Operations Manager 2007 is a product established on the concept of model-based management. The abstraction of services into models is necessary to describe and act on physical entities such as routers, and logical entities such as distributed applications, using software tools.

Using models is a way to transform knowledge and experience into something that machines can operate with. In OpsMgr, service models live inside management packs. The management pack author or vendor encapsulates service health knowledge into the management pack. A solid, accurate model of an object's health lets Operations Manager present information to the operator. The models underpin both the OpsMgr 2007 application, with a workflow framework, and the OpsMgr 2007 operator, with augmented and accelerated decision making.

OpsMgr 2007 introduces an architecture that sets the foundation for a new, broader spectrum of monitoring capabilities and extensible that has ever been available before using Microsoft management technologies. Fundamental concepts within OpsMgr 2007 include service and health modeling.  

Want to know more about how OpsMgr works? The above is an excerpt from Chapter 3 of System Center Operations Manager 2007 Unleashed. You can buy the book (http://tinyurl.com/27mqnm is a link to the Amazon page). Chapter 3 in its entirety is provided as a sample chapter for download at http://sqlblog.com/blogs/sample_chapters/archive/2008/03/27/sample-chapter-system-center-operations-manager-2007-unleashed-chapter-3-looking-inside-opsmgr.aspx and http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/abstract.aspx?docid=348819.