Thursday, June 26, 2008

Desktop Authority

Windows Desktop Management Tool

Scriptlogic's Desktop Authority is a tool to manage Windows desktop operating systems, providing administrators the ability to secure, inventory, patch and support desktops from a central location.

From the Scriptlogic website:

Desktop Authority centralizes control over the desktop, combining into one comprehensive solution the functionality usually achieved with a combination of logon scripting, group policies, user profiles, and a variety of security solutions. By integrating configuration, inventory, reporting, patch management, anti-spyware, device lockdown, power management and remote management into a single solution, administrators can efficiently and effectively manage the desktop environment from one console, lowering the total cost of desktop ownership.

I was in a meeting earlier this week and had a server and desktop admin singing to me the praises of this product. His comment was that "everyone knows that managing desktops with Microsoft's group policy tool sucks (his word, not mine), so I had to find something to make it easier." There are add-ons to enable remote software installation/deployment and a bare-metal imaging solution as well. I'm still sold on the Softgrid/Thinstall/Appstream approach to application deployment versus the remote install methodology whenever possible. Take a look and let me know what you think.