Microsoft System Center 2007 (System Center as it was) is a
foundation suite of management products designed for companies with
investments in Microsoft products. This is a pretty large
constituency.
The market positioning of System Center is typical of
Microsoft's tactic of offering relatively cheap systems wherever
enterprise systems are competitively priced. But many of the
fundamental features of System Center (such as a knowledge base,
forms-based interfaces, workflow, and change and config management
database) are more like those of a mature, leading, systems
management product.
System Center is comprised of a configuration manager, an
operations manager, a virtual machine manager, a capacity planner
and a data protection manager.
The Configuration Manager (2007) can run policy-driven IT
management tasks in the background, such as application deployment,
asset management and security patch management.
With a strategic eye on the future, Microsoft launched the
System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), which aims to
manage virtualised datacentre technologies. Its stated aim is to
ensure efficient utilisation of physical servers, and centralised
management of virtual machine infrastructure. Other features
include Data Protection Manager and
Capacity Planner 2006.
One aspect that stands out about System Center is that it offers
the tightest integration with all the office and service software.
It means organisations can simplify the management of different
technologies and infrastructure types across the Microsoft product
ranges. To take an obvious example, it unifies the management of
server, application, and desktop virtualisation, given Microsoft's
product portfolio.
A new advantage is that it is integrating the management of
virtualised environments with that of equivalent non-virtualised
technologies. It also integrates the management of desktop and
server environments.
"We see virtualisation and systems management as being one and
the same thing," says Neil Sanderson, Microsoft's virtualisation
and management product manager.
From a supplier strategy perspective, the availability of
Systems Center improved the alignment of Microsoft's systems
management capabilities with the Information Technology
Infrastructure Library (ITIL) practices. System Center scores well
here in crucial areas such as incident and problem management,
asset lifecycle management, change management, and configuration
management, according to analysts.
Do not believe that Microsoft management products are limited in
scope, warns one analyst. They are capable of more than just
managing Microsoft technologies, says analyst Roy Illsley at the
Butler Group.
"System Center has a newly-consistent, overall approach," he
says. "Microsoft has plans to extend the suite's capabilities to
manage partners' technologies in key areas such as virtualised
servers."
The scope of supplier platforms addressed by the main
configuration manager and operations manager products is already
widened by bringing in packs which either Microsoft, or its
partners, or Independent Software Suppliers (ISVs) can offer.
Microsoft's strategy is to work with various hardware suppliers
to supply management packs. Many of those delivered with the
product can be downloaded, usually free. This management pack
approach means only the particular management facilities aimed at
individual target technologies are made available, while extending
the reach to third-party technologies by directly bringing them
under the umbrella of System Center's control.
The wider availability of System Center 2007 has made
Microsoft's system management tools grow to become an armoury with
all the tools that most organisations would need. Now the scope of
System Center has broadened significantly (compared to Microsoft's
previously limited toolsets) integration has become less of a
challenge.
Microsoft knew integration of all product elements was essential
for consistency and helped the CIO in his goal of creating an
efficient IT operations. Now it is delivering on that need, says
Butler group analyst Illsley.
The most obvious example is the management of virtualisation,
which is the main interest of most CIOs now. Virtualisation
management systems can deliver their promised benefits only if they
can dovetail their efforts with the management of non-virtualised
environments.
There is one drawback with Systems Center. It has not kept pace
with some of the advances in business-oriented service management.
Certain features are not available yet, which weakens the argument
for System Center as the sole domain of organisational IT.
It is a
few steps behind some competitors, such as IBM, says analyst
Roy Illsley, senior research analyst at the Butler Group. But
System Center has plenty to offer in terms of business value, he
says, "Not least because its automation facilities tie into
business policy and it enables better productivity," he says. It is
better at identifying the causes of exceptions, which means
organisations waste less time on false alarms and focus resources
more valuably.
The analysts say System Center represents a turning point.
Microsoft's system management capabilities have gained considerably
in breadth and depth. It could now be a valuable help to
organisations addressing their system and service management needs
in a diverse infrastructure.
Function-wise, you certainly get good value for money. It all
depends if you actually use those functions. Currently its
characteristic benefits - such as policy-driven automation,
strength and depth in variety of functions, and capacity to work
across virtualised and non-virtualised environments - make System
Center ideal for most organisations with a commitment to Microsoft
technology. Future extensions of its technology integrations would
be potentially market-changing.
Main products:
Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007
Operations Manager 2007, Virtual Machine Manager (VMM)
Protection Manager (DPM) 2007, Capacity Planner 2006