Azure Is Increasingly Microsoft's Server Management Hub

Wes Miller analyzes and writes about Microsoft’s security, identity management, and systems management technologies. Before joining Directions on Microsoft, Wes... more

Note: An updated version of this report was posted on Feb 22, 2021

Server management capabilities will increasingly require Microsoft-hosted Azure services in the future.
Customers with Windows Server on-premises should keep deploying long-term servicing releases of System Center software and avoid the faster releases of hosted services.

Although the System Center data center management suite continues to be supported, and a new version of the suite is expected in early 2019, Microsoft is increasingly investing more in Azure services to provide Per VM management of Windows and Linux.

Azure-Based Server Management

Microsoft offers several stand-alone hosted services that can provide some of the capabilities offered by System Center. (For a review of System Center components and functions, see the sidebar “System Center Overview“.) The services are as follows:

Azure Automation (computer configuration and patch management)
Azure Backup (backup)
Azure Monitor (monitoring

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