LAS VEGAS -- Microsoft Tuesday said it plans to become a major management platform vendor to battle the likes of CA and HP and said it would extend its System Center software to encompass Linux and Unix-based machines.
The company plans to open up its annual Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) by laying out new pieces of its management platform that it says will transform a five-year-old mission to create a platform for Windows into a strategy for a cross-platform, distributed enterprise management system.
"We think we are a serious player in this game,"said Larry Orecklin, the general manager of the Windows enterprise and management division. "We want to become the systems management platform [in the enterprise].”
To build toward that goal, Microsoft plans to extend its System Center software, which includes Configuration Manager and Operations Manager, across platforms and add application management to its current infrastructure capabilities.
Microsoft plans to move across the divide using the OpenPegasus project, which is an open source implementation of the Distributed Management Task Force’s (DMTF) Common Information Model (CIM) and Web-based Enterprise Management (WBEM) standards.
The project is run by the OpenGroup, and Microsoft announced Tuesday that it is joining the steering committee of OpenPegasus.
Linux vendors Novell and Red Hat have incorporated WBEM or its derivatives into their Linux operating systems and Sun and HP have done the same with their Unix-based operating systems. Microsoft has its own implementation of WBEM called Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI).
WEBEM is a set of system management technologies, including CIM, for unifying management of distributed computing infrastructures.
At MMS, Microsoft launched into beta a set of extensions called System Center Operations Manager 2007 Cross Platform Extensions. The extensions incorporate OpenPegasus and the XML-based WS-Management protocol developed by Microsoft. The two are used to discover both physical and virtual systems on a network and monitor and manage them. The first agent-based extensions will cover HP-UX, Sun Solaris, Suse Linux Enterprise Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.
The extensions are core to a central management platform anchored by Operations Manager 2007.
Microsoft also will release for free Operations Manager 2007 Connectors, which integrate the software with HP OpenView and IBM Tivoli management platforms.
The connectors are based on the same standards as the Cross Platform Extensions, and will ship between April and June 2009 as part of Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 2.\
The beta versions of the connectors will be uni-directional, moving Operations Manger data to the HP and IBM platforms.
When the connectors are completed, they will have bi-directional functionality, according to Microsoft.
Microsoft also released a beta of Virtual Machine Manager 2008 that will support both Microsoft's forthcoming Hyper-V add-on to Windows Server 2008 and VMware’s ESX Server.
Rss FeedRss Feed
The Leader in Network Knowledge
Partner Content
Blue Stripe Software
www.bluestripe.com/
Improving Application Performance Troubleshooting
Diagnosing why an application is slow is hard, at times taking days or weeks to isolate and resolve. This paper explains the challenges involved using current management tools, provides a 'wish list' for application management and analysis, and explains the need for an application system-wide approach that monitors entire applications, not components.
Download Whitepaper
Virtual Vigilance: Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments
This paper highlights the impact of virtualization on application performance. "Managing Application Performance in Virtual Environments" states: "Best-in-Class organizations are predominately taking actions around improving visibility across both physical and virtual systems, assessing the business impact of application performance and understanding interdependencies of applications in virtualized environments."
Download Whitepaper
Application Service Requests: The Missing Link for Pragmatic ITSM
Forrester Research analyst Glenn O'Donnell and BlueStripe co-founder Vic Nyman discuss a breakthrough approach to application problem management. Learn the new approach for ITSM problem management, which provides: Rapid isolation of application slow-downs to specific components for quick problem resolution, 24/7 monitoring for proactive notification of potential issues before end users are impacted and much more.
Register for Webcast
Comments (5)
Microsoft to use open source for systems mgt pushBy Microsoft Subnet on April 29, 2008, 1:40 pmIs this an indication that the big bad wolf, who wanted to eat (and presumably spit out) open source has changed its mind? Microsoft wants to become a major systems...
Reply | Read entire comment
Microsoft: a game changer for ITIM?By Frank Strong on May 1, 2008, 2:17 pmManaged Objects' own Jim White wonders if Microsoft will be a “game changer” in the IT management space. In a blog post on this story he comments to the effect...
Reply | Read entire comment
Maybe but it's still a long wayBy tuomoks on May 1, 2008, 2:45 pmI have followed MS going to OpenPegasus (and DMTF) a while now. Yes, they have a very good group, etc for it but they don't have the resistance only from outside...
Reply | Read entire comment
Another "Me Too" Play?By Steve Henning on May 1, 2008, 7:28 pmWhile I believe that Microsoft will certainly have impact in the system management market, their announced plans are still not going to help solve the real issues...
Reply | Read entire comment
And Me TooBy tuomoks on May 1, 2008, 7:55 pmSteve, you are absolutely correct and it is partly vendor and customer problem together. As you said, it is much too common to throw more bodies against a performance...
Reply | Read entire comment
View all comments