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Hey folks — Michelle here from JumpCloud Windows Device Management with an announcement. If your organization uses Active Directory (AD), you’re in luck! With JumpCloud, you can now easily manage your organization’s Active Directory-bound devices!
Why is this important? Well, policies are important, and they should be a simple way for an IT professional to configure device settings and ensure those settings stay applied. However, traditional AD policy management can often feel clunky, cumbersome, and difficult for IT admins, so a better way to manage policies on AD-bound devices is a huge step in the right direction.
Active Directory Policy Management Challenges
Applying Active Directory Group Policy Objects (or GPOs) is the traditional policy management method for on-prem Active Directory. Managing GPOs can be extremely challenging for a number of reasons.
- Finding objects: Finding the user or device account can be difficult if you don’t know where it resides in the directory. Searching is not simple.
- Establishing or validating links: GPOs can be linked to different groups, and if the link is disabled or lost, the entire policy reverts. Validating that the link is present can be difficult because the console contrast is quite low.
- Default start settings: Some GPOs default to a baseline configuration with some or all settings selected or activated, but others default to all settings disabled. If you’re not careful in the GPO editor, it is very easy to create an unintended outcome.
Luckily, there’s now a better way to manage policies across AD-bound devices: JumpCloud.
An added note for Mac administrators: if you have ever experienced the pain of binding a Mac to Active Directory: you’re in for a treat because binding a Mac to the JumpCloud Directory is pain-free in comparison.
A Better Way: JumpCloud Policies
In JumpCloud, it’s straightforward to configure and apply policies, even a policy as complex as configuring encryption. Check it out:
Applying a policy to a device bound to Active Directory requires only one extra step: validation that Active Directory does not already configure the policy.
JumpCloud strongly recommends you wait to create the JumpCloud policy until after validating that there is no equivalent Active Directory policy in place. This is because having two policies to manage the same item – such as BitLocker, will create a conflict. A conflict will then add complexity to device management, which is the opposite effect of what JumpCloud wants you to experience.
Breaking Up with Active Directory
Don’t let your directory hold you back. Learn why it’s time to break up with AD.
JumpCloud is the Leading Alternative to Active Directory
JumpCloud provides a highly competitive alternative to Active Directory by helping customers keep a directory of all their users and devices, regardless of operating system (OS), while providing multiple ways to manage your organization’s Active Directory-bound devices.
JumpCloud simplifies the work you do every day, like patch management, running commands remotely, installing applications, configuring, and applying policies for things like BitLocker Full Disk Encryption, and so much more!
Here’s a table illustrating the many categories of management methods you can apply to your organization’s Active Directory-bound devices.
Try JumpCloud Policy Management, Free!
See if JumpCloud’s policy management capabilities are right for your organization — try the platform out for free, for up to ten users and devices. Enjoy the full functionality of the platform with no commitment, and take advantage of our 24/7 support for the first ten days following your free account creation.
