Customers accustomed to System Center for data center management will have to adopt several services to duplicate functionality in Azure, with many capabilities lacking direct analogues.

Screenshot shows the overview dashboard of Azure Update management, which helps administrators manage Windows and Linux server OS updates.

A new Azure Update management center in preview can manage updates for Windows Server and Linux server OSs on Azure VMs and Azure Arc enabled servers.

Although System Center is still being updated and supported, Microsoft is prioritizing investments in Azure-hosted management services.

Azure Automation can be used to manage and configure servers and services in Azure and on-premises

Azure Automation support for Python 2 is now generally available

The ITSM Connector for Azure is now generally available and allows Azure monitoring tools to integrate with an organization's existing IT service management tools

Roadmap for Azure Automation, a service that helps automate deployment, management, and other repetitive IT processes.