Professional MOM 2005, SMS 2003 and Microsoft Update provides a single source for IT administrators to understand how these systems and operations management technologies can be used in their environments. It also serves as a comparative tool that helps readers understand which tool is right for which job.

It is designed and written for anyone who is involved with implementing, supporting, or managing a set of tools for systems and operations management, including IT operators, IT administrators, IT infrastructure managers and system architects. The readers that have some background in systems and operations management will probably get the most of this book, however no specific level of skill or knowledge is assumed. The writing is aimed at readers who have a basic understanding of IT infrastructure on the Windows platform and have familiarity with Windows XP (and earlier) client deployments and Windows Server technologies.

Some of the topics covered include:

* basics of operations management
* how the MOM 2005, SMS 2003 and other update technologies fit together
* installing and deploying MOM
* installing and deploying SMS
* installing and deploying MU and WSUS
* configuring and administering the MOM environment with MOM and alert tuning
* MOM and SMS agents
* Deploying and using MOM management packs
* Third party management packs
* Security and patching with MOM and SMS
* Monitoring and security MOM and SMS deployments
* MOM and SMS reporting
* Microsoft System Center Solutions