Microsoft Moves Deep Into Desktop Management Space

Microsoft's multifaceted effort to improve Windows desktop management treads into the turf of nervous ISVs and managed service providers, but they also open up opportunities for enterprising partners.

In 2007, the Redmond, Wash., software giant will launch its much-anticipated Windows Vista upgrade, which includes numerous desktop management features, as well as several System Center management products, a System Center Live service and a desktop optimization subscription for Software Assurance (SA) customers.

Last week, days after confirming Windows Vista Enterprise will ship to its SA customers on time, Microsoft announced a new subscription offering called the Desktop Optimization Pack that is promised for the first half of 2007. The catch: It's only available to SA customers.

The Desktop Optimization Pack consists of technologies from companies acquired by Microsoft during the last half of 2006, namely Softricity, a Boston-based provider of application virtualization and dynamic streaming technologies; Winternals, an Austin, Texas-based systems recovery and data protection developer; and DesktopStandard, a Portsmouth, N.H.-based leader in Group Policy-based desktop management products. Offered at $10 per desktop per year, it offers fixes for longstanding Windows desktop management problems ranging from driver incompatibilities to desktop repair and recovery services, as well as software asset management services and advanced group policy desktop management features.

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. As Microsoft struggles to fend off critics and Linux advocates railing against the high costs of Windows desktop ownership, the company is preparing its next-generation Windows software to combat that perception and is readying Live services such as Forefront Client Security and System Center Live for managing and monitoring desktops.

"It goes deeper than you know. Microsoft recently purchased Winternals and DesktopStandard, so system management is really a growing thing in the Microsoft camp," said Jason Harrison, president of Harrison Technology Consulting, Nashville, N.C. "But for most SMBs, it won't be on their radar unless partners put it there and show support for it. I don't see System Center Live to be of any concern for us."

On the product side, Microsoft is prepping System Center Configuration Manager 2007 (formerly SMS) and System Center Operations Manager 2007 upgrades for release next year. The latter, formerly known as MOM, offers new support for desktop client monitoring and improvements for client health, self-service software distribution and support for non-Windows platforms, Microsoft said.

At the Microsoft Management Summit earlier this year, attendees cheered when Microsoft said it plans to provide self-healing client technology and a self-service portal for deploying updates.