Desktop Authority - Old, but still working great!
Use Cases and Deployment Scope
We use Desktop Authority as a workstation configuration platform. The system is used to configure desktop environments for users by configuring printers, shared drive info, registry changes, custom application deployments, Outlook configurations, etc. All while being extremely granular in how configurations are applied.
Pros
- Manage network printers for users - based on AD groups, OUs, etc.
- Established shared drive information, again based on granular info.
- Modify system info such as the registry, or run cmd/bat files, move/copy files.
Cons
- The remote interactive desktop application has always been a bit clunky compared to other 3PP tools available.
- The system doesn't undergo many updates, regular updates with new features are few and far between (annually or more).
Most Important Features
- Printer deployment
- Application deployments via command lines
- Shared drive deployments
- End-user application configurations using GPO, registry, or specific modules for Outlook, etc.
Return on Investment
- The ROI was very quick to return as one major problem it solved was the deployment of Outlook signatures using info from Active Directory.