My wife and I occasionally eat out. Like many of us, probably more than we should. And we definitely have our favorite places…favorite burger joint, favorite sandwich shop, favorite steakhouse, and favorite Mexican and Italian restaurants. The Italian restaurant we frequent is excellent and offers a 15 page menu. The cover states “If it is not on our menu, it is not Italian!” The gnocchi is to-die-for good! I know. I get it every time. It's one of the first entrees listed. I spotted it on my first visit, ordered it, and have been ordering it ever since, not even bothering to open the menu again. Each time we go, my wife tells me I should look at the menu and try something new. And each time I respond with my teenage son’s favorite quote: “Too much effort!” Like him, I'm content with the status quo.

This all changed a few weeks ago. After seating us, the Host handed us the normal menu along with a new one-page menu titled “Chef Antonio’s Favorites”. There alongside my gnocchi were four other yummy looking entrees. I’ll be honest, my interest was piqued. My wife looked at me, smiled, and said, “Still too much effort?” Accepting the challenge, I ordered the penne all'arrabbiata. And you know what? It was dang good!

ZENworks is a big product with a lot of capabilities. Taking time to try new things can sometimes feel like digging through that 15 page menu: “Too much effort!” That’s why I’m super excited about several things we’ve done in ZENworks 2020 that make it easier for you to quickly check out and use the great security capabilities we've provided in Patch Management, Endpoint Security Management, and Full Disk Encryption.

Security Getting Started

The first thing I’m excited about is the video-assisted Security Getting Started we’ve created in ZENworks Control Center. It provides one location where you can learn about and implement the ZENworks security capabilities.

Do you know that ZENworks provides both on-demand and scheduled, policy-based installation of patches? That it updates both operating systems and applications on Windows, Mac, and Linux workstations and servers? And that with ZENworks 2020, you can use the new Security dashboard to identify, track, and remediate (i.e patch) software vulnerabilities on your devices using industry-standard Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs)? If not, you might want to check out the Mitigating Vulnerabilities section of the Getting Started.

How about the data on your devices? Is it protected if a device is lost or stolen? ZENworks provides encryption of entire disks, individual folders and files, and removable data drives. The Encrypting Devices section of the Getting Started shows you how to configure the policies that apply these three encryption solutions to your Windows devices.

Are you concerned about users on your internal network connecting to non-approved wireless access points? Or knowing what the approved access points are? Do you worry about your users connecting to open wireless networks and not protecting their network traffic with a VPN? Are there applications you don’t want users running? Do you want to stop the use of USB drives altogether? Or DVDs? Or Bluetooth? The Securing Devices section of Getting Started can help you do all of these things (and more) to ensure that your Windows users work safely regardless of their location. And not just your Windows endpoint users, but your mobile device users as well! 

Evaluation made easy

The second thing I’m excited about is that ZENworks 2020 resets the 60-day evaluations for all of the products. This makes it easy for you to test drive the security capabilities introduced in the Security Getting Started.  And the Security Getting Started shows you how to activate the evaluations as part of the getting started workflow.

Go on – find out what might be “dang good”

You know, I was content with the gnocchi. But the penne all'arrabbiata turned out to be dang good! As a ZENworks product team, our goal is to provide you with great tools to manage, secure, and protect your endpoint devices. The ZENworks 2020 Security Getting Started—our version of the “Chef Antonio’s Favorites” menu—might just help you discover and implement some “dang good” security capabilities you’ve been wanting or needing.  As for me, writing this blog has made me hungry. Think I'll head out to try another of Chef Antonio’s favorites!