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Jason_Sandys
Microsoft
MicrosoftThis is ultimately a bit of a soapbox for me, but I'd like to stress here that accessing on-prem file shares is different from mapping drives. Mapping drives is in no way required for users to access a UNC path. There are many alternate and (arguably) better ways for users to access UNCs including common methods that users are already fully versed with and use much more frequently as they browse the web including shortcuts and favorites. Forced and micro-managed drive mappings are not the best way ultimately -- yes, this is somewhat subjective, but most folks have never tried anything else so they simply fall back on "this is the way we've always done it" instead of actually evaluating the possibilities. As noted, a bit of a soapbox, but the reality is that the work environment is changing and so much the paradigms that users use.
You are absolutely not wrong on any point, but we have to remember that telling a user to click the "Shortcut to Shared Folder Blah" icon on their desktop instead of opening the "S:" drive like they've done every day for 20 years is a big shift. It's generally not the IT folks who care about whether it's a drive letter or a UNC path (unless some awful legacy app requires it) but making huge changes in the user experience generates complaints and makes our lives harder.
I see both sides here and completely understand what it's like to be told "Just make the drive letter work" by upper management.
- Jason_SandysI don't agree that this is a big shift for users though. They use favorites all day long along with web indexes/pages of links (like your organization's intranet homepage) to get to various web sites all day long. Thus, adding a handful of links, or better yet, using DFS so there's just one link won't be a big shift at all. Is it a shift? Yes? Can it be managed? Yes, I've seen it work before and have even implemented it.
- I agree with you completely, the problem is that many of the users don't. So many task workers out there do the same thing every day and have done it for a long time. Interrupting that process often comes with additional costs in the form of additional training, elevated support call volume, and the need to address complaints. Again, I agree completely about the technology. A shortcut to a UNC path always makes more sense as an IT admin, but we've also got to manage the end-user experience and sometimes that means doing what they prefer in order to make them more productive (or just because we don't have another choice).