It's a journey, not a destination

Systems (and operations) management is a journey, not a destination. What does this mean?

First and foremost, its not something achieved at a point in time. There isn't a big "do it" button (or function key) that magically gets you at systems / operations nirvana.

Not only that, its not a matter of getting there and your job is done, its a continual process. Quality and Productivity is a combination of technology (software you buy), people (the individuals that implement and maintain that software), and the process in place from getting to point A to B to ... Z.

Systems management touches nearly every area of your IT operations, and as those operations grow in size, scope, complexity, and business impact, what is common to all phases is efficiency and automation, which are based on repeatable processes that confirm to industry best practices.

If we're looking at a Microsoft-oriented shop, how do we accomplish this? The strategy Microsoft uses incorporates a number of areas:

• Adopting a model-based management strategy (see earlier discussions on DSI, http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/22988 and http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/23336)
• Using an Infrastructure Optimization (IO) model to align IT with your business' needs
• Supporting WS-Management, a standard Web Services specification
• Integrating infrastructure and management into the operating system and server products, exposing services and interface that can be utilized by management applications
• Building management solutions on this infrastructure using tools such as Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, and other components of the System Center family
• Driving down the complexity of Windows Management by providing core management infrastructure and capabilities in the Windows Platform itself

The important thing to remember is systems management is a process, incorporating technology (tools) and people to actrive quality and productivity - without these you will not accomplish what you hope to. You need to develop a roadmap for your own organization, get signoff, and implement it using the technology, people, and process.

(For an overview of the System Center family, check out http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/21315.)

• General discussions
• LANs / WANs
• Network Management
• Software
• Configuration Manager
• operations management
• OpsMgr; ConfigMgr; Operations Manager
• System Center
• systems management