News Archives | XOAP

30-day guaranteed IT automation delivery with XOAP

Mario — Wed, 21 Jan 2026 13:47:18 +0000

Don’t waste time in 2026. Whether it’s compliance issues, cloud account hardening, migration to a new OS version or something else entirely – we’ll help you solve it in 30 days or less. With XOAP and our automation experts, you’ll be set up for success from day one.

No long projects. No vague promises. Just a real result, delivered fast. → Book it here

Limited offer

30-day implementation guarantee

Activate an annual XOAP subscription by March 31, 2026 and you’ll receive the Deployment Assurance Package (normally €5,000) for free.

What this means for you:

One main challenge solved in 30 days or less
Hands-on support from our automation experts
Clear scope and agreed outcome upfront
If we don’t deliver the agreed result within 30 days, you can cancel your subscription free of charge and never pay a dime

Full details are available in the Terms & Conditions

What we can solve in 30 days

With XOAP and our automation team working alongside you, we can solve one focused challenge such as:

OS or cloud migrations (Windows 11, AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
Compliance issues (CIS, STIG, SiSyPHuS, and more)
Cloud account hardening (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
Automated image build pipelines (Cloud, vSphere, Nutanix)
Standardized software packaging & deployment (PSADT v3 and v4)

Need something else? No problem. XOAP often delivers results with just a few clicks.

Examples:
→ Image build done for you
→ Client & system management ready to use

How it works

1) Activate your XOAP subscription

Book a no obligation onboarding session before March 31, 2026.

Our team will then:

Set up your XOAP account
Help you choose the right pricing plan
Connect your infrastructure

2) Pick the challenge

Choose one challenge you want solved in 30 days or less. Even if your use case isn’t listed above, we may still be able to tackle it quickly. Let us know what you need during onboarding.

3) Sit back and let XOAP do the work

Our team and the XOAP platform take over. If the agreed scope isn’t completed within 30 days, you can cancel your subscription at no cost.

Why we can make this guarantee

Because XOAP is built for speed and reliability:

Proven automation workflows
Platform handling for repeatability and scale
Team that has delivered migrations, compliance projects and cloud hardening across diverse environments

Eligibility requirements

There are technical prerequisites to using XOAP that need to be met before the 30-day implementation can begin. If you don’t meet all the requirements yet, just let us know during onboarding and we’ll help you get there.

Go live in 30 days

Book an onboarding session to claim the limited offer and have your IT challenge solved in less than a month.

No extra cost. No risk. Fully done for you.

Claim limited offer with 30-day guarantee

The post 30-day guaranteed IT automation delivery with XOAP appeared first on XOAP.

From cryptic SIDs to clear names: The end of Entra identity confusion

Stella — Wed, 24 Dec 2025 07:50:05 +0000

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One of the longest-standing pain points for administrators managing Entra-joined devices is finally being addressed. Starting with Windows Insider build 27881, Microsoft has introduced a long-awaited improvement: Windows can now automatically translate Entra group and Intune role SIDs (like Device Administrators and Company Administrators) into readable names — directly on the device.

The mysterious S-1-12-1 SIDs

If you’ve ever added an Entra group or Intune role to a local Windows group, you probably noticed that instead of a clear name, you were greeted with a cryptic S-1-12-1-xxxx SID.

While Entra users have been properly resolved for years, Entra groups and built-in roles were simply invisible to the Windows local identity system. Even critical roles like “Device Administrators” would just appear as “Unknown Account,” leaving admins guessing who actually had elevated privileges.

To make sense of those SIDs, admins relied on PowerShell scripts or community tools, since Windows itself couldn’t ask Entra who those identities really were.

What’s new in Windows Insider Build 27881

Microsoft has quietly filled that long-missing gap with a new feature known internally as AADSidToNameV2Support.
This enhancement expands the existing SID-to-name lookup process, which previously handled Entra users, to now include groups and roles as well.

Here´s what that means in practice: when Windows encounters an unfamiliar Entra SID – whether a user, group, or role – it now follows a smarter resolution process.

Check the local cache: Windows first looks for the SID in the local identity cache.

Ask Entra if necessary: If it´s not cached, Windows securely queries Entra to identify who that SID belongs to.

Cache the result: Once resolved, the translated name is stored locally so it appears instantly next time – even offline.

This entire process happens quietly in the background, using secure authentication between the device and Entra. The translation data lives under the registry path:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\IdentityStore\Cache\\IdentityCache
The Entra SID-to-Name Endpoint
Under the hood, Windows reaches out to a new Entra endpoint:
https://login.microsoftonline.com//sidtoname

Windows builds a device-signed JSON Web Token (JWT) proving its identity and includes the unknown SID in the request. Entra responds with the corresponding identity name and display information. If the lookup succeeds, Windows updates its local cache – meaning the SID will appear correctly from that point forward. If the lookup fails, the SID remains as-is until it can be resolved.

Backward compatibility with NT4-style names

Some legacy Windows components still expect the classic DOMAIN\User format. To support these, Windows automatically generates a compatible alias (for example, AzureAD\GroupName) using a background process called GenAndPersistNT4StyleName. This makes sure that Entra identities can be displayed consistently across both modern and legacy Windows interfaces.

Before and after: What you’ll see

With the feature disabled, the local Administrators group might show entries like:

S-1-12-1-1234567890-987654321-…

Once AADSidToNameV2Support is enabled, those same entries appear as:

Device Administrators
Company Administrators
apv2_users

In other words, Entra groups and roles now appear exactly as you expect them to – human-readable, accurate, and instantly recognizable.

Why this change matters

This improvement isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about clarity, manageability, and security. Easier administration – No more guessing which SID corresponds to which Entra group. Better policy targeting – Intune and security baselines can now correctly identify and apply settings to named Entra groups. Improved troubleshooting – Admins can instantly see which cloud identities have local privileges, reducing confusion and potential misconfigurations.

For now, this enhancement is exclusive to Insider builds and hasn’t yet rolled out to the general release versions of Windows 11 (24H2 or 25H2). But it’s a clear signal that Windows is becoming fully Entra-aware, closing the gap between local and cloud identity management.

The bottom line

After years of seeing unintelligible SIDs in the local Administrators group, Windows finally understands Entra identities natively. With AADSidToNameV2Support, Microsoft is delivering what admins have been asking for all along: a readable and accurate view of who’s who on a device – no scripts or workarounds required.

Windows is finally learning to speak Entra fluently and that’s a big win for every IT admin managing cloud-connected devices.

Windows 11 25H2 migration with XOAP

The post From cryptic SIDs to clear names: The end of Entra identity confusion appeared first on XOAP.

The EUC Hexagrid and our role

Mario — Mon, 30 Jun 2025 11:21:15 +0000

Once again, XOAP has been featured in the End-User Computing Hexagrid by Dizzion, a Desktop as a Service (DaaS) provider.

You can find us in the DaaS (Others) category for “platforms or software tools that enable the automation, orchestration, deployment, management and optimization of desktop-as-a service solutions.”

For a better understanding of EUC, we encourage you to check out Dizzion’s EUC Hexagrid where you can find XOAP located in the top left corner.

Part of DaaS (Others)

Our deep understanding of EUC and DaaS is reflected in our comprehensive suite of solutions that can be tailored to meet unique business requirements.

As a trusted partner to numerous organizations, our successful implementations and satisfied customers speak volumes about our dedication to providing innovative solutions that drive digital transformation.

See how we’ve helped our customers:

Simplified workplace management and delivery (DEG Invest)

Reduced costs and administrative activities (LZfD)

Server automation, standardization and hardening (Nanu-Nana)

We invite you to try XOAP today and take the first step towards enhancing your EUC strategies. By doing so, you can enable your team to adapt to evolving work styles and technological advancements while maintaining security and optimizing costs.

See how easy hybrid IT can be

The post The EUC Hexagrid and our role appeared first on XOAP.

XOAP is now part of the CNCF Landscape

Mario — Mon, 10 Mar 2025 14:09:54 +0000

XOAP has been accepted into the CNCF Landscape, a cloud-native community of powerful products that tackle everything from application definition and management to observability and analysis.

You can find XOAP under the Automation and Configuration category (Provisioning).

Extended hybrid cloud features with our on-premises connector

XOAP’s image, configuration, application and platform management modules enable IT professionals to automate entire hybrid and on-premises infrastructures. As no coding is required, XOAP serves as a bridge between development and operations. Little to no manual intervention—including a task scheduling feature—guarantees fewer human errors and more efficient task handling.

On top of the existing modules, XOAP is currently developing on-premises connector, a new module focused solely on on-premises environments. This upcoming extension of Image Management will bring advanced functionalities, providing on-premises control with cloud integration and making hybrid IT management, automation and synchronization seamless. Customized and automated images will be brought on premises through a streamlined process that will leverage XOAP’s image build pipeline already used for Azure, AWS and Google Cloud.

This way, the all-in-one IT automation solution that XOAP provides for in-house and agency teams, as well as individual operations and infrastructure professionals, will get a new layer—total control of complete infrastructures at the touch of a button.

Source: CNFC Landscape

Security and compliance automation with immediate fixes

Another facet of XOAP automation is security and compliance. While security breaches and the potential costs related to them are a constant concern, NIS2, the new EU cybersecurity regulation, has brought this topic to the forefront with strict rules and hefty fines.

Regular risk assessments, immediate incident response and regular audits are just some of the many provisions under NIS2. This, too, can be automated with XOAP, which continuously scans connected systems, automatically addressing issues as they are detected. On top of that, the platform generates detailed compliance reports for easier reporting to monitoring bodies.

Outside of NIS, XOAP enables organizations to automatically achieve up to 98% compliance with security standards such as CIS, STIG, SySiPHuS and more.

In light of the upcoming NIS2 deadlines, a security scan is a good place to start. This can be done with XOAP’s free plan. If you need help along the way, book a demo with one of our automation engineers.

Ready to be part of our automation universe?

The post XOAP is now part of the CNCF Landscape appeared first on XOAP.

NIS2 Directive: New EU-wide cybersecurity requirements

Mario — Fri, 22 Nov 2024 09:08:39 +0000

With fines up to €10,000,000 and punishments for C-suite executives, as well as national laws already in place, the EU-wide NIS2 Directive on cybersecurity requires all essential and important entities to comply with numerous provisions.

While the national categorization of organizations will be finalized by April 2025, essential sectors already identified for active supervision will include Energy, Transport, Health, Digital infrastructure, ICT-service management and Banking, among others. Entities in important sectors such as Food, Post/Courier and Digital providers will be supervised after an incident of non-compliance.

After receiving categorizations, organizations will have a one-year harmonization period to become compliant with the Directive.

Most importantly, the Directive extends to the supply chain, meaning that an ICT vendor or other service provider, even if not directly targeted, will still need to be NIS2-compliant.

Also, companies based outside of the EU but offering critical services within the EU fall under the scope of the NIS2 Directive too.

What does this mean in practice?

In addition to implementing a required risk management framework, categorized organizations will need to:

• Report incidents to national monitoring bodies and customers.
• Manage and monitor configurations, including security settings.
• Apply security patches from trusted sources within a reasonable timeframe.
• Manage changes in IT systems.
• Undergo audits.

With the NIS2 “consider everything” approach, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

What can you do today?

With cybersecurity requirements becoming significantly stricter, as a first step we suggest checking your IT systems to identify security gaps and strengthening measures based on those findings.

You can do this for free – quickly and easily – using XOAP, primarily its config.XO module. Not only will you get a clear picture on your current security status, but you will also be able to immediately fix and update as necessary without much manual effort or coding experience.

As a first step we suggest checking your IT systems to identify security gaps and strengthening measures based on those findings. You can do this for free – quickly and easily – using XOAP.

Start immediately with a free account

Is it really free?

XOAP offers a free plan with all modules and plenty of starter units included. You can connect 10 systems in the config.XO module and use 1,800 minutes of runtime in image.XO, sufficient for running a security check and making necessary fixes. application.XO and platform.XO modules can be used without any limits. Plus, no credit card is required.

If you need more units, you can upgrade the plan at any time. Your account and all the settings will still be available to you even without an upgrade. Also, our automation engineers will be at your disposal should you need help along the way – just book a demo.

Which NIS2 requirements can I check off with XOAP?

In addition to reducing time, effort and manual errors with automation, here are some key points to consider.

⇨ Real-time monitoring and alerts
Perhaps the crucial provision of NIS2, reporting the incidents to the appointed monitoring bodies and customers in 24 hours requires real-time infrastructure monitoring. With XOAP’s automated alerts you can do just that, rapidly detecting and responding to security breaches.

⇨ Centralized security management
XOAP’s config.XO module makes it easier to align system settings across multiple devices, allowing for centralized configuration management. Enforcing security configurations and policies, automating compliance checks and implementing changes quickly is easy with the module’s configuration-as-code concept, which also supports version control and auditability.

⇨ Latest software versions
With the application.XO module, you can rely on continuous integration. Use it to automate software deployment and updates, so that your systems always run the latest, most secure versions of applications. With XOAP’s free plan, there are no limits whatsoever on using application.XO.

All of this is equally relevant for in-house teams and MSPs. With its multi-tenant management capabilities, XOAP takes care of different organization segments as well as customers, without vendor lock-in.

Talk to us

If there’s relevant staff on your team, they can do wonders with XOAP in a few clicks, even if not experienced in coding. Don’t forget to sign up for the free plan – with lifetime account access, you can start exploring the features whenever it works for you.

If you don’t have the right team in place (yet) or would like to have a trusted companion on your way toward NIS2-compliance, book a demo with our automation experts and we can come up with a solid plan together.

Create a free XOAP Workspace

Visit our NIS2 website

The post NIS2 Directive: New EU-wide cybersecurity requirements appeared first on XOAP.

Ivanti Workspace Control & VDX: Best alternative

Mario — Wed, 29 May 2024 10:37:25 +0000

In the fast-paced world of IT management, staying ahead of the curve is essential. With Ivanti’s recent announcement of the end of life for their Workspace Control and Virtual Desktop Extender products, many organizations are left searching for viable alternatives.

One of them is XOAP with its innovative module, Configuration Management. This simple solution promises continuous configuration delivery and compliance across platforms, free from vendor and platform dependencies and at a fraction of the cost.

Check out the official announcement from Ivanti

Why XOAP?

XOAP, short for Xtra Ordinary Automation Platform, has quickly risen to prominence as a powerful tool for IT professionals. Its flexibility and robustness make it an excellent replacement for Ivanti’s offerings. Here’s why XOAP stands out:

1. Continuous configuration delivery

Unlike traditional solutions that require manual updates and constant monitoring, XOAP’s Configuration Management module automates the configuration delivery process. This ensures that all systems remain up-to-date and compliant without the need for constant oversight.

2. Platform independence

One of the most significant advantages of XOAP is its platform-agnostic nature. Whether you’re running on a Windows Client or Server system on-premises or on any cloud platform, XOAP perfectly integrates and performs consistently. This eliminates the headache of managing multiple solutions for different environments.

3. Vendor independence

Tied into the platform independence is the freedom from vendor lock-in. XOAP does not rely on specific vendors for its functionality, allowing organizations to avoid the limitations and costs associated with proprietary solutions. This flexibility is a game-changer for IT departments looking to streamline their operations.

4. Cost-effectiveness

Budget constraints are a reality for most organizations. XOAP offers a cost-effective alternative to Ivanti’s products without compromising on features or performance. By reducing the total cost of ownership and eliminating the need for multiple solutions, XOAP provides significant financial benefits.

5. Scalability & flexibility

As organizations grow, their IT needs evolve. XOAP’s scalable architecture ensures that it can grow with your organization, adapting to increased demand and complexity without requiring a complete overhaul of your existing infrastructure.

Additional resources:
Security and compliance templates for a wide variety of scenarios
Simplified workplace management and delivery
Docs: Configuration Management

Key features of XOAP's Configuration Management module

Automated compliance

Ensure that all systems adhere to corporate policies and regulatory requirements through continuous monitoring and automated adjustments.

Centralized management

Gain complete visibility and control over your IT environment from a single, unified platform.

Dynamic configuration

Easily adjust configurations on-the-fly to respond to changing business needs and technological advancements.

Robust security

Protect your IT infrastructure with advanced security features designed to safeguard against threats and vulnerabilities.

Make room for a better IT strategy

The end of life for Ivanti Workspace Control and Virtual Desktop Extender marks the end of an era, but it also opens the door to new opportunities. XOAP, with its Configuration Management module offers a superior alternative that delivers continuous configuration, compliance and flexibility. With XOAP, organizations can future-proof their IT infrastructure, reduce costs and streamline their operations.

In the ever-evolving landscape of IT management, XOAP stands out as the ideal solution to meet today’s and tomorrow’s demands. Don’t let the end of Ivanti’s products be a setback; let it be a springboard to a better IT strategy.

Ready to explore XOAP’s potential for your organization? Contact us today to learn how we can transform your IT operations and set you on the right path to success.

3 EASY STEPS TO START

Create your XOAP account

Go to https://my.dev.xoap.io and create your account. No credit card required.

Access and deploy 100+ templates and best practices

Deploy continuous configurations on premises, on workplaces and across multiple platforms. Read more.

Monitoring and optimization

Continuously monitor the performance of XOAP and make necessary adjustments to optimize its functionality within your environment.

The post Ivanti Workspace Control & VDX: Best alternative appeared first on XOAP.

Our article in Digital Future Mag: hybrid IT insights

Stella — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 09:25:45 +0000

As businesses continue to grow and expand, they are becoming increasingly reliant on technology. This has created a pressing need for simple and secure IT infrastructure that can support their operations.

The solution

One solution that has been gaining popularity in recent years is, of course, hybrid IT infrastructure. Hybrid infrastructure combines on-premises infrastructure with cloud-based resources to offer companies a cost-effective and flexible solution for improving their IT infrastructure.

Businesses can easily scale resources up or down in the cloud without the need for costly hardware upgrades. Additionally, hybrid solutions offer added layers of security to keep sensitive data on premises while still utilizing the benefits of the cloud.

Read the full interview

We were happy to cover the benefits and challenges of hybrid IT in more detail with Digital Future Mag. We also discussed how to choose between on-premises and cloud environments and how to securely integrate data and applications in a hybrid IT infrastructure. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the full interview.

Use our automation platform for free

The post Our article in Digital Future Mag: hybrid IT insights appeared first on XOAP.

The EUC Hexagrid and our role

Stella — Fri, 15 Mar 2024 12:52:09 +0000

We‘re thrilled to announce that XOAP has been featured in a whitepaper by Dizzion, a Desktop as a Service (DaaS) provider.

The whitepaper discusses the End-User Computing (EUC) landscape and highlights XOAP as a tool that simplifies IT management, enables automation, improves mobility and creates a secure work environment.

For a better understanding of EUC, we encourage you to check out Dizzion’s EUC Hexagrid where you can find XOAP located in the top left corner.

Part of DaaS (Others)

Our deep understanding of EUC and DaaS is reflected in our comprehensive suite of solutions that can be tailored to meet unique business requirements.

No-code Azure Virtual Desktop image build

Security and compliance templates

Automated software deployment

P latform, infrastructure and workplace automation – pre-release coming soon!

See how we’ve helped our customers:

Simplified workplace management and delivery (DEG Invest)

Reduced costs and administrative activities (LZfD)

Server automation, standardization and hardening (Nanu-Nana)