Moving from a device-centric to a people-centric enterprise presents a number of challenges. One of the biggest challenges is how to effectively support and manage the diversity of platforms and devices that can now potentially access corporate resources. IT must be able to configure device settings based on a number of variables, including users, groups, and device types, and device location (on-premises, in the cloud, or external). IT administrators also need to protect corporate security and manage compliance policies.
- Providing users with a common identity when they are accessing resources that are located both on-premises or in cloud based platforms of the corporate environment.
- Managing multiple identities and keeping the information in sync across environments is a drain on IT resources.
Solutions:
- Users have a single sign on experience when accessing all resources, regardless of location.
- Users and IT can leverage their common identity for access to external resources through federation.
- IT can consistently manage identities across on premises and cloud based identity domains.
Being able to manage both user- and corporate-owned devices within a single management console can help busy IT administrators efficiently evaluate and manage network activity, regardless of whether it originates on-premises, in the cloud, or remotely. Devices can be managed—from the cloud or from the corporate network–in the world in which they live. Using a single interface enables IT to identify the devices accessing the corporate network, and then to configure and manage those devices consistently, regardless of device type.
A unified solution also provides a cohesive structure for setting policy, delivering, reporting capabilities that help IT to maintain corporate compliance. As people work on a variety of devices and IT adopts a hybrid approach to delivering applications and services (both on-premises and in the cloud), it becomes essential to have a single identity that can be used for authentication. This single identity, which can be used regardless of what resources a person is accessing and where he or she is accessing them from, can make people more productive and provide a better overall experience.
Conclusion:
Microsoft provides a unified way for organizations to view and manage all the devices accessing corporate resources, including Windows-based PCs, tablets, phones, and servers, Windows Embedded devices, OS X, iOS and Android devices, and UNIX/Linux servers. This integration saves organizations from having to learn or implement different segregated products.