The Good…
Group Policies Objects (GPOs) and Group Policy Preferences (GPPs) are used, often extensively, to apply configuration to the endpoint client computers and users. It is Windows management feature that allows trusted administrators to control multiple users’ and computers’ configurations within an Active Directory environment. Group Policies configure Organizational Units, Sites, or Domains all from a single management console. For the last couple of decades this feature has helped administrators in corporate environments save time, by not being forced to go to each device and set up its respective configuration.
….The Bad, and The Ugly!
Group Policies are typically in less-than-ideal state. Nested settings within Group Policy Objects can grow organically, and the amount of time required to unpick and remediate them is typically prohibitive, especially when the IT Team are tasked to ‘keep the lights on’.
Group Policy Objects settings leave potential for confusion as well as exploitation.
Untangling the spaghetti!
When introducing Microsoft Endpoint Manager (Intune), these GPO’s can be analysed and migrated to Configuration Service Provider’s (CSP’s), which can provide even greater control over the configuration of your devices, whilst at the same time rationalising down the complexity and confusion, reducing your administration and support costs, leaving you, it could be said, with a fist full of dollars and maybe even a few dollars more to prioritise elsewhere.
