{"id":43365,"date":"2023-12-11T11:25:52","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T16:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/?p=43365"},"modified":"2023-12-11T11:25:53","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T16:25:53","slug":"rethink-ad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jumpcloud.com\/blog\/rethink-ad","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Time to Rethink Your AD Setup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
As a nearly 25-year-old tool, Microsoft Active Directory<\/a> (AD) has remained a persistent component of many SMEs. And as a Microsoft product and a core infrastructure component, it tends to put down stubborn roots. For IT teams, it can be easier to ignore or work around AD\u2019s faults than to confront the idea of modernizing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But AD has not sufficiently modernized to meet the modern business\u2019s needs on its own, and the longer you leave it unattended, the more its issues will compound. For many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), AD is restrictive and unwieldy. In addition, managing legacy technology is expensive and doesn\u2019t offer SMEs modern, cloud-based security. As cost-efficiency, security, and supporting decentralized work are poised to top SMEs\u2019 priority lists in 2024, IT teams can\u2019t afford to ignore these shortcomings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fortunately, modernizing AD isn\u2019t as hard as it may seem. There are many paths SMEs can take to modernize their AD instance. Making a change might be easier than you think \u2014 and the benefits may surprise you. Read on to learn how and why to modernize AD in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many SMEs don\u2019t realize how much an outdated AD setup can affect their business, from flexibility to security to cost-effectiveness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In general, AD can be rigid, tedious and hard to navigate. This is due to a few factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n All this friction can significantly slow down your team and work against your ability to optimize your resources. It keeps you boxed into the Microsoft ecosystem, which can make it feel hard to grow, change, and support new initiatives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you modernize AD with a cloud-based directory<\/a>, on the other hand, you enjoy more freedom to work the way you want, and with the resources you choose. This makes your infrastructure flexible and adaptable, which is critical in today\u2019s fast-paced and frequently changing work environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because AD is legacy-based, it aligns with an outdated, perimeter-based security model. This approach centers security around a physical perimeter \u2014 i.e., the physical domain. However, the rise in mobile, offsite, and cloud-based work calls for a shift to identity-based security, otherwise known as Zero Trust security. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Zero Trust security requires identity verification before accessing every resource \u2014 not just before accessing one outer perimeter. This decreases the chances of a breach (especially for companies with mobile and hybrid environments) and helps prevent lateral movement, should one occur. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, it can be difficult to maintain full security and visibility of legacy equipment, especially if it isn\u2019t meticulously kept up. AD tends to have a sprawling footprint, which leads to blind spots, outdated equipment, unprotected servers, and other legacy weaknesses. These are perfect entry points for a bad actor looking for a way into your central network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, some of the most important security functions in AD \u2014 like Health Check, password protection, and privileged access management \u2014 require expensive subscription tiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A cloud-based directory helps SMEs shift away from the legacy risks AD poses and adopt zero trust, a more reliable approach in a cloud-based environment. It also offers SMEs access to more modern security solutions and enables IT teams to reliably maintain an updated infrastructure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Maintaining an on-premises domain isn\u2019t cheap \u2014 especially when you factor in the costs to upgrade, monitor, and maintain the equipment. According to our estimates, switching to a cloud directory could reduce the annual costs of a 200-person company by over 75%. (We got this number from our pricing calculator \u2014 try it out!<\/a>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n On top of the costs of owning and maintaining legacy equipment, Microsoft\u2019s notoriously confusing licensing can lead companies to pay for more than what they need without realizing it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Modernizing AD can help you optimize your resources by offering you more flexibility and capabilities while reducing the costs of owning and managing a legacy solution. You\u2019ll enjoy more modern functionality at a lower cost with less upkeep to worry about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though your directory is a core piece of infrastructure, modernizing it might be easier than you think. \u201cModernize\u201d doesn’t necessarily mean \u201crip and replace\u201d (although that is an option). There are essentially three pathways you can take to modernize your AD instance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n JumpCloud is a cloud-based open directory platform with options for expanding, wrapping, or replacing AD. It\u2019s designed to work with or without AD \u2014 so, if you\u2019re ready to replace AD, JumpCloud offers a migration tool designed to transition you from AD to JumpCloud. If you\u2019re not looking for a complete replacement, JumpCloud can integrate with AD seamlessly, allowing you to use JumpCloud for what you need and keep AD for the rest. You can keep AD as your core IdP or shift that responsibility over to JumpCloud. It\u2019s all up to you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n When you modernize AD with JumpCloud, you enjoy the ability to support both cloud and on-premises resources with an open and flexible directory. JumpCloud can support just about any resource you need it to, regardless of operating system or vendor. And its pricing is clear and transparent, so there\u2019s no question of what you need to support your environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, JumpCloud unifies user and device management and offers a full suite of tools that allows you to make work happen securely, and from just about anywhere. That includes single sign-on<\/a>, multi-factor authentication<\/a>, patch management<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy Modernize AD?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Flexibility and Productivity <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Case in point: <\/em>a few months ago, a redditor made a post<\/a> asking the r\/sysadmin community whether there was a straightforward breakdown of Microsoft licensing out there. The top comments were sarcastic gifs and colorful iterations of the word \u201cno.\u201d
<\/li>\n\n\n\nSecurity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Budget<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to Modernize AD<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Modernize With JumpCloud <\/h2>\n\n\n\n