White Papers

We all know that server security management can be a difficult, complex job. A lot of what you need to work with – event logs, permissions, and so forth – are widely-distributed, making what should be simple tasks turn into a swamp of manual effort. With the right tools and techniques, you can stay high, dry, and efficient – test your server security management maturity with this personality quiz, and see how you rate!

One of the biggest complexities in desktop management is the fact that no organization has a single desktop configuration and need. Sure, some organizations strive for that by buying the same hardware and by locking down the desktop configuration – but the fact is that some users continue to have unique needs. Some users dial (or VPN) in more than they connect to the corporate LAN. Some users need different applications, and some need the same applications configured somewhat differently. And, inevitably, differences in hardware start to creep in: Desktops and laptops, newer computer models when the manufacturer discontinued the old one, newer versions of Windows, Office, and other key applications. These differences can start out seeming minor, and many organizations will attempt to tackle them using native tools like Group Policy, or by using home-built solutions like logon scripts. But those approaches tend to get increasingly complex over time, with more and more “conditions” to determine which computers and which users get which specific configurations, software, and other managed elements. There should be a better way.

ScriptLogic is a leading global provider of systems lifecycle management solutions spanning physical, virtual and terminal environments enabling IT professionals to proactively save time, increase security, and maintain regulatory compliance through the seamless management of Windows desktops, servers, and Active Directory. More than 26,000 customers of varying size and industry use ScriptLogic solutions to manage approximately 6.8 million desktops and servers every day. ScriptLogic's software solutions help many different types of enterprise comply with the requirements arising from government legislation. The aim of this document is to highlight ways in which ScriptLogic solutions can be used to bring Microsoft Windows‐based IT systems into line with the requirements of the Payment Card Industry (PCI) Data Security Standard.

Why you should care about software updates? While one might expect that only software vendors would care about software updates, it turns out that many high-tech manufacturers and enterprises are also in the software business today. In fact, many high-tech manufacturers provide customers with software add-ons or embedded software in hardware products. And, many enterprises develop custom applications for use by internal staff and independent dealers or distributors. In all these cases, there’s a growing need to manage the development, delivery and support of software on a regular basis.

Machine virtualization has swept through enterprises, big and small – creating significant issues for both software producers and enterprise customers – and a wide “vendor-customer gap” in customer desires and application vendors’ practices. Specifically, the way that enterprise IT organizations install, provisions administer and use application software is likely decoupled from how application vendors build, license and support their software. Application vendors traditionally have placed the burden on customers to close this gap; today it is shifting back to application vendors.