RE: Subject: RE: Deploying Office XP SP3 using SMS Feature Pack

["Depp, Dennis M." <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>]

I'm not sure when you have looked at SMS for patch management.
Microsoft created a Software Update Services Feature Pack for SMS 2.0
and SMS 2003 and it ROCKS!  You can select the collection you want
patches deployed to choose the patches to deploy and SMS creates the
package and advertisement for you.  I have never had to worry about pre
and post jobs.  It is true that SMS does much more than handle patches
and service packs, but it does do these very well.  Another great
benefit of SMS is its reporting capabilites.  Through hardware and
software inventories, I can verify exactly what patches are installed
and what are needed.  

Last fall we were looking at patch mangement solutions.  At that time we
still needed to patch Windows 98 clients.  We only found 2 products that
could patch Win98, SMS and Altiris.  With the SUS feature pack for SMS
2.0 and our EA agreement, SMS was an easy winner.  SMS has a slight
learning curve.  I'm not sure how it relates to HFNETCHECK but I think
it is comparable to Altiris.  Our primary focus for this system was
patch management.  The system was not difficult to deploy, but you do
need to take some time to plan it.  Ours was a relatively easy
architecture, 4000 clients all within one site.  More planning is
required if you need to setup child sites over a WAN link.  I would also
add SMS 2003 is a very different product from SMS 1.2 or even 2.0.  It
took Microsoft to SMS 2.0 SP3 to get a system that worked well.  SMS
2003 improves upon this by adding better support for mobile clients.
Also the web reporting feature is much easier than with 2.0.

Hope this helps.  Drop me a line if you need additional info.

Denny
[EMAIL PROTECTED]  

-----Original Message-----
From: Orhan O. Bag [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] 
Sent: Wednesday, April 07, 2004 9:44 AM
To: Patch Management Mailing List
Subject: RE: Subject: RE: Deploying Office XP SP3 using SMS Feature Pack

Pasquale, 

SMS is a tool with some pre and post jobs / controls / queries to do,
which, you have to work on for "each pack" to deploy.

Some of our clients have been testing SMS and SMS 2003, and it looks, it
is a must to know each pre and post jobs for each SP & P, and to work on
that queries every time you scan and deploy.

But they have different strategies with WUS (known as SUS before) and
let the WUS to do some jobs for you (it uses windows update agent on the
clients). It is free. But some wispers tell that it will be charged with
the coming versions soon. On the othe hand there are some criticals on
the success of WUS using Windows Update agent.

So, again, if your aim is deploying SP & P, I belive that it is better
to use a SW professionally dedicated for this, which does not need your
works and interaction that much.

Orhan O. Bag
General Manager 

 

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-----Original Message-----
From: Pasquale Pescatore [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Monday, April 05, 2004 4:59 PM
To: Patch Management Mailing List
Subject: Subject: RE: Deploying Office XP SP3 using SMS Feature Pack

Just use Shavlik HFNetChkPro, and forget about 'to do's, controls and
all audits of SMS.

SMS is a management tool, and ofcourse it manages patches; but it is not
the main target of SMS, thus it manages you more then let you manage
patches.

A tool like Shavlik's HFNetChkPro downloads & deploys ALL with a few
'clicks'. You donot control and query any job. But just control and
watch how is it going, if there is any error...

This is why I believe that it is better to use a tool which is designed
and dedicated for patch management.

Best Regards...


Orhan O. Bag
General Manager 

Good Morning, I'm using Orphan's post because I've been asked to
investigate SMS 2003.  In a meeting I had with Microsoft on Friday April
2nd, Microsoft has advised me and my architect that their Patch
Management solution is an excellent solution and should not be dismissed
from the rest of the big vendors who specialize in Patch Management.
They have advised us that we can do anything the other vendors can do or
better.  

For us, the reason we may be considering SMS 2003 is because we have an
EA agreement with Microsoft and it would be a great cost effective
solution for us.

What I would like to ask is if anyone is using SMS 2003 as a Patch
Management solution is it a good solution?

I still find it hard to believe that SMS can provide everything the
other patch management products can provide that's why I'm asking the
question to the rest of the list members.

I want a intuitive solution and this is what I have seen with most of
the Patch Management companies.  I just remember SMS to be difficult to
set up and deploy properly.

Anything you could provide me (Pro's or Cons) would be greatly
appreciated.

Pasquale


Pasquale Pescatore B. Admin, MCSE
Senior Technology Analyst
The North West Company
e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> phone
204-934-1664
77 Main Street
R3C-2R1



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