Windows® 2000 Active Directory™

Chapter 12. Managing the Desktop

Maintaining technology within an organization is becoming more complex and expensive, and there is a direct correlation between the two. Several studies have shown that although systems that are more complex can offer a competitive advantage and make processes more efficient, the systems themselves can become overly expensive to run and maintain.

The client/server environment is no different and is especially vulnerable to excessive cost of ownership because the client is in the hands of the user. If a user changes the client configuration or adds software, or better yet, hardware, the predictability of the client changes. This leads to additional costs predicated by a client that requires more support and is ...