I was fortunate enough to attend the Microsoft Ignite conference in Orlando, FL this year. During the conference, there was a TON of information to gather, experts to network with, and vendors to see in the Expo Hall.
After the conference, I sat on a panel during the MN Office 365 User Group (http://o365mn.org) to discuss highlights from the conference. The first question posed to us: “What was the best session that you attended?” My response: there wasn’t really a specific session that stood out. Rather, it was more of a realization of where Microsoft was going and why. Yes, Microsoft has invested heavily in a cloud platform and they want companies to use their services, but I believe there is a more important underlying motive…
The general complaint that I heard from fellow technical folks at Ignite was the speed at which Microsoft was deploying new operating systems/products and sun-setting older products. I recognize that this speed shift was all about SECURITY. Think about it – older protocols that have inherent vulnerabilities, the speed of new threats arising, and the proliferation of the mobile workforce all lead to increasing our awareness of the importance of security. In order to keep up with the pace of cyber security, we need to match it with a faster cadence of Operating System Deployment (OSD) and application lifecycle.
So, how do we keep up with this ever-changing landscape? Systems management tools and automation capabilities are going to be key components. System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) is Microsoft’s enterprise application for systems management, OSD, and application deployment. This will give you a very rich toolset to streamline some otherwise manual processes. Also, look for areas of automation to free up more of your time.
To recap, the speed of technology in primarily driven due to security. Leveraging automation and enterprise systems management platforms like SCCM are going to be key in keeping up with this faster-paced IT infrastructure of the future. With tools like these, we can stay in front of the growing speed deployment and smaller window of supportability.