It’s a great day at the office. Everything is running smooth as usual. You just set up 10 new workstations. You installed a new version of Acrobat Reader on every workstation in your company. You received a security alert about a new virus that was just released, and you have already patched all of your systems. A new color printer was delivered first thing this morning, and your marketing department has been printing on it for the last two hours. Just as you finish placing your new company logo on everybody's desktop, your phone rings. It's your boss. She wants to take you to lunch.

Is this scenario realistic? YES. Absolutely!
It can really happen if you are using ZENworks Desktop Management.

ZENworks Desktop Management is a product that helps you manage your workstations, control your resources, and standardize your business operations. It makes your life as a business owner or network administrator easier, and improves the efficiency of your operation. ZENworks enables you to spend less time putting out fires, and allows you to focus on more important things that you wouldn't normally have time for.

ZENworks is the best desktop management product on the market, but I have found that a lot of people don't fully understand its full power and capabilities. So I am going to discuss some of the specific things that can be done with ZENworks, and get you excited about using it in your own company.

First I want you to visualize how things are currently done at your office. Think about some of the things you do on a daily basis. Then think about how much time you spend on each task. For example:

• How much time do you spend installing a new application to all of your workstations? Do you have to touch each workstation individually?
• How much time do you spend preparing a workstation and getting it so it is "usable" for a new employee?
• Do you have a standard way of tweaking Windows, and how much time do you spend doing this for each computer?
• How do you manage local Windows XP accounts? Do you have to set users up individually on each computer?
• How much time do you spend trying to restrict users from changing workstation settings?
• Do you have to go to each workstation to troubleshoot every little problem? How much time does that take?

I could go on and on. The point is, most people spend an incredible amount of time manually configuring, installing, troubleshooting, tweaking, and fine tuning workstations. With ZENworks, everything can be automated and managed from a central point of control.

There are so many things that can be done with ZENworks that it is difficult to list everything in a single article. But I am going to outline some of the best features of ZENworks and show you how they can benefit your company. Try to think about these functions, and compare them to your current method of operation.

Remote Control and Diagnostics
The Remote Control feature allows you to view, control, and diagnose any workstation in your network without leaving your office. You can shadow a user, transfer files, take an inventory of all hardware and software, run diagnostics, etc. What's even better is that you don't have to remember the IP addresses for all of your computers. ZENworks manages these for you and knows how to find the workstations you want to control.

Dynamic Local User
The Dynamic Local User feature solves a major problem Microsoft created with Windows 2000 and Windows XP. With their 'enhanced' security model, you are required to have a local Windows account on a computer in order to use it. Setting this up manually for each user is a hassle. Managing it as time goes by is a nightmare. The Dynamic Local User automatically creates a local Windows account based on the users eDirectory credentials, and you never have to think about local Windows accounts again. It's a simple, yet powerful feature of ZENworks.

Application Deployment
The Application Deployment feature is a core component of ZENworks. It allows you to automatically install, manage, repair, and remove applications. With the click of a mouse, you can install any application on every computer in your company. And it can all be done without having to leave your chair. Furthermore, if an application becomes damaged or tampered with, ZENworks can repair it automatically.

Group Policies
Many companies want to standardize their workstations, and also want to implement restrictions, policies, and custom settings. But doing so individually is very cumbersome. ZEN-works allows you to use Windows Group Policies to standardize and lock down workstations to maintain better consistency throughout an organization. Typically, Group Policies are only available with Windows servers and Active Directory. The great thing about ZENworks is that you can utilize Group Policies without the need for Active Directory or clunky Windows servers.

eDirectory Integration / Cross Platform Capable
Many people have the misconception that ZENworks will only run on a Novell based network. But since it is a cross platform product, it can also run entirely on Windows (and some parts on Linux). A NetWare server is not required, and the next version will fully support Linux. For companies that are already benefiting from Novell NetWare or Open Enterprise Server, ZENworks integrates nicely into the current eDirectory tree. There is no need to reinvent the wheel to get ZENworks up and running because the basic management structure is already in place.

Questions? Comments? Want to learn more about ZENworks or see a live demo? Marvin Huffaker Consulting can answer any questions and help determine if ZENworks is right for your company.