SMS 2003 R2 is now available
In case you haven’t heard, SMS 2003 R2 is now available for customers with either Software Assurance or an Enterprise Agreement. If you would like to evaluate the new features of R2 check out the following link: https://www.microsoft.com/smserver/evaluation/2003/r2.mspx
SMS 2003 R2 includes the following features:
Inventory Tool for Custom Updates
Building a more secure and reliable infrastructure while lowering operating costs relies on the ability to update independent software vendor (ISV) and in-house applications as well as updates provided by Microsoft. With SMS 2003 R2 and the Inventory Tool for Custom Updates (ITCU), organizations can achieve this goal quickly and efficiently.
ITCU consists of two components:
•
Integrated Scanner. Designed for evaluating target clients for software update compliance.
•
Publishing Tool. Designed to allow the ISV or line-of business (LOB) application developer to create software update catalogs that can be imported into SMS. The native SMS 2003 Software Updates Management (SUM) functionality can then use these catalogs to determine applicability and automatically remediate as necessary.
Scenarios:
•
Vendors create catalogs of update definitions for commercial software applications.
•
Customers create catalogs of update definitions for in-house LOB applications.
•
Solution-providers build catalogs of updates for organizations to which they provide services
Scan Tool for Vulnerability Assessment
Software installation errors and mis-configurations compromise security and stability, resulting in escalated support costs. Scan Tool for Vulnerability Assessment (STVA) can help prevent errors, increasing your organizational uptime and helping you build a more secure infrastructure. The tool provides vulnerability assessment reporting for common software mis-configurations using the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA) 2.0 engine.
Scenarios:
•
Scan for an organization’s vulnerabilities that may exist because of mis-configuration errors.
•
Example checks made by STVA:
•
Are unnecessary services installed and running?
•
Do file shares have appropriate permissions?
•
Is Windows Firewall enabled?
•
Are automatic updates enabled?
•
Are strong passwords enforced?
•
Are unsecured guest accounts enabled?
•
Are there too many local administrators on a single computer?
Device Management Feature Pack Update
In addition to releasing SMS 2003 R2, we are proud to announce the availability of the Device Management Feature Pack Update. This updated feature pack allows SMS 2003 to support Mobile 5.