Chapter 12. Managing the Desktop

Maintaining technology within an organization is becoming more complex and expensive, and there is a direct correlation between the two. Several studies have shown that although systems that are more complex can offer a competitive advantage and make processes more efficient, the systems themselves can become overly expensive to run and maintain.

The client/server environment is no different and is especially vulnerable to excessive cost of ownership because the client is in the hands of the user. If a user changes the client configuration or adds software, or better yet, hardware, the predictability of the client changes. This leads to additional costs predicated by a client that requires more support and is potentially less efficient.

To manage the desktop fully and successfully, you should also manage and support those systems that support the desktop, mainly the BackOffice applications and the infrastructure that supports them.

To reduce the cost of ownership at the desktop, Windows 2000 and Active Directory provide functionality that takes the fate of the client out of the hands of the user and places it back in the hands of the administrators, where it belongs.