As I guide folks through setting up and using PowerBroker Windows Desktops I'm always thinking ahead, past the, 'Phase 1' deployment. A big part of this is sorting out your rule set, (Policies that dictate what elevation an application receives, or whether it is even allowed to execute), into collections.
A collection is a folder you create within your GPO where you put 'like' application rules into, or rules specific to a particular group. In other words, you may choose to create a collection for In-House created applications, or one containing a set of rules for Adobe software. In other cases, where you do need deeper control over who gets a set of rules, you can create a collection named after this group, for instance, Accounting, Engineering, Marketing, etc. In this latter case, you combine the convenience of collections with the control of Item-Level Targeting, just like what you use with MS Group Policy Preferences. I'll cover this more in-depth in a future post. For now think of Item-Level Targeting like the Security Filtering available in the MS Group Policy Management Console on steroids.
Whether you are just starting out with PowerBroker Windows Desktops or have been using the software to either mitigate the risk associated with over-privileged users or reduce support costs with under-privileged ones for awhile, think about your enterprise and how you can use collections.
Do you have rules now that you put into a separate GPO because you need to make sure they only apply to certain situations?
Do you have a list of rules and are having trouble remembering what all of them deal with?
Maybe you're like me and just need to put everything in it's place. These are just a few of the reasons to use collections. If you want more information on applying collections to your environment, just give us a call; we're here 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
