MSPs strive to simplify and standardize customers' IT infrastructure. But the effort is an uphill battle as customers embrace various IoT devices; desktop and mobile operating systems; cloud platforms and more.
For Google Chrome OS devices to work in that increasingly complex ecosystem, they have to be well-managed. Last August, Google announced Chrome Enterprise, which has allowed administrators the ability to fully manage thin client workstations that are running Chrome OS through a partnership with VMware AirWatch. Now, Google is announcing that they have expanded this with four new partnerships with EMM providers, which gives IT admins the ability to manage and implement security policies across their full fleet of devices from a single place.
The newly announced partnerships are with:
- Cisco Meraki. which spans wireless, switching, security, endpoint management, and security cameras, all managed through Meraki’s web-based dashboard interface.
- Citrix XenMobile provides device and application management for mobile security, and pairs well with other recent Citrix integrations.
- IBM MaaS360 with Watson delivers unified endpoint management.
- ManageEngine Mobile Device Manager Plus (a division of Zoho Corp) is a unified endpoint management console for configuring, managing and securing mobile devices, desktops and apps.
In addition to enhanced Active Directory integration, Chrome Enterprise has also added new controls to help make the administrator's job a little easier.
- Per-permission extension blacklisting lets admins restrict access to extensions based on the permissions required, for example, extensions that require the use of a webcam. This allows admins to now authorize an employee’s access to more extensions in the Google Chrome Web Store but maintain fine-grained admin controls across web properties.
- Sign-ins can be disabled from an outdated OS to help administrators comply with security policies that dictate how many versions behind their users are allowed to run on.
- Admins can ensure that only managed devices can connect to their single sign-on servers by gating that access with device-wide certificates. These certificates effectively attest to the Chrome endpoint’s managed state.
- Newly added support for automatic forced re-enrollment will now allow a Chrome device that has been wiped or recovered to re-enroll into the corporate domain without requiring administrator credentials. This will help ensure corporate devices remain enrolled without requiring any admin intervention.
Proper management of endpoints will ensure the security of a network. It is estimated that 98% of businesses were affected in some way by malware last year. Most of these attacks happened through endpoints like laptops, tablets and smartphones. These additional management tools will likely go far in helping admins secure the endpoints on their network and keep the company a little safer.
