The 4 Pillars of System Center Configuration Manager

If you're upgrading an existing SMS 2003 site, you have a number of options, decisions, and prerequisites to consider. First, before you can add SCCM to the mix, your SMS 2003 site must be running SMS 2003 SP2. Second, SCCM doesn't support Windows 2000 servers, so you'll need to upgrade any SMS systems running on that OS. Third, you need to decide whether you'll use a side-by-side or in-place upgrade strategy.

Organizations that aren't heavily invested in their current version of SMS will find the side-by-side upgrade acceptable. This upgrade amounts to bringing up the new SCCM site, then reassigning and upgrading existing managed systems to the new site. More probable though, is an in-place upgrade. An in-place upgrade migrates your existing data to the new database schema and lets you run in an interoperable mode while you convert to SCCM 2007. One caveat is that the upgrade process removes any unsupported feature packs—particularly those for OS deployment and device management. However, although the upgrade removes the legacy feature packs, their functionality is replaced natively in SCCM 2007, and the new SCCM-native features will use the settings previously configured for the feature packs.

When you upgrade, you should go from the top of your hierarchy down. One helpful tip is to consider placing a central SCCM 2007 site above your existing SMS 2003 primary site, then let your data flow up. Using this scenario, you can familiarize yourself with the new SCCM console while using your own data. From the SCCM 2007 console, you can view—but not edit—SMS 2003 site settings. You can upgrade secondary SMS 2003 sites to SCCM 2007 manually, by pushing them via SMS, or by installing them through remote control. You can assign SMS 2003 clients to SCCM 2007 sites, and SCCM 2007 clients—in mixed mode—can roam back to an SMS 2003 site for interoperability.

Client-Deployment Considerations
You can assign SCCM clients based on AD OUs so that the assignment strategy can be more aligned with the structure of your business than an SMS site structure. In addition to standard push-client installations and software distribution methods, there's a new way to perform client installation. Using the Software Update Point, you can piggyback on your WSUS implementation to overcome client-installation obstacles such as account permissions and unopened ports. When Microsoft releases SCCM to manufacturing, the company will provide an .adm template for distributing SCCM client settings via Group Policy.

Microsoft has also made notable improvements to the SCCM client-installation executable. The tool uses a single binary file— ccmsetup.exe—for all client installations. The new executable has bandwidth awareness through BITS, and it downloads a simple XML manifest first to determine which components are applicable to a given client, then downloads and installs only what is necessary.

Other Caveats
SCCM's native mode and the PKI infrastructure it requires are requirements for Internet-based client management. Also, you're going to have to modify your AD schema to use NAP, but that prospect isn't as scary as it might sound. If you're comfortable with it, you can run the ExtADSch.exe file (from \SMSSETUP\BIN\ I386) on the SCCM 2007 installation media, or you can use a Microsoft-provided LDF file. The LDF file documents the classes and attributes added in the process of modifying the schema, as well as the SCCM features they're associated with. (NAP is one such feature that requires an update to the AD schema.)

Worthwhile Investment
Microsoft's investment in its four-pillar strategy of simplicity, deployment, security, and configuration should pay dividends for IT organizations ranging in size from medium to huge. Existing SMS users will benefit greatly from an upgrade to Microsoft's latest and greatest configuration management tool, and SCCM's new capabilities and usability add up to a compelling argument for deployment in many IT organizations where previous versions of SMS might not have made the cut.