Dell's integration with Microsoft Systems Center Essentials 2010 delivers a solution with a single console to help businesses manage a range of IT tasks. It starts at approximately $5,000 and is aimed at businesses with up to 50 physical or virtual server operating systems.
Technology giant Dell reached out to small to medium-size businesses July 14
by integrating hardware management into Microsoft System Center through new
Dell Management Packs, Pro Pack and Update Catalogs for Systems Center
Essentials 2010 for end-to-end management.
Starting at approximately $5,000, Microsoft Systems Center Essentials 2010
offers a solution with a single console to help businesses manage a range of IT
tasks. Designed for SMBs with up to 50 physical or virtual server operating
systems and 500 client devices, the solution combines systems management for
virtualized and nonvirtualized environments, offering companies a Microsoft
Hyper-V virtualization environment, including assessing the physical
environment and determining whether nonvirtualized servers should be
virtualized, and if so, virtualizing them.
"This solution eases systems management of servers and storage for SMB
customers with a single, integrated tool," said Sally Stevens, vice president
of Dell's server platform marketing department. "Customers can deploy, monitor,
update and manage their IT assets through the combination of Dell OpenManage
and Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 without having to worry about
additional fees or complex bundle schemes. At Dell, our agenda is to empower
people with technology."
Through integration with Systems Center Essentials 2010, Dell SMB customers
can use Dell Management Packs to proactively manage Dell PowerEdge tower, rack
and blade servers; Dell PowerVault MD series and EqualLogic storage arrays;
printers; and client devices through a single user interface, as well as
automatically discover newly commissioned Dell hardware instead of relying on
manual processes to bring hardware under management.
Other functionality includes the ability to save on manual labor each week
through the automation of regular hardware and software updates with Dell
Update Catalogs, and leverage Dell Server Pro Packs with Pro-Tips to
proactively manage virtual machines, including the ability to migrate virtual
machine workloads to other devices during instances of hardware maintenance.
In continued support of Dell's collaboration with Microsoft, Dell offers
consulting services to simplify the adoption process for Microsoft System
Center Essentials 2010. These services offer guidance to explore the features
and functionality of Microsoft Systems Center Essentials 2010 in a
proof-of-concept environment, as well as assisting in the assessment, design
and pilot testing and implementation.
"Small and medium-sized businesses have unique IT requirements and solutions
that help easily manage their resources using standardized tools," said Fred
Broussard, research director of enterprise system infrastructure software for IDC.
"The ability for users to manage their technology infrastructure, end-to-end,
from a single user interface is a great advantage. This approach is very
pragmatic and can help customers integrate, deploy and manage their IT assets
more effectively."
Nathan Eddy is Associate Editor, Midmarket, at eWEEK.com. Before joining eWEEK.com, Nate was a writer with ChannelWeb and he served as an editor at FierceMarkets. He is a graduate of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University.
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