Dell continued to find creative ways to appeal to the
small- and medium-sized business market it favors, offering Microsoft management
software for $50 per server.
The computer maker will offer Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005
Workgroup Edition, designed for customers running 10 or fewer Windows
servers, on its PowerEdge machines. Dell’s special $50 per machine price is
for customers managing 10 servers at a base price of $499.
When integrated with the Dell Management Pack, MOM 2005 Workgroup Edition
provides one console to allow administrators to watch hardware, operating
systems and Microsoft applications, including Exchange,
Internet Information Services, and SQL Server on PowerEdge servers.
The software also collects, logs and manages system and application events
and includes a knowledge base for quick guidance in identifying problem root
causes.
The deal is the latest in a series of bundles Dell and Microsoft have put together that plant Microsoft’s
enterprise management software in Dell’s commodity servers. The software
monitors system performance automatically, freeing up administrators to
manage other areas of the data center.
The partners aim to convince customers that their joint bundle will help
businesses save money, arguing that servers and management offerings from
competing vendors, such as IBM and HP, are more expensive.
Dell and Microsoft have several such deals in place. Last November, Dell agreed
to offer one-click management via SMS 2003 Inventory Tool for Dell Updates.
In November 2003, Dell announced its OpenManage server management tools with support from Systems
Management Server (SMS) 2003 and MOM 2004.
The Round Rock, Texas, company announced the latest deal against the backdrop
of the Microsoft Management Summit 2005 event in Las Vegas this week.
At the event, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Kirill Tatarinov, CEO Steve Ballmer
and CIO Ron Markezich will detail the company’s broad Dynamic Systems
Initiative (DSI) for automating infrastructure management.
Under the DSI umbrella, the officials are expected to discuss the Redmond,
Wash., company’s plans to find more placement for its management software
in corporate machines, edging out rivals like IBM Tivoli and HP OpenView.
Future products from DSI include System Center Reporting Manager 2005, which
is going into beta next month, and System Center Capacity Manager 2006, a
predictive planning application for Microsoft Exchange environments.
Further down the road, MOM version 3 and SMS version 4 will take the company
into service-oriented management, and are slated to appear with Longhorn in
2006.
Dell Discounts Management For SMBs
