In an extremely tight battle for Best Change and Configuration Management Tool, Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 again surges to the front, this time reclaiming the top spot from last year's usurper, HP OpenView Service Desk. The competition for this award is always neck-and-neck.

SMS 2003 is a comprehensive solution for Change and Configuration Management (CCM) in the Windows environment, letting you provide relevant software and updates to users quickly and cost-effectively. The product covers many bases--offering such functionality as application deployment (reliably delivering crucial business-productivity applications), asset management (reducing software costs while remaining compliant with licensing), and patch management (improving the security of the environment through increased vulnerability awareness and targeted update delivery)--and can scale to meet the needs of any business. Because SMS 2003 uses the management capabilities built into the Windows platform, it reduces your operational costs. And SMS offers mobility--it delivers enterprise management to the growing mobile workforce.