SFW Switches to Microsoft Client Server Monitoring Tool

SFW switches over to Microsoft Systems Centre Operations Manager (SCOM 2007) for Client Server Monitoring

29 May 2009

On 1st April, exactly on schedule, SFW successfully completed migration to Microsoft’s Systems Centre Operations Manager 2007 (SCOM 2007) to monitor all the client servers which are being managed by SFW’s Managed Services Group. Previously, a third party product, Hawkeye from GTL (Now Orange Business Services), had been used.

Commenting on the switch SFW Director, Peter Hornsby, said: ‘SFW had been using the Hawkeye Service for some time, but the Microsoft product set offered us several advantages:

Firstly, SFW can monitor Microsoft products to the applications level, not just the operating system one. This provides much more information about what is actually happening inside the server, and allows SFW to offer an improved service with automated diagnosis of a range of problems which could not be picked up using third party tools.

Secondly, the data aggregation and reporting tools within SCOM 2007 are much more flexible, so clients can be presented with succinct and pertinent information about the availability and performance of their server estate.

Finally, SFW is now able to switch from third party offshore suppliers to utilise its own Indian resources, allowing more control over process and quality.’

The project was also a first for SFW in the substantive use of Microsoft’s Service Provider Licence Agreement (SPLA) which enables organisations with hosted offerings to license Microsoft products on a monthly basis to provide services and hosted applications to the end customers. SPLA has many benefits in the world of hosted services, not least the ‘pay as you go’ pricing, and right to continuous updates.

Since the switch over, SFW's clients have have been reaping the benefits, particularly in terms of the delivery of proactive information.