I would like to know if some of the abilities of ZCM are built into SCCM “out of the box” with no vb scripting or third party software needed, basically only configuration of the product. 1. Imaging . ZCM is capable of assigning an image to a workstation and imaging at next boot up to. You can also wake the machine from within ZCM, which then will start the imaging procces. the machine will be reimaged, renamed back to what it was before, and apply any other workstatin specific information to the machine. Can this be done with SCCM? 2. Application deployment. ZCM has a Application window that provides all applications that are associated to the user and workstation. Application that are installed on the machine but not associated to the user do not show up in the window. Does SCCM have this capability? 3. Application deployment. ZCM can be configured to only install application if someone tries to use them. Example you have a icon in the application windows, If a user clicks on it, It will install and the run the desired application. Application can be made available but not installed until the user clicks on the icon. You can also click on the icon and have it repair itself. Can SCCM be configured to do any of this? 4. Remote management. ZCM allows you to wake up a machine, and after bootup you can login and manage the machine without a user being present at the machine. You can also view and control a machine while a user is logged in seeing his activity, again without his knowledge or acceptance. Can I also do this with SCCM? 5. Database. ZCM works from a single database that is not replicated and stored only at a central location. When a client connects to ZCM the workstation uses a set of rules that tells it which server to authenticate to, but that server still has to go back to the main server holding the database to get the policies and applications that are needed for the user and workstation. If the database server goes down zcm everywhere stops working. Does sccm work in this way? What is stored in the sccm database? How is SCCM using AD? I am looking for fact not sales pitches. These are question that were posed to me by our IT department, I have read through some, I admit not all, documentation on sccm, but could not find a clear answer. I hope someone can shed some light.

please provide details on response 5. your saying yes to- When if the central/parent site goes down all sccm functionallity stops working until it comes back up, even you have a primary/child server at that location. Are all primary servers reliant on the central server or can sccm function if only for a day or so with out the central server if primary/child servers are setup for that location? can you supply Specific microsoft documentaion to collaborate all your answers or at least can you be a more specific with your answers as to what part of sccm can be used to acomplish these things?

All of the answer are in the docs. or online. Here is link to the online docs for Central/Parent/Child communicate http://technet.microsoft.com/en-ca/library/bb632547.aspx http://www.enhansoft.com/

If you use all ofthe features within ConfigMgr then: Yes yes yes yes yes it can work that way. AD si used for Security, Membership, discovery, etc. http://www.enhansoft.com/

Beyond what Garth said, you are looking at two completely different practices. ZCM is Java based, SCCM is .NET with an MMC console. Deployments are significantly different as well. SCCM Requires full blown SQL server where in ZCM you can choose your DB according to the size of your infrastructure. Both have their pros and cons, and switch not is not easy. I Believe that pricing wise, they end up being the same. looking beyind what was listed, I would also look at: 3. Company & product future / stability. 2. Support options (Field engineers in your area, availability etc.) 1. Online Community size. The last 3 factors must be taken in consideration since IMHO, they play key factor in maintaining the product.

Thank you shrek I also agree on the points you brought up are important. the main reason for asking theses questions was After wading through countless docs I still was not sure on all the questions I ask especially the function of the sccm data base. ZCM is completely depended on the database, which can not be replicated and if the main database goes down everything goes down. I wanted to know if the same was true with sccm, from the documents, it looks like it can be replicated, Is this the case?

I'm assuming you are asking if ConfigMgr is supported in a SQL Cluster configuration: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb693612.aspx Short answer, yes, but in an Active/Passive mode. Read through the doc link above for details. Slightly OT, just mentioning it in case this was your thoughts: in my opinion, having a clustered DB is still not a true disaster recovery plan. For Configmgr, a ConfigMgr-initiated backup routine is still the best proof against recovering from a real disaster. On a side note, a 'normal' SQL backup of the database in ConfigMgr is not useful. ConfigMgr itself needs to initiate the backup, so that a restore can be achieved if necessary in a DR scenario.Standardize. Simplify. Automate.

thank you for your reply I am looking for more information on the comunication between the clients and the sccm child and parent servers. I understand how ZCM works. the short as a client machines logs in it comunicates to the child but the child still has to access the database at the parent to get applications and policies associated to client. this puts a lot of traffic on the connections between the child and parent. Is the same true for SCCM or is a portion of the database configured at the child also. is there a document that shows the database stucture and how the clients communicate to each?

The client gets policies from the Management Point. The Management Point gets policies from it's Primary Site Server. fyi, unless you have more than 100,000 clients, or there are geo-political reasons, in general, you don't need more than 1 primary site. Although often those geo-political reasons overtake logical technical reasons; so yes, you may end up with mor than 1 primary site. But if you can navigate the geo and/or internal politics waters, you won't need to concern yourself with child and parent server communications... because you won't have more than 1 site.Standardize. Simplify. Automate.

the IPD for ConfigMgr includes some content which may be useful to you.Don

the IPD for ConfigMgr includes some content which may be useful to you.Don

Coming to the party a bit late, but hey what the heck! 1. Imaging: ZCM does this from the Satelite servers as well, not just from the primary server as with SCCM. If you want to use SCCM and not want primary servers at every site you'll need to put the image on a USB drive or CD. 2/3. App deployment, SCCM doesn't have anything like the ZENworks Window, you can advertise shortcuts in explorer with SCCM but not like you can with ZCM, with ZCM the user can right click the applicaiton in the window and do a repair, do an uninstall, view internal support information about the application etc. With ZCM you can assign applications to roles, not just groups of workstations or users, this may take a bit of time to setup and take some input from your users but can be rewarding as well. 4. Remote control. From what I recall of SCCM a user needed to be logged on for a RC session to be initiated with SCCM, also you couldn't get around the prompts to allow/not allow the session, ZCM remote control also allows the running a programs as a system user, so for example no staff may have access to cmd, even support staff, but if you remote control someone then you can click a button in the RC window and start cmd as a system account. SCCM needs to have RDP enabled on computers for a RC with no user logged on. Most places have this disabled for security reasons... 5. ZCM database can be on SQL, Oracle or it's own Sybase one (up to 1000 recommended devices), the Sybase one is being improved to allow more devices. If you choose SQL or Oracle then you can use the clustering with those products. Depending on the amount of users and devices ZCM can be a less expensive option, the OS is free to run ZCM on (if you use the Virtual appliance) for example. It has one of the best Asset Management tools integrated into it as well.