Microsoft has launched Systems Management Server 2003 R2
into beta testing, and plans to commercially release the upgraded
deployment platform around May.
The R2 version features a new inventory tool for custom updates,
which allows businesses to automate the deployment of software
updates and new business applications.
R2 will also support non-Microsoft products for the first time,
a major change of direction for the product.
The new inventory tool can also be used to create and publish
software update catalogues that can be seamlessly imported directly
into the SMS console, something that is currently cumbersome to
do.
SMS 2003 R2 also includes an enterprise scan tool for
vulnerability assessments, which can check desktops and servers for
software configuration errors and other vulnerabilities.
On 10 February, Microsoft announced the release of SMS 2003
Service Pack 2, which offers enhanced virtualisation features and
the ability to use SQL Server 2005 as the database engine for
SMS.
