Microsoft to Launch System Center 2025 Later This Year

Key Takeaways:

• Microsoft has announced that System Center 2025, the next LTSC release, arrives in Fall 2024.
• Key improvements focus on modernizing infrastructure, managing heterogeneous environments, and enhancing security.
• Microsoft will add support for TLS 1.3 for data transmission security and securely storing passphrases in Azure Key Vault.

System Center 2025, the next release of Long-Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) will be released in Fall 2024. Microsoft has announced that the latest versions of Center Operations Manager (SCOM), Virtual Machine Manager (VMM), Service Manager (SM), System Center Orchestrator (SCO), and Data Protection Manager (DPM) will be available later this year.

System Center is a suite of management tools that helps organizations to manage large-scale IT infrastructure. The service offers a comprehensive set of solutions to deploy, configure, manage, monitor, and automate datacenters, hybrid cloud infrastructures, and virtualized environments.

Microsoft highlights that System Center 2025 brings several improvements that should help organizations modernize infrastructure, manage heterogeneous infrastructure, and boost security. “By delivering System Center 2025 (VMM, DPM, SCOM, SM & SCO) together with Windows Server 2025, we are bringing you management support for the latest Windows Server version right from Day 0,” Microsoft explained.

Microsoft plans to add managing and monitoring support for Azure Stack HCI 23H2 clusters with VMM & SCOM 2025. This release should also make it easier for administrators to convert VMware VMs to Windows Server via VMM. Microsoft plans to introduce support for the latest versions of Linux distros when System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2025 hits general availability.

Additionally, Data Protection Manager 2025 will enable IT admins to exclude specific disks from backups in Hyper-V environments. The service will also offer virtual TPM (vTPM) support for VMware and seamless integration with SharePoint Subscription Edition.

System Center 2025 to enhance storage & authentication mechanisms

Microsoft will introduce several security features to enhance the security and reliability of System Center products. The company has added support for Transport Layer Security (TLS) version 1.3 to ensure that the latest security standards protect all data transmission. Moreover, DPM 2025 lets administrators securely store passphrases in Azure Key Vault to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Last but not least, Microsoft has announced plans to discontinue support for the Azure Profiles feature in VMM and System Center Service Provider Foundation (SPF). The company mentioned that these built-in capabilities are already available in Arc-enabled VMM. Microsoft notes that administrators can sign up for a private preview of System Center 2025 on this page.