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monitoring - Are there complete System Center Configuration Manager alternatives?

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I have been researching System Center
Configuration Manager 2007 R2 SP2 and struggling to swallow the SCCM pill. The tool
seems outdated and not well equipped for managing an environment with the latest
versions of Server 2008 R2, SQL 2008 R2, Exchange 2010, SharePoint 2010,
etc.



I need software that will help
me:




  • Deploy new
    software

  • Monitor what software is
    deployed


  • Deploy
    updates

  • Install new server and client OSes with specific
    configurations

  • Monitor drive space and be able to send
    out alerts

  • Aggregate event logs so that there is one
    central place for monitoring the health of an
    organization

  • Be configurable via
    script

  • Have a good DR plan so that all the effort poured
    into setting everything up is not at
    risk



These features line
up well with the advertised features of System Center Configuration Manager and possibly
Operations Manager as well but both of these pieces of software feel old and out of
date.




Do I have any
real alternatives in this market
space?



I have seen Nagios and
Zenoss but we are a Windows shop and adding the maintenance and management of a linux
server for this purpose is probably more work than dealing with the quirks of
SCCM.



Answer




SCCM is a tool for OS Deployment, Software
deployment, Hardware/Software Inventory, Software (primarily windows) Updates. SCCM
Definitely has some quirks, but is VERY good at it's job. What will eventually happen is
that something will click and you'll finally "Get It" and things will become much
easier. I would recommend sticking with it a bit
longer.



SCOM Solves your Operational Monitoring
need. In fact there are SCOM MPs from Microsoft (built primarily by the actual product
teams for the products they monitor) for all of the software you mentioned. />SCOM does not directly "Aggregate event logs so that there is one central place for
monitoring the health of an organization" as this is inefficient and unnecessary, you
will write rules and monitors that perform the necessary monitoring without simply
collecting everything first.



I would strongly
recommend finding a System Center User group in your area. These groups are invaluable
sources of contacts that know what they're doing in System Center and are usually happy
to help. I would also look at http://www.myITForum.com as an excellent source of System
Center information. Finally, if you can swing it, try to go to the Microsoft Management
Summit in 2012 as the single best source of System Center technical information and
training around.




If you have a
Microsoft EA, check with your TAM and see if they can get you some sort of Quick Start
deal where they'll pay for some on site consulting hours if you add SCOM licensing. You
may also already have DPS days (I think that's what they're called) included in your
contract, leverage these!


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