Add-Ins Simplify EBS Management

Several free add-ins will help organizations with limited IT staff manage Windows infrastructure services and business applications running on Essential Business Server (EBS) 2008. Released in Nov. 2008, EBS 2008 provides turnkey Windows infrastructure for file and print, e-mail, collaboration services, and business applications for midsize organizations. With the add-ins, support for simplified central management could help Microsoft partners package and sell a low-cost core infrastructure and business application bundle built around Dynamics AX, the company’s flagship enterprise resource planning (ERP) product. However, Microsoft has not said whether it will supply add-ins for other products in the Dynamics line.

Central Administration for AX, WSS, DPM

EBS 2008 is a consolidated Windows infrastructure solution for businesses with 300 or fewer users and limited IT staff. The product ships in a Standard Edition, which splits infrastructure services across three servers (referred to as the Management, Security, and Messaging Servers), and a Premium Edition, which includes all the features of Standard Edition, plus a fourth copy of Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition and SQL Server 2008 Standard Edition intended for running business software, such as ERP applications.