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- Installation – Can still be accomplished at the local system via a command line that carries the path and credentials necessary to install.
- Policy – By placing individual systems in a policy, configuration and monitoring settings can be applied for more people in a standardized fashion throughout the department. Requests for specific differences in policy can be accommodated easily through the Console.
- Updates and Upgrades – Can be transitionally provided to all users on a scheduled basis.
- Credentials – Can be applied once for all users.
- Scheduled Scans – Can be set up and changed easily and quickly from the Console.
- Licensing – Can be easily determined from the information provided in the Console, as it keeps more information than OIT currently may have about the user base for SAV.
- Messaging – Can be turned off to the user’s desktop and can be turned on for email alerts to support personnel and can support multiple levels of support at the same time through establishment of policies that reflect support needs.
- Monitoring – Each desktop reports back to the Console, thereby providing information on the current status of updates, upgrades, last successful scheduled scan, as well as a history of updates and issues that have occurred on each system.
- Remediation – One of the major features of the managed environment deals with the handling of issues that arise from the various types of malware. How one remediates viruses will differ from the way you might want to handle spyware, suspicious behaviors on the system, suspicious files that want to launch, adware Standardization of that is trying to install on the system, downloads that people might try to bring in off the Internet and potentially unwanted applications that might try to launch from memory-based executables.
Suffice it to say there are numerous advantages to the managed environment over the unmanaged environment. You would like to think the reduction in management, having a "permanent" set of experienced eyes looking over the one-time and day-to-day functionality and proactive handling of issues as they come up would be a sufficient off-set to the minor loss of control support personnel and users would experience. However, that's not to say the unmanaged environment can't or doesn't work – it just may require more effort on the respective parties to provide the same level of expertise, experience and automated handling of the policies, updates and remediation that users will require in this era of zero-day viruses and malware.