2014-09-30T10:29:00Z
it_user3483 - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Consultant at Unify Square
  • 5
  • 6

Do you think there is a minimum critical threshold that justifies the deployment of the System Center suite?

Recently I have seen small / medium companies deploying System Center 2012 R2 in their datacenter (sometimes as a part of projects and proofs of concept to replace existing VMware solutions).

While the administrative and economic costs of the suite make sense with a large private cloud, I have the impression that products like Operations Manager and Orchestrator are an overkill for smaller networks. Also Virtual Machine Manager and Data Protection Manager, for companies using one or two clusters with few hosts, do not look like something you cannot live without (considering that Windows 2012 R2 has a really good cluster management and features like Hyper-V replicas). So, what is your perception? Is there a minimal threshold to justify a System Center deployment?

4
PeerSpot user
4 Answers
it_user291504 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Engineer II at a legal firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
2015-08-13T21:42:49Z
Aug 13, 2015

I believe the answer is "it depends". How much visibility do you need into your servers, network, applications? All of these questions need to be answered before you can justify the System Center Suite of products. A typical small business could live with a server going down or a misconfigured DNS server but if you need to put a magnifying glass up to any Microsoft product then the suite is for you, especially SCOM.

Product comparison that may be of interest to you
it_user105252 - PeerSpot reviewer
CTO at a healthcare company with 51-200 employees
Vendor
2014-09-30T14:38:24Z
Sep 30, 2014

It depends a lot on the profile of your environment and less on the size of your company. For example I you have an established web offering (Linux or Windows) running in your DC but you expect dynamic spikes that you ideally would "cloud burst" but you have to amortize out your current DC infrastructure investment - SC Suite is needed to get the Orchestrator plugins to do the automated cloud bursting into Azure while still running in your DC as well.

If you are building from the ground up and can go to Azure or Elastic Beanstalk (Amazon) directly - then its not nearly as good a deal

So its more of a usage and configuration profile issue than a size of company or IT budget issue (though the latter of course is involved)

it_user74292 - PeerSpot reviewer
Training or Education
Vendor
2014-09-30T14:33:23Z
Sep 30, 2014

The primary benefit for SMB is the knowledge. Once you get the management packs installed, you get a much deeper look at your infrastructure, and answers based on your use. You don't have to be expert in everything.
I agree with Ken, the benefits go up when your virtualization environment is based on Hyper-V.
Orchestrator is all about accessibility. It lets you build remediation logic graphically.

it_user149673 - PeerSpot reviewer
Sales at Salesforce.com
Real User
2014-09-30T10:52:21Z
Sep 30, 2014

1. What kinds of VM you are running? if they are Hyper-V, good match. If they are any others, I guess there are better tools in the market.
2. Yes some products included in the suite is not applicable, but they are included and you have it no matter what... like DPM, even you have the licenses, you might still go for other tools like backup exec or so....
3. For ROI... it is the same for all management software I believe, how critical is your application? How much downtime you can afford?

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM, F5, Microsoft and others in Application Infrastructure. Updated: March 2023.
688,083 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Related Questions
SM
User at Mtu
Nov 17, 2022
Hello peers,  I'm a student working on a project where I am trying to identify SCCM's flaws and see if there is any way for the user to fix them. What are the weaknesses of SCCM and how can they be improved by a user? On the final research project, I'm required to physically implement the solution using virtual machines (VMs) or another method. Your assistance is greatly valued.
NC
Content Manager at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)
Dec 1, 2021
Which is better and why?
2 out of 5 answers
SD
Technical Lead at HCL Technology
Nov 23, 2021
My recommendation is to use MS Intune as a solution and you can drop both SCCM and ManageEngine Desktop Central.  Intune is the best solution for managing mobile devices and endpoints. You can also manage your servers but there will be some difficulty in managing on-premises servers. 
MW
User at a healthcare company with 501-1,000 employees
Nov 24, 2021
Quest's Unified Endpoint Management - please have a look at this solution: easy to manage, best for mass task deployment, comprehensive and customized reporting.
Related Articles
NC
Content Manager at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)
May 3, 2022
PeerSpot’s crowdsourced user review platform helps technology decision-makers around the world to better connect with peers and other independent experts who provide advice without vendor bias. Our users have ranked these solutions according to their valuable features, and discuss which features they like most and why. You can read user reviews for the Top 8 Server Monitoring Software Tools t...
it_user85101 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a tech services company
Aug 16, 2022
System, Value, and Decision failures bring the grinding wheel to a halt As put by a Quality guru, People in general, more than 80% of the team are, in fact, productive and efficient. The problem then is with the chosen few who have an efficient short-term view but high-risk performance focus. By all means helpful except what it takes to future proof the organisation and make it relevant for th...
Shibu Babuchandran - PeerSpot reviewer
Regional Manager/ Service Delivery Manager at a tech services company with 201-500 employees
Dec 6, 2021
What is software extensibility? Extensibility is the ability of the software system to allow and accept the significant extension of its capabilities without major rewriting of code or changes in its basic architecture. Extensible systems provide technology, tools, languages designed so that developers can expand or add to their capabilities. What are some of the benefits customers get ou...
Product Comparisons
Related Categories
Related Articles
NC
Content Manager at PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)
May 3, 2022
Top 8 Server Monitoring Software Tools 2022
PeerSpot’s crowdsourced user review platform helps technology decision-makers around the world to...
it_user85101 - PeerSpot reviewer
Consultant at a tech services company
Aug 16, 2022
A Skewed View of the Project Management Practice under the 7th Edition, the System and Value-based Development Practice and Delivery.
System, Value, and Decision failures bring the grinding wheel to a halt As put by a Quality guru...
Download Free Report
Download our free Application Infrastructure Report and find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, and more! Updated: March 2023.
DOWNLOAD NOW
688,083 professionals have used our research since 2012.