Somehow I missed a comment that was posted on a previous blog post titled An alternative to Query Based Distribution Lists (QBDLs). In that post, I was talking about the advantages of actually creating a group in Active Directory with your queries vs. the QBDL method of executing the query against Active Directory every single time it’s emailed.
But commenter James added this nugget that I hadn’t considered:
Another factor with QBDGs is that they don’t work with BPOS. I lost all of mine when migrating.
With BPOS becoming more and more popular, this will become more and more of an issue. One thing I can’t believe we’ve never asked in our surveys is how many organizations even use QBDLs. Anecdotally, I know everyone hates them and winces when they are brought up but they wouldn’t know they hated them if they didn’t use them.
Based on my understanding of BPOS Dedicated, QBDL’s might work with that configuration. But I can see why in BPOS shared, Exchange just wouldn’t be able to resolve the query and expand it. So, poof, any QBDLs you have are gone. Or at least useless.
Yet, dynamic groups ARE valuable so how do you get them back? Take a look at GroupID Automate. Automate creates dynamic Active Directory groups (both security and distribution groups) that are resolved and created as actual Active Directory objects that exist with membership just like you did them in ADUC.
The difference? The membership changes as the users’ attributes in Active Directory and other data sources change. Have a user’s department change from Marketing to Sales? Their group membership changes. Have their status changed in the HRIS to “on probation”? Their group membership changes. See, they’re dynamic!
And, it works with BPOS.
Jonathan Blackwell
View ProfileSince 2012, Jonathan Blackwell, an engineer and innovator, has provided engineering leadership that has put GroupID at the forefront of group and user management for Active Directory and Azure AD environments. His experience in development, marketing, and sales allows Jonathan to fully understand the Identity market and how buyers think.