Management Product Roadmap Expanding

To differentiate itself from its Unix and Linux competitors and encourage more use of its core products, Microsoft is increasingly integrating management deeply into the Windows Server System. However, the company is still struggling to explain how current products and technologies will evolve to meet the visions expressed in the Dynamic Systems Initiative, Microsoft’s long-term and unproven plan for “baking” management into all system components, including applications.

Evolving Strategy for Systems Management

Microsoft’s plans for management products and technologies have evolved somewhat over recent years.

When Microsoft laid out its systems management strategy in the spring of 2003, it wanted Windows application developers to begin designing manageability into their products, as Microsoft believed that “bolting on” management after the fact was ineffective. The 2003 strategy invited developers to do two things: instrument their applications to expose significant events and performance metrics that could be captured by external management software, and build operational and health models for their applications that would aid IT operations personnel in interpreting the instrumentation data and monitoring the applications’ health. An overarching project called the Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI) would guide development of the models, tools, and products needed to accomplish these goals.