* Microsoft lays out roadmap for management software
Microsoft recently announced at the Microsoft Management Summit its intention to expand its management offerings.
Microsoft’s Management Business Unit is now the Enterprise Management Division, which is being shepherded by Kiril Tatarinov (a system management veteran, most recently from BMC). At the core of its new management approach is Microsoft’s Dynamic Systems Initiative, a software architecture for management that centers around a System Definition Model (SDM).
The function of the upcoming XML-based SDM is to make applications operationally aware by capturing information such as operational knowledge, application characteristics, required resources and so forth within the application as it is developed. Of course, the SDM would be created in applications developed using Microsoft’s Visual Studio developer tools.
Microsoft will also deliver management capabilities through Microsoft System Center. Microsoft’s vision for the System Center is that it will be built on the Dynamic Systems Initiative architecture and will include functions such as change management, configuration management, performance trending, asset management, end-to-end application management, capacity planning, and reporting. The initial Microsoft System Center offerings are Microsoft Operations Manager 2004 (MOM 2004) and Systems Management Server 2003 (SMS 2003). For delivery next year, Microsoft intends to integrate the asset, operational and configuration data from SMS 2003 and MOM 2004 into a common console.
As you’ve probably surmised by now, the actual delivery of this vision will not be completed for several years. In fact, Microsoft estimates that the rollout will take three to five years. Microsoft is starting to roll out some functionality in the short term, in products like Windows 2003 Server, MOM 2000 Service Pack 1, and SMS 2003.
Some of the highlights of MOM 2004 are increased scalability, new Management Packs, more automation, quick deployment, state monitoring, a new operator console and more. It will also include a data warehouse to collect management information.
Microsoft is building management capabilities into its own products, but what about heterogeneous environments? According to Microsoft, its architecture is designed for heterogeneous management.
However, there are still a lot of “ifs.” First, wide adoption of SDM and Microsoft’s management architecture are essential for this to truly become viable heterogeneous management software. Secondly, since SDM is created by using Microsoft’s Visual Studio, a part of Microsoft’s .Net initiative, Microsoft must work with the industry to develop a mechanism for connecting with applications written with Java 2 Enterprise Edition. Thirdly, Microsoft needs partners to provide management offerings for other platforms. That’s likely to happen – however, the cohesiveness and completeness of Microsoft’s overall heterogeneous management offering will depend on how well Microsoft can coordinate and recruit the management offerings developed by its partners.
All we can do is wait to see how Microsoft’s management vision unfolds. I applaud Microsoft’s further commitment to better IT management. Management can be a differentiating factor for Windows and Microsoft, although competitors like IBM have already been hard at work on this task. The question remains: Can Microsoft make the leap from SMS and MOM to full-scale enterprise management? Only time will tell.
