Microsoft’s systems management roadmap for the next two years has become increasingly clear. The company has consolidated all of its systems management technologies and products under a single vice president (and a family of management products named System Center) and will eventually rely on a uniform client infrastructure for software patching.

Configuration, Monitoring, and Analysis

Microsoft has several products in the System Center line for computer configuration, monitoring, backup, capacity planning, and other administrative tasks. The product line will expand significantly in the next two years as Microsoft continues to develop its new analysis, backup, and reporting products and enters the arena of trouble ticketing and problem resolution. (For a graphical overview of releases for these products, as well as monitoring and analysis products, see the illustration “Configuration, Monitoring, and Analysis Overview“.)

Systems Management Server

Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 is used to inventory PC assets, distribute and update software, and track software use. The most recent product release, SMS 2003 R2, added vulnerability assessment tools to detect insecure computer configurations (such as weak password policies). It also introduced scanning technology and administrative tools that make it more practical to use SMS to detect and install required patches for non-Microsoft products, including custom applications. SMS 2003 SP3, a Mar. 2007 update to both SMS 2003 and SMS 2003 R2, rolled up bug fixes, added Windows Vista to the OSs that SMS 2003 and SMS 2003 R2 can manage, and added new functionality in the form of Asset Intelligence, a technology acquired though Microsoft’s purchase of AssetMetrix, which provides more extensive hardware and software asset inventorying capabilities than SMS 2003’s original asset tracking features.

In 2007 Microsoft updated its entire line of systems management and security products and introduced its first client antivirus product. The one missing piece in the product line is Service Manager (formerly code-named Service Desk), a trouble ticketing and problem resolution product that will integrate the company’s monitoring, system configuration, and reporting products. Originally planned for 2008, Service Manager has been delayed to 2010. Microsoft plans to release Forefront Stirling, an integrated suite of security products, in 2009. In the meantime, Microsoft has updated many systems management and security products so that they can manage and run on Windows Server 2008. Some of these products have received updates to support Hyper-V virtualization and SQL Server 2008.

Systems Management

Microsoft has several products in the System Center line for computer configuration, monitoring, backup, capacity planning, software deployment and installation, and other administrative tasks. Updates to support Windows Server 2008 and virtualization arrived in 2008, while 2009 is likely to be a pivotal year as betas for several System Center products have appeared prior to major releases in 2010 or later. System administrators will applaud the addition of PowerShell scripting to all the products, while expanded support for virtualization will bring new focus to Microsoft’s virtualization initiatives.