COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Nov. 11, 2003 — Today at Microsoft
® IT Forum 2003 in Copenhagen, Microsoft Corp. launched Systems Management Server 2003, its change and configuration management solution for the Microsoft Windows®
operating system. Systems Management Server 2003 delivers critical patch deployment, application deployment and asset management capabilities for enterprise customers. The release is a key piece of the company’s Dynamic Systems Initiative, a Microsoft and industry effort to dramatically simplify and automate how businesses design, deploy and operate distributed systems.
“After successfully helping early adopters manage 250,000 devices at more than 60 sites worldwide, Systems Management Server 2003 is now available for customers across the globe,” said Kirill Tatarinov, corporate vice president of the Enterprise Management Division at Microsoft. “Customers can begin to experience the same cost savings, seamless upgrades and substantial improvements in software distribution, reporting, scalability and performance that have marked the product’s early adopter and beta testing phases.”
Early Adopter Successes
Companies such as SAP America Inc. and Marathon Oil Co. have already achieved great results as early adopters of Systems Management Server 2003.
SAP America deployed Systems Management Server 2003 as a way to improve remote management for mobile users, inventory hardware and software, and provide an easier and more secure way to distribute software and security updates. The company now uses Systems Management Server 2003 to manage a total of 7,000 workstations and mobile clients across Canada, the United States and Latin America, and has reduced the time it takes to deploy large software packages from weeks to hours.
“With Systems Management Server 2003, we can get software in place for download in about an hour, and the product’s tracking features tell us automatically where we need to follow up,” said Jeffrey Gordon, technical support consultant at SAP America. “In addition, integration with the Active Directory®
service and Web reporting in Systems Management Server 2003 will make it much easier to manage our global inventory of hardware and software.”
Marathon Oil, a $30 billion organization with more than 30,000 employees worldwide, implemented Systems Management Server 2003 to help manage more than 10,000 PCs, improve asset management and reduce operational costs. The company was able to perform the upgrade to Systems Management Server 2003 with no changes to existing infrastructure, and recognized an immediate benefit when the new system identified 300 desktop machines that were not functioning properly.
“Right away, Systems Management Server 2003 found 300 broken clients that weren’t upgrading software or running patches,” said Michael Niehaus, information technology consultant at Marathon Oil. “And in deploying new machines, we’ve gone from 24 hours of downtime to eight hours. What’s more, we didn’t have to redesign anything to realize these benefits — we’re simply taking advantage of the built-in features and functionality of Systems Management Server 2003.”
Industry Partners Extend Systems Management Server 2003
In conjunction with today’s launch, several industry partners announced solutions for Systems Management Server 2003, demonstrating the ongoing commitment of Microsoft and its partners to addressing the management challenge for enterprise customers by providing interoperable support for heterogeneous platforms, applications and devices. Industry partners include 1E, Avanade Inc., Dell, Intrinsic Technologies LLC, PS’SOFT, Vintela Inc. and XcelleNet Inc.
“SMS 2003 tightly integrated with Dell’s server management update tools helps our customers to simplify operations and reduce operational costs for updating servers, applications and operating systems using one tool,” said Linda York, vice president of Worldwide Marketing in Dell’s Product Group. “Microsoft and Dell have a unique opportunity to raise the bar on integration to help create scalable enterprise computing environments that are both cost-effective and easy to manage.”
Pricing and Availability
Estimated retail pricing for Systems Management Server 2003 with 10 device client access licenses is $1,219 (U.S.). With Systems Management Server 2003, customers no longer need to acquire separate Systems Management Server licenses for Systems Management Server secondary site servers. Customers can currently download a 120-day evaluation copy of Systems Management Server 2003. More information on Microsoft Systems Management Server can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/smserver/ .
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.
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Systems Management Server 2003 — Partner Quote Sheet
“By combining SMS 2003 with the 1E SMS toolkit, we are able to automate processes and reduce the time it takes to apply security patches, implement new software technologies and even upgrade desktops at low cost. Our desktop migration solution, for example, reduces an estimated effort of seven hours to a few mouse clicks. It is for this reason that we are very proud to be associated with the launch of SMS 2003 and a step further toward providing corporate United Kingdom with a straightforward, cost-effective means of managing companywide software installation and management.”
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Sumir Karayi
Managing Director, 1E
“Prior to implementing SMS 2003, applying security patches involved putting many IT projects on hold while we gathered the majority of our technical staff into ‘war rooms’ to organize a plan and frantically patch our production servers. The implementation of SMS 2003 and the development of patch management processes leveraging the MOF framework helped us dramatically reduce risk by shortening the amount of time it takes to move these critical patches into production.”
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Sean Jazayeri
CIO, Avanade
“Intrinsic Technologies serves as a bridge between Microsoft SMS 2003 and clients who need expert design and deployment experience to rapidly install SMS 2003 across their secured Windows environment — to both a mobile and static work force — while reducing software and operational costs. Intrinsic Technologies’ SMS 2003 expertise is built on extensive development and testing efforts working shoulder to shoulder with both clients and Microsoft before this product was even launched.”
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Jason Liu
CEO, Intrinsic Technologies LLC
“With today’s announcement PS’SOFT and Microsoft now provide one of the most comprehensive desktop management suites available. We have taken SMS, the industry’s leading discovery and software distribution system, and transformed it into a comprehensive IT asset, license compliance and integrated help desk management system.”
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Michael Carabetta
Managing Director and CEO, PS’SOFT Inc.
“SMS 2003 takes enterprise-class management of Windows systems to a new level of quality. Vintela has won awards at consecutive Linuxworld events for its tools for managing Linux and UNIX. The joint project to integrate SMS and VMX will give customers a single solution with best-of-class specialization across UNIX and Windows. We are very excited to be partnering with Microsoft in this industry significant event.”
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David Wilson
President, Vintela Inc.
“SMS 2003 represents a major step forward in enterprise systems management. Building on the robust capabilities of SMS 2003, XcelleNet significantly expands the range of frontline devices that can be managed through the SMS console, and extends the functionality available to all SMS users to include security, process automation, and data and content management. XcelleNet’s Afaria SMS Integration Suite delivers frontline management capabilities to enterprises that have standardized on SMS, enabling them to better serve their customers, fully engage their frontline workers, see what is really going on at the front lines of their business, and drive key business initiatives.”
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Joan Herbig
CEO, XcelleNet Inc.
