Microsoft's systems management software has become increasingly important to its customers and to the company. Broadly defined, systems management software helps automate some of the routine work of computer systems administrators, yielding higher availability of IT services with less staff. Recent events suggest that systems management has gained a higher priority at Microsoft and that the company has begun to execute on a plan that, if successful, could markedly simplify the life of Windows administrators.

Management Software Includes OS, Products

Microsoft's systems management software today helps administrators configure computers; deploy, install, and patch applications; monitor the health of systems in operation; and track hardware and software. The goal is to automate these kinds of tasks so they can be done more cheaply, more reliably, and on larger numbers of systems and sites.

Microsoft distributes systems management software in two ways:

Windows OS features such as Automated Deployment Services, Group Policy, and the Windows System Resource Manager help administrators deploy and configure computers. Windows also delivers base infrastructure, such as the Windows Management Instrumentation monitoring and configuration interface, that is used by OS features and systems management products.

Systems management products such as Systems Management Server (SMS) and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) enable organizations to centrally manage large numbers of computers and automate complex, repetitive tasks such as patching. Specifically, SMS focuses on tasks such as software distribution, system configuration, and software licensing tracking for both PCs and servers, while MOM focuses on monitoring and automated response for servers only. Both focus on computers currently in operation: preparing new servers and PCs is the province of other tools.

A New Push for Management

Both Windows systems management features and systems management products have become increasingly valuable to Microsoft's customers because of the following factors:

Security. As the pace of virus, worm, and hacker attacks continues to pick up, systems management software can help customers keep critical software patched against vulnerabilities, reduce the chance of configuration errors that could expose data, and quickly spot unusual behavior that could be a symptom of a compromise. They can also help consistently enforce policies that keep computers secure (for example, policies that determine if a PC is configured to meet an organization's security requirements before it can connect remotely to its internal network).

Downtime. Windows computers continue to spread beyond the desktop to more business-critical tasks, such as hosting customer relationship management (CRM) applications and e-commerce Web sites. Systems management software can minimize downtime for these critical tasks by helping to monitor the health of large numbers of systems and by helping to plan and implement configuration changes so that they go quickly and are less likely to generate new problems and more downtime.

Cost of ownership. Finally, the recent tech downturn has cast a spotlight on the personnel costs of information systems. Even as tech budgets increase again, companies are increasingly conscious of the ongoing costs of running systems. Companies that invest up-front in systems management software can get more done with fewer people in subsequent years.

Microsoft's Motivation to Improve

Microsoft and its partners have also had to focus more on systems management software recently, for the following reasons:

Trustworthy Computing and customer satisfaction initiatives. Systems management is a key factor in improving two deliverables—security and reliability—that are pillars of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing initiative. Moreover, as Microsoft has sought to improve customer satisfaction in the corporate market, systems management has shown up as an important issue.

Linux competition. Systems management could be the most important factor in turning back the threat of Linux in the corporate market. Good systems management capabilities will be key to winning cost-of-ownership comparisons at customer sites.

Push for deployments. Systems management software can encourage customers to deploy or upgrade to the latest Microsoft software by reducing the cost and risk of deployment. This in turn makes it more likely that customers will compare Linux and other competitors with the most recent versions of Microsoft products, which will fare better than the older versions that are still in widespread use today. Faster deployments, of course, can also create additional upgrade sales for Microsoft, as well as systems integration and custom development work for partners. So as Microsoft products mature, systems management could become increasingly important as a way to pull new sales out of an existing base.

Bittersweet Legacy

While all of the factors mentioned above have given systems management a new focus at Microsoft, this isn't the first time the company has claimed to embark on a major systems management initiative.

Microsoft has made investments in the systems management space for some time. However, its efforts did not always appear coherent. Windows management features and systems management products often proceeded on parallel tracks, with little overlap of personnel and with technologies that competed with one another, complicating integration and leaving customers confused about which technology to use. For example, customers looking to automate software deployment might use the Group Policy-based deployment features of Windows Server, the free Software Update Service, Systems Management Server, Application Center, or some combination of the above.

An important brake on the company's systems management efforts has been the reluctance of software developers to invest in Microsoft's systems management technologies. Microsoft's shifting management strategy, and the complexity of its management technology, has made it hard to woo developers to build standard management interfaces into applications. Even among Microsoft's products, support for deployment with SMS, configuration with Group Policy, and monitoring with MOM has been uneven. And, Microsoft's own applications also use a variety of software installation technologies, rather than exclusively using the Windows Installer introduced in 2000.

A Strategy Emerges

The outlines of a coherent strategy have now begun to emerge. Microsoft is moving toward a comprehensive lineup of systems management software that includes both Windows features and improved systems management products. The strategy is to play out as follows:

Near term: Strengthen existing management products. Microsoft's two principal systems management products are both receiving major upgrades. In particular, the company's product for managing client computers, SMS, received a major release in late 2003, which underwent much more extensive testing than previous versions and which also delivered more automated software patching and less expensive licensing terms. MOM, due for release in the second half of 2004, will offer better scalability, improved reporting, and an enhanced administrator console. In addition, Microsoft has stepped up the commitment of its own application developers to support these products and has lined up more support from third-party developers.

Midterm: Integration between Windows and management products. The systems management products will make more use of Windows OS management features, simplifying integration for customers. Most notably, Microsoft plans to further integrate SMS with the Windows patch-scanning and deployment technology that was developed for the Windows Update Web site. Such integration could further simplify the work of administrators trying to stay ahead of security vulnerabilities. The company has also committed to begin issuing MOM management packs—sets of rules and scripts that define healthy behavior—for each of its Windows Server System products when they ship.

Long term: Broader scope, focus on developers. Long-term, Microsoft hopes to make it radically simpler for developers to create manageable software, which in turn will dramatically increase the capabilities of its systems management features and products. It has launched a long-term project, called the Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI), to give developers better tools for building management interfaces into software and for capturing the knowledge needed for systems management. Along with the tools, Microsoft will create a new generation of Windows management features and systems management products that leverage the interfaces and knowledge created by developers. New systems management products will also tackle new tasks, such as capacity planning and root cause analysis, that aren't addressed by the current generation.

Consequently, Microsoft customers and partners should carefully evaluate both the latest generation of Microsoft's systems management software and the company's overall systems management roadmap. Because the tools, infrastructure, and management products foreseen by the DSI are still far off, and applications that can be managed with the technology won't appear until 2008 at the earliest, companies should not hesitate to take advantage of Microsoft's current generation of management technologies to strengthen system reliability, tighten security, and reduce costs today.

What's Ahead

This report summarizes Microsoft's new systems management software roadmap and outlines the new capabilities of its two most strategic systems management products. It incorporates three reports which previously appeared in the Directions on Microsoft Update newsletter:

More Integration on Management Roadmap outlines recent changes to Microsoft's systems management organization and strategy, and summarizes the roadmap for future systems management products and technologies.

Stronger Testing, Mobile Support Make Systems Management Server Worth a New Look explains the role of Systems Management Server, Microsoft's primary product for software distribution and computer configuration management, and outlines improvements in its latest version.

More Polished Operations Manager Nearing Completion discusses the role of the Operations Manager systems monitoring product, explains enhancements planned for the next version, and outlines important improvements in application support for the product.