When it comes to endpoint management, Micro Focus ZENworks can do just about anything a business needs. From managing Windows, Mac, Linux, and mobile devices to securing devices against vulnerabilities, ZENworks provides organizations a way to manage their endpoints effectively and securely, whether they be corporate-owned or personal devices.

ZENworks 2020 Update 3 enhances what ZENworks already does well: manage, secure, and protect endpoint devices and their data.

Here’s a brief rundown of what this new update brings:

• On-demand content streaming
• Next-generation Patch Management
• Increased security
• Customer-requested enhancements

On-Demand Content Streaming

ZENworks excels at content distribution. Organizations that utilize ZENworks and its content streaming capabilities can get employees the applications and data they need to get their jobs done in an easier, more streamlined way that saves money and IT resources.

Traditionally, ZENworks has replicated content from one Content Server to another on an administrator-defined schedule. If a user with a managed device requests content like an application from a Content Server before it has been replicated to the server, installation of the content fails. No good.

ZENworks 2020 Update 3 introduces on-demand streaming of content. Now, if a Content Server doesn’t contain the requested content, the server sends a request to its upstream Content Servers. Very good.

The content is then streamed back to the requesting server, cached, and then served to the managed device without any installation failure. Further, the content is then available on the server for the next managed device request.

ZENworks provides IT administrators with flexibility in how they want to stream content to users. Administrators control the days and times that a Content Server can request content from upstream servers, the maximum disk space used by on-demand content, and how often unused content is removed from the server.

Next-Generation Patch Management

ZENworks Patch Management provides both policy-driven maintenance patching as well as tracking and remediation of critical known vulnerabilities through its use of Common Vulnerability and Exposure (CVE) IDs.

ZENworks 2020 Update 3 introduces the next generation of patch management. Patch management 2.0. Patch management plus. Patch management super. Okay, you get it.

Building on its already administrative workflows, Update 3 adds:

• Faster scanning on managed devices to detect applicable patches and their install status.
• A new patch feed with an actively growing catalog of third-party and operating system patches.
• On-demand streaming of patch content if it isn’t available on the target Content Server.
• Automatic clean-up of unused patch content from Content Servers to prevent waste.
• Decreased amount of patch data stored in the ZENworks database.
  • Each patch is no longer represented by a bundle in the database.
• A new patch microservice running on each Primary Server to handle patch processing and patch-related tasks.
• Mainstream support for issues, new patches, and new platforms.

Keep in mind, the new patch management solution requires admins to perform a migration after applying Update 3. The patch migration is not part of the system update. This allows admins to complete the system update on all Primary Servers and Satellites before transitioning to the new patch management solution.

Increased Security

Security is a hot topic these days in the tech world, and for good reason. Ransomware and other malicious activities can put your entire organization at risk and in a best case scenario, cost the company lots of money.

ZENworks 2020 Update 3 takes big leaps toward a more secure ZENworks system.

ZENworks Control Center now supports multifactor authentication using NetIQ Advanced Authentication. Fur customers who don’t have NetIQ Advanced Authentication, ZENworks bundles a Limited Entitlement that provides licenses equivalent to the number of ZENworks licenses and is valid for as long as ZENworks maintenance is current. The Limited Entitlement supports the following methods: One-Time Password (OTP via Hard or Soft Token), SMS OTP, Email OTP, RAIUS Client, Emergency Password, and LDAP Password.

On Primary Servers, the ZENworks administrative web services and client web services have been split to run under two different Tomcat instances. The client web services provide all managed device communication and remain on port 443. The administrative web service supports ZENworks Control Center and other administrative services and runs on port 7443. This default port is configurable by administrators.

This separation of services provides customers with greater security on all Primary Servers, especially on the Primary Servers that are public network facing. In this scenario, customers can allow managed device communication through 443 without exposing any administrative services externally.

Additionally, key third-party technologies used in ZENworks have been updated to current versions: Android API support, Tomcat, JDBC Drivers, Angular, Microsoft Graph API, PostgreSQL, Jetty, Spring, and more.

Customer-Requested Enhancements

You asked. We listened.

ZENworks 2020 Update 3 delivers over 20 customer-requested enhancements including:

• Chat during a remote session.
• Recording of remote sessions.
• Automatic reconnection of remote sessions after the remote device reboots.
• ZENworks Control Center display of a device’s last boot time, reboot pending status, and last known location.
• Configuration of the ZENworks Control Center timeout within the ZENworks Control Center.
• ZENworks Control Center listing of the currently logged-in admins.
• Pinning of items in the Frequently Used Items list.

You can see all the customer-requested enhancements and even request some of your own at the ZENworks Idea Exchange.

ZENworks does a lot because IT is asked to do a lot.

Learn more about all the endpoint management capabilities ZENworks has to offer.

Or if you’d rather, take it for a spin yourself with a free trial.

We’d love to hear your thoughts. Comment below!

The Micro Focus IM&G team

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