Even the “freest” of features bring costs. A case in point is Microsoft’s BitLocker solution. While popular as a method for encrypting data at rest, BitLocker is certainly not free even though it is included within certain editions of the Windows 7 and Windows 8 desktop operating systems.

Last week, WinMagic dramatically reduced BitLocker’s management costs and hardware requirements, thanks to the latest version of SecureDoc. Key among enhancements, SecureDoc can now manage BitLocker-enabled environments.

WinMagic recently published a white paper outlining why SecureDoc is the best way to manage BitLocker, including detail on how SecureDoc saves money and makes lives easier for IT pros and end users.

DOWNLOAD NOW  The white paper is available for free online.

As a general summary, here are two ways SecureDoc reduces unexpected costs companies experience when deploying BitLocker.

First, each BitLocker-enabled system requires a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip in order to access all of BitLocker’s features. Adding a TPM chip to every device in an organization to fully realize BitLocker’s benefits is a significant investment at roughly $30 per machine—and an IT person must visit each machine to configure and enable the chip.

With SecureDoc, no TPM chip is necessary.

Second, BitLocker only manages data security on Windows machines and devices. The reality of today’s enterprise is far more complicated, and the loss of any device—including those running Linux, Android or Apple iOS—could be disastrous. In addition, IT teams at many companies are opting to deploy modern self-encrypting drives (SEDs) that further simplify and enhance data security. Deploying BitLocker for free means paying for other methods to manage security on non-Windows devices and SEDs.

With SecureDoc, customers no longer have to choose how and what to do for data encryption within their organization. SecureDoc offers a single console—one expense for one solution—to manage encryption on BitLocker-enabled machines, SEDs or non-Windows devices.

In many other ways, SecureDoc provides value to the company deploying BitLocker, both in terms of cost and technology advantages that make a SecureDoc environment a more secure environment. Additional details are available in the new whitepaper.