The GPOGUY-- Group Policy Blog

Since we introduced the GPExpert Desktop Policy Manager last week, there's been some nice press coverage, including this article from Windows IT Pro, and this one from Network World. I'm very excited about this product. As someone said to me recently, "this product could change the way folks use Group Policy to configure their Windows systems". Obviously, that is my hope, but the bottom line is that Group Policy can and should be easier to manage and that is the goal of Desktop Policy Manager. When I was at TechMentor last week, I showed a lot of folks the product. Universally, the response was the proverbially lightbulb going on when I showed them how easy it could be to set policy settings for their desktops. The bottom line is that Group Policy is awesome and powerful technology, and it should be easy to use as well! To that end, I look forward to this product becoming THE way folks use GP down the line.

Tags:

Group Policy, Desktop Policy Manager, SDM Software

Posted by gpoguy at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I saw an announcement today by Symark that they are now entering the AD/Unix/Linux authentication space already populated by folks like Vintela, Centrify and Likewise. Symark has been around for a while but were focused more on policy-based management of Unix/Linux system security rather than Windows integration. But that changes with their new ADVantage solution, which puts them squarely into this crowded market. Most interestingly for me, they are yet another vendor offering Group Policy management of Unix/Linux systems. From screenshots on their site, it appears that they've taken the same approach as some of the other vendors of extending Group Policy using custom ADM templates that get read and translated by non-Windows systems into meaningful configuration commands for those platforms.

It will be interesting to see where this goes. That now makes 4 vendors that I know of who are doing heteregeneous Group Policy management, so it will be interesting to see if this market moves forward from managing basic configuration options on non-Windows platforms to doing the real interesting systems and application configuration tasks that could be done using this technology. So far, from what I've seen, most of these folks have taken baby steps in terms of what is possible. Maybe a new player in the space will urge all of them forwards!

Tags

Group Policy, Symark, Unix-Linux Group Policy Management

Posted by gpoguy at 07:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)