Centrify... Group Policy for Mac (and more)

What is Centrify ?  Well, only the coolest companies to come along in years!

They wisely saw a need... a hole in the industry... several holes to be exact... and started filling them.  To quote their site, they offer: "Comprehensive Active Directory-Centric Auditing, Access Control And Authentication for UNIX, Linux and Mac Systems and Applications".  It's a mouthful, that's true.  But that one statement doesn't even come close to explaining all the impresive sides to Centrify software.

I had the privilege of speaking with David McNeely (Director of Product Management, Centrify Corporation) for about an hour the other day and he explained the hundreds of policy settings that can be applied to a Mac through the use of their software.

The concept is simple.  Macs can be controlled mildly through an Apple Server.  But people already have an Active Directory domain using Group Policy and most admins have little to no experience using an Apple Server so how can you get a Mac into the enterprise if you cannot control it like a Windows XP or Vista machine through Group Policy?  The Answer?... find another software solution that will make the connection.  And there are a variety of options to choose from that offer small policy sets... but Centrify offers hundreds for the Mac.  What's great is you control everything from your Windows Server through Group Policy.  The software plugs right in and makes it so that you can easily control Mac systems for the more important settings.  And, with time, more settings are added as Apple releases information on how to hook into those items.

If you are curious and want to learn more... check out the site and register for a webinar that will be given by David, as well as Jeremy Moskowitz... the lead GP guru with the most amazing Group Policy books on the planet.  In fact, his book is so good... for the fifth edition , they had to split it in two parts!!!