How Do External Users Differ From Internal Users in Terms of Access and Permissions?

Access and permissions give you the ability to determine the level of access for each user. Using access and permissions properly will help you keep your organization’s information secure while maintaining your organizational efficiency.

What is the difference between internal and external users?

Internal and external users are two distinct categories of individuals who interact with your organization. The primary difference between them lies in their relationship with you. Internal users are employees of your organization. External users are individuals who are not part of your organization such as customers, partners, suppliers, vendors, clients, or other third parties. Here are the different things to consider when determining access and permissions control for internal and external users.

Internal Users

When it comes to managing your internal users, here are the questions you should ask:

What level of access is necessary for internal efficiency?

Internal users are usually given access to a wider range of information than external users. To maintain organizational efficiency it is important to consider which information each user will need daily. Depending on the role of the employee you may want to limit access. For example, a senior staff member may need access to more organizational information than an intern.

Are they a trusted member of your organization?

Internal users are typically considered trusted members of the organization having undergone background checks, the interview process, and are subject to internal policies.

What role should internal users have?

While it may be tempting to simplify internal permissions and access management by granting every internal user the same access and permissions, we suggest you choose appropriate user roles to maintain your organizational security. For example, giving all employees system administrator access is not only unnecessary for organizational efficiency, but it may hinder efficiency down the line if sensitive information is leaked.

Can you delegate access and permissions to an internal user?

It may seem overwhelming to manage user access and permissions for both internal and external users. With Extranet User Manager we make this simple by providing the option to delegate user management to an internal user. This means that a trusted internal employee or a team of employees can be given permission to control the access and permissions of both internal and external users.

External Users

When it comes to managing your external users, here are some of the questions to consider:

What level of access do they need?

To maintain organizational security, it is important to only give external users access to the information they need. Access should be tailored to the specific needs of the user to reduce exposure to sensitive information, systems, or data. Typically, it is recommended to only give external users access to information they need to know.

Can you monitor external users?

It is important to be proactive when it comes to maintaining organizational security and efficiency. Monitoring user history is a good way to prevent external security threats and to gather analytics about external users.

Access and Permissions Management with Extranet User Manager’s Product Suite

Managing Access and Permissions with User Manager

When it comes to the management of permissions and access within Microsoft 365, Extranet User Manager makes this simple with our User Manager tool. User Manager is intended to help you manage guest users and groups. You can easily manage user permissions, import users, and delegate user management within your organization.

Managing Access and Permissions with Publisher

You can use Publisher to publish content to a broad external audience. Publisher is used for scenarios where you do not need to collaborate with external users, just share information. An example could be a public or private website. When it comes to private websites, you can limit the external users who have access to the information you are sharing. With Publisher, you can tailor the sign-up to only include authorized external users.

Managing Access And Permissions with Documents

You can use Documents to collect or share documents with a broad external user audience. When it comes to permissions for documents, you should consider who needs to access the particular document you are sharing and what are the implications if the document gets out. With Documents, you can securely share documents with your intended external audience only, rather than sharing the document publicly.

Access and permissions require a tailored approach for external and internal users. It is important to strike the right balance between security and efficiency within your organization. Using Extranet User Manager you can easily manage user permissions and access for both internal and external users, delegate user management, and report on user activity.