RES Workspace Manager - NOW FOR FREE!

Introducing

First, why should you even bother about this free version?

If you already find it very easy to manage what the user gets on their desktop and why, you probably already have Workpace Manager installed :-) If not, you need it to prepare for any future changes and to be able to deliver IT as a Service.  Feel free to take a look at any of my previous blogs and videos about User Workspace Management.


What can it do for you?

The management of your users will be greatly simplified! You can migrate existing desktops into managed workspaces with minimal impact. I urge you to use RES Baseline Desktop Analyzer to quickly get from current state to desired state. RES BDA is also for FREE!

You will get context aware desktops. How about;

• Follow me printing
• Follow me shares
• Follow me applications
• Follow me configuration
• Follow me user settings

The users will be happier with a profile solution that really works! Easily switch between Windows XP and Windows 7 or even Windows 8 without loosing personal settings.






Conclusion!

You will get:

• The leading profile management solution for free
• A replacement for group policies
• A replacement for login/logout scripts
  
  AND IT IS CONTEXT AWARE!

Note: The free version is of course limited in its functionality. But be amazed over what you actually get for free...

There is absolutely NO EXCUSE anymore for creating complex group policies or managing insanely long login scripts. You do not even have to bother about user profiles!

Download your free version here NOW and take the first step towards nirvana.

Oh...did I mention that it is for FREE? And the context awareness? No? Well...it is free AND context aware :-)



/Patrik

How to do more with less in three easy steps

According to Gartner, 40% of unplanned downtime is caused by human errors. This is also the only way for IT to do more with less! Besides greatly reducing unplanned downtime, automating your daily IT tasks will;

• Standardize IT
• Increase Quality of Service
• Free up time to focus on strategic responsibilities
• Grow IT maturity
• Increase security

RES Software Automation Manager gives you an easy way of automating daily IT tasks without adding to complexity or increasing the administrative overhead. There is NO point in selecting a solution that is complex - not if you have any of the above goals.

The following videos will explain the three steps that will help you move from a Basic to a Dynamic IT as a Service environment.


Step 1 - Take an existing manual task and automate it:

Step 2 - Create Run Books and delegate them to help desk:

Step 3 - Delegate IT changes back to the organisation through self service:

By taking this practical, non-complex and easy approach to IT maturity and Microsoft I/O model, It staff will be less stressed and users more happy. Nirvana?

Take your first easy step now...

/Patrik

Relieving IT stress by implementing automation - Step 3

The final video in the series on 'How to relieve IT stress' explains how RES Automation Manager and Service Orchestration further removes the need of human interaction when implementing changes in the IT infrastructure. The Run Book we created in the previous video can now be delegated back to the organization as a service. This will;

• Allow the organisation to decide when changes are needed
• IT will still be in control on how the changes are implemented
• Free up time for both the IT administrator and the service desk

This is the third and final step in the maturity process moving from a rationalized to a dynamic IT environment.

Compare the 'Before Automation' video with the 'Step -3' video. How much time did IT spend on making the actual change in the 'Step -3'  video?

This means more time to deliver on strategic responsibilities and less resources needed for mundane repeatable tasks.

Here's the previous videos in the series;

Step 2 - Creating Run Books

Step 1 - Automating daily IT tasks

Before Automation

/Patrik

Relieving IT stress by implementing automation - Step 2

This third video in the series on 'How to relieve IT stress' explains how the previously created task in RES Automation Manager can be turned into a run book and delegated to service desk. This will;

• Minimize IT administrator workload
• Create more time for strategic initiatives.

This is the second step in the maturity model moving from a standardized to a rationalized IT infrastructure.

In the next video I will show how these Run Books can be delegated back into the organisation through self service. This will not only offload the service desk but also allow the organisation to be in control on when changes will be made while IT still are in control on how the changes are implemented. Stay tuned...

/Patrik

Relieving IT stress by implementing automation - Step 1

This video shows that automating daily IT tasks with RES Automation Manager can make changes;

• Predictable
• More secure
• Increase Quality of Service

This is also the first step in the maturity model moving from a basic IT environment to a standardized IT environment.

In the next video, I will show how you can create Run Books of the standardized tasks and delegate them to service desk. This will further relieve stress from the IT administrator.

/Patrik

Relieving IT administrator stress by implementing automation - Before Scenario

The only way to do more with less is to automate daily IT tasks.  I will show, in four different videos, how easy this is done with RES Automation Manager.

Before scenario: No processes or automation in place. Changes are being done ad hoc and 'uncontrolled'. User request a change that has to be done in Active Directory by an IT administrator.

This video shows how changes could be done in the above scenario.

In the next video I will explain how risk can be reduced by automating daily IT tasks. Step 1 in the maturity model.

/Patrik

Focus on the right things when delivering services to your users

Delivering It services is not an easy thing. Sometimes we make it even more difficult than necessary. We will have to live in a world of multiple service delivery mechanisms. Users will have multiple ways of accessing services. VDI, TS, desktops, laptops and other mobile devices. For IT to keep up with new demands they must invest in new technologies. The problem is that this only adds to complexity and the difficulty managing the users.


Take a look at the list below and think about delivering IT services and what is most important;

How? (delivery technology)
When? (time)
Where? (location)
Why? (ID/role)
What? (content/service)

Having a technical background I know that it is easy to fall back into your comfort zone - technology.  But is this always best for the company?

My preference would be like this;

What?
Why?
Where?
When?
How?

With this I am not saying that how is unimportant but it should not be priority one!

What potentially could happen is that the technology itself will limit on what you must deliver. You should be able to select the best technology for every purpose and not let this result in a more complex environment to manage.

You need a solution that helps you focus on what to deliver instead of how - i.e. managing a hybrid environment.

Such solution could be RES Workspace Manager. RES Workspace Manager helps you manage the desired state of the user. Decoupling all user related settings from the underlaying technology stack. You can call it virtualization, but we call it User Workspace Management. The context of the user (ID/role, location and time) will determine what will be delivered using a hybrid delivery technology.

Look at an earlier blog post explaining the concept of User Workspace Management.

/Patrik

Applying multiple policies on the same application

In this short video I demonstrate how you easily, without scripting or creating multiple application packages, can apply multiple configurations on a single application instance.

For more information about context aware just-in-time application configuration, please visit RES Software.

/Patrik

Turn existing scripts into dynamic and reusable tasks

A lot of administration, particularly on servers, is used with scripts either with Powershell, VB or Secure Shell (SSH).  You can basically do anything with scripts and more and more features are exposed to scripting.

The problem with scripts is that they are usually hard to maintain and troubleshoot. They are rarely documented which results in painful hand overs to new administrators. Scripts are also often created for one distinct purpose and cannot be reused.

So how can you take existing scripts and make them dynamic and reusable?

The answer is RES Automation Manager.

In RES Automation Manager you can easily import your existing scripts and turn them into a module/task. This task can then be scheduled in a controlled fashion by administrators with no administrative rights on the systems the script is being executed on. By using parameters in RES Automation Manager the scripts can be generic, dynamic and reusable. I will explain exactly how it works in the below video.

If you want to know more on how to get in control, please visit RES Software on the web.


Patrik

Query uptime and perform controlled reboots

I got a question last week from a company if they, with RES Automation Manager, could easily query uptime on their Windows servers and then perform a controlled reboot.

I have created a video that demonstrates how this can be done.

Beware that this is a very powerful tool and could cause unwanted results if used in the wrong way.

This can be avoided by delegating control and setting a scope on possible systems where the task can be executed.

If you want to know more about RES Automation Manager please visit RES Software on the web.

/Patrik

How to change local administrator password in less than 60 seconds on all computers

In this video I demonstrate how easy it is to change the local administrator password on all servers and desktops in less than 60 seconds.

With RES Automation Manager making changes like this is as easy as 1 2 3!

This module can be delegated to help desk and the actual change is done without them having local administrative rights. All changes are audited.

For more information, please visit RES Software on the web.

/Patrik

How to remove local admin rights and elevate rights when needed

Removing local administrator rights from desktops and laptops have a huge impact! According to Gartner you could reduce the TCO with as much as $1237 per user per year! It could also, according to Microsoft, mitigate the effect of 92% of critical vulnerabilities.

There are a lot of reasons why local administrative rights is needed. It could be legacy applications, access to specific Control Panel applets or applications that need to change hardware settings.

What are we waiting for? Let's go ahead and see how it can be done.

RES Workspace Manager 2011 have the possibility to add Dynamic Privileges to specific processes for specific users.

In the video I demonstrate how it is configured and the way it works.

If you want to know more, please visit RES Software.

/Patrik