A group of five enterprise software companies announced the creation of the Enterprise Desktop Alliance (EDA) to facilitate the acceptance of the Mac in environments managed with Microsoft Windows.
The EDA will be hosting a series of events, including seminars and Webcasts, and will provide white papers, product information and other resources on the EDA web site.
“Interest in the Mac at large organizations is growing along with Apple’s market share,” said Bob O’Donnell, Vice President, IDC. “The challenge has been overcoming objections surrounding managing Macs within these corporate environments. Efforts that can make life easier for the IT professional and help the Mac become a more appealing and realistic alternative within the enterprise could help turn that interest into a stronger Mac presence.”
For IT Management
The EDA suite of solutions will enable IT departments to deploy, integrate
and manage Macs throughout the enterprise. They will use the same standard Windows-based management tools to support Macs as they do with Windows.
For the Mac User
With the integration of the Mac into the Windows managed environment,
Mac users are unaware that they are using Windows infrastructure. The user experience is improved by increasing system performance, providing single sign-on, delivering transparent update and patch management, and letting users retrieve lost files or their entire system without administrator intervention.
EDA solutions will extend the capabilities of the Mac through system virtualization, allowing the Mac to streamline access to Windows-only applications and productivity tools.
It will make it easier for Mac and Windows users to share files. Providing identical views of files on the same Windows server for both platforms so they can collaborate effortlessly. Users can be at the same revision level of Microsoft Office software, ensuring easy file exchange and further enhancing cross platform collaboration.
Access privileges and audit trails are all controlled by Microsoft Active Directory providing the users with a consistent network experience. In file and print access, identity management, client management, disaster recovery, backup and
virtualization, EDA ensures that administrators can extend their current control to the Mac.
The Mac user reaps the benefits of tight integration and the organization saves in operational overhead while increasing security and user productivity.
For more information about the EDA visit the Enterprise Desktop Alliance web site.