Sccm

I have seen a lot of talk about the SCCM exams but no one has said anything about SCCM. How difficult is it to setup and maintain?

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NightShade03

SCCM as a technology is amazing! It can literally manage all aspects of a Windows environment like you are running a command center from a single location. However, giving that it can do all these things it is insanely complex to setup, use, and has a steep learning curve.

At my first job we used it for imaging purposes and delivery of software. It took my boss almost 3 months to set it up correctly, about a 2 month learning curve (just for imaging a computer properly), and we never finished with software deployment. I guess it goes to say that this is one of those products you need to put alot into to get alot out of. It is also worth noting that companies that use this technology have a full time IT person that deals with nothing but this one technology all day full time....that should give you and indication of the maintenance required.

The book for the exam from M$ is also out of print. It used to be about $59 but with them not printing it people are over charging on amazon for it. I had a copy of the exam book (got it for $60 when it first came out)...sold it for $90! I've seem them going as high as $200+.

Did I mention that this software + licensing cost a fortune?

Bl8ckr0uter

Thanks for the reply. I just saw a few jobs advertised for SCCM admins. They looked pretty high up.

We don't have that many servers so hopefully it won't be too difficult to set up. I am not on a time crunch or anything.

N2IT

We use SCCM in our environment. It's such an awesome deployment tool. We can track and audit all our machines with the great reporting features and customizable queries. Not to mention the remote tools aren't to shabby either, RDP, Remote Tools, and Remote Assistance.

Very nice tool, replaced SMS very nicely.

On a side note, none of our SCCM admins have certs with this tool. They have experience.

NightShade03

N2IT wrote: »

On a side note, none of our SCCM admins have certs with this tool. They have experience.

In my opinion the cert is a waste....I had the book and it wasn't even that helpful (plus 90% of the material is on technet). You have a full time SCCM admin though right?

Devilsbane

Can anyone link the book? It might be worth a read.

NightShade03

Devilsbane wrote: »

Can anyone link the book? It might be worth a read.

No because Microsoft stopped printing the book. It's actually a hot commodity now! I bought mine fore $60 back in the day but they are going for around $90 used on amazon now....

Devilsbane

NightShade03 wrote: »

No because Microsoft stopped printing the book. It's actually a hot commodity now! I bought mine fore $60 back in the day but they are going for around $90 used on amazon now....

So what is the amazon link?

NightShade03

Amazon.com: Microsoft® System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Administrator's Companion (9780735623859): Steven D. Kaczmarek, Microsoft System Center Team: Books

UPDATE: It appears that amazon has started carrying this again so you can now get it for $40. That's the first time I have seen it available in about a little over a year. If you plan on buying this book...cert or not...I'd say get it now while it is still in stock.

GosU-TecH

N2IT wrote: »

We use SCCM in our environment. It's such an awesome deployment tool. We can track and audit all our machines with the great reporting features and customizable queries. Not to mention the remote tools aren't to shabby either, RDP, Remote Tools, and Remote Assistance.

Very nice tool, replaced SMS very nicely.

On a side note, none of our SCCM admins have certs with this tool. They have experience.

While I agree SCCM is a great deployment tool, the remote tools are nothing special. RDP and RA...blah. If your company has the money, you're better off with other tools such as GoTo Assist, DameWare, or even free VNC, etc.

However, back to the original topic, it's a great tool for asset management, software distribution, OS deployment and update deployment. Our company had many reasons to deploy SCCM in our environment, but the 4 biggest were the 4 listed above. All of our PCs are on a 3 year lease cycle so SCCM helps us with tying PC names (our naming convention includes the Dell service tag + 3 digit site code location) to a user for easier tracking. We are almost completed with locking down all PCs in our environment, so SCCM is huge when it comes to software deployment. Same goes for Windows updates. We also implemented SCCM + MDT for ZTI (using PxE) to streamline our PC imaging process. Another reason we use SCCM is for software license tracking/management and custom reporting helps a lot with that.

As for the cert, yes, experience definitely outweighs obtaining the cert. In my case, I needed an elective for the MCSA track anyways so I went for it since I was already working with SCCM on a consistent basis.

NightShade03

GosU-TecH wrote: »

While I agree SCCM is a great deployment tool, the remote tools are nothing special. RDP and RA...blah. If your company has the money, you're better off with other tools such as GoTo Assist, DameWare, or even free VNC, etc.

+1 Also if you really have the cash logmein.com has an IT version that can connection to iphones, blackberries, macs, and windows boxes. It's an amazing production but is really $$$$$.

rfult001

SCCM is great in a mostly or all Windows environment. Our Windows Task Force (serious about the name) is implementing this and SCOM at work and it has taken forever to set up and configure. My only complaint is obviously the lack of support for anything non-Microsoft. Personally I would have gone with BMC BladeLogic and Remedy CMS.

Ashenwelt

It is touchy to get setup... but it is a PAIN to get setup right. Every enviroment is different, and therefore every deployment has to really be customized to the enviroment.

On the other hand... I just deployed SP3 in a customized package to almost ten thousand workstations that needed it... and Symeantec enpoint protection, adobe reader and other stuff... all from a workstation.

N2IT

NightShade03 wrote: »

In my opinion the cert is a waste....I had the book and it wasn't even that helpful (plus 90% of the material is on technet). You have a full time SCCM admin though right?

Yes we have two of them.

We have 30,000 end users and 100's of business units.

N2IT

Ashenwelt wrote: »

It is touchy to get setup... but it is a PAIN to get setup right. Every enviroment is different, and therefore every deployment has to really be customized to the enviroment.

On the other hand... I just deployed SP3 in a customized package to almost ten thousand workstations that needed it... and Symeantec enpoint protection, adobe reader and other stuff... all from a workstation.

Isn't it wonderful? I love SCCM the tool is great to use!

macdude

Great product! Like they said steep learning curve. Just started using it at my new job. Making my life easier by being to do updates, deploy software and image from one location.

N2IT

macdude wrote: »

Great product! Like they said steep learning curve. Just started using it at my new job. Making my life easier by being to do updates, deploy software and image from one location.

I noticed with WMI integrated in Windows 7 and not a add in like with XP and 2000 the clients break less and the packages advertise and push with a higher success rate.

RTmarc

I'll just echo what's already been said. SCCM - along with all of the System Center modules - is a fantastic tool after it has been completely installed and configured. Getting it to that point - configuration and learning - is where the problem lies.

N2IT

RTmarc wrote: »

I'll just echo what's already been said. SCCM - along with all of the System Center modules - is a fantastic tool after it has been completely installed and configured. Getting it to that point - configuration and learning - is where the problem lies.

I just use the tool, I wasn't involved in the set up and configuration. That's probably why I love it.