REDMOND, Wash., June 20, 2000 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of Service Pack 2 for Systems Management Server 2.0, which includes new support for the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 operating system and many performance improvements. In addition, Microsoft announced the results of a new study by NerveWire Inc., which found that customers using Systems Management Server 2.0 are able to reduce their support costs by an average of $1,872 per year for each managed system.
“Our customers tell us that Systems Management Server is a critical component in providing great support for all users of Windows in medium-sized and large organizations,”
said David Hamilton, lead product manager for Management Technologies at Microsoft.
“We have worked closely with customers in full production environments to help ensure that this service pack provides the services and reliability they need to maintain existing systems as well as effectively plan and deploy Windows 2000-based systems within their organizations.”
Service Pack 2 for Systems Management Server provides performance improvements including better scalability for large environments, increased accuracy of software distribution and easier client upgrades. It also extends client and server support to include Windows 2000. Companies can use Systems Management Server to help in the planning and rollout of Windows 2000-based systems. Once deployed, Systems Management Server provides the necessary services to manage all Windows-based systems as an integral part of a heterogeneous enterprise, in those environments where the Active Directory™
service is deployed and where it is not deployed. Service Pack 2 is the largest beta program to date for Systems Management Server, including 35 customers in full production environments of 2,500 to 20,000 systems.
“We have been a key part of the beta process for Systems Management Server 2.0 Service Pack 2 and have already rolled this version into our production environment,”
said Mike Hindman, manager, Windows and UNIX Systems, MidAmerican Energy Co.
“We are extremely pleased with the results. This is a major step forward for Systems Management Server. It has helped us work efficiently in a Windows 2000-based environment and significantly reduce management costs.”
NerveWire published its original study on total cost of ownership with Systems Management Server 1.2 in 1997. Since then, Microsoft has released Systems Management Server 2.0. This new study demonstrates that with the improvements Microsoft has made, customers now save an average of $1,872 per managed device each year — a 20 percent improvement over its findings for Systems Management Server 1.2. The study accounts for these additional savings through improvements in automated software distribution, which it identifies as now being significantly more accurate than manual methods, as well as better information for help desk operators, allowing them to handle more calls, faster.
“Based on our customer analysis, we are seeing average savings of $1,872 per year per PC with Systems Management Server 2.0,”
said Theo Forbath, senior strategist with NerveWire.
“These savings are substantial — much larger than those we saw for Systems Management Server 1.2 product three years ago.”
The NerveWire study,
“Investing in Desktop Management Productivity,”
can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/smsmgmt/ .
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 either registered trademarks or 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.
Note to editors : If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.
