Connecting Slack, IT workflows, and device operations to keep hardware moving while reducing manual work.

For lean IT teams, managing the device lifecycle can quickly become a collection of repetitive tasks: checking whether new hires have equipment ordered, creating retrievals when employees leave, monitoring spare inventory, and keeping everyone informed about hardware status.

Braintrust found a better way to manage those workflows by connecting allwhere to the team's primary workspace: Slack.

Using the allwhere API, the team built automated workflows that surface hardware data and trigger frequent device lifecycle actions directly within Slack. The result is greater visibility, fewer manual checks, and a more automated IT operation.

The challenge: Managing device logistics without adding more overhead

Before allwhere, Braintrust had limited infrastructure for managing the logistics behind its device lifecycle. Hardware was purchased directly through vendors such as Apple and/or Rippling, but supporting an increasingly distributed workforce created additional complexity.

International shipping was a particular challenge. Managing hardware across different countries can require local business entities and additional logistics infrastructure, while ensuring devices are properly enrolled in Apple Business Manager and MDM adds another layer of operational complexity.

There was also the question of what happens after a device reaches an employee.

Retrievals, spare inventory, storage, redeployment, and eventual recycling all require ongoing coordination. In other organizations, these responsibilities might require a dedicated logistics team. For Braintrust, outsourcing that operational layer to allwhere provided a simpler path.

“The logistical overhead required for managing device lifecycles is a ton of work, so I am very thankful to not be required to do that by myself.”

But as the team continued to mature its IT operation, it saw another opportunity: automate the tasks happening around allwhere, too.

The solution: Bringing allwhere workflows into Slack

Slack is the team's primary surface for work and collaboration, so rather than asking IT to constantly switch between systems, Braintrust used the allwhere API to bring the most important hardware workflows directly into Slack.

The team started by looking at the tasks they performed most frequently in the allwhere UI, then asked a simple question: Could we automate the action, or at least surface the information we need, where our team already works?

That approach led to three core API-powered workflows.

Automated visibility into new-hire hardware

Every week, a Slackbot posts a list of employees starting the following week.

The post uses the allwhere API to show whether an allwhere order has been created for each new hire and what stage the order is in—such as shipped or complete.

New hire → allwhere order → status surfaced in Slack

This gives the team an immediate way to identify missing orders before they become onboarding problems.

Instead of manually checking individual orders, IT can see at a glance whether incoming employees have the equipment they need. If an order is missing, the team has enough lead time to take action before the employee's start date.

One-click retrievals during offboarding

The team also built a Slack App to automate a common offboarding task: determining whether a terminated employee needs to return their device.

When a termination occurs, the app posts in a designated offboarding Slack channel asking whether a retrieval order should be created.

If a team member clicks yes, the API automatically creates the retrieval order.

The workflow also passes along the information needed to process the device, including the MDM PIN used to lock it during offboarding. 

Termination → Slack prompt → one click → retrieval order

What would otherwise require multiple steps across systems can now happen directly within the team's existing offboarding workflow.

Proactive inventory monitoring

The team also uses the API to keep an eye on hardware availability.

At the beginning of each week, a Slackbot pulls inventory from the US and UK depots. That information helps the team determine whether it needs to create a Buy & Hold order to replenish stock.

The goal is simple: maintain enough ready-to-deploy hardware to support new hires without relying exclusively on net-new orders, which can sometimes take longer than desired.

Depot inventory → Slack → replenish before stock becomes a problem

More visibility. Fewer manual tasks. Less IT bottleneck.

For Braintrust, Slack has become the primary surface for managing the most frequent parts of its device lifecycle.

The team doesn't have to manually check every upcoming hire, remember to create every retrieval, or repeatedly monitor inventory. Instead, the information they need or the actions they need to take show up as part of the workflows they already use.

All of that automation is backed by the logistics infrastructure allwhere manages behind the scenes: procurement, international fulfillment, inventory, retrievals, and device lifecycle operations.

“Much of the logistical workflows can be built from scratch, but it often requires a lot of attention to ensure that things don't slip through the cracks, and requires additionally a ton of effort to maintain it in the long term.”

With allwhere and the API, Braintrust doesn't have to build and maintain that infrastructure themselves.

The result: a device lifecycle that's increasingly automated, visible, and manageable, without adding more work to IT.

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