Prevalence of WMI enabled in real Windows Server networks

Hi I would like to get opinions from systems administrators, on how common it is that WMI functionality is actually enabled in corporate networks.

I am writing an enterprise network application that could benefit from the features of WMI, but I noted after creating a virtual network based on Server 2008 R2, that WMI seems to be disabled by default. Do systems admins in practical corporate networks enable WMI? Or is it usually disabled for security purposes?

What is it used for if it is enabled?

Thanks for any advice!

MORE INFO:

I should have said, I really need to be able to query the workstations but I understand that by default the WMI ports on Win7 and XP firewalls (at least) are disallowed, so do you use some sort of group policy or other method to leave a hole open for WMI on the workstations? Or is just the servers that are of interest? Thanks for the responses!!

Solution 1:

I believe WMI service is enabled on most Windows Servers (as well as Desktops) by default.

http://blogs.technet.com/b/josebda/archive/2007/08/08/comparing-default-services-on-windows-server-2003-r2-and-windows-server-2008-core-and-full.aspx

However, you may need to configure your default Windows Firewall rules to allow this service to be queried remotely if that is what you need to do.

WMI can be used to query or manage the state / settings / configurations / etc, since it can be scripted using VBScript or Powershell.

UPDATE: Refer for more information:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa389290%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa389286%28v=vs.85%29.aspx