SCCM : State of the union @ MMS-2010
Let me start by saying that it has been a great State of the union , and for those of you that didn't make it this year, that they are working in the Systems Center Configuration Manager Space. Make sure you are here next year, because you are missing out on a lot of great stuff with Josh Pointer & Bill Anderson.
I was really surprised when they showed this slide . They even called me on stage ! I was really touched …( read the real story at http://scug.be/blogs/sccm/archive/2010/04/19/mms-2010-the-road-trip-continued-we-have-made-it-but.aspx )
But now , lets continue with the serious stuff . I will try to give you a good overview of what has been said during the “State of the Union” below. There was a lot of valuable info today.
What the ConfigMgr team did the previous 12 months for people who really didn’t know yet :
- They released ConfigMgr 2007 SP2 ,
- They released the ConfigMgr dashboards
- They released the new Application Compatibillity Toolkit 5.5
- They released a 64 bit management pack for SCOM
- They released SCAP
- The documentation team created some :
What the ConfigMgr team additionally learned :
- 1/3 of the total ConfigMgr traffic on the Asset Intelligence service had an uptake in the last 3 months
- With recent uptake on AI, the ConfigMgr team learned that there are new gaps in title and categorization that they need to invest into.
What the ConfigMgr team will do in the next 12 months :
For ConfigMgr 2007 :
- The documentation team will :
- Targeted for 2010 there will be releases for adobe patch management thru SCUP ( system center update publisher ).There is an agreed principle that Adobe will be ready at least before the end of this year for Adobe Reader and Acrobat products:
- Supporting Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)
- Leveraging Microsoft System Center Updates Publisher (SCUP)
- Hosted as catalogs at Adobe for automatic download by SCUP
- Products: Adobe Reader and Acrobat (Versions still being determined)
- All updates – Quarterly and Out-of-Cycle Updates (New major versions under consideration)
- Simultaneous with the rest of Adobe Reader and Acrobat deliverables
- Shavlik has released a new plugin for SCUP called SCUPdates ( multivendor ) . (see www.shavlik.com) . Shavlik Data Team maintains updates for multiple vendor products such as Adobe, Apple, Citrix - in a single catalog file.
- Config Mgr R3 : Yes , it still isn’t off the radar.
For ConfigMgr V.next :
Let me start by saying that SCCM v.Next is still minimum 1 year away, so I will start with the stuff that is more or less targeted for release dates (however it can always change). They said during the “State of the union” that the development cycles are longer then the ones for SMS 2.0
- Beta 1 – May 2010
- Beta 2 – Q1 CY 2011
- RTM – H2 CY 2011
Here are some readiness tips for V.next :
- System Requirements :
- Site servers and site roles require 64-bit OS (distribution points are an exception)
- Distribution points are an exception (32 bit is supported for standard DP’s)
- SQL 2008 SP1 with CU6 (64 bit) needed
- SQL reporting is the only reporting left (web based reporting is gone)
- Hierarchy :
- Flatten the Configmgr 2007 hierarchy
- Start implementing branch cache
- Start learning about SQL replication
- Best practices - AD Sites for site boundaries, UNC paths for source content, Break up collections that contain both users and devices
- The new ConfigMgr V.next App Model Helpers :
- State based applications needs certain detection methods. Tip: Use App CI’s today for your applications to learn about this. SCUP is also a good tool for this
- Rules vs Queries . Tip: Use DCM today to learn how to author settings and rules as experience will be the same.
What about the partnership with Citrix ?
Configmgr/Xenapp Relationship :
- Long term collaboration on user centric architecture and experiences
- Integration that drives core product designs of both ConfigMgr and XenApp
- Logical next step in 20+ year MS/Citrix relationship
Xenapp Connector for Configmgr :
- Offer a single, integrated view and management of all enterprise applications
- Extend ConfigMgr applications to a broader set of users, devices and access scenarios
- Advanced automation with ConfigMgr delivers applications and updates to XenApp servers without impacting users
- Citrix Dazzle enables self service access to XenApp delivered applications from any device
- Available in June 2010 ( could still change )
Configmgr V.next & Xenapp V.next :
- Citrix XenApp & ConfigMgr V.next will align on user centric computing vision
- Citrix will build upon ConfigMgr V.Next as a best practice for enterprise application management
- Citrix will continue to integrate XenApp application delivery into future versions of ConfigMgr v.next
We will talk soon about it when we have our “Best of MMS” session in Belgium, Make sure that you register on the following link ; http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-be/ff628215.aspx
Hope it helped ,
Kenny Buntinx