System Center Authoring Hub

I wanted to call everyone’s attention to the new System Center Authoring Hub on the TechNet Wiki.  This is intended to provide a single location for all content related to authoring custom scenarios in System Center.  We even have a vanity URL for it at https://aka.ms/scauthorhub.

This is meant to address two issues related to authoring content that we've been challenged with for some time.  First is a way to better get the assistance of the community.  The MP Authoring Guide has been well received and has been our definitive source of knowledge for technical content related to designing and writing management packs. The problem though is that it's not easy for us to readily update, and we have no opportunity for the community to contribute to it. 

The second challenge is that there are a variety of technologies to automate Operations Manager and other System Center components, and they aren't properly associated with one another.  A single monitoring scenario might include a management pack, a runbook, and some SDK customization, but we've left it up to you to figure out where all that content lives.  In addition to that, we really don't have a suitable place to document scenarios that include multiple components.

Our vision with the Authoring Hub is to tie together all of the authoring and customization content across System Center under a single umbrella.  We will still maintain deep content like the MP Authoring Guide as its own entity, but it will now tie back to the top level hub as opposed to living under the Operations Manager content as it does now in the TechNet Library.  The idea is to put it alongside other content like the System Center Integration Guide and content that we will be creating in the future such as a proper Runbook Authoring Guide.

As you can see, this will involve a combination of new content in addition to moving content from the TechNet Library to the TechNet Wiki.  We are in the process of moving the entire MP Authoring Guide and updating it to include exercises for the new authoring tools.  I'll make sure to announce on our Twitter feed when we get significant updates out there.  At some point when all the content is moved, we'll consider removing it from the Library altogether.  New content and guides will be delivered on the wiki in order to maintain community involvement.

As always, please don't hesitate to provide your feedback and requests to MPAuthor@microsoft.com.