14 DAY TRIAL // Having already delivered the R2 version of ConfigMgr, Microsoft is now starting to focus on the next iteration of the management solution. According to the Redmond-based company, customers will be able to begin test driving the next version of the System Center Configuration Manager 2007 by the year’s end, with general availability planned for the first half of 2010. In this regard, the software giant shared a few details related to System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3, in order to give customers a taste of what the successor of R2 would bring to the table.
Jeff Wettlaufer, Sr. Technical Product Manager, System Center, noted that ahead of anything else, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 would be tailored to scenarios in which businesses need to increasingly do more with less. It’s no secret that one of the major factors contributing to enabling enterprises to stretch resources is power management, enforced across the IT infrastructure.
“Forrester estimates that more than 90% of firms are implementing or considering PC power management. Despite the advanced capabilities provided in Windows Vista and Windows 7, The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that no more than 10% of all enterprise PCs in use have their power management capabilities turned on today. Without centralized management power management simply doesn’t happen,” Wettlaufer noted.
System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 will come to address the need for centralized power management. Microsoft revealed that the management solution would feature the capability out of the box, but that customers will have to be running R3. But of course that R3 will not be limited to power management, as the solution will also keep up the pace with the diversification of working scenarios, new mobility requirements, and critical business demands.
“As organizations look to reduce financial costs and environmental impacts, power management is proving to be a successful approach. The payback for power management is clear – when a PC is using less power it translates directly into reduced operational costs – either directly through reduced energy consumption or from a growing number of electrical companies that offer rebates to companies that can prove enforcement of centralized power management policies. In addition, continuous PC power management pays environmental dividends measured in terms like Kwh, or CO2 emissions savings,” Wettlaufer added.
In the video embedded at the bottom of this article, Microsoft gives a sneak preview of R3’s power management capabilities. The company noted that the next version on ConfigMgr would have power management at the core of the development efforts. In this manner, Microsoft is working to ensure that Manager can contribute decisively to cut down IT operational costs, through a detail as simple as basic power management.
The company wants to ”Help the organization plan a power strategy by monitoring current power state and consumptions and reporting on machine utilization trends, current power settings and current energy consumption. Enable the Administrator to easily create, deploy and enforce specific power settings using the existing ConfigMgr infrastructure: ability to set peak and non-peak schedules; ability to remediate settings if changed; ability to opt out machines from power policy. Provide the business meaningful report formats that are relevant to Power Management,” Wettlaufer explained.
System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R3 will be available as a Beta release by the end of October 2009. Microsoft is currently targeting late Q1 2010 for the release of R3.