For IT admins, using GPOs to manage corporate devices and user configurations can be a challenge. GPOs provide a well-defined configuration for Windows systems and user-definable ADMX templates from third-party vendors for a variety of settings. Still, IT admins can run into challenges when applying GPO policy in various scenarios.

First, the group policies are Active Directory-based so they can only apply to machines that are added in and connected to AD. The policies cannot be applied easily to non-AD joined devices. With BYOD becoming more common in enterprise IT, figuring out how to manage and configure those machines can be a challenge.

Second, although the GPO definitions (templates) are fully customizable, internal needs sometimes require additional configuration of software that isn’t fully defined in those GPOs. Consider the provisioning guide for Citrix Workspace app. Even though there are fully defined options in the GPO templates, registry-based configurations are sometimes still required.

Additionally, when applying GPOs to Citrix Workspace app to ensure a seamless user experience or compatibility, configurations can be required for related software like Microsoft Teams or Microsoft Edge (see this blog post). For complete configuration, admins must deploy the registry changes separately, in scripts or via other tools. That can make it hard for IT admins to govern users and assets and provide a complete user experience.

The GPO import and admin capabilities in Workspace Environment Management (WEM) give IT admins an easy way to solve these challenges. Here’s how.

WEM applies the imported GPO based on the WEM user assignment, not the AD relationship. So non-domain joined devices managed by WEM can also have the same GPO applied to them as domain-joined devices. This gives admins unique configuration interfaces for both AD machines and non-domain-joined machines.

The imported GPOs are then converted to registry-based items, which are easy to track and update. When the admin wants to implement GPOs along with other software configurations or changes, they can make the updates as registry items along with what is implemented from the GPO (see image below). Now, the GPO configuration items, along with other registry changes, are organized within a single WEM configuration entity, making them easy to track and update when needed.

Group Policy Setting: Add New Registry Configuration Item

If you’re an IT admin and you’re using GPO to manage Windows users and devices, give the WEM GPO policy settings a try. It’ll make your job easier.

Learn more about Workspace Environment Management.