- Ten Reasons to Use Configuration Manager
- The Evolution of Systems Management
- Systems Management Defined
- Microsoft's Strategy for Service Management
- Bridging the Systems Management Gap
- Overview of Microsoft System Center
- The Value Proposition of Configuration Manager 2007
- Summary
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
The Value Proposition of Configuration Manager 2007
The value of Configuration Manager lies in these areas:
- Increasing the agility of the IT organization in service delivery to the business
- Improving the organization's ability to monitor and manage change across client systems and server infrastructure
- Reducing the cost to deliver services as well as reducing the cost of maintenance throughout the life of the service
As a tool for managing system provisioning, configuration, and security, Configuration Manager is designed as a best-of-breed systems management solution for the Windows Server platform, providing enterprise scale for distributed environments. By incorporating rich OS and software deployment functionality, along with configuration compliance monitoring, it brings simplicity and automation to previously complex tasks.
As an enterprise-grade solution, ConfigMgr provides redundancy and high availability with an open architecture—a requirement for computing enterprises that include critical infrastructure. Configuration Manager is extensible, so it can integrate with other Microsoft technologies, such as SoftGrid Application Virtualization, as well as third-party infrastructure partner solutions.
The goal for the IT manager considering ConfigMgr is to lower the cost of deploying, maintaining, and managing Windows solutions. This can include a variety of areas within IT operations, such as providing systems configuration insight to reduce time-to-resolution problem and incident management, and numerous functions within the configuration management realm, such as monitoring system configuration baselines or deployment of software updates. Its broad functionality makes Configuration Manager 2007 a key component of DSI.
Out of the box, Configuration Manager 2007 reduces manual configuration effort through integration with Active Directory, and it ensures secure communications through mutual authentication (native mode only) and encryption. Comprehensive configuration compliance and update management functionality serve to ensure that the configurations of clients connected to your network are secure and up to date.
Many of the enterprise management platforms provide an infrastructure that has the potential to do great things, and they are sold based on that promise. Frequently though, the complexity of configuration renders these products permanent shelfware that will never be implemented, resulting in wasted IT dollars and missed opportunities.
ConfigMgr introduces a shift in the complexity paradigm with a platform that can be configured by IT pros without the need for extensive professional services engagements. This instant return on investment provides a huge win when the process improvements can be introduced with only hours of effort, with little or no IT effort.