Group Policy is a very versatile feature of Active Directory and combined with scripting can provide granular controls over workstations to keep consistent predictable behavior from small business size to enterprise class.

For a small business without an enterprise email server, I used a GPO policy and script to automate the POP3 email configurations so users could move between different workstations and Outlook would automatically be configured with the users PST file giving a small business something that function like an enterprise email server. For security and configuration consistency a blanket GPO Policy to lock down settings, force web content filtering, and many other business defined settings.

In a multi-site enterprise environment I built a GPO policy that leverage Active Directory Sites and Service with item level targeting to automatically match and install the correct network printers to workstations and laptops that DHCP a network address that was defined in Sites and Service. This was very handy for traveling senior leadership visiting different locations and automatically getting the correct printer installed. I also used item level targeting with group memberships to configure special access users to auto connect to special use printers.

I have found that Group Policy is only a single piece of the puzzle and to truly maximize the benefit a holistic approach to how the business functions and is structured should all be carefully matched in the design of the organization’s Active Directory structure. This includes the OU layouts, any prefix or suffix schema, how to match user objects with resource objects. Group Policy has so many ways it can be used and is worth the extra effort to invest in a well thought out Active Directory layout that is correctly aligned with the business and can also be leveraged with systems like System Center Configuration Manager.