Jalasoft is proud to announce that Xian Network Manager Io RTM is now available for download!

You can now download our evaluation version of Xian Network Manager Io for Operations Manager 2007 using the link below:

http://www.jalasoft.com/jalasoftweb/jsp/products/downloads/productRequest.do?step=0&product_id=12&version_id=10

The Evaluation License provided will allow you to monitor up to 10 network devices and is valid for a period of 60 days. Additionally we suggest that you review our release notes, which you can find in the link below, before you install Xian Io in you environment.

http://www.jalasoft.com/jalasoftweb/jsp/products/xianio/XianIo-RTM-Release-notes.html

Our official Press Release for the release to manufacturing (RTM) of Xian Network Manager Io can be found in the following link:http://www.jalasoft.com/jalasoftweb/jsp/products/xianio/XianIoRTM.jsp

Silect Software, a developer of products that reduce IT ownership costs, is pleased to announce the immediate availability of MP Studio 2007. MP Studio helps offset spiraling IT management costs by giving IT organizations the ability to more effectively leverage IT management knowledge critical to the operation and maintenance of complex IT systems. Working together with Systems Center Operations Manager 2007, the result is a highly tuned service monitoring capability which identifies the slightest deviation in service delivery from defined service levels.

Take Charge of the Management Pack Lifecycle using MP Studio

Operations Manager 2007 Management Packs contain rich operational knowledge used to deliver effective service level monitoring.  MP Studio 2007 delivers a framework to achieve an efficient, repeatable process for managing the key stages of the Management Pack lifecycle including analysis, reporting, tuning and version control, reducing the cost of using and managing System Center Operations Manager while increasing System Center Operations Manager’s ability to effectively monitor and report on your organization’s IT infrastructure. 

 MP Studio 2007 Key Features

• Manage overrides to increase operational effectiveness
• Quickly and easily review Management Packs before implementation
• Manage and track changes to Management Packs to avoid unexpected changes in service monitoring
• Understand the differences between Management Packs
• Create override Management Packs

 MP Studio 2007 Key Benefits

• Ensure your service level management objectives are effectively met
• Manage customizations to your environment using MP Studio’s extensive override management capabilities
• Manage change using MP Studio’s Management Pack version control system
• Reduce alert “noise” by tuning Management Packs before deployment
• Generate Audit History Reports for compliancy requirements

 To obtain a free evaluation copy of MP Studio 2007 please Reply to this email or go to http://www.silect.com

 MP Studio 2007 Resources

Data Sheet: http://www.silect.com/products/mpstudio2007.pdf

Case Study: http://www.silect.com/products/msncasestudy.pdf

Download an Evaluation Copy: http://www.silect.com/products/product_info.php

 Using MOM 2005? Check out MP Studio 2.1. http://www.silect.com/products/mpstudio21.pdf

 

 

New in this is the design guide

 

Operations Manager 2007 Design Guide

The Operations Manager 2007 Design Guide takes you through the steps necessary to develop a complete architectural plan for your Operations Manager 2007 implementation

June 15, 2007

Download the Guide

 

 

Nworks Is hosting a couple of webseminars on nworks MP for VMWARE on system center operations manager 2007.

 

Nice stuff take a peek : http://nworks.com/

 

on June 26^th at 10am PT – Registration is here: https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/133093984

 

The next webinar will be July 19^th at 9am PT - https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/871329639

 

 

We are extremely excited to announce Beta 1 of System Center Service Manager is now available for download on Connect. We hope you will promptly download, test and provide feedback on this Beta.

Beta 1 provides a wide range of functionality for you to test and evaluate:
· Distributed install
· Administration wizards for easy solution configuration
· AD connection wizard
· SMS 2003 SP3 connection wizard
· Asset inventory including the first phase of asset reconciliation in the CMDB
· Incident management including queues, customizable drop-down values, asset linking, and notification workflows
· Change management including queues, customizable drop-down values, asset and incident linking, multiple review stages, activity management and notification workflows
· A self-service portal which includes knowledge search, service request submission, and software provisioning integrated with SMS 2003 SP3
· Knowledge Management including authoring, viewing, comment and rating all integrated with Word 2007 and SharePoint 2007
· Data Warehousing and Reporting including 6 sample reports for incident, change and asset data

Like any first beta release, features are subject to change - usually based on your feedback! With that in mind, we're encouraging customers
and partners to focus on the documented scenarios and how well those scenarios meet your business needs. In particular, we expect that
certain design modifications to the extensibility model will be necessary as the team seeks to reach our scale and performance goals.
Customers and partners looking to extend Service Manager through solution pack authoring or connector development are encouraged to focus on the experience itself, but should be careful to not invest heavily in custom development at this time.

The beta is downloadable from http://connect.microsoft.com/SystemCenter  along with documentation
and other important information such as the release notes, quick start guide and a features guide document. Please be sure to carefully read
the Release Notes to avoid known issues with this beta. We have also posted a video to help introduce you to both the features of the product
and some of the people behind the product.

The Service Manager team is supporting Beta 1 via the Connect Newsgroups. Please post your questions, feedback and suggestions to
these forums. Click on the "Newsgroup" link for instructions on how to configure your newsgroup reader and activate your account.

Production deployments on beta 1 are not supported. We are unable to provide any upgrade from Beta 1 to Beta 2.

Thank you for your helping our team build the best Service Manager product!

The System Center Service Manager team

The Centro / cougar Beta is a new SBS server with system Center Essentials and based on windows 2008 ( langhorn )

 

I think this could be a nice beta all the new stuff in one server, real SBS fun like the old times.

no I think there are a lot of SBS clients that wil use SBS/ SCE and they will have more once they have seen SCE.

and what about a top tear SCOM 2007 that is monitoring 100 SCE servers with 1 to 30 servers that is a 3000 server enviroment. ( not on SBS self but if you use a SCE server 30 member servers and one SBS not best practice )

how is that for a SBS site. I think there is a real money maker here. and don't say this will not work ;-) 24x7 sbs monitoring

 

I'm a huge fan of SCE but I can't wait till the next release of SCE all the things it is on the edge. if the SCCP express version is in SCE R2 and the max server is on 50 then there is a huge market for this. IMHO

 

 

 

 

how about the beta ? yes there is a beta but the first thing is :

 

 

Clive has post a new fix for SCOM 2007.

Source :http://blogs.technet.com/cliveeastwood/default.aspx

 

Clive has alway the latest items on MOM. read the stuff on his site

 

 

 

The System Center Operations Manager 2007 administrator console contains a settings dialog for Alert resolution states and auto-resolve settings which is not present in System Center Essentials 2007. The console dialog was removed from Essentials to reduce the overall complexity of the UI, but it's an often used feature.  The dialog should be making a re-appearence in SP1.   Here's the dialog from OpsMgr       In the mean time, for those Essentials customers who do need to add new Alert resolution states, or change the auto-resolution times I wrote a command line SDK tool to add/remove resolution states and change the auto-resolution values.  The tool called AlertSettingsTool is downloadable from http://home.comcast.net/~the_eastwoods/MOMDownloads/AlertSettingsTool.zip  and has to be run on the Essentials management server.     For example. To add a new Alert resolution state from the command line run : AlertSettingsTool -a <resolutionstate 1-254> <resolutionstatedescription>     E.g. AlertSettingsTool -a 150 "Escalate to Exchange Operators"   To list the current resolution states and auto-resolution settings run AlertSettingsTool -q   The utility is unsupported, by simply uses the Operations Manager SDK. For example: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/microsoft.enterprisemanagement.administration.managementgroupadministration.insertmonitoringalertresolutionstate.aspx

HP Server Management Packs v1.0 for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007

 

If you want the SCOm 2007 Download resiter first do not click on the links below 

 

Introducing HP Server Management Packs v1.0 for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 with support of Microsoft's System Definition Model (SDM) for even simpler HP Server visibility, discovery and management. These HP Server Management Packs support servers running the ProLiant Server Pack 7.5 or greater and Integrity Server Pack 4.6 or greater with:

 

SysManSMS Server is designed to add message forwarding and establish a secure emergency gateway in case of a network failure.With our secure internet and gprs free SMS gateway product you can forward MOM® alerts to any GSM/SMS mobile. Inside Microsoft Operations Manager® you easily create tasks that will use SysManSMS Server to send alerts to any mobile. With a reply back message you can perform tasks like start and stop Windows® services and securely launch programs.

- Secure internet free solution using a direct GSM connected device - Text Filters to limit, convert or priorities sending of messages - Full message delivery control with auto re-route to alternative user if problems - Advanced Number Files to define user groups and message schedules - Remote control Windows Services and Programs - Monitor MOM® - make sure you are notified if MOM® should stop - Watchdog to monitor Server - receive alert SMS even if server hardware fails   Setup SysManSMS with Microsoft Operations Manager 2007® Setup SysManSMS with Microsoft Operations Manager 2005® Product Sheet for all the product details and configurations Architecture Presentation to explain how it all works

Overview

Gaining control through integrated security and management
Bob Muglia, Senior Vice-President, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft Corporation

See the Keynote : http://www.microsoft.com/infrastructure/virtualevent.mspx

great show IMHO

Click to expand:

Bob Muglia Keynote:

Gaining control through integrated security and management Bob Muglia, Senior Vice-President, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft Corporation Every day, IT professionals need to manage complexity & costs while providing their business with a flexible infrastructure to drive new business opportunities. At the same time, they face increasing challenges in protecting information and controlling access. In this keynote session, you will be introduced to Microsoft IT security and management solutions – Forefront and System Center. You will learn how Forefront and System Center together help maximize productivity, simplify administration, and integrate with existing infrastructure so that you can reduce costs, empower your business, and maintain control. These solutions are part of a broader Microsoft vision to transform IT infrastructure into a strategic asset. Both now and in the future, Forefront and System Center solutions can be used by companies at all stages of infrastructure maturity to create an IT environment that is secure and well managed. Learn An Overview of Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft System Center Enabling a Strategic IT Infrastructure with Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft System Center See See the keynote live at 9am PST on May 2, or on demand after 12:00pm PST on May 2. Try The Microsoft Forefront and Microsoft System Center Demonstration Toolkit

Security Track:

Anti-Malware Protection: A Technical Deep-Dive into Forefront Client Security Brendan Foley, Group Product Manager | Anthony Chavez, Principal Product Unit Manager | Josue Fontanez, Senior Product Manager Microsoft Forefront Client Security is a new security product that Microsoft is releasing to help protect business desktops, laptops, and servers from emerging threats, such as spyware and rootkits, as well as viruses and other traditional attacks. This technical drilldown session provides a comprehensive product overview and an introduction to Microsoft Forefront Client Security's capabilities. Learn Forefront Client Security white paper Forefront Client Security datasheet See Video recorded session and presentation – coming soon! Try Forefront Client Security trial software

Managing Messaging and Collaboration System Threat Protection: A Technical Deep-Dive into Forefront Server Security Joe Licari, Director, Product Management | Neetu Rajpal, Senior Program Manager This session explores how Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server and Microsoft Forefront Security for SharePoint integrate multiple scan engines from industry-leading security firms to provide comprehensive, flexible protection against viruses and other types of malicious software (malware). Integration with System Center Operations Manager provides centralized management and monitoring of key security events and statistics. Learn Forefront Security for Exchange Server white papers Forefront Security for SharePoint white papers Forefront Security for Exchange Server Datasheets Forefront Security for SharePoint Datasheets See Video recorded session and presentation – coming soon! Try Forefront Server Security trial software

Remote Access to Applications: A Technical Deep-Dive into Intelligent Application Gateway 2007 Uri Lichtenfeld, Senior Product Manager Microsoft's Intelligent Application Gateway (IAG) 2007 with Application Optimizers provides secure socket layer (SSL) virtual private network (VPN), a Web application firewall, and endpoint security management that enable access control, authorization, and content inspection for a wide variety of line-of-business applications. This session will use slides and demonstrations to show how IAG 2007 can help organizations provide 1) Secure Application Access: IAG 2007 enables user access from diverse Internet-enabled endpoints application-layer data published to external endpoints. The intelligent application delivery capabilities in IAG help ensure that no insecure elements of an application—including buttons, links, text, header or cookies—are exposed via the browser and 2) Granular Information Protection: IAG 2007’s granular access controls, endpoint security, and cleanup tailored to specific applications enables organizations to maintain data integrity and drive compliance with legal or business regulations. Learn Intelligent Application Gateway white papers Intelligent Application Gateway datasheets See Video recorded session and presentation – coming soon! Try Intelligent Application Gateway trial software

Network Edge Protection: A Technical Deep-Dive into Internet Security & Acceleration Server 2006 Kuleen Bharadwaj, Product Manager Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 is the integrated edge security gateway that helps protect IT environments from Internet-based threats while providing users with fast and secure remote access to applications and data. This session will use slides and demonstrations to show how ISA Server can help organizations provide 1) Secure Remote Access: By pre-authenticating users before they gain access to any published servers, inspecting even encrypted traffic at the application layer in a stateful manner, and providing automated publishing tools, ISA Server 2006 makes it easier to provide security for corporate applications accessed over the Internet, 2) Branch Office Security: By providing HTTP compression, caching of content (including software updates) and site-to-site virtual private network (VPN) capabilities integrated with application-layer filtering, ISA Server 2006 makes it easier to securely expand corporate networks and 3) Internet Access Protection: With a hybrid proxy-firewall architecture, deep content inspection, granular policies, and comprehensive alerting and monitoring capabilities, ISA Server 2006 makes it easier to manage and protect your network. Learn Internet Security & Acceleration Server white papers See Video recorded session and presentation – coming soon! Try Internet Security & Acceleration trial software

Management Track:

End to End Service Management: Best Practices for SQL, Exchange, and Vista with System Center Operations Manager 2007 Robert Reynolds, Senior Product Planner Learn how to insure performance and availability of your enterprise’s key applications with System Center Operations Manager 2007. This new product release delivers new capabilities which provide for client monitoring, service monitoring, and automated problem resolution for key Windows applications. Learn System Center Operations Manager 2007 Overview Datasheet System Center Operations Manager 2007 Overview white paper Client Monitoring with System Center Operations Manager 2007 – white paper End-to-End Service Monitoring with Operations Manager 2007 - white paper Audit Collection with System Center Operations Manager 2007 - white paper Monitoring Windows Vista, Office 2007, POS, ATM & Windows Clients with Operations Manager 2007 – Datasheet Monitoring Exchange Server and Unified Communications with Operations Manager 2007 – Datasheet Monitoring SQL Server and custom .NET applications with Operations Manager 2007 - Datasheet See Video recorded session and presentation – coming soon! Try Download the 180-day Evaluation Software Today

Plan, Build, and Deploy: Technical Best Practices with SMS 2003 and System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Daniel Ward, Senior Program Manager SMS 2003 and the upcoming System Center Configuration Manager 2007 deliver unprecedented capabilities which enable quicker and flexible scenarios for planning and deploying Vista and Office 2007. Learn how to take advantage of key new features in both SMS 2003 SP3 and CM 2007 to assist in your upcoming Vista and deployments. Learn SMS 2003 Product Overview Datasheet Feature Packs Overview Datasheet for SMS 2003 Asset Management with SMS 2003 Datasheet Security Patch Management with SMS 2003 Datasheet See Video recorded session and presentation – coming soon! Try Download System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Beta 2 Today Announcing SMS 2003 Service Pack 3 Open Beta

Unified Management for Midsized Businesses: A Technical Overview of System Center Essentials 2007 David Mills, Senior Product Manager Get an introduction to Essentials 2007, a new management solution in the System Center family of IT systems management products specifically designed for midsized businesses. Essentials 2007 provides a unified management solution that enables IT professionals in midsize organizations to proactively manage their IT environment with increased efficiency. Learn Download and read the Essentials 2007 Overview white paper SCE: Frequently Asked Questions Feature Packs Overview Datasheet for SMS 2003 See Video recorded session and presentation – coming soon! Try Coming soon!

Data Backup and Recovery for SQL, Exchange, and other Windows data: A Technical Overview of System Center Data Protection Manager Jason Buffington Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007, currently in public beta, sets a new standard for Windows backup and recovery—delivering continuous data protection for Microsoft application and file servers. DPM enables rapid and reliable recovery through advanced technology for enterprises of all sizes. In this session, learn how to protect your key information assets including SQL, Exchange, and other Windows data sources. Learn System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 Protects Exchange Server Datasheet System Center Data Protection Manager 2007 Protects SQL Server Datasheet System Center Data Protection Manager 2006 and 2007 Beta Datasheet Protecting Exchange Server with DPM 2007 White Paper Protecting SQL Server with DPM 2007 White Paper Data Protection Manager Technical Overview" See Video recorded session and presentation – coming soon! Try Download the System Center Data Protection Manager Beta 2

 

 

 

The next version of SQL server is comming. sorry the text below is in german.

The basics are who wants to be in the TAP program this is starting in juni 2007.

You Can email :

Nominierungsprozess:

• Firmenname und Szenario
• Primärer Kundenkontakt

What's next nach der Nominierung?

1. Einladung der nominierten Kunden und Überblick über Katmai TAP Programm via LiveMeeting (keine Katmai Feature Diskussion).
2. Follow Up mit den nominierten Kunden – Nominierungsformular, Zusammenfassung der Informationen des SQL Einsatzbereichs/Szenarios.
3. Das Katmai TAP Customer Selection Committee evaluiert jedes nominierte Szenario und erstellt eine finale Einladungsliste.
4. Die nominierten Kunden werden in der ersten Juniwoche über die finale Einladungsliste informiert.
5. Das Katmai TAP Programm startet offiziell im Juni.

Nominierungen für den Midmarket Bereich bitte an mich schicken.

Andreas.Hack@microsoft.com

 

 

Gesucht: TAP Kunden für SQL-Server Codename "Katmai"

Wir suchen SQL-Server Kunden mit Interesse/Bedürfnissen, die nächste SQL-Server Version "Katmai" frühzeitig zu testen und produktiv vor dem allgmeinen Release einzusetzen.

Katmai ist der Codename für die nächste Version von SQL-Server, welche in Kombination mit der nächsten Version von Windows Server Codename "Longhorn" erscheinen wird. Die Katmai Technology Adoption Program (TAP) Kunden Nomination ist per sofort bis und mit 1. Juni 2007 offen. Das Katmai TAP Programm beginnt offiziell im Juni 07. Die finale Liste der Katmai TAP Kunden wird über ein Kommitee ausgewählt. Die Entscheidungs Basis zur Wahl ist das Kunden SQL Profil.

Wie können Sie sich anmelden? -- kontaktieren Sie mich via mailto:marcel.truempy@microsoft.com oder melden Sie sich an Ihren entsprechenden Account Manager.

Wie immer ermöglichen solche TAP Programme das Verwenden von ganz neuer Technologie, wie
·         Insider informationen über Katmai
·         Support von Katmai pre-release issues
·         Mehrere early builds von Katmai inkl. Support
·         SQL Dev support on early deployment of pre-released Katmai to ensure your application works with the new product
·         Priority bug fixes für Produktions Issues

Das TAP beinhaltet aber auch Verpflichtungen von seiten des Kuden, wie bi-weekly TAP meetings (1 Stunde max) und bi-weekly Status Report (5-10 Minuten). Weiter ist neben dem Testing auch ein Einsatz (Pre-Release!!) in der Produktion (!) erforderlich inkl. feedback (Bugs, DCRs, etc.). TAP Kunden müssen einen Premier Support Vertrag mit Microsoft besitzen.

Gibt es schon heute offizielle Informationen über Katmai? -- Nein, diese Informationen sind noch vertraulich und werden ausschliesslich and die Teilnehmer des TAP Programmes gegeben (in der Startphase).

Für allgemeines Interesse wird zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt ein Katmai Pre-Release für alle über www.microsoft.com/downloads ermöglicht. Die public Pre-Releases von Katmai sind ausschliesslich für Testing/Dev Umfeld erlaubt (Bestandteil der Lizenzbedingung). Nur offizielle Katmai TAP Kunden haben eine spezielle TAP Lizenz, welche die vollständige Unterstützung/Support für Produktionsumgebungen ermöglicht.

System Center Operations Manager 2007 Webcasts

 

  

Quick Details

File Name:	OM2007_WebCasts_Version1.zip
Version:	1.0
Date Published:	4/8/2007
Language:	English
Download Size:	185.6 MB

 

Overview

Microsoft’s System Center Solutions Deliver on the Dynamic Systems Initiative

Source : http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/mar07/03-27SCSDSIPR.mspx

 

Microsoft’s System Center Solutions Deliver on the Dynamic Systems Initiative

System Center Operations Manager 2007, new industry alliances, SML interoperability standard highlighted at Microsoft Management Summit 2007.

SAN DIEGO — March 27, 2007 — At the Microsoft Management Summit 2007 (MMS 2007) today, Bob Muglia, senior vice president of Server and Tools Business at Microsoft Corp., outlined how Microsoft is delivering on its Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI) through investments and partnerships that advance the Microsoft^® System Center family of management solutions. In his keynote address to an audience of 3,000 IT professionals, business decision-makers and partners, Muglia demonstrated several of the solutions Microsoft is delivering to help customers more effectively manage their IT environments and outlined how these solutions fit into the company’s long-term vision to help IT departments evolve from organizational cost centers to strategic business assets. With the availability of Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007, Microsoft is making it easier for customers to extend and integrate IT event and performance monitoring to help improve service levels across an IT environment. After announcing the availability of System Center Operations Manager 2007, Muglia was joined onstage by Howard Elias, executive vice president of the Global Services and Resource Management Software Group at EMC Corporation. Together they unveiled a strategic technology licensing agreement and broader industry collaboration that will accelerate Microsoft’s ability to add network management capability to Operations Manager 2007 and broaden the impact of DSI in the industry. Cisco Systems Inc., Microsoft and EMC conveyed their collective commitment to creating common models for infrastructure management.

“At this event last year I described our Dynamic Systems vision; today, with the release of System Center Operations Manager 2007 and these industry partner announcements, we are able to show how we are delivering on that vision,” Muglia said. “The products we are releasing and those in the pipeline, together with the collaboration with our industry partners, will yield tremendous value for our customers in terms of management efficiency and agility.”

End-to-End Service Management With Operations Manager 2007

As a key deliverable on the company’s DSI road map, Operations Manager 2007 is an end-to-end service management solution that works seamlessly across Microsoft software and its custom line-of-business applications to deliver intelligent monitoring and reporting. With Operations Manager 2007, customers can easily identify and resolve issues, accelerate problem resolution, scale management responsibility across their infrastructure and organization, and automate routine administration to improve service levels, increase efficiencies, and achieve greater control of the IT environment.

“We are using System Center Operations Manager 2007 for service-level monitoring to understand how our services are performing and identify the bottlenecks. Operations Manager 2007 helped us pinpoint problems immediately and achieve faster time to resolution on the problems that do arise,” said Rodney Orange, supervisor of the Wintel Server Engineering team at Carnival Fun Ships. “As a result, Carnival gains a truer picture of service status, enabling us to make adjustments and address problems more quickly.”

With close to 20,000 early adopters around the world, Operations Manager 2007 leverages Microsoft and customer knowledge to proactively monitor applications, infrastructure and end-user perspectives to provide a holistic service monitoring solution. New client monitoring capabilities leverage a deep knowledge of Microsoft client operating systems and applications, including Windows^® XP, Windows Vista™, Microsoft Office 2003 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system, to support proactive problem management and troubleshooting. The audit collection services feature of Operations Manager 2007 enables customers to gather security event log data from Windows systems for forensic reporting and compliance auditing. To complement the broad set of monitoring capability offered, Operations Manager 2007 also includes rich new reports and an easy-to-customize reporting environment to bring additional insight to troubleshooting and planning. Operations Manager 2007 will be generally available April 1.

Collaborating With EMC to Provide Network-Aware Service Management

As a natural extension of the deep relationship between Microsoft and EMC, Muglia and Elias announced both a technology licensing agreement and a broader technology collaboration relationship, which will result in the combination of two of the leading solutions for network and systems management to deliver true network-aware service management for customers. As part of this agreement, Microsoft will be licensing the EMC Smarts network discovery and health monitoring technology to be integrated into a future version of Operations Manager, and EMC will be developing and delivering value-added network management and root-cause analysis solutions for Operations Manager. EMC and Microsoft are also co-developing a new cross-domain behavioral model within the context of Operations Manager that will help customers pinpoint the root cause of service-affecting problems.

Delivering Knowledge-Driven Management

At MMS 2007, Microsoft will highlight progress made on its commitment to delivering a highly integrated, modular family of systems management solutions including the spring release to manufacturing (RTM) of Systems Management Server Service Pack 3 with AssetMetrix; the public availability of Data Protection Manager v2 Beta 2 within 45 days and the first public beta of Microsoft System Center Service Manager offering (formerly code named “Service Desk”) available in 30 days; the public availability of the Beta 2 release of Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager within 45 days; and the recent release of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Beta 2 this past February. Microsoft also announced plans to build and ship an add-on that will support the 2007 Intel vPro with Intel AMT technology (code-named “Weybridge”) after the RTM of System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (SMS V4). This ensures that customers that implement and use Intel AMT and Systems Management Server 2003 are fully supported when they move to System Center Configuration Manager 2007.

Industry Collaboration on Standards and Interoperability

As organizations look to reduce maintenance costs and increase flexibility for growth, Microsoft is committed to helping customers move to dynamic infrastructures by building industry partnerships that drive better collaboration around standards and tighter interoperability between technologies.

Highlighted at the event was the recent announcement Microsoft made with industry partners that the Service Modeling Language (SML) specification has been submitted for review as an industrywide standard (http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/mar07/03-22W3CSMLPR.mspx). Based on the Microsoft System Definition Model, the submitted standard

SML is planned for inclusion across System Center to allow for the management of software and hardware that the industry is developing as well as the management of Windows systems.

Collaboration among the industry leaders was underscored when Charlie Giancarlo, chief development officer at Cisco, joined Muglia and Elias via video to jointly announce a three-way collaboration to create a set of infrastructure common models that will combine the expertise and strengths of the three companies. The goal is to help customers take advantage of SML to reduce complexity and simplify management of IT infrastructure-related tasks and resources.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.mspx.

Microsoft and EMC Unveil Systems and Network Management Technology Licensing and Collaboration Agreement

Source : http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/mar07/03-27EMCPR.mspx

 

Combines market’s premier solutions for behavior-aware network and systems management for delivery of network-aware, end-to-end service management.

HOPKINTON, Mass. — March 27, 2007 — EMC Corp. (NYSE:EMC), the world leader in information infrastructure solutions, and Microsoft Corp. today announced a network management technology licensing agreement and a broader technology collaboration — combining the market’s leading solutions for network and systems management for delivery of network-aware, end-to-end service management. The two companies unveiled the alliance, today at the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2007 in San Diego, Calif.

Key to the announcement, Microsoft is licensing EMC^® Smarts^® network discovery and health monitoring technology to be included in a future version of Microsoft^® System Center Operations Manager, the company’s award-winning solution for end-to-end service monitoring in the enterprise IT environment. Additionally, EMC is also developing value-added network management and root-cause analysis management packs to be used in conjunction with both current and future versions of System Center Operations Manager.

Delivering against the initial phase of this agreement, EMC today is announcing the EMC Smarts Connector for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007. This two-way connector enables Smarts to share network discovery, topology and root-cause events with Operations Manager and for Operations Manager to synchronize alert status and resolution back to EMC Smarts technology — thus allowing customers to leverage the benefits of a closely integrated network and systems management suite for service availability today. The connector will be generally available in May 2007.

“System Center Operations Manager gives customers an integrated, end-to-end service management solution that helps increase efficiency and allows for greater control of the IT environment,” said Bob Muglia, senior vice president of the Server and Tools Business at Microsoft. “By integrating EMC’s market-leading network management technology into Operations Manager and collaborating with EMC to develop a new cross-domain behavioral model that will enhance our management pack schema, we are able to give customers a true network-aware service management solution and improve operations management across disparate devices and systems to help pinpoint the root cause of service-affecting problems.”

Taking the agreement one step further, EMC and Microsoft are collaborating on the
co-development of a cross-domain behavioral model in the context of Operations Manager to improve IT operations management across disparate devices and systems. The companies are committed to driving industry standards which enhance interoperability and simplify management in today’s complex information infrastructures. Leveraging these co-developed models, Operations Manager customers will be able to determine the root cause of service issues across the modeled infrastructure. Additionally, the large ecosystem of Operations Manager partners can add to these models to broaden visibility and control to new devices, services, and applications resulting in lower management costs and reduced complexity.

“The only way to achieve end-to-end service visibility and control across today’s complex information infrastructure is to model and manage the behaviors among components, with a cross-domain model that focuses on elements and how they interact with one another,” said EMC’s Howard Elias, executive vice president, Global Services and Resource Management Software Group. “EMC’s rich history in model-based management and root-cause analysis make it the perfect complement to Microsoft System Center — bringing behavior-aware service integrity to Operations Manager 2007. Together, EMC and Microsoft represent the next wave in model-based management, focused on returning behavioral line of sight to IT operations.”

The EMC and Microsoft collaboration consists of the leading solutions for network and systems management and combines the advanced correlation and root cause capabilities of EMC with the ease-of-use, partner ecosystem, and market reach of Microsoft.

“Today’s enterprises are in need of solutions that offer modular capabilities that combine effective discovery and analytics with domain depth in support of service management across servers, applications, Web services, and the network. The problem is, for the most part, that modular, flexible and deployable solutions that answer critical service management needs are rare in contrast with more rigid platform architectures that require lengthy and painful deployments,” said Dennis Drogseth, vice president, Enterprise Management Associates. “By committing to broad-based technology collaboration, EMC and Microsoft are paving the way for customers to optimize real bench depth in systems, network, and storage and application management capabilities in support of strategic service management.”

About EMC

EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) is the world’s leading developer and provider of information infrastructure technology and solutions that enable organizations of all sizes to transform the way they compete and create value from their information. Information about EMC’s products and services can be found at www.EMC.com.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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Just today the System Center Operation Manager opened this news groups to the public.

 

go to msnews.microsoft.com

 

microsoft.public.opsmgr.**

 

Cu there.

The System Center Essentials team is very pleased to announce the
availability of the Release Candidate 1 software on the Microsoft
Connect site. We encourage you to promptly download and start testing
this exciting release of SCE!

To Download:

*        Go to http://connect.microsoft.com/SystemCenter
*        Click Sign in and using the Live ID you used to register for SCE
Beta sign in
*        Click the System Center Operations and Service Management
<https://connect.microsoft.com/SystemCenter> link under "My
Participation"
*        Read the announcements and then click "Downloads" to access
downloads

What's New in Essentials RC1?

Capabilities:

*        Support for upgrading from WSUS 2.0 and 3.0
*        Emailed Daily Health Report
*        Automatic scheduled discovery of computers from Active Directory
*        Enhanced network monitoring of SNMP-enabled network devices
including a network topology diagram view
*        Remote Control support for remote control of managed client and
server computers
*        Ability to import Update catalogs from third-party software
publishers
*        SQL Services based reporting on monitoring, hardware and
software inventory
*        Setup experience improvements for SQL Server selection and file
locations
*        More management packs including support for Exchange 2003,
Dynamics CRM 3.0, and Active Directory

Enhanced Platform support

*        non-English US locales
*        installing Essentials on x64 servers
*        managing Windows Vista
*        managing x64 systems
*        Support for managing systems in multiple domains in a single
forest


Notes for RC1:

*        There is no upgrade from Beta 2 to RC1. You must fully uninstall
Beta 2 before your deploy RC1. We have documented complete UNINSTALL
steps in the Scenario guide and also as an announcement on the Connect
site.
*        Be sure to read the Release Notes to avoid any known issues.
*        Please read the Deployment Guide and Scenario document to get
the most out of this release.

Managed Services Program:

If your organization provides managed IT services for other mid-market
companies and you would like to use SCE to help manage your customers
please sign up for our Managed Services Solution program.
<https://connect.microsoft.com/programdetails.aspx?ProgramDetailsID=819>
This will provide you with additional resources that enable this
capability.

We look forward to seeing your feedback on this release in our
Newsgroups!

Thank you, the System Center Essentials Team.

System Center Capacity Planner 2007

During the System Center Capacity Planner session on the System Center Airlift, Fergus Stewart disclosed some information on the next release, version 2007. You can expect the following changes:

Support for Exhange 2007
- New server roles and Clustering

Support for Operations Manager 2007
- Audit Collection Services
- Trusted & untrusted agents and Gateway servers
- Backup servers for Ops DB, Root Mgmt Server and Datawarehouse

Support for 64-bit hardware

Support for background load
- Including antivirus and antispam

Enhanced pre-deployment wizard
- Changes based on customer and MS services feedback
- More granular: different branch configurations
- Role based: hardware presence

The first beta version will be available during the Microsoft Management Summit in March and RTM is slated for May 2007. There was one slide about the release following 2007. There are three key new features that will be introduced; Operations Manager 2007 R2 "live" integration, Trending & Forecasting and Models for SQL, IIS and ASP.NET.