Virtru Outlook Desktop Extension - Admin Overview – Virtru

About

If you are a new Virtru Outlook Desktop customer, this article is the best place to begin. It will give you the exact steps you need to take and walk you through some key considerations that will help you decide how you want to configure and deploy Virtru. We'll also highlight minimum requirements, best practices and additional features you may want to explore.

We also offer a separate Outlook 365 Add-in

If you are unsure which tool is best for you, please review the following: What is the difference between Virtru's Outlook 365 Add-in and Outlook Desktop Extension?

Test First!

We recommend deciding your configuration and testing with a small pilot group before notifying all users. That will allow you to tailor the communication to your exact needs and user flows. See the Best Practices section below for more information.

Minimum Requirements:

To prevent post-deployment issues, we recommend double-checking the following before deploying Virtru to your organization. Virtru's Outlook Desktop Extension is compatible with:

Outlook (Windows desktop) versions 2016 and above
Windows 10 operating system and above

Steps

Phase #1: Configure Virtru

First, you need to decide is how you want to add users to your team. This will impact the steps your users need to take and how you will configure Virtru.

Option:	Description	Considerations
Manually Add	Add your users manually via the Virtru Control Center	Recommended for organizations with less than 10-20 employees/licenses Will not pull in aliases or group associations Will send an invite to users when added. They will need to accept the invite to be added to your team/account
Entra ID Sync	Connect your Entra ID to Virtru and pull users in via a sync	Recommended for organizations with more than 10-20 employees/licenses Will pull in all users without having to manually add them Will also pull in group and alias associations Will NOT send an invite to users when added - they are automatically on your team. Requires a few additional configuration steps You may need to configure a Provisioning Group if you don't want to license your full org.

Phase #2: Notify Users

This is a critical - and often overlooked - step in the deployment process. This step is important for a number of reasons:

It ensures end-users have the instructions and resources they need to start using Virtru immediately
It will save you time by deflecting end-user questions once you go-live
It reinforces "why" security is important and encourages adoption.
It limits the chance of incorrect installation and misconfiguration - which can unintentionally create security and compliance gaps

You can use this email template to help communicate the necessary information to your users. All you need to do is delete any irrelevant items and tweak as needed.

We recommend reviewing this full article and deciding your configuration before notifying users. That will allow you to tailor the communication to your exact needs and user flows.

End User Guide

This link includes everything your users will need to Get Started with the Virtru for Outlook Desktop Extension (User Guide)

Phase #3: Install Virtru

Next, you need to decide how you want to get Virtru installed on users' machines.

Option:	Description	Considerations
Manual Add-in Installation	Your users will need to install Virtru on their devices	Recommended for organizations without a dedicated IT contact/team Installation is straightforward for end-users, but still requires manual action
Forced Installation	Administrative deployment to force install the add-in	Recommended for organizations with a dedicated IT contact/team Requires additional setup work for admins Virtru is automatically installed for end-users (all they have to do is activate)

Best Practices & Additional Resources

Test Virtru before Go-live

Before pushing Virtru to a large group of users, we recommend testing with a small pilot group of users. Approaching deployments this way has a few benefits:

You'll get to see all the user flows in action and be able to better articulate the process to your users.
If there are any issues or gaps, you can work with Virtru Customer Support to address them before they impact a larger audience.

We've helped over 6,000 customers deploy Virtru. First impressions are lasting ones. That is why testing before going live and notifying users are the two biggest factors in a successful deployment.

Additional Resources

Optional Features

In addition to choosing how you want to add users and install the add-in, there are other team settings you can configure. These settings are optional and can be configured or tweaked at a later date if needed.

This optional step is recommended if you are looking for more granular user and security controls. If you are a smaller business who wants to get Virtru up and running as quickly as possible, you can skip this section. Actions to consider: