Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) Connector Framework will be announced at the company’s annual developers’ conference next week, with standards-based connectors to IBM Corp’s [IBM] Tivoli and Computer Associates International Inc’s [CA] Unicenter.
Connectors and interfaces are also expected for application and web services management tools from other vendors.
MOM Connector Framework is part of Microsoft’s Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI) for improved management of Windows.
In a further step towards DSI, Microsoft will in the middle of 2004 merge MOM, for server administration, with its Systems Management Server (SMS), used to manage desktops with patches and updates, creating Systems Center.
Systems Center will focus on ease-of-use and deployment. MOM 2004 will also be shipped, 60 to 90 days before hand, offering customers the choice of discrete or integrated products. Systems Center is being build for organizations starting at 500 PCs and 10 servers, who he said are disenfranchised by large frameworks.
Before then, MOM Connector Framework is for MOM 2000. Previously, connection to MOM by ISVs and systems specialists has been through special, customized connectors developed on a costly and limited consulting basis or through SNMP, which provides a very basic level of data on the performance of Microsoft applications like Exchange Server.
MOM Connector Framework uses SOAP protocols and XML formatting to transfer data bi-directionally into frameworks like Tivoli and from Tivoli into MOM. XML means a richer set of data can be exchanged, such as detailing what problem has occurred, how many times the problem has occurred before and which fixes to apply.
Feeding such data into Tivoli benefits millions running mixed Unix and mainframe environments with Windows. Such users could benefit from a single-management interface window into their systems.
This article was based on material originally published by ComputerWire.
