System Center Packs

FyrSoft offers full turnkey services to deliver custom System Center packs for Configuration Manager, Operations Manager, Virtual Machine Manager, Orchestrator, and Service Manager to improve manageability and governance within your data center. Whether you are just need a few custom rules or want to manage line of business applications with multiple System Center solutions, FyrSoft will work with you to deliver a turnkey System Center pack that can be imported into your environment to provide immediate business value.

FyrSoft currently offers professional services to develop the following types of System Center packs.

System Center Configuration Manager

System Center Configuration Manager provides the ability to define master baselines for hardware, system variables, and applications to monitoring compliance health and track drift over time. Configuration monitoring is available in SCCM 2007 and 2012, in 2012 users have the ability to auto remediate non-compliant configurations.

FyrSoft has developed more Configuration Packs than any other vendor in the world retaining deep expertise with advance application configuration monitoring and proven design methodologies that ensure a successful project. Using the Microsoft security best practice baselines and years of custom rule development we can help implement the most robust configuration assessment solution available.

Configuration Objects and Settings

System Center Configuration Manager supports the following types of objects and settings for building configuration baselines with. Each object has several attributes which can be validated with by rules for compliance.

  • File and Folders existence, size, timestamp, hash, file count, ACLs
  • Group Policy enablement and setting validation
  • Registry existence, values, ACLs
  • Service existence, start up mode options, ACLs
  • Queries for Active Directory, IIS Metabases, SQL, XPATH, and WMI
  • Scripts for complex settings not covered using standard methods
Orchestrator Integration Packs

System Center Orchestrator Integration Packs allows vendors and partners to deliver runbook activities that can be integrated into existing or new workflows to simplify and automate IT tasks. Additionally, consumers may be looking for 'canned' runbooks to quickly get new automations implemented.

FyrSoft offers a large portfolio of runbook automation services and can help partners integrate existing libraries and scripts using API level calls to fully integrate workload activities between systems.

Compliance and Risk Process

FyrSoft helps customers truly leverage System Center to automate IT GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance) controls using Configuration Manager, Operations Manager, Data Protection Manager, Orchestrator, and Service Manager. Some of the common compliance and risk process pack scenario's we help deliver include:

  • Configuration assessment baseline auditing
  • Compliance based health monitoring and security alerting
  • Enterprise security event and incident management
  • Compliance Analytics, reporting, and dashboards
  • Risk Management Service Workflows
  • Automated Control Assessments and Reporting

Management Packs help organizations gain important insight into an environments health and performance of vital business functions. Businesses that need to monitor applications or systems for health, availability, performance and key controls can leverage System Center Operations Manager to implement real-time monitoring and alerting.

The list below summarizes the types of Management Pack components that can be delivered to monitor a system or application.

  • State health monitoring for services
  • Synthetic transaction monitoring
  • Monitors and Rules for all common provider sources
  • Operational Views
  • MP Templates for automated monitoring scenarios
  • Custom Roles and Connectors
  • Operational Tasks and Tool integration
  • Presentation Dashboards
  • Reporting and Analytics
  • SLA Monitoring
  • Distributed Application Models

FyrSoft has tremendous expertise in building tailored dashboards and web portals to share IT information and interconnect visibility across your organization. The System Center suite and partner solutions provide delivery of very advance analytics and rich presentation layers to end users. Learn more about our Dashboard and Portals offering.

Canned Dashboard Packs can be delivered across most of the System Center components as well as web based via System Center Webtop. Most other options require customization and integration with other solutions like SharePoint and partner add-ons.

Contact us to learn more about Dashboard Packs.

Common Presentation Needs

The list below summarizes some of the common presentation capabilities end users are looking for.

  • Alert and Event Views
  • Performance Trending and Analysis
  • SQL Server Reporting Services
  • Charts, Gauges, and Graphs
  • Key Performance Indicators
  • SLA Metrics
  • Logical Processes Diagrams
  • Geographical and Maps
  • Historical and Cubed Analytics

PRO Packs (Performance Resource Optimization) extend System Center Virtual Machine Manager and Operations Manager towards improving virtualized assets within your Data Center and Private Clouds. Much like a Management Pack PRO Packs are xml manifests that are very extensible by vendors and enterprise customers looking to improve virtualization management. Contact us to learn more about building custom PRO packs.

System Center Service Manager provides the ability to implement Process Packs that can include new types of service workflow, template objects, and forms that enable your end users service management activities.

FyrSoft can assist you with designing and building the right Process Packs, providing full post support and a range of associated development services. Contact us today to discuss your service management needs.

System Center Integrations

Most enterprises today employ several management technologies to support their IT environments, eventually creating a need to integrate those technologies together so information can be shared across the organization. In a majority of cases, users typically send alerts between management tools to a central repository, or link with workflow solutions. When using System Center, users can leverage some of the canned connectors and also build custom ones to support their System Center integration requirements.

FyrSoft has extensive expertise building uni and bi directional connectors between monitoring solutions and with service desk systems. We help clients achieve the right level of integration for their desired results. The list below summarizes a few types of connectors we've built and can help tailor for your environment:

  • SCOM to/from NetCool OmniBus
  • SCOM to/from BMC Patrol
  • SCOM to/from Tivoli
  • SCOM to/from Remedy
  • Service Manager Connectors
  • Custom Data Integrations
  • Custom Workflow Integrations
  • Orchestrator Runbooks

SQL Reporting Services

FyrSoft has extensive expertise in SQL reporting services, building custom SQL reports and dashboards for System Center across an array of visualization technology. Whether you need to customize existing reports, build new ones, manage cubes of information, or elevate business visibility with dashboards,

FyrSoft can assist you in getting the reports you need. FyrSoft helps clients with the following types of reporting and dashboards for System Center:

  • Asset and inventory reports
  • Patch management reports
  • Compliance assessment reports
  • State history changes
  • Discovery data resultant sets
  • Alert, event, and performance reports
  • Audit reports
  • Reporting schedules

Windows Scripting

Infrastructure Scripting and Automation is potentially the biggest time saving factor one will encounter in the Enterprise, and one frequently under-estimated and overlooked.  Picking the perfect tool to accomplish a job is usually the hardest part for a complicated technology environment, so scripting is often the most beneficial solution.

The power of scripting allows you to automate and cleanup your environment saving man hours and streamlining operations.  The cost associated with menial tasks which get overlooked and cause system outages is insurmountable.  Having a strong scripting plan to automate and keep your environment running is important to your success.

Scripting itself also needs to be managed correctly with central repositories, version control, and proper documentation to ensure the longevity of the script. FyrSoft has extensive expertise in IT workflow automation, .NET, and PowerShell as well as several Visual Studio developers to support your Windows Scripting needs.

Vendors and OEM

FyrSoft brings some very unique and successful experiences on building solutions and partnering with Microsoft in the System Center community. FyrSoft is one of the few Microsoft partners to have seasoned commercial experience building solutions across the suite. If you're looking to gain an edge in the field, increase the power of your brand, expand partner alliances, or grow your System Center business we're the team that can help you succeed.

Below is a general overview of FyrSoft's Vendor and OEM service offerings. To learn more about our services and how we can help you succeed in the System Center market, please contact us.

The FyrSoft team has unmatched experience growing Microsoft based businesses and commercial solutions for global enterprise companies. Whether you want to stimulate business development, grow your community presence, position for investment or acquisition, or maturing your partnership with Microsoft, FyrSoft can help you navigate the rocky waters of being a successful and profitable Microsoft partner. As strategic advisors FyrSoft can help your organization with:

  • Strategic portfolio planning and Microsoft roadmap alignment
  • Business development with Microsoft product teams and channel partners
  • License models, pricing, and sales life cycles
  • Community and marketing steering guidance
  • Technology and development process assessments

Want to curb the learning curve, accelerate development and simplify your release life cycle? If you're building solutions for System Center and want to get the edge, FyrSoft can help. FyrSoft has extensive commercial development expertise across the System Center stack, is well versed in all the SDKs, and has been involved in over 50 commercial solution releases for SCCM and SCOM in the past three years alone.

Whether you're looking for architectural guidance, development support, or outsourcing of your projects FyrSoft can help you deliver a professional, enterprise ready solution to the System Center market. The list below summarizes some of the types of technical services we've provided our customers.

  • Turnkey solution development (or to certain release cycle)
  • SCOM class modeling, discoveries and scripts
  • Configuration Packs with both standard and complex rules
  • Custom providers for data collection and alerting
  • SDLC practice and process reviews
  • Technical feasibility studies and reviews
  • Solution accelerators

When building new solutions, extending existing ones or connecting products to System Center it may be necessary to enforce trial limitations, license usage rules, and renewals. While in theory this sounds practical, implementing a solution that technically enables licensing across the product set, is manageable by your sales team, and more importantly is simple for customers to use can be a daunting task.

Typically ISVs face the same common needs and challenges implementing a licensing solution for System Center. FyrSoft can help accelerate your learning curve and assist with designing and building the right solution for your needs. Below are some common scenario's ISVs try to support by implementing a licensing module in their System Center solutions.

  • Enforce solution trial timespan and usage
  • Lock down console forms, object discoveries and reports on trial expiration
  • Auto-generate license keys for solutions and usage
  • Provide users with simple license update process and client
  • low internal sales team to manage license keys (and optionally link keys with CRM)