 |
Using BDNA Normalize CM to improve software stability and supportability Don Jones, Concentrated Technology discusses the risks associated with running unsupported software and describes how BDNA Normalize CM provides the required visibility to address the problem.
|
|
Top 10 SCCM Resources Don Jones, Concentrated Technology pulls together the top ten SCCM resources that every SCCM admin should have at their fingertips.
|
|
Top 10 SCCM Tips Don Jones, Concentrated Technology pulls together the top ten SCCM tips that every SCCM admin should have on hand to make their job easier!
|
|
3 Tips for Surviving a Software Audit with SCCM Ah, software audits. Whether you’re conducting your own internal audit or dealing with a high-stakes, high-pressure examination by external auditors, nothing says “fun technology” like a software audit. If you’ve ever been through one, then you’ll know what a blessing it can be to have a solid configuration management solution like SCCM in place. You’ll also know how frustrating the audit can be even with that configuration management solution – because in many cases SCCM isn’t able to give you all of the facts you need. Here’s three tips to consider for your next software audit.
|
|
Bringing a Common Language to Your IT Systems Planning systems, purchasing solutions, inventory tools, and configuration management systems all speak a different language. It’s no wonder that IT decision-making is so difficult, or that even simple tasks like matching license purchases to installed software are so complicated and time-consuming. Nobody speaks a common language.
|
|
Normalization for IT Data Warehouse Success A number of large organizations are realizing they have a plethora of IT repositories such as discovery tools, security monitoring tools, configuration management tools, etc. The data in each of these silos is often useful for its own specific purpose but there is value to be realized by combining these into a single centralized IT Data Warehouse...
|
|
Revealing All the Assets in Your IT Estate It seems like our networks continue to get larger and more complex, containing a growing variety of software and hardware. Believe it or not, there are probably things connected to your network that you don’t even know about. Sure, you have configuration management software that’s meant to discover and inventory everything – but it can typically only find a portion of what’s actually out there.
|
|
Creating the Common Language of IT Today’s businesses are dealing with a serious problem within their IT environments. This problem impedes decision-making, creates significant amounts of overhead and manual effort, and slows down critical business processes. This problem costs money, wastes opportunities, and hides risks. The problem? Big Data.
|
|
SCCM 2012 User-Oriented Administration Microsoft’s complete overhaul of Systems Center Configuration Manager—SCCM 2012—has been out in beta form for nearly a year, and is slated to go out to customers in the first half of 2012. The most significant change from its SCCM 2007 predecessor is a shift to user-oriented administration.
|
|
Using SCCM to Migrate to Windows 7 Whether you’re migrating to Windows 7 or deploying it “green field,” you’ll want to use SCCM 2007’s Operating System Deployment (OSD) tools to install a customized Windows 7 for your environment. SCCM 2007’s capture-and-deploy process lets you deploy Windows 7 in massive quantities with no intervention—a totally touch-free installation!
|
|
Windows 7 - Configuration Management in the Could or on-Premises Three articles: 1- Automating Windows 7 Deployemnts, 2- A Modern Guide to Windows 7 Desktop Deployment: Enterprise Automation Tools, 3- Automation Tools SCCM 2012: Up and Running from the Ground to the Cloud
|
|
Windows 7 Migration and System Center Configuration Manager Two articles: 1- Better Windows 7 Migration with SCCM, 2- An IT Pro's Guide to Virtualization and Windows 7
|
|
SCCM Deployment and Maintenance Three articles: 1- SCCM 2007, 2- Getting Started with SCCM 2012, 3- SCCM Deployment and Maintenance FAQs
|
|
SCCM Patch Management Three articles: 1- The 4 Pillars of SCCM, 2- Solve 4 Commpn Patch Management Problems, 3- SCCM Patch Management FAQs
|
|
Three Things That’ll Break Your Windows 7 (or 8) Migration (and How to Avoid Them) Ah, client computer migrations. It’s an exciting time, an opportunity to create a new standard for your organization, and a time to right many of the wrongs that have crept in over the last few years. In this paper, we’ll explore three real-life situations from real-life organizations who’ve already begun their Windows 7 migration. Whether you’re planning your own Windows 7 migration or looking ahead to a Windows 8 migration, these scenarios are important for you to understand, because they represent the three major risk categories that you’ll want to avoid.
|
|
5 Ways to Make Your SCCM Data Work Harder If you’re using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), you already know what a great job it does at collecting tons of data about your server and client computers. But SCCM might be fooling you. It might be collecting so much information that you don’t even think about all the data it’s missing!
|
|
Actionable SCCM Information is the Key to a Successful Windows 7 Migration Not only is Windows 7 here, but a new version is just around the corner. Those old Windows XP machines are in desperate need of an upgrade in order to remain secure, supported, and functional – not to mention compatible with new applications and services. A migration is also a great time to get a better handle on your software application licensing.
|
|
Windows 7 Migrations: How to Re-Think Your “Standard Desktop Image” Look around at the condition of your organization’s desktop computers. Do they seem... old? Cluttered? Out-of-tune with your standards? It’s not surprising. After all, IT has traditionally used the OS migration process as a way to revisit corporate standards, redeploy clean images, and generally get desktops back into shape. At
|
|
The Suite Life of Software ... and its Impact on Your Windows 7 Migration Windows 7 migrations are in-progress all over the world, as companies finally start moving off of their venerable Windows XP client computers. Everyone’s trying to be very careful to avoid the trip-ups and end-user downtime that’s commonly associated with migrations, but in some cases that focus on “stability” is creating some missed opportunity.
|
|
A Windows 7 Migration is the Perfect Time to Normalize, not Standardize Look around at the condition of your organization’s desktop computers. Do they seem… old? Cluttered? Out-of-tune with your standards? It’s not surprising. After all, IT has traditionally used the OS migration process as a way to revisit corporate standards, redeploy clean images, and generally get desktops back into shape. At this point, however, most organizations haven’t deployed a new desktop OS in eight years or more! For some organizations, their Windows 7 migration isn’t about a new desktop OS, it’s about getting their desktops back into shape.
|
|
Be an SCCM Toolkit Wizard Although SCCM – or Config Manager – has some very useful informational aids built into its graphical interface (e.g., Service Manager, Status Messages, and State Messages), sometimes you need to look under the covers of SCCM to diagnose problems, such as agent communication failures. Microsoft realized this, and over time developed a number of precision tools that can help you track down operational difficulties.
|
|
The Best SCCM Queries and Collections Queries and Collections are two key attributes of System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM)—also known as Config Manager—that make it a powerful administrative tool. At the heart of Config Manager is a vast database of information collected by endpoint agents on a routine basis: hardware configuration, operating system values, application software inventory, and a slew of other useful values.
|
|
Standardization: The x Factor in Streamlining Windows 7 Migrations Windows 7 migration projects create an opportunity to rationalize hardware and software applications, as well as streamline deployment images. This paper describes the mPower Standardize™ Service which uses normalized data provided by BDNA to accelerate migrations and to drive down complexity, software along in addition to lowering desktop management costs.
|
 |
Strengthened Security Through Visibility Whether in the physical realm or the digital, security professionals understand that one of the most important elements of strengthening one’s defenses is visibility. A thorough and detailed picture of one’s IT estate is key to the ability to protect that infrastructure from both outside and inside threats. Learn about: Rogue Assets, the Rise of Compliance, Security Tool Visibility, and the BDNA Visibility Advantage
|
 |
Putting Windows 7 Migration on the Fast Track Windows 7 is the single biggest release since Windows XP and will have a major impact on your enterprise. From management, to security, to virtualization to application development--every aspect of your IT infrastructure will be affected. Whichever path you take--upgrading an infrastructure over a multi-year refresh cycle or installing Windows 7 on existing computers--it’s critical to gain complete visibility into your infrastructure to ensure a smooth and cost effective upgrade to Windows 7.
|
|
Taking Control of Software Licensing: Reducing Cost and Mitigating Risk With Accurate, Relevant IT Insight As spending on software approaches 25% of business IT expense, organizations are urgently looking for ways to reduce software expense, without impacting the normal course of business that software enables. Yet, without accurate information on software inventories, effective management of software is nearly impossible. This white paper examines how BDNA’s Discovery solution, powered by Technopedia, provides IT decision makers with a comprehensive and authoritative source of facts about all assets and layers of IT in order to support the procurement process.
|
|
Mine the Gold in Microsoft SCCM Configuration Data Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) is the leading solution for enterprise system management used by many of the largest, most IT intensive organizations world-wide. BDNA helps customers refine raw SCCM asset configuration data into human-readable structured information for strategic decision making. Learn how to:
|
|
Understanding Discovery Businesses today depend heavily on technology, and expect transparency and accountability from the IT organization. But CIOs attempting to measure and manage the business of IT struggle with a significant ‘data deficit’ when it comes to the technology distributed throughout the enterprise. Little is known about exactly what technology is deployed, where it resides and how it is used. Essential, strategic decisions are often based on incomplete information and best guesses, not measurement and analysis.
BDNA Discover solves this problem, providing the Office of the CIO and IT management with a single, communicable version of the truth: the BDNA FactBase. The FactBase becomes a trusted system of record for all assets and layers of IT resources. It is created by deploying high-speed, 100% agentless discovery technology. This paper discusses the core discovery technology that enables the rapid and comprehensive verification of technology assets throughout the enterprise.
|
|
Planning, Implementing and Maintaining Successful, Cost-Effective Virtualization Initiatives If not managed properly, virtual environments can become a liability. To effectively manage the business of IT in today's increasingly virtualized environment, CIOs need visibility and relevant insight into the IT environment spanning physical and virtual machines throughout the enterprise. You will learn:
|
|
The Parallel Worlds of Federal Real Estate and IT Asset Consolidation Walker White, CTO, BDNA, published an article on CTOEdge.com comparing efforts to consolidate physical real-estate in the Federal Government with similar efforts in IT infrastructures.
|
|
BDNA—Asset Content for Business-Oriented Service Management; by Ptak, Noel & Associates Remember the dictum "content is king" that was pervasive during the internet's early stages? When dealing with issues of complexity in managing the ever-changing IT infrastructure, content is still king. One "content" fundamental for any business-oriented server management (BSM) strategy involves what IT assets exist, what assets are being used, and how assets fulfill business purposes. Yet, the process of obtaining the IT asset content required for BSM purposes remains elusive. The recent announcement of Technopedia™, as part of BDNA's IT Genome Center, addresses part of that elusive need.
|
|
Optimize your IT Environment for Service Delivery; by EMA IT services and the hardware and software infrastructure supporting them have become increasingly critical to enterprises and mid-tier businesses – as they are producing competitive advantages in productivity, revenue generation, and enabling new, more effective business models. At the same time, cost pressures from macro-economic factors are constraining IT budgets and IT resources dramatically. Clearly then, proceeding with traditional approaches to managing and optimizing infrastructure, software and operational assets and services can’t answer all the demands of this brave new world.
As a result, there has never been a better time for new and innovative technology solutions to help enable more effective ways for communicating, monitoring and managing IT and business infrastructure, hardware and software investments.
|
