MMS 2006 - breakout sessions

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SMS v4 - sorry "System Center Configuration Manager 2007"

Beta 1 wasin February.  There'll be a refresh in June/July.  beta 2 is due Q1 2007 and we should ship in H1 2007.

This session was also nearly all demos.

The new Console is task based with nodes for each task type (configuration, update management, etc).  The console is configurable, drag & drop is enabled and it will start in the same place you were when it closed.  Most tasks now take a lot fewer clicks and all the information related to that task is right there, in one place.  Basically you'll be able to do your job better.

Deploying Windows (clients & servers) will be very easy.  It will be possible to do a completely 'hands off' deployment.  The whole process will be seamless, secure and flexible.  The goal is for a single, worldwide image (including all drivers for all machines) that you'll deploy, then you'll use the Task Sequencer to layer the applications ontop.  We've automated the entire build & capture proces.  You'll be able to take the whole install process and run it offline (from CDs or DVD) and you'll be able to use RIS and WDS to start the processes.

Software Update management for ALL updates (i.e. drivers and optional updates AND third party applications).  Deployment is dramatically simplified by using deployment templates for all the settings that don't change for each deployment - the current 18 click update deployment wizard is now down to 6 clicks.  You'll be able to run compliance reports telling you what percentage of your machines are current.  3rd Parties are announcing supprt for our update tools (Citrix & Adobe).

Desired Configuration Managemet is taken to the next level - We can define the configuration, detect 'drift' from the desired state and report on compliance.  It's all built on the Systems Definition Model (SDM) that we introduced last year.  You'll be able to take a model from our Best Practice Analyser tools and implement the best practice.  We expect 3rd party applications to ship with their own best practice models.

Must go - Dave.