Management Updates : Microsoft Solutions for Management

Microsoft Solutions for Management - Updates & News, March 2005

ManagementUpdates — Wed, 02 Mar 2005 17:08:00 GMT

Released: Software Updates for Dell Server Hardware Using SMS 2003 Solution Accelerator
This solution accelerator helps SMS administrators effectively and efficiently deploy software updates for Dell server hardware using Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 and the SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Dell Updates.

TechNet Webcast: Desktop Deployment Resource Planning (Level 200)
Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
David Smith, Senior Consultant, Entirenet
Many companies intend to get the most out of their IT resources, but miss the boat entirely because of weak planning. This webcast will concentrate on the all-important task of planning for desktop deployment in your organization, following best practices derived from many customer experiences. Using guidance from the Business Desktop Deployment Solution Accelerator, we will show you how to adequately plan for this important deployment.

Microsoft Solutions for Management - 12/1/04

ManagementUpdates — Mon, 06 Dec 2004 01:58:00 GMT

Now Available: Business Desktop Deployment Solution Accelerators

The Business Desktop Deployment Solution Accelerator provides tools and techniques for rapid desktop deployment for deploying Windows XP Professional with Office Professional Edition 2003 and line-of-business applications. This solution improves desktop deployment efforts by providing customers with services, tools, resources, and guidance essential to accelerating desktop deployment efforts while delivering higher quality results.

TechNet Webcast: Zero Touch Deployment (Level 200)

Thursday, December 9, 2004 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
David Smith, Senior Consultant, Entirenet.
Learn to fully automate your desktop deployment. Get guidance on using the latest versions of Microsoft Systems Management Server and Microsoft BizTalk to automate deployment and provisioning. This webcast introduces the Microsoft Business Desktop Deployment (BDD) Enterprise Edition which offers complete guidance for Zero Touch Provisioning using Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004. Zero Touch Provisioning provides a base to reliably provision enterprise or hosted commercial services and applications, resulting in reduced administrator intervention during the provisioning phase.

Microsoft Solutions for Management - 11/1/04

ManagementUpdates — Mon, 01 Nov 2004 21:45:00 GMT

Released: Patch Management Using Systems Management Server 2003 Solution Accelerator version 3.0
The Patch Management Using Systems Management Server 2003 Solution Accelerator version 3.0 focuses on the reduction of risk through identification of machines in the SMS-managed environment, as well as the SMS-unmanaged environment. It provides sample automation scripts and reporting that will assist administrators in performing the four-step patch management process of Assessing, Identifying, Evaluating and Planning, and Deploying software updates with SMS 2003. It is based on Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) and built on Systems Management Server 2003. Sample scripts for assessing patch management are provided for the following technologies:

Virtual Server 2005 and Virtual PC 2004 installations to include host and guest operating system type, Virtual Server 2005 guest state (Saved, Stopped, Running), Undoable mode (Enable/Disabled), and combination reporting, which joins host and guest sessions into a single view that enables the administrator to prepare for end-to-end patching of virtual computers.
Microsoft SQL Server™ 2000 installations running on server and desktop operating systems, SQL Server instance names, and installed operating system version.
Microsoft Office component-level details to include Suite (XP, 2000, 2003), ProductID, installation source paths, installation dates, and language versions. This is done by providing automation and guidance to customers on how to extend SMS Hardware Inventory or using SMS Software Inventory, thus complementing and extending existing SMS capabilities.
Patching products not supported by MBSA. Use SMS 2003 Software Inventory to capture information about applications that are installed but not tracked in MBSA.

Microsoft Solutions for Management - Updates & News, 10/6/04

ManagementUpdates — Thu, 07 Oct 2004 04:03:00 GMT

Service Monitoring Solution Accelerators for MOM 2005 Now Available
Through a combination of technologies and best practices organizations can improve high service availability while lowering total cost of ownership. The following solutions are part of the Service Monitoring Solution Accelerator and can be downloaded from TechNet:

Solution Accelerator for Migration and Consolidating LOB Applications
Do you still have NT4 Applications installed that you want to migrate? The Solution Accelerator team has built a great set of guidance to help you decide whether to retire, rehost, co-host or rewrite legacy NT4 Applications.

Microsoft Solutions for Management - Updates & News, 9/1/04

ManagementUpdates — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 21:21:00 GMT

Released: Notification Workflow Solution Accelerator for MOM 2005
Notification Workflow Solution Accelerator is a Microsoft SQL Server–based Notification Services application that can be used to extend notification functionalities of MOM 2005.

Released: Autoticketing Solution Accelerator for MOM 2005
Autoticketing Solution Accelerator provides guidance for automated ticket generation, enabling the automated posting of a request (or ticket) into the Trouble Ticketing (TT) system used for incident management.

Released: Alert Tuning Solution Accelerator for MOM 2005
Alert Tuning Solution Accelerator helps streamline alert management when deploying MOM 2005 management packs.

Released: Service Continuity Solution Accelerator for MOM 2005
Service Continuity Solution Accelerator helps maintain the availability of MOM 2005 service by providing best practices for implementing redundancy and failover.

Released: Multiple Management Group Rollup Solution Accelerator for MOM 2005
Multiple Management Group Rollup Solution Accelerator allows a business to propagate data from multiple management groups into one database to create consolidated and aggregated reports.

Released: Solution Accelerator for Consolidating and Migrating LOB Applications
The Solution Accelerator for LOB Application Consolidation and Migration provides comprehensive, lab-validated guidance that is intended to facilitate deployment of applications based on the Windows Server 2003 platform. This Solution Accelerator includes guidance for assessing and determining the most appropriate Windows Server 2003 technologies to be used for consolidating and migrating Windows NT 4.0-based applications in heterogeneous environments. It also includes in-depth planning and prescriptive implementation guidance for application consolidation using Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 and the Virtual Server Migration Toolkit (VSMT).

Microsoft Solutions for Management - Updates and News, 8/2/04

ManagementUpdates — Mon, 02 Aug 2004 21:19:00 GMT

TechNet Webcast: Managing Windows Server 2003 Best Practices - Part 1: Operations and Tasks - Level 200

Monday, August 02, 2004
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM Pacific Time, US & Canada
Kevin Remde, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation
Do you want to gain a better understanding of some of the basic concepts of managing Windows Server™ 2003? Then join us for this four-part series on managing Windows Server 2003 Best Practices. In part one of the webcast series we will discuss the tasks required for managing Active Directory® and the frequency at which they should be performed. Specifically, we will cover backup and restore, database maintenance and recovery. The session will follow Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) guidelines for planning, deploying, and maintaining IT operational processes in support of mission-critical service solutions.

TechNet Webcast: Managing Windows Server 2003 Best Practices - Part 2: DHCP Operations and Tasks - Level 200

Wednesday, August 04, 2004
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM Pacific Time, US & Canada
Kevin Remde, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation
Do you want to gain a better understanding of some of the basic concepts of managing Windows Server™ 2003? Then join us for this four-part series on managing Windows Server 2003 Best Practices. In part two of this webcast series we will discuss the administrative tasks and the frequency at which they should be performed when managing DHCP servers. Specifically, we will look at backup and restore, scope and database maintenance. The session will follow Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) guidelines for planning, deploying, and maintaining IT operational processes in support of mission-critical service solutions.

TechNet Webcast: Managing Windows Server 2003 Best Practices - Part 3: DNS Operations and Tasks - Level 200

Thursday, August 05, 2004
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM Pacific Time, US & Canada
Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation
Do you want to gain a better understanding of some of the basic concepts of managing Windows Server™ 2003? Then join us for this four-part series on managing Windows Server 2003 Best Practices. In part three of this webcast series we will discuss the administrative tasks and the frequency at which they should be performed when managing DNS servers. Specifically, we will look at backup and restore, scope and database maintenance. The session will follow Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) guidelines for planning, deploying, and maintaining IT operational processes in support of mission-critical service solutions.

TechNet Webcast: Managing Windows Server 2003 Best Practices - Part 4: WINS Operations and Tasks - Level 200

Friday, August 06, 2004
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM Pacific Time, US & Canada
Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation
Do you want to gain a better understanding of some of the basic concepts of managing Windows Server™ 2003? Then join us for this four-part series on managing Windows Server 2003 Best Practices. In part four of this webcast series we will discuss the administrative tasks and the frequency at which they should be performed when managing WINS servers. Specifically, we will look at backup and restore, scope and database maintenance. The session will follow Microsoft® Operations Framework (MOF) guidelines for planning, deploying, and maintaining IT operational processes in support of mission-critical service solutions.

Microsoft Solutions for Management - Updates and News, 5/11/04

ManagementUpdates — Fri, 14 May 2004 19:10:00 GMT

Updated: Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF) 3.0

Significant updates and improvements to MOF, specifically the Team Model, Process Model, and Risk Management Discipline.

Updated: Service Management Functions (SMFs)

Improve Platform Manageability with Best Practices for Security Patch Management

The Solution Accelerator for Security Patch Management using SMS 2003 addresses issues of implementing a software update with a well-defined four-step process, designed to ensure best practices in patch management with additional guidance for critical 24-hour patch deployment.

Improve Platform Manageability with Best Practices in Service Monitoring

The Service Monitoring Solution Accelerator provides the knowledge, tools, and services on industry best practices in designing, deploying, and operating Microsoft Operations Manager to monitor services running on the Microsoft platform. To build greater accountability with MOM reporting, learn how to develop custom reports using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services and the SQL views provided with the Microsoft Operations Manager 2000 Service Pack 1 (MOM SP1) Software Development Kit (SDK2).

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