Group Policy: Centralized, Organized, Secure

Microsoft's Group Policy for Windows is an innovative systems management tool that reduces loss in productivity and facilitates a leaner IT department. It does this by enabling a system administrator to perform remote systems management of all the users, organizational units and domains under his administration and thereby remove the need for more IT personnel to manually perform maintenance and configuration on site. This also gives the system administrator control over each user machine in the network.

System-wise, the Group Policy software makes active directory maintenance convenient and easy. Since the system administrator has control over all users in the network he can cleanup active directory to rid the system of those accounts or user profiles created for people who are no longer members of the company or organization. It also facilitates centralized active directory security since the system administrator can initiate a standard security minimum across the network which the users have no choice but comply with.

Aside from centralizing active directory security standards, the system administrator also gets to perform one-time software deployment to all the users in his network. Before, IT personnel had to personally visit the site and manually perform software installation for each user machine. With this new software distribution method, the system administrator need only perform the installation once for the software to be effectively integrated into all the user machines where the application is deemed required.

For IT asset tracking and software asset management purposes, this centralized system management tool is a big help to the system administrator. Because he can access each user in the network, the system administrator has accurate and up to date information on hardware inventory and PC software inventory for the whole system. This means that he can generate reports for periodic license compliance and SOX compliance audits and checks, and thereby pass the ITIL as well as the Sarbanes-Oxley standards. Moreover, he can perform system policy updates where the reports reveal they are necessary.

System administrators also have the capability of customizing each computer within the network according to the user's needs and functions in the organization. The Group Policy software makes remote restart / shutdown and 'wake on lan' possible. Automation of start-up and shutdown tasks through scripts is also enabled.

Finally, this systems management tool helps the administrator bring about increased windows security throughout the network by enforcing a centralized password policy and a more stringent password filter. This way, unauthorized users cannot have easy access to the network and the system administrator can ensure that crucial client information and network processes are protected from theft and external manipulation.