Managing your entire IT environment; Microsoft System Center 2025 is here

Microsoft System Center 2025 explained to you? 

Microsoft System Center 2025 is the newest in its range by Microsoft offering extensive IT management solution with a wide range of tools and services empowering organizations in overseeing their complete IT infrastructure. It delivers a unified approach for the administration of both physical and virtual environments, as well as applications, devices, and data, whether they are located on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid settings.  

It also offers a range of integrated features, including automation, monitoring, patch management, asset discovery, and configuration management. Aside centralize management of tasks and streamline processes, improving efficiency and reducing operational costs is also possible.  

The new features of Microsoft System Center?   

Beginning September 2024, Microsoft will release the Microsoft System Center 2025 which will also be generally available. This release focuses on infrastructure modernization, providing enhanced capabilities for managing heterogeneous infrastructures and improving security when used in an organization. It marks the next Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) release of System Center. By October 2024, all System Center products will be launched in their 2025 versions.  

What are the System Center products of Microsoft System Center 2025? 

The system center products as discussed below will all come with the System Center 2025 as updated features.  

1. Virtual Machine Manager (VMM) 

This feature oversees virtualized datacenter infrastructure and offers tools for the creation and management of virtual machines and services.  

2. Data Protection Manager (DPM) 

Offers robust backup and recovery solutions for Microsoft workloads, including SQL Server, SharePoint, Exchange, and virtual machines.  

3. System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) 

Monitors the health and performance of your IT environment to guarantee that the infrastructure operates efficiently.  

4. Service Manager (SM) 

Provides a comprehensive platform for automating and tailoring IT service management best practices to meet the unique needs of your organization.  

5. System Center Orchestrator (SCO) 

Automates workflows to seamlessly integrate and streamline routine tasks throughout your datacenter.  

What are the main new features of Microsoft System Center 2025 

1. Heterogeneous infrastructure and workload management 

It enhances the management and monitoring capabilities for Azure Stack HCI 23H2 clusters using VMM and SCOM 2025, while also supporting the latest versions of Linux distributions. This according to Microsoft is to meet users’ preference to have a single management plane to support their work of managing varied IT infrastructure within their organization.   

2. Embrace enhanced security 

The security features in System Center products are robust, ensuring that all operations, storage, and authentication mechanisms remain both secure and can be trusted. In System Center 2025, there is a significant minimization of the scenarios that utilize CredSSP and NTLM as authentication methods. All VMs created through VMM will default to Generation 2, providing enhanced booting capabilities that are both faster and more secure.  

3. Support for Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.3 

System Center products utilize the latest encryption technology to ensure that all data transmissions are safeguarded by the highest security standards.  

4. Virtual Machine Management (VMM) improved 

System Center 2025 offers an improved experience for converting VMware VMs to Windows Server, defaulting on all newly created VMs to Generation 2. This ensures faster and more secure booting.  

What are the licensing options for Microsoft System Center 2025? 

The new Microsoft System center 2025 will be offered in either the Datacenter & Standard editions. The choice you make as an organization should depend on what needs you want met and note that each edition demands some level of financial commitment. Know your financial books very well and how safely you can afford which edition soundly without breaking your back financially.  

1. Datacenter Edition 

This solution is designed for effectively managing highly virtualized servers. Your organization can decide on this option for your data centers as it hosts numerous virtual machines and requires unlimited operating system environments (OSEs) or Hyper-V containers. The Datacenter Edition offers complete functionalities for all integrated System Center components.  

2. Standard Edition 

This edition is tailored for managing physical servers or minimally virtualized environments, supporting up to two Operating System Environments (OSEs) or Hyper-V containers. The Standard Edition offers the same features but is designed for less dense or non-virtualized environments.  

Note: Both editions operate under a core-based licensing model, indicating that the cost is determined by the number of cores in the managed hardware.  

Do you want to know more about Microsoft System Center 2025? 

Talk to our team of independent Microsoft licensing experts who are available to support you with all you want to know about Microsoft System Center 2025 and how licensing can be done. We have worked with various clients and organizations, giving us a broad perspective on how different companies use Microsoft System Center 2025 and we can with experience guide you on how its adoption and use can impact on your operations.   

We can share valuable insights and best practices, helping you make informed decisions about how this Microsoft product can or is the right fit for your organization.  

Talking to our independent expert, you will get support leading you to save money through understanding the complexities of Microsoft System Center 2025 licensing models to avoid potential pitfalls or mistakes that could arise from lack of knowledge or understanding.   

Let our experts provide personalized recommendations based on your specific requirements and goals. We will assess your current systems and processes and suggest how Microsoft System Center 2025 can be integrated to improve efficiency, productivity, and overall performance. This tailored approach can help you get the most out of the technology, get return on investment rather than using a one-size-fits-all solution.  

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