Microsoft Management Summit 2002: Valentine Unveils the Future Of Managing the Microsoft Platform

LAS VEGAS, May 3, 2002 — Today at the first Microsoft Management Summit, Brian Valentine, senior vice president for the Windows®
Division at Microsoft Corp., revealed the company’s vision for the future of management solutions: the Server Manager project and the Client Manager project.

“With today’s growing enterprise environments, customers demand a solution that enables effective management of everything from the data center to the desktop to devices,” Valentine said in his closing keynote address. “As we move into a Microsoft®
.NET world of Web services, customers require advanced service management and scenarios that map to business needs. The next generation of management solutions from Microsoft will deliver leadership and vision in this critical area for customers.”

Building on the core functionality of Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2000, Systems Management Server 2.0 and Application Center 2000, the Server Manager project will provide a suite of scenarios focused on providing IT professionals with an end-to-end solution to manage servers and applications, including the ability to manage distributed services both inside and outside the company firewall.

The Client Manager project will provide a suite of scenarios that delivers an increased level of management to all types of Windows-based clients, digitizing key IT processes and measuring their business impact, allowing changes to be administered more easily and safely across all computing devices in an enterprise. This technology builds on the forthcoming Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 change and configuration management solution for Windows. Announced earlier this week at the Microsoft Management Summit, Systems Management Server 2003, formerly code-named “Topaz,” will make it easier to manage mobile users along with traditional desktops, will integrate more tightly with the Windows 2000 Active Directory®
service and will provide support for non-PC Windows-based devices such as Windows Powered Pocket PC software. The beta version of Systems Management Server 2003 is expected to be available this summer.

“On the road to delivering the best managed platform, Systems Management Server 2003 is the next milestone,” Valentine said. “As customers move toward highly distributed Web-oriented applications, the success of their business will be dependent on the overall performance of end-to-end business-critical services. It’s not enough to manage the isolated elements that comprise a distributed application; customers need to be able to manage the entire application, in the context of the environment and the business function it delivers. With the Server Manager project and the Client Manager project, Microsoft is building on core components of Windows and .NET, developing solutions for customers of all sizes, and collaborating to offer extensible solutions for the enterprise — with the overall objective of helping customers better manage their business.”

As a first step to providing scenario-based solutions, Microsoft will deliver a series of service offerings providing both product and prescriptive content starting late this summer. These offerings will be based on the Microsoft Operations Framework and will focus on the most common customer scenarios, including patch distribution and server monitoring and the ability to document best practices using current products.

“Enterprises depend on information technology to provide support for mission-critical business initiatives. This is not a simple task, as today’s IT organizations face considerable issues such as growing infrastructure complexity, skills limitations and shortage of funding,” said Cameron Haight, research director of Network and Systems Management at Gartner Inc. “Customers should look to vendors that can provide management solutions that address today’s challenges while positioning them to be able to support future business requirements.”

About Microsoft Management Summit

Formerly called the Systems Management Server and Windows 2000 User Conference, MMS is intended for information technology professionals who want to find out how to better manage their Windows operating system environments. Microsoft is sponsoring the event in close affiliation with Altiris Inc. and NetIQ Corp., and with support from myITforum.com and Compaq Computer Corp.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software — any time, any place and on any device.

Microsoft, Windows and Active Directory are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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