Why Your Business Needs Active Directory Management

Keeping track of user information & devices for your company can be a difficult endeavor. If it feels like it's too much, then it might be time to start using an active directory. Active directories help make the process more organized and less time-consuming, allowing you to focus on other areas of your business.

An active directory is an invaluable asset to businesses, providing them with a centralized hub to store, organize and manage devices and users. With its help, administrators can save time and energy that would have gone into tracking every device and user separately. Additionally, it can help improve your data security by allowing you to manage which files specific users can access.

Implementing an Active Directory in your business can be extremely beneficial, yet the initial setup cost can be quite high. Nonetheless, it is usually worth the investment in the long run.

Datalink Networks has been helping countless companies set up their active directories for more than 10 years. To gain further insight on the topic, we interviewed Don Wisdom, the Founder & CEO of Datalink Networks, and asked him a few questions.

• What is Active Directory and where is it used?

• Why is it important to my business?

• What are the benefits of using an Active Directory for my business?

What is Active Directory?

An Active Directory is a useful software for network administrators and users, as it stores data regarding network objects. This makes it easier to locate and use the relevant information.

In simple terms, your active directory can be seen as a virtual address book. Each listed contact, or "object", contains associated "values" such as name, phone number, and other details. It's important to remember that the term "objects" isn't just restricted to humans or users; it could also refer to inanimate objects such as computers and printers.

Why is Active Directory Important to my business? 

Active Directory can make the lives of administrators and end-users easier, while at the same time increasing organizational security.

A database can be customized to efficiently manage and handle all the essential data about your system. It has features that allow for authorization control, user authentication, and computer tracking - all of which are crucial for enhancing security and productivity. Databases are a secure way to store essential details related to user accounts. This includes job titles, contact information and passwords. Furthermore, database systems have an extra security layer that allows users to access specific parts of the network based on their permission level.

Benefits of Active Directory

Active Directory offers many benefits to organizations of all sizes. It provides secure authentication, authorization, and access control for users to access different resources on the network. It also simplifies the management of user accounts, groups, computers, printers, applications and other network resources. Additionally, it enables administrators to manage permissions for users across multiple domains and forests with ease. Finally, Active Directory allows for easy integration with other Microsoft products such as Exchange Server and SharePoint Server. 

There are many many more benefits your organization can take advantage of with an active directory. Below are some of the most important additional features:

Security Policy Management For Your Company

NordPass research into 15+ million data breaches revealed that passwords used by Fortune 500 employees were easily hackable in a split second. "Password" was the most commonly used and misused word among them.

Active directory can help ensure your system is secure by enabling you to implement system-wide security policies that address any potential security risks.

An Active Directory is an integral part of any organization's network security as it allows you to impose and enforce rules regarding data access and security measures, like password management. This guarantees that all personnel within the company follow uniform corporate policies.

Login with Any Computer or Device on the Network 

Active Directory greatly simplifies the process of accessing desktop files on a new device, such as one you may use at a conference. Rather than having to transfer any documents or other data, users who have already logged into the network will be able to open their desktop right away. This is possible due to the centralized storage of data, allowing you to access it from anywhere with the right permissions.

Wisdom states that providing team members with the same resources and working environment can be beneficial for collaborative efforts, allowing teams to easily switch between devices when needed. This can also help cut down on interruption and downtime if any of the devices they use encounter issues.

Setting Active Directory Security Controls 

As the size of a team increases, it can become tough to configure user permissions & access manually. Automation is usually preferred in such circumstances and an active directory can help ease this process. It makes managing these settings much easier and efficient. It simplifies the process by allowing you to create groups within the network and apply the relevant security access to them, rather than setting up each person individually.

Active Directory Security Controls are the set of rules and regulations that organizations must follow to protect their network from unauthorized access. Organizations must be aware of the risks associated with Active Directory and take appropriate steps to secure it. For this reason, we strongly recommend using a trusted Microsoft Gold Partner, who has years of experience managing Active Directories.

Safe and Simple Off-boarding for Active Directory

Staying secure and maintaining a high level of cybersecurity should be a priority for any business; thus, changing the office's Wi-Fi password frequently is essential to protect your data. Most companies rarely, if ever, do this, which can lead to a security breach if an employee leaves the company and knows the password.

Having an active directory makes the process of offboarding employees much simpler and safer. It requires only one action to revoke access and permissions for a single user, which is then enacted across the whole network.

Additionally, ensuring your offboarding process meet compliance standards is essential to keeping your business safe and out of trouble.

Easily Install and Updates Devices Organization Wide

There is no longer a need to manually install antivirus software and other programs on each computer individually. You can send the installation out via your active directory, which not only installs the software but also keeps track of which machines received which programs.

An Active Directory enables you to keep all your workstations updated and secure simultaneously, eliminating the need to manually remind each user to update their individual machines.

Why Datalink Networks offers better Active Directory Management than the competitors? 

Active Directory is a powerful tool for managing user access and security in an organization. However, it can be difficult to manage on your own, especially if you don't have the necessary technical expertise or resources. That's why many organizations turn to managed services providers (MSPs) to help them manage their Active Directory environment.

An MSP can provide a variety of services, including monitoring and maintenance of Active Directory, as well as troubleshooting and resolving any issues that may arise. They also provide additional security measures to ensure that your data is secure and protected from external threats. By using an MSP for Active Directory management, you can rest assured that your organization's security is in good hands.

As Active Directory can be a critical component of any organization’s IT infrastructure. You need an industry expert like, Datalink Networks to monitor, secure and maintain your Active Directory.