Cyber Defense eMagazine August 2019

usiness that cannot be ignored. The last thing IT needs is for an employee’s mobile device to wreak
havoc on the company’s network.
This is why the idea of modern endpoint management is so appealing. Enterprises deluged with content
and application updates are desperate for a single, unified tool that efficiently controls every endpoint—
be it someone’s desktop machine, laptop, or mobile device. Companies are beginning to experiment with
the idea of moving all of their applications to the cloud to reduce costs and increase the ease of managing
and updating endpoints. Unfortunately, the industry is not quite there yet. The general consensus is that
the transition of workloads from traditional premise-based client management tools like Microsoft System
Center Configuration Manager to full modern cloud-based management solutions will, at best, take years
to complete, as this transition is no small undertaking.
Microsoft’s co-management solution for Configuration Manager has begun to emerge as a popular
transitionary solution to enable companies to begin moving toward the future. Co-management is
essentially all about the workload. It enables the different workloads on both machines and devices,
handled either by traditional premise-based life cycle management or by a cloud-based modern device
management solution, like Microsoft’s Intune or VMware’s AirWatch, to work simultaneously based upon
set policies.
With Microsoft throwing its support behind co-management, enterprises gain some confidence that
eventually migrating to full cloud-based environments will become a real possibility. Co-management
offers a bridge for the interim, and how a company develops and executes its transition strategy is
absolutely critical.
Distribution model is key
When thinking about securing endpoints and properly managing workloads, both now and in future
environments, it’s important to first consider howcontent and updates are delivered across all endpoints.
The reason the delivery mechanism should be a factor is because it underlies every decision a company
makes in deploying content and making the necessary subsequent security updates—on premise, in the
cloud, or somewhere in between.
Because traditional software distribution models often have the potential to impact network performance
and day-to-day business functions, updates and content tend to be pushed at night or over the weekend
when they won’t have such a negative impact on systems or employees. This leads to short windows of
time to get necessary content distributed and prolongs the time frames to get essential software deployed
across the whole enterprise. But, just as endpoint management is changing, so is the method of
distribution. In an era of very real cyber threats, enterprises can’t wait days or weeks for patches and
updates to reach every endpoint anymore. They need speed, scale, and the assurance of reliable delivery
with every piece of content. This is why peer-to-peer content distribution models have gained such
popularity.
Peer-to-peer has evolved profoundly in recent years and has proven to be the best model to assist
enterprises in securing every endpoint. Content and updates can be fully automated and immediately,
intelligently delivered to every endpoint that requires them as workloads are shifted accordingly. This is
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