At the time of writing this article, in the latest version of Windows (Vista,7 and Server 2008), IIS management has changed quite a bit.

IIS7 features some very cool remote management capabilities. In an environment where developers may need access to IIS, but not necessarily the server, or too many remote logins to the server fill up the TS licenses, using IIS remote management can save ALOT of your time and money.

Consider the following scenarios:

New site needs to be added to IIS or changes to existing site need to be made.

1) Developer does not have RDP access due to corporate security policies or may be outside consultant, etc and submits ticket/request for new site to be added
2) Count the time delay until ticket is responded, time to form responses and time spent on actual technical changes.
3) If details regarding site changes sent by developer are adequate, IT helpdesk applies the changes and notifies developer setup successful. If additional info is needed, helpdesk must request more information, then repeat steps 2-3 until complete.

Even if only 1% of all sites require follow up, and approximate ticket response and IIS configuration time is lets say 3-4 hours including delay until ticket is received; if you create 50 sites / annually this equates to 150-200 hours spent simply on site setup.

If your company outsources IT helpdesk, or response time is even slower, 12-24 hours, this is now 600-1200 hours of delay at the same rate of 50 sites / annually.

To save time (and money), consider cross-training developers that don’t know IIS, and setup remote administration in IIS7.

Note some Vista and Windows 7 installations do not come with the manager, and it will have to be downloaded from IIS.net.

For walkthroughs on this configuration and more information, see references below.

References:
TrainSignalTraining, “Remote Administration of IIS 7: Install, Configure, Connect”, http://www.trainsignaltraining.com/iis-7-remote-administration
IIS.Net, “IIS Manager for Remote Administration”, http://www.iis.net/download/IISManager