Bramble

Onboarding

The Bramble IT team is here to help you through any onboarding struggles you might be dealing with. We are here for Bramble new hires to help with any technical issues or concerns they are having during onboarding. Please also refer to The guide to remote onboarding for additional onboarding guidance.

Laptops

Laptop Ordering Process

The laptop ordering process starts as soon as an offer is accepted by a candidate and the initial Welcome email is sent by the Candidate Experience Specialist. This email will include a link to the Notebook Order Form where the new team member will state their intent for obtaining or ordering hardware.

Team members that live in these countries can be serviced via the IT Laptop Ordering Process:

USA, Canada, Japan, Mexico, all of the EU, Russia, Thailand, China, Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand.

Please note that we are adding supported countries to this list as we discover our ability to order in them. You can test this by going to order a MacBook Pro (or Dell) from the regional Apple store, and seeing if they let you customize a build or alternately refer you to local retailers. If the latter, see below.

Team members that do not live in these countries will need to procure their own laptop and submit for reimbursement. If the team member desires financial assistance to purchase the hardware, the Company will advance the funds to help facilitate the purchase (see Exception Processes below).

Laptop Purchasing and Shipping Process

Once Team Member Enablement receives your laptop order we start working on purchasing your laptop and any additional equipment requested. We leverage business relationships with several different vendors across the globe to accomplish this remotely. Please note delivery times will vary depending on location, supply of hardware, vendor selection, and shipping method.

However, we may be able to work out priority or overnight delivery. We will not be able to service this for all cases and regions at this time but please feel free to reach out to IT-Help@brmbl.io or talk with your hiring manager to review all options available.

If you are a hiring manager or member of the hiring/recruiting team, you may check the status and content of a new hires order in the IT Equipment Order Process Project

Current Delivery Timelines for Bramble Hardware

  • US New Hires - 1-2 weeks (Apple) and 4-6 weeks (Dell)
  • Non-US New Hires - 2-3 weeks (Apple) and 6-9 weeks (Dell)

Key Performance Indicators

KPI 99% of laptops will arrive prior to start date or 21 days from the date of order.

Exception Processes

If you are in a region where we are not able to have a laptop delivered, and you need to request funds be advanced in order for a local purchase to take place; Obtain two quotes from local retailers (online or physical).

Email your manager with those quotes attached, requesting the funds advance and detailing the reason why (geo region, unable to have laptop delivered). Your manager will then forward their approval to Accounting for final approval and dispensation.

Should a laptop not be available to a new Bramble team-member upon their start date, but is pending, interim options include:

- Using personal non-windows hardware (mac, linux, mobile)
- Renting and expensing non-windows hardware
- Purchasing and expensing (or returning) a Chromebook

If in the rare case that your laptop arrives damaged or unusable prior to your start date, please reach out to your Candidate Experience Specialist and CC itops@brmbl.io for next steps on an immediate replacement or repair.

Laptop Configurations

Bramble approves the use of Linux and Apple operating systems, Windows is prohibited. The prohibition on Microsoft Windows is for the following reasons:

  • While there has been security issues with all operating systems, due to the popularity of the Windows operating system it is the main platform targeted by attackers with spyware, viruses, and ransomware.
  • macOS is pre-loaded onto Apple hardware. Linux is free. To take advantage of the features in Windows as a business, Bramble would have to purchase Windows Pro licensing as these business features are not available on Windows Home Edition. As many purchases of laptops have occurred with employees making the purchases and then being reimbursed by Bramble, a remote employee would typically be making a purchase of a laptop pre-loaded with Windows Home Edition.
  • Windows Home Edition is notoriously hard to secure.

Further information on Bramble authorized operating systems, versions, and exception process is available on the Approved OS’s page.

The operating system choices have obviously affected the hardware selection process.

Linux is the most common choice Bramble engineering team-members. Apple is a common choice for most others, but if you are comfortable using and self-supporting yourself with Linux (PopOS! or Ubuntu usually) you may also choose from the Dell builds below.

Apple Hardware

NOTE: Bramble does have a corporate discount with Apple. In Apple Retail Stores, you can bring a paystub or invoice along with a photo ID to get the discount. You can also call the Small Business line to learn more about ordering online. Discounts vary depending on the purchase, but it can range anywhere from 2-10%.

Linux Hardware

Please only request a Linux laptop if you have experience with this operating system and its requirements, all others, select a MacBook.

**NOTE: Max price: the price of the equivalent 16” MacBook pro laptop. Please make sure you order this model minimum 14 days, based on your locality, prior to your desired date to receive.

For Linux laptops, our standard laptop provider is Dell which generally comes pre-loaded with Ubuntu Linux,(to save money by not purchasing a Windows license). Dell in Australia and New Zealand are unable to currrently pre load with Ubuntu Linux, so staff will need to install Linux onto the devices once they’ve been received.

The reasons for using Dell for a Linux laptop are as follows:

  • There are several manufacturers of laptop systems that offer Linux, but Dell is the only major manufacturer that has done so for years, and it has already worked out shipping issues for all of the countries where Bramble employees live.

  • As we move forward with Zero Trust networking solutions, we need to have a stable and unified platform for deployment of software components in the Bramble environment.

    • Standardization on a single platform for Linux simplifies this.

  • Pop!_OS 20.04 LTS or Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is the preferred platform due to both stability and an extremely fast patch cycle - important for security patches.

  • There are opportunities for corporate discounts in the future if we can concentrate purchases from a single vendor.

  • Dell is a certified Ubuntu vendor with plenty of laptop choices available. They even have their own Ubuntu OEM release of Ubuntu they maintain, and as a result of their effort, the standard Ubuntu 18.04 LTS image natively supports Dell hardware and even firmware updates.

  • To date, all of Dell’s security issues have involved their use of Windows, not their hardware.

Laptops are purchased by IT Ops when a team-member comes on board; the team-member will be sent a form to fill out for ordering.

Laptop Vendor Selection Criteria

When recommending or approving end user device vendors for team member access, the Security Team tries to balance privacy, security, and compliance to ensure a solid choice for accessing Bramble data. Our current recommendations include Apple MacBook Pro running macOS and Dell Precision running Linux.

By its very nature, Bramble has historically been very open as a company, starting as open source and migrating from a group of coders with their own laptops to an organization that needs to protect not just their own corporate data but customer data as well.

Having developed a Data Classification Policy and currently implementing Zero Trust, we’ve had to make adjustments in laptop recommendations.

Our laptop vendor selection criteria is as follows:

Team member need

  • The main needs center around processing power and the operating system support for required workloads.
  • Most modern systems meet the processing power needs of our team members.
  • Apple macOS and Ubuntu Linux distributions meet the operating system needs.

Security needs

  • Bramble needs the ability to ensure a secure and stable platform.
  • From an operating system perspective, macOS and Linux meet the basic needs.
  • The Security team has found a slight advantage in PopOS or Ubuntu as a Linux distribution due to their rapid response time when it comes to patching security flaws, and recommend this distribution.
  • This is not at the exclusion of all other distributions, but this is the one we recommend.

In the case of Microsoft Windows, as we previously stated there are a number of reasons to restrict access from a security perspective. Historically, the operating system has had its share of security flaws and is a frequent target of various forms of malware. In fact Windows is responsible for the major share of all malware, including such items as ransomware.

From a hardware point of view, we have to examine security issues such as supply chain attacks. Some vendors have had these issues involving the operating system, although in many cases it has been directly related to Microsoft Windows. However, if a vendor has had potential supply chain issues involving firmware or hardware, we will consider other vendors first.

Compliance needs

To meet compliance needs for the various certifications, programs, and industry regulations, we have to meet criteria including the ability to restrict access to sensitive data to company-issued laptops running company-monitored software.

  • In many cases we need to be able to prove this via auditing, including outside auditors.
  • Using one vendor for macOS (Apple by default) and one for Linux.
  • A part of this process will include ensuring systems are patched, and in the Linux case we want to ensure firmware patches are applied.
  • Very few hardware vendors not only supply Linux as an operating system but also provide a way to apply patches - including security patches - to firmware via the normal Linux patch process.

There is no specific example for using one brand over another from a compliance perspective. That being said, there are customers we wish to sell Bramble products that have specific requirements internally, and to align ourselves with those requirements can be not only a positive sign we understand the customer space, but give us a competitive advantage.

Logistics needs

  • To be able to use a laptop vendor, we have to be able to purchase and ship hardware to our team members regardless of where they live.
  • Therefore the vendor should be able to handle most if not all shipping requirements to all team members. Our current hardware provider for US and most international locations is CDW. Bramble laptops that are procured from CDW will come with Bramble branded asset labels by default. Please refer to this issue for more information on Bramble asset labels. Bramble Branded Laptop Labels

Laptop Refresh

Team member Laptops can be refreshed after 3 years (of use!) without question. However, if the replacement laptop is outside the standardized specifications listed here than manager approval will be required before IT can purchase the replacement laptop. If you feel you need a new laptop to be effective at your job before then, reach out to IT and your manager.

Replacement laptops for broken Bramble laptops can be purchased as needed by creating an issue in the Team member Enablement issue tracker project. Laptops ordered as part of the refresh program use this template.

This process can also be followed for laptops that are not broken but old enough that you are having trouble completing your work. Please refer to the spirit of spending company money when deciding whether or not it is appropriate to replace your functioning laptop. Everyone’s needs are different so it is hard to set a clear timeline of when computer upgrades are necessary for all team-members, but team-members become eligible for an updated laptop after 3 years. If you qualify/complete a laptop refresh, please also refer to our Laptop Buy back Policy below.

Many team members can use their company issued laptop until it breaks. If your productivity is suffering, you can request a new laptop. The typical expected timeframe for this is about three years, but it can depend on your usage and specific laptop. Laptops paid for by the company are property of Bramble and need to be reported with serial numbers, make, model, screen size and processor to IT Ops for proper asset tracking. Since these items are company property, you do not need to buy insurance for them unless it is company policy to do so (for example, at the moment we do not purchase Apple Care), but you do need to report any loss or damage to IT Ops as soon as it occurs. Links in the list below are to sample items, other options can be considered.

Laptop Repair

If your laptop is broken and needs to be repaired you can take it into an Apple repair store. You should ensure that you have a recent backup before doing so, and that your laptop is not your only registered device for iCloud two-factor authentication.

If the repair is not going to be too expensive (more than $1000 dollars USD), go ahead and repair and expense. If the repair is going to take longer than a day then you need to make sure you have a back up laptop to work on that is non-Windows.

You can open an issue in the Team Member Enablement Issue Tracker to document the repair and get your managers approval.

Do not provide the repair center with any credentials to your laptop. If they ask, you can tell them that they’re authorized to do a factory reset on the laptop should it be necessary to run diagnostics. This will help prevent sensitive data from being accidentally or intentionally leaked during repair.

Once you receive your laptop back, re-install MacOS (instructions here) and restore your data from a recent backup. This is to ensure that no unauthorized software was added during the repair process.

If, however, the repair is going to be expensive and take weeks to fix and you have no back up laptop, your best option is to replace the laptop.

In this case please open an issue to replace. Then please follow the guidelines in the template and once you receive the new laptop we can have the old one sent off to our reseller.

Configuring New Laptops & Apple IDs

New laptops should be configured with security in mind.

We require the use of an @brmbl.io Apple ID that is separate from any personal Apple ID’s you may have. Some of these reasons include:

  • Backups, keychains and documents are all considered sensitive information, and should not be stored in personal services.
  • 2FA for remote lock, wipe, or account resets are common methods of account compromises, and ensuring the use of Bramble.com email addresses also ensures we are in control of that aspect of multi-factor authentication.
  • Keeping a strong separation between work and personal accounts will help prevent the accidental leak of information from one to the other, in either direction.

Defense in depth, in part, means you make a best effort to be secure at each layer. To read through more instructions, please refer to security best practices when configuring your new laptop.

All team-members must provide proof of whole-disk encryption within the new laptop order issue.

Certain circumstances (world region and availability of hardware) might require the self installation of Linux on a Dell that was shipped with OEM Windows. Please make sure you follow any needed requirements when self installing and open an issue with IT-Ops for verification.

For laptops shipped with OEM Windows you may want to make a full drive backup (e.g. by using open source utility Clonezilla) to the external drive before installing Linux. That way you could restore your laptop to the original state at any time. It will make the RMA process much easier in case you need it.

Laptop Buy back Policy

Team members can choose to refresh their laptop, no questions asked, after 3 years of use (not necessarily 3 years of employment if a used laptop was issued at the time of onboarding).

Team members have the option to buy back their existing laptops either when it gets refreshed for a new one, or when the team member is offboarding. If the team member has completed 1 calendar year or more at Bramble at the time of offboarding, they can opt to keep their laptop at no cost. If the team member hasn’t completed 1 calendar year at the time of offboarding or has received a laptop refresh within the past year, they have the option to purchase their laptop for current market value from Bramble.

IT Ops will email the team member asking if they would like to send back or purchase their laptops. If purchasing, our Manager of IT, or Lead, IT Analyst will approve, and we will send the employee an email with the determined value. Then, if the employee decides to move forward with purchasing, our accounting department will reach out with payment information.

If a team member decides to retain their laptop, they are required to wipe the machine and re-install the base operating system, and remove any and all software and configurations that were supplied by Bramble. Bramble provided laptops must be wiped with Drivestrike, this ensures a clean disk wipe is performed and Bramble can retain evidence of the disk wipe. Under no circumstance should you perform your own disk wipe unless you are doing so to troubleshoot a technical problem with the laptop. If Bramble discovers that a device has not been wiped according to policy, Bramble may act to enforce a remote wipe without notice.

If team members opt not to keep or purchase their existing laptops, they can return them to Bramble. See the returning old/offboarded laptops section below for details.

Returning Old/Offboarded Laptops

Part of the IT Ops replacement laptop process is providing each team-member with instructions about how to return their old laptop (whether outdated or broken). All laptops must be returned within 2 weeks of receiving the replacement laptop, so please prioritize transferring information between laptops within this timeframe.

If an offboarded employee decides not to purchase and is not under a current litigation hold, then we will have them ship to our 3rd party vendor that handles sell backs, AnythingIT. AnythingIT will send them a shipping label, and in the US, a shipping box as well. Please note shipping times may vary, expect between 2-4 weeks for AnythingIT to provide shipping information and packaging

(If the IT department has record of a current litigation hold for the offboarded employee please consult with Legal before proceeding.)

All team-member laptops must be securely erased before being returned. This not only protects the company, but also protects you since it is possible for personal information to exist on these machines. Reformatting a computer is not sufficient in these cases because it is possible for sensitive data to be recovered after reinstalling an operating system.

Other Resources

GEM

In an effort to secure access to systems, Bramble is utilizing Google Endpoint Management. The key goals are:

  • We can use GEM to enable Zero-Trust based authentication controls upon our assets, so that we can allow authorized connections to key assets with a greater degree of certainty.
  • We can better manage the login process to the list of growing cloud applications that we use within our tech stack.
  • We can better manage the Provisioning and De-provisioning process for our users to access these application, by use of automation and integration into our HRIS system.
  • We can make Trust and Risk based decisions on authentication requirements to key assets, and adapt these to ensure a consistent user experience.

Full Disk Encryption

To provide proof of Full Disk Encryption, please do the following depending on the system you are running.

  • Apple : Take a screenshot showing both the confirmation of enabled Full Disk Encryption as well as the info showing your serial number. Both pieces of information can be found by clicking on the Apple icon in the top left corner of your screen. For proof of disk encryption, choose System Preferences -> Security & Privacy, and then choose the FileVault tab near the top of the window. For your serial number, choose the About This Mac option. Please get both pieces of information in a single screenshot.
  • Linux : Take a screenshot showing the output of lsblk && sudo dmsetup ls && sudo dmidecode -s system-serial-number && cat /etc/fstab && date

Fleet Intelligence & Remote Lock/Wipe

Bramble has an ever-growing fleet of laptops, which IT Operations is responsible for maintaining. In order to do this and combined with our Zero Trust security policies and various Compliance needs, there must be some measure of intelligence and reporting in place.

To accomplish this goal we are utilizing DriveStrike to obtain only the essential information required.

For more information, refer to our Endpoint Management handbook page.

DriveStrike

DriveStrike is available for most operating systems, and also meets security needs for remote lock or wipe in emergencies.

  • DriveStrike installs for Bramble will NOT have the ability to execute remote commands.
  • DriveStrike installs for Bramble WILL have the ability to remotely lock or wipe hardware, for use in emergency or offboarding situations.
  • DriveStrike may be installed on non-Bramble hardware, opting-in to the same data collection and security.
  • DriveStrike collects the following information for Bramble:
    • Usernames & Accounts present on the machine
    • Machine Name, Make, Model, MAC, Serial #
    • Hardware Specifications (CPU, RAM, HDD + % Used)
    • Firewall status
    • OS Version & Patch/Update status
    • Disk encryption status
    • Battery Health

This light-touch reporting allows us to meet business and compliance needs, while maintaining the privacy of the Bramble team member. This will remain a top consideration throughout the process.

Drivestrike Installation Process

If you are retaining your laptop/receiving a new laptop upgrade we will need to wipe your old laptop. The team member enablement team will email you a link with Drivestrike to install on the laptop that needs attention. To install follow the below workflow : -

  1. Open the email on the device you want protected.
  2. Click the link provided in the email to install
  3. Use your @brmbl.io if installing DriveStrike prompts you for an email address.

Slack Emoji Workflow

In an effort to improve efficiency and promote self service while using Slack. Our team has creating an Emoji workflow in Slack that will send automated messages based on a specific emojis reaction.

The idea is that if a user posts a question in the IT-Help slack channel, an IT technician or anyone in Bramble can react with an emoji and send a message that has helpful information.

All workflows will contain a button that a user can press to request help from a human. This is to show that we are not trying to degrade the employee experience.

How does it work?

The process is very simple:

  1. Wait for a help request to come into the IT-Help Slack channel
  2. Once a request (slack message) comes in, hover your mouse over it and press the Add reaction button.
  3. Search for the appropriate emoji that correlates to the workflows shown at the table below.
  4. Click the emoji. This will now add the emoji to the message and activate the workflow messages created (shown below)

Below is a table with the current workflows setup:

Process App/Subject Message
Bramble 2FA Assistance Bramble,dev, staging For 2FA related problems for your Bramble account, please use your back up codes. If you saved these codes, you can use one of them to sign in.
To use a recovery code, enter your username/email and password on the Bramble sign-in page. When prompted for a two-factor code, enter the recovery code.
Once you use a recovery code, you cannot re-use it. You can still use the other recovery codes you saved.
For more information please visit this page.
Access Request Bramble Hello {user]
This request will require you to submit an access request here. Please use the appropriate template (If no such template exists use the closest one and customize it)
After this request is submitted our team will action it as soon as possible.
Laptop Repairs Laptops Hi {User}
In the event that your laptop is broken or damaged we will attempt to repair the machine. Can you please provide your serial number? This will allow us to check the machines warranty
Replacement laptops for broken Bramble laptops can be purchased as needed by creating an issue in the Team member Enablement issue tracker project.
Laptop Troubleshooting Laptops Hi user. We are sorry to hear that your laptop has started to run slow or you are experiencing freezing in apps. Follow this guide and if you’re still having trouble, let us know! We’ll be monitoring this thread.
Laptop Upgrade Laptops Hello {user}
Team member Laptops can be refreshed after 3 years (of use!) without question. However, if the replacement laptop is outside the standardized specifications listed here than manager approval will be required before IT can purchase the replacement laptop.
If you feel you need a new laptop to be effective at your job before then, reach out to IT and your manager.
Please submit an upgrade issue here.
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