Work happens wherever the device and the person using it are located. Whether that\u2019s a traditional office, home office, coffee shop, coworking space, or airplane tray table, IT leaders need to be able to secure the device and connect the user to their requisite resources through it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How we approach security and the use lifecycle has also evolved. IT departments need more than just a new toolset to achieve the kind of fluid access control and device management required today \u2014 they need an entirely new architecture. This article explores how IT architectures have evolved and what organizations now need to meet the demands of the modern era.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft’s proprietary directory service, Active Directory (AD)<\/a>, thrived in contained Microsoft ecosystems. In the past, on-prem domain controllers connected users to other resources on the network and managed on-prem Windows devices as well. This established a secure perimeter around organizational resources on local networks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current Active Directory ecosystem is best equated to a movie theater<\/a> where your ticket grants you admission, but you\u2019ll purchase more than you\u2019d normally pay for at the concession stand to get everything that you want. An array of services ranging from complicated AD FS server farms, a flood of Azure AD licensing models, or Intune (which must be Azure AD joined or hybrid AD-joined) are now available as a multitude of add-ons that can be confusing to navigate and won\u2019t support every environment, such as popular Linux distributions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A different architecture now exists to eliminate the need for such AD add-ons, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, an organization might be all-remote all the time, or have entire departments that no longer work in-office. An organization might also face additional complexities associated with acquiring companies outside of its region or granting its partners secure access to shared IT resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Work from anywhere is now enshrined in how business is done, everywhere. Identity and access management (IAM), user lifecycle management, asset and device management, as well as patching and governance are the new frontier. Users work across devices and access many kinds of resources with their identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current reality as seen in the news, and in our communities, demonstrates an incredible change of pace and the realization that world events<\/a> no longer occur in isolation. We rely on the internet more deeply than ever, and the cloud<\/em> is a mission-critical IT infrastructure that connects people to the resources they need to work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is especially pronounced in the business world where many companies are uncertain about how to respond to large-scale challenges (such as adopting a Zero Trust<\/a> strategy) with limited IT resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n