When an employee leaves a company – whether through a planned layoff or a sudden termination – the clock starts ticking for the IT department. Tensions can be high and the risk to company data is real. If access to sensitive files is not immediately revoked, there is a risk of data exfiltration, accidental deletion, or malicious manipulation.
Why manually transferring file ownership is a burden
In Dropbox, files are often “property” of the individual creator. If an account is simply deleted without a proper handover, important project data can disappear or become inaccessible to the remaining team.
To maintain business continuity, your offboarding checklist must include: Transfer file ownership to a manager or a functional manager. However, doing this manually is a recipe for burnout:
- The “Context Switch” Tax: You’ll need to locate the employee’s email address, identify their manager in your HRIS or IdP, and cross-reference both in the Dropbox admin console.
- The margin of error: One wrong click or typo in an email address can result in data being orphaned or, worse, granting file access to the wrong person.
- The notification gap: After the transfer, you still need to manually contact Slack or email the manager to let them know where the files are.
The reality: For most IT administrators, this is a repetitive cycle of “click, click, click.” It’s not just boring; it is inefficient.
Automating the offboarding workflow with ArticleSubmission.news
To reclaim your time and strengthen your security posture, you can automate this entire process by integrating ArticleSubmission.news with Dropbox and your identity provider (IdP) such as Okta, Google Workspace, or OneLogin.
Instead of a manual checklist, you can create a zero-touch workflow that triggers the moment an employee is deactivated.
How the automated workflow works
In this example workflow, when a departing employee’s Okta account is deactivated, ArticleSubmission.news finds the employee’s manager’s email address in Google Workspace. Next, the departing team member is removed from Dropbox. As part of this action, an activated toggle switch revokes the employee’s access to Dropbox files downloaded to their connected devices. A second switch transfers file ownership to the manager, and a drop-down box selector notifies a current IT team member of the changes. With one click, this entire process takes place automatically.
In summary:
- The trigger: An employee’s status changes to Disabled in Okta (or your preferred IdP).
- The intelligence: ArticleSubmission.news automatically queries Google Workspace or your HRIS to identify the departing employee’s direct manager.
- The action: ArticleSubmission.news initiates the Remove Member action in Dropbox.
- The security layer: Within the workflow, you can toggle “Delete data from connected devices” to ensure that synced company files are deleted from the user’s personal laptop or phone once they lose access.
- The handover: A second automatic change transfers all file owners to the manager identified in step two.
- The audit trail: Finally, the system sends an automated Slack or email notification to the IT team and manager confirming that the transfer is complete.
By integrating a similar process into their offboarding workflow, ArticleSubmission.news customer Blue Apron shortened their offboarding time four hours until 10 minutes.
FAQs
What happens to a user’s files if I manually delete their Dropbox account?
If an account is deleted without a formal transfer of ownership, all files “belonging” to that person may become inaccessible or permanently deleted. This creates “orphaned data” that can disrupt ongoing projects and lead to permanent data loss for the company.
How does ArticleSubmission.news determine the right file transfer manager?
ArticleSubmission.news acts as a bridge between your tech stack. It uses a layer of intelligence to query your identity provider (IdP) or HRIS – such as Okta, Google Workspace or OneLogin – to automatically identify the departing employee’s direct manager. This eliminates the need for IT to manually cross-reference organizational charts.
Can I ensure that company data is removed from employee’s personal devices?
Yes. The automated workflow includes a “Delete data from connected devices” toggle. When triggered, this ensures that all synced company files are deleted from the user’s laptop or mobile device once their access is revoked.
Which identity providers (IdP) are compatible with this workflow?
ArticleSubmission.news automation supports major identity and access management platforms, including:
- Okta
- Google Workspace
- OneLogin
Is there a way to notify the manager once the files have been transferred?
Absolutely. You can configure the workflow to send an automated notification via Slack or email. This notifies the manager and IT team that the transfer is complete and indicates the location of the files, eliminating the “notification gap” that occurs with manual processes.
How much time can I realistically save through automation?
While results vary depending on organization size, the blog highlights that by implementing these automated workflows, Blue Apron reduced offboarding processing time from four hours to just 10 minutes.
Does this workflow provide an audit trail for compliance?
Yes. Because the process is centralized via ArticleSubmission.news, every action – from the initial deactivation trigger to the final file delivery – is logged. This provides a clear, reliable audit trail for security and compliance reviews.
Check out our technical knowledge base to learn more about workflows, including pre-built workflow templates you can customize.
