Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 may mean you have to relearn old tricks, but it will make patch management easier, safer and more reliable. It will even help you patch in your sleep.

You need to restrict access to servers and to sensitive corporate data. But how do you keep track of all the restrictions and permissions?Microsoft’s new Audit Collection Service component is here to help.

In software, as in life, nothing lasts forever, but the good things just keep getting better. So, in the fast-moving world of software distribution, it’s farewell to SMS and welcome to ConfigMgr.

Thanks to the new System Center Configuration Manager it’s now easier for administrators to work their magic over the Internet.

When you’re thousands of miles from the office and desperate to install essential software, SMS can be your remote administrator

Three new features in System Center Configuration Manager 2007 take SMS to another level of manageability. So what’s new?

The more your IT systems evolve, the harder it is to manage them. All the more reason to define processes before you expand further.

With System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Microsoft has taken a giant leap from SMS 2003. So what delights are in store?

Your servers and network may be on their best behaviour, but how do you know what your users’ machines are up to?

The latest SMS service pack adds full support for Vista and improves asset and licence management. Can you do without it?

As with custard, consistency is what counts in enterprise systems. An updated SMS feature pack can help you get the mix just right.

Good looks may be great for the home user, but is there really any requirement for Vista to be installed in an enterprise environment, particularly when there’s no obvious must-have ‘killer app’? This article will look at some of its new features, how they work and the benefits they can bring to an enterprise environment.

It’s no good thinking all your software is legal; you have to know it and be able to prove it. The penalties for software theft are severe.

Change Management from 1E offers a controlled framework to manage software and system changes.

It often seems as if IT and business managers are talking different languages. Could SCOM bring true understanding between them?

SMS provides a wealth of useful queries and reports, but it takes some effort to design ones that are useful to managers planning or monitoring desktop rollout projects. This article provides examples of some useful SMS reports for project managers.

Microsoft's PowerShell contains the foremost features from other shells and scripting languages, so why has it been so ignored?

To accommodate mobile devices, security procedures and policies need to reach beyond the physical walls of your office.

Seeking to achieve a consistent desktop environment? Then you need to sort out the emotive issue of computer naming…

Microsoft Operations Manager can be a LAN’s best friend, but it needs to be checked daily if it’s to give you years of devoted service.

1E's Windows® Management Solutions combine a range of software products with specialist consultancy services to provide solutions within the Microsoft Windows management space.

Setting up SMS 2003 across retail outlets is a challenge, but you can get rid of costly secondary servers with SMS add-ons.

Finding the deployment process time consuming and complex? Seeking to achieve a consistent desktop environment?

Small to medium-sized organisations can learn a lot from larger businesses that save a packet by automating migrations

Thanks to SMS 2003 SP1. It’s now as easy to automate patch management for ISA servers as it is for any other servers.

IT teams are under serious pressure to keep Exchange running smoothly. Microsoft Operations Manager 2005 can ease the load.

For simplified implementation, prototyping and management of your systems, look to Microsoft’s Security Configuration Wizard.

New tools and technologies for deploying the forthcoming Windows Vista will simplify the process and ease the burden for IT administrators.

SMS 2003 can have a major effect on how well your network performs, so good capacity planning is vital. It all depends on using the right tools.

It’s a vital, yet thankless task, but with automation and good planning, patch management could make you into your company’s unsung hero.

Can IT governance change a CIO from a decision follower to a fellow decision maker?

Looking for something easy to use, reliable and flexible to help with your server deployments? Check out Automated Deployment Services.

Intel has shifted focus from raw speed to 'performance per watt'. Business users now face the challenge of getting more work done while using less energy.

SMS 2003 quietly goes about its business, hashing, encrypting and signing to ensure the data moving between its clients is safe and sound.

As services and systems grow more complex, so does the IT architect’s role. So what is the key to managing a service-oriented architecture?

With Windows Management Instrumentation Command-line you can swap 100-line complex scripts for simple, yet powerful, one-liners.

Migrating to a new OS across is daunting, but Microsoft’s SMS 2003 OS Deployment Feature Pack cuts down on the costs and complications.

With careful planning, and by using the right tools in the right way, you can make your data centre much more agile and cost-effective.

People who cannot be bothered to turn off their computers properly are costing both the environment and their own pockets dear, a study has concluded.

Virtual Server gives you the power to ‘create’ new machines, but with this power comes responsibility… and some very real problems.

Consolidating your data centres saves money but makes software distribution to branches more tricky. This article shows this is not so if you use SMSNomad Branch.

In this article we show the three steps for configuring your SMS infrastructure, to leverage the power of NightWatchman and ensure that there is always one machine at each branch that is never shutdown.

The advanced client download and cache capability for advertised programs is one of its most appealing features. This article will attempt to illustrate its use in response to changes in package source version and also its drawbacks.

Windows Installer patches are around for the Advanced Client and if you’ve followed the instructions and installed them you know that you create an advertised package to reinstall the client with the accompanying patch.

During a recent SMS 2003 deployment assignment, I was asked by the client to provide UUIDs (Universal Unique Identifiers) in order that they could configure their firewall for SMS.

London Underground has a company-wide initative to reduce power consuptution, their energy-saving strategy which uses Nightwatchman from 1E, saved the company £170,000 a year.

This article shows how you can boost the success rate of your software distributions while saving your company up to £10,000 a year.

This article tells you how you can just RightClick a system in SMS and have it completely re-imaged or migrated to Windows XP.

Great little freebie for the toolkit. Tests WMI connectivity to any system.

1E announces a new sender for SMS2.0 and 2003.

If using a patch to perform an update you may be required to access the original source media. This article gives useful information on handling such a situation.

This article shows how Windows Installer handles a file which is in use.

This article shows you how to register COM components with Wise Installer.

Version 3.0 of 1E’s SMSWakeUp sees the addition of a new WMI provider. See what it can do for you!

This is a useful little extension to the ‘Right Click’ context menu in SMS which allows quick and easy software distribution using Windows Installer.

Those lovely folks at 1E have gone and released another free tool! SMSCOmmander enables you to run commands on a remote system from a GUI interface in the SMS Admin console.

Frequently asked questions answered, regarding SMSWakeUp.

Service Pack 5 has introduced some new security features for using Logon Installation in your site. Here we try it out.

This article shows you an easy, scripted way to transfer Status Filter Rules betweem SMS Sites.

Discover how you can service your small or remote offices more efficiently with SMSNomad Branch Add-on. It copies packages only once per subnet and distributes them locally using peer networking techniques.

This article attempts to make a few things clear regarding the use of the Directory Table.

How to use a useful Microsoft utility which allows you to script device manager changes.

Here is a handy little utility for controlling Executive threads remotely. It even comes with a drop down list from which to select the thread. Just type in your server name and away you go

This article shows you a useful workaround which enables the creation of SMS Collections based on complex SQL criteria.

UK companies blow a staggering GBP 90 million every year simply by failing to switch off computers at night. This article shows how you can switch off those computers automatically and save money and the environment.