 minutes)
Important: Device management is available exclusively with the Pro plan.
Recommended: Learn about securing and managing devices with JumpCloud here.
JumpCloud MDM empowers Electric customers to easily manage users, devices, access, and security policies. Whether your business uses Windows devices, Apple devices, or both, enabling MDM early ensures everything is ready for seamless deployment when you add employees.
Select the button that matches your environment to redirect to the Settings page where you can begin this process.
Need detailed instructions? Find them here.
This step will be marked completed once you have enabled your MDM account or clicked the skip button.
4.3 Connect Apple Business Manager account(ABM)
(~ 10 minute)
Recommended: Learn about the power of Apple Business Manager (ABM) and zero-touch device provisioning (ZTP) here.
Apple Business Manager is a web-based portal that allows companies to connect devices purchased through authorized resellers with a mobile device management (MDM) solution. It is an essential platform to configure automated device provisioning, also known as zero-touch provisioning (ZTP).
Already using Apple Business Manager (ABM)?
Click the Connect ABM button to start this process.
Follow these detailed instructions to configure both Apple Business Manager and zero-touch provisioning.
Not yet using Apple Business Manager (ABM) yet?
Follow these steps to enroll your organization in Apple Business Manager.
Once your account is created, click the Connect ABM button to start this process.
Follow these detailed instructions to configure both Apple Business Manager and zero-touch provisioning.
This step will be marked completed once you have connected your Apple Business Manager account or clicked the skip button.
5. Configure employee support
(~ 5 minute)
Recommended: Learn about the Employee Support Center your employees can leverage to submit IT requests to your IT Champions here.
IT Champions are designated experts who handle specific types of support issues within your organization. You can assign Champions based on different areas of expertise—including applications, connectivity, devices, and other IT needs. This targeted approach ensures that support issues your team submit are managed promptly and effectively by the appropriate experts, improving overall support efficiency and user satisfaction.
If no Category Champion is assigned for a particular area, issues will automatically default to the Super Admin. Proper assignment of Category Champions is crucial for maintaining a streamlined and responsive support system within your organization.
Click the Setup IT Champions button to choose who at your organization will be your IT Champions for each category.
Need detailed instructions? Find them here.
This step will be marked as completed once you click the Setup IT Champions button.
6. Streamline onboarding & offboarding
To ensure smooth onboarding and offboarding processes, it's essential to add all of your applications, set up available integrations and assign applications to groups.
Recommended: Learn about adding and managing Applications and Integrations here.
6.1 Add and configure app integrations
(~ 3 minute / application integration)
Click the Add applications button to start adding your applications. We recommend adding all applications you can think of before moving on to adding integrations.
Once you’ve added your applications, you’ll see Integration available under connection status in the application table. This status indicates that an integration is available for the application but has not been set up yet. Once activated, it can enable account creation and deletion during employee onboarding and offboarding.
Click into each application with an integration available and follow the instructions to connect the available integration.
Important: The license level and admin access requirements to connect each application integration are different for each application, so be sure to follow the instructions outlined in the details page!
This step will be marked completed once you add 1 application to your organization.
6.2 Add and configure groups
(~ 5 minutes / group)
Recommended: Learn about the power of Groups and Applications and Integrations here.
Groups are how you can organize your employees and the applications they should have access to. Groups can be tailored to fit your needs, whether you choose to set it up departments, locations, or teams, it’s up to you.
The power of Groups: Groups must be configured with Applications to work their magic. Without this association, your onboarding and offboarding processes won't know which apps to grant or revoke access for.
Already connected your HR system? Great news! Groups have been automatically created to match your existing departments. Simply add the appropriate applications to ensure each group is configured properly. To add or edit Groups you must add or edit them within your HRIS platform.
Click into a Group
Click Applications, select Actions and Add applications
Select all applications that this Group should have access to
Select the Has accounts button. This indicates that existing employees of this group already have access to these applications.
Repeat for all other Groups!
Need to add Groups? No problem! If you don’t have an existing group structure, start with broad Groups (like "All Employees") for universal apps like your email app or chat provider app, then create specific Groups (like "Sales Team" or "Engineering") for role-specific tools.
Click the Add groups button to add a group
Click into the Group
Select the Actions dropdown and Add employees
Click Applications, select Actions and Add applications
Select all applications that this Group should have access to
Select the Has accounts button. This indicates that existing employees of this group already have access to these applications.
Repeat for all other Groups!
Need more information on Groups? Find them here.
This step will be marked completed once you have added 1 application to a group within your organization.
7. Launch Electric for your team
Before using the “Launch Electric for your team” feature, we recommend sending a note out to the company letting them know about the partnerships your Electric and that they should be expecting a welcome email.
We’ve created some templates you can use to share the news:
Once you’ve shared the news, use the "Launch Electric for your team" button to send welcome emails to all your team members, inviting them to set up their accounts.
Congratulations, you’re officially up and running!
Questions? Contact Electric’s support team at support@electric.ai.