Defining the Microsoft Active Directory Opportunity

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User authentication

After all these years, Microsoft AD is still a challenge to manage. More than half of respondents experience issues with the domain (57%) and with the domain controller (52%). Just under half (48%) have had domain object issues.

IT organizations approach Microsoft AD with trepidation. Two-thirds (66%) report they are hesitant to make application changes because of Microsoft AD testing issues.

IT organizations don’t have a lot of Microsoft AD control. Accidental changes top the list at 75%, followed by corruption of the system at 67%.

Most organizations (73%) use the native AD tools supplied by Microsoft. But 63% also make use of custom scripts and 45% use third-party tools.

When it comes to AD, the quality of the tools matters. Only 7% report having a good experience with these tools. A full 46% say they are time-consuming or lack capabilities.

Almost one-quarter of respondents have doubts about AD recovery: 23% admit they lack confidence in their AD recovery tools.

Microsoft AD is often the weakest link in any recovery plan. Less than half of customers (41%) think they have a robust Microsoft AD recovery plan.

Almost half are relying on hope more than planning. Only 55% report testing their Microsoft AD recovery plan at least once a year.

Microsoft AD requires a lot of expertise. A full 65% of those who don’t regularly test say it is too hard (65%) or they don’t have the resources (64%).

Microsoft AD downtime gets expensive in a hurry. While 39% don’t know, 21% place the cost at $50,000 to $100,000 an hour.

Virtualization creates a services opportunity for the channel. A full 80% say that a virtual lab would make it a lot easier to test Microsoft AD.