Third Parties Enhance Microsoft's Systems Management Efforts

Microsoft has made significant headway toward its goal—announced more than a year ago at the Microsoft Management Summit 2003—to make Windows the best-managed platform with the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO). The company's recent accomplishments in the systems management arena include its 2004 announcements of Microsoft System Center 2005 and Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005, its 2003 launch and 2004 delivery of Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003, and important enhancements to MOM. Microsoft is not only committed to providing its own enterprise systems management tools but seeks to accommodate both complementary systems management tools from third-party vendors and larger framework-type network and systems management (NSM) tools from the so-called "big four" NSM vendors: BMC Software, Computer Associates (CA), HP, and IBM.

The burgeoning Windows systems and applications management market comprises many products and vendors. To guide you through the product offerings, let's start with a rundown of Microsoft's enterprise systems management strategy, explore enterprise NSM products from the big four, move on to third-party tools that enhance the functionality of Windows, and finish with a look at niche products that target specific systems management areas, such as Microsoft Exchange Server or the Internet.

Microsoft's Management Roadmap
In the past year, Microsoft has launched several initiatives to improve Windows server management. The first of Microsoft's major systems management actions occurred in March 2003, when Microsoft introduced the Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI) to enhance Windows and deliver solutions to simplify and automate design, deployment, and management of distributed systems. The goal of DSI is to decentralize management and eventually realize self-managing platforms and applications whose built-in logic automatically responds to problems by taking appropriate corrective actions. Although Microsoft admits the movement toward self-managing platforms will take time to gather momentum, DSI is a step in the right direction.

Also in March 2003, Microsoft unveiled its plans for System Center, a solution for managing configuration and operations for a wide spectrum of enterprise applications and platforms. System Center builds on DSI. At the Microsoft Management Summit 2004 in March, the company announced the delivery of System Center 2005, which includes MOM 2005, SMS 2003, and a new component called System Center Reporting Server, an integrated data repository and reporting service. Microsoft's long-term plan for System Center is to evolve it into an integrated solution that conforms to and reinforces DSI. Microsoft announced an additional product, MOM 2005 Express, a version of MOM geared toward smaller environments or subgroups of servers dedicated to specific applications in large environments. (For more information about Microsoft's recent systems management announcements, see "Microsoft Hones Management Initiative with New Products," InstantDoc ID 42062.)

MOM 2005 includes management packs, which are system-monitoring products that work with specific Microsoft applications, such as the Exchange Server 2003 and Active Directory (AD) Management Packs. MOM 2005 also includes the MOM Connector Framework (MCF), which is geared toward enterprise customers who maintain medium-to-large heterogeneous environments. MCF connects MOM to third-party management platforms, allowing bidirectional alert forwarding and synchronization of alert status conditions between MCF-connected management tools.

Finally, in 2003 Microsoft introduced the System Definition Model (SDM), an XML-based blueprint that creates definitions for distributed systems. A distributed system is a set of resources (hardware, software, or both) that work together to perform a common function. The SDM defines system resources as objects, making such grouped objects easier to manage than discrete objects whose relationship to the entire system might not be clear. Microsoft intends its new systems management technologies and initiatives to bolster its current management features, which include core OS components such as Group Policy, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI), Windows Script Host (WSH), and Windows Terminal Services.

While Microsoft makes grand plans around SMS and MOM, the company's Application Center product, which manages high-availability Web applications running on Windows 2000 Server, appears to have only about 4 years of life left. As Microsoft rolls Application Center's capabilities into the server OS and Microsoft applications, Application Center fades from Microsoft's management portfolio. However, Microsoft will integrate Application Center capabilities, such as cluster management and distributed application deployment and monitoring, entirely into the next version of Windows Server (code-named Blackcomb) and other associated technologies, such as the Windows .NET Framework and Visual Studio (VS).

The Big Four NSM Vendors
The big four NSM vendors have years of experience in managing complex environments. These vendors set industry standards for interoperability among NSM products. One of the main strengths of the big four is that their products' management components are integrated, which gives them an advantage in managing heterogeneous environments. The big four offer NSM solutions that span many platforms and technologies and are scalable for true enterprise applications—using these vendors' products to manage tens of thousands of heterogeneous nodes isn't out of the ordinary. Such enterprise-level products are understandably more complex and expensive to deploy and manage than smaller, more tightly focused products. However, the big four NSM vendors are working to make their products easier to set up and run through enhancements such as smarter management modules, more intuitive GUIs, and features that correlate system events to business services.

Nevertheless, deploying a comprehensive enterprise management solution is a complicated, time-consuming process that typically requires the help of a consultant. HP and IBM hold a slight advantage for large implementations because they have internal consulting groups to assist with customer installations. CA and BMC Software use external systems integrators to help customers with their implementations.

Achieving interoperability by adhering to systems management standards continues to be imperative for the big four. The ultimate goal of enterprise-level NSM products is to provide one interface—a "single pane" in NSM-speak—that serves as the centralized systems management operations center. To realize the single-pane goal, a management product should have its own best-of-breed modules yet also integrate with as many lower-tier management products as possible. For example, a large company might have management products from multiple vendors, including products for managing specific applications and network infrastructures. The primary management platform lets these disparate tools function as a comprehensive management solution.

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