Service Manager Slips to 2010

System Center Service Manager, a planned IT help desk application, has been delayed until 2010, with a beta refresh planned for late 2008. The delay gives current help desk software vendors, such as Hewlett-Packard (HP), a reprieve and may persuade organizations to give their products a second look. However, customers who wait for Service Manager might benefit from better integration with other System Center tools when it finally arrives.

Rework Needed for Performance, Integration

Service Manager is a planned help desk product for trouble ticketing and problem resolution that will integrate with Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, and other System Center management products. Formerly known under the code name Service Desk, Service Manager will have three major modules: incident and problem management, asset life-cycle management, and change management. All modules will share a common Configuration Management Data Base (CMDB), workflow engine, and console and will support user self-service through a Web interface. Companies will be able to deploy customizations (e.g., for security vulnerability assessment and patching processes) through solution packs similar to Operations Manager management packs. Service Manager will run on Windows Server 2008.