With a new, simplified licensing plan for its System Center 2012, Microsoft is looking to spur the adoption of its private cloud offerings.
If there is
one data center problem that cloud computing has obscured more than any other
issue, it is licensing. IT managers are finding the licensing surrounding cloud
technologies, especially virtualization, have become near impossible to manage.
Microsoft,
in an effort to spur adoption of its cloud portfolio, is attempting to
simplify the licensing scheme for the company's System Center 2012 offering.
While
Microsoft
had previewed its licensing plan for System Center 2012 to industry insiders,
the company officially announced the scheme Jan. 17.
Garth Fort, general
manager of Microsoft's Server and Cloud Division, highlighted what was changing
and how those changes will accelerate private cloud adoption, as well as
demystify the licensing around System Center 2012.
Microsoft is
moving toward a model in which just two editions of System Center 2012 will
replace the dozens of combinations offered in the past, according to Fort.
These two editions will include all the primary elements needed to build
private clouds.
The
simplification of SKUs and editions proves critical for Microsoft, especially
since the company is positioning System Center 2012 as
the
primary tool for managing both private and public clouds. That
simplification comes at a time when Microsoft is rebranding all its on-premises
server products as part of its "private cloud" family.
The advantages
the new licensing scheme offer include simplification of license management,
ease of ordering the correct products for a private cloud implementation,
improved software protection and upgrade processes, as well as potential cost
savings.
System Center
2012 will be available as two distinct editions. The first is System Center
2012 Standard, which includes two operating systems for physical or lightly
virtualized environments, and the second is System Center 2012 Datacenter,
which offers unlimited operating systems for highly virtualized private cloud
deployments.
Microsoft is
offering the "single bundle" concept as a way to simplify its private and
public cloud messages and make customers more comfortable with cloud-computing
concepts, such as self-service, elasticity and automation.
Fort did not
offer a release-to-manufacturing (RTM) or a specific launch date for the final
version of the System Center 2012 suite. However, the company is expected to
offer more details in April to coincide with its annual Microsoft Management
Summit conference.
Both editions
of System Center 2012 will contain the same suite of products, which include
some new point products:
-
App
Controller (code-named Concero): New addition to System Center with the
2012 release. This is an integrated management portal providing IT
professionals with a single view of their private and public cloud
resources. From App Controller, administrators can deploy and manage
services and virtual machines.
- Orchestrator: Adds workflow automation and third-party integration with the 2012
release. (This is the new branding for the Opalis workflow technology that
Microsoft acquired in 2009 and integrated into System Center.)
- Virtual
Machine Manager: With the 2012 release, IT administrators can now manage
even more hypervisors from Microsoft, as well as selected third-party
providers. This is the part of System Center that adds the long-promised,
server app-virtualization capability to Microsoft's cloud offerings.
- Other
point products: They include Operations Manager, Configuration Manager, Data
Protection Manager, Service Manager and EndPoint Protector.
About 50
percent of existing System Center customers already buy the full suite of
products, which should make upgrading and transitioning to the new editions
relatively easy, said Fort. Those customers who only purchased individual
components will be offered various incentives and offers to make it less
painful for them to buy the whole bundle. Each edition will be licensed based
upon physical CPUs and not cores or virtual machines.
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Frank J. Ohlhorst is the Executive Technology Editor for eWeek Channel Insider and brings with him over 20 years of experience in the Information Technology field.He began his career as a network administrator and applications program in the private sector for two years before joining a computer consulting firm as a programmer analyst. In 1988 Frank founded a computer consulting company, which specialized in network design, implementation, and support, along with custom accounting applications developed in a variety of programming languages.In 1991, Frank took a position with the United States Department of Energy as a Network Manager for multiple DOE Area Offices with locations at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPL), Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), FermiLAB and the Ames Area Office (AMESAO). Frank's duties included managing the site networks, associated staff and the inter-network links between the area offices. He also served at the Computer Security Officer (CSO) for multiple DOE sites. Frank joined CMP Technology's Channel group in 1999 as a Technical Editor assigned to the CRN Test Center, within a year, Frank became the Senior Technical Editor, and was responsible for designing product testing methodologies, assigning product reviews, roundups and bakeoffs to the CRN Test Center staff.In 2003, Frank was named Technology Editor of CRN. In that capacity, he ensured that CRN maintained a clearer focus on technology and increased the integration of the Test Center's review content into both CRN's print and web properties. He also contributed to Netseminar's, hosted sessions at CMP's Xchange Channel trade shows and helped to develop new methods of content delivery, Such as CRN-TV.In September of 2004, Frank became the Director of the CRN Test Center and was charged with increasing the Test Center's contributions to CMP's Channel Web online presence and CMP's latest monthly publication, Digital Connect, a magazine geared towards the home integrator. He also continued to contribute to CMP's Netseminar series, Xchange events, industry conferences and CRN-TV.In January of 2007, CMP Launched CRNtech, a monthly publication focused on technology for the channel, with a mailed audience of 70,000 qualified readers. Frank was instrumental in the development and design of CRNTech and was the editorial director of the publication as well as its primary contributor. He also maintained the edit calendar, and hosted quarterly CRNTech Live events.In June 2007, Frank was named Senior Technology Analyst and became responsible for the technical focus and edit calendars of all the Channel Group's publications, including CRN, CRNTech, and VARBusiness, along with the Channel Group's specialized publications Solutions Inc., Government VAR, TechBuilder and various custom publications. Frank joined Ziff Davis Enterprise in September of 2007 and focuses on creating editorial content geared towards the purveyors of Information Technology products and services. Frank writes comparative reviews, channel analysis pieces and participates in many of Ziff Davis Enterprise's tradeshows and webinars. He has received several awards for his writing and editing, including back to back best review of the year awards, and a president's award for CRN-TV. Frank speaks at many industry conferences, is a contributor to several IT Books, holds several records for online hits and has several industry certifications, including Novell's CNE, Microsoft's MCP.Frank can be reached at frank.ohlhorst@ziffdavisenterprise.com
