With the intention to implement and control distributed systems, there is a need to use what is generally known as system management software. Assuming a company is big enough and has operations spread out far enough to guarantee a distributed system, the extensive benefits are really self evident. For a growing enterprise, there happens to be cutoff point at which it becomes unrealistic to do individual installations on each station, and sort through the paper and electronic trail left by every single user with the intention to centralize the actual whole setup.

The concept basically revolves around a thorough scrutiny of information systems in business to ensure that they are up and running. This involves the acquisition of proper peripherals and software so that they can be used in the appropriate areas. They are then assembled and maintained using the latest updates to ensure that all the set goals are met at the right time. In simple terms, the major role it plays is to ensure that a business operates within a secure, reliable and easy to maintain IT atmosphere. It also encompasses hosting services and managed services in addition to monitoring information systems services.

Installation & Management: Fast and easy automation for new installations and upgrades is the core benefit. A company with a handful of computers all located in the same office can do individual installations. But it gets harder when a company has a large setup and a gazillion computers. Introduce system management, and the problems go away, the entire process is now streamlined and automated and needs a lot less effort and manpower.

Cost Reduction: First of all, no company, big or small, needs to worry about not benefiting from system management. The only debatable point is the ROI related to the cost of the software and paying a system administrator. Regardless, once implemented, it cuts down the need for IT staffing and other related expenses on a long-term basis. The real savings come from the capability to install new systems and software faster and at a lower cost. Companies start using client-server architecture, ERP and other kinds of enterprise level software and systems. It helps them expand, and open branches where otherwise it may not have been possible. End of the day, it leads to a massive makeover for the entire company, with large-scale improvements in distribution, productivity, work flow and reporting capabilities.

Security: System management has a huge impact on IT security. The same security settings are implemented on all stations, and any new policies are remotely implemented instantaneously on all the stations. Users can access any station and get the same settings and data, made possible by settings that apply to specific usernames and job or department levels. This makes the network more capable of withstanding external attacks. Security patches and critical updates can be done instantaneously on all stations without any extra effort or manpower, which reduces the window that attackers can use to take advantage of bugs. The network gets centralized enterprise anti virus and malware protection. Even the data is more secure as regards hardware failure or data corruption, since everything is stored on servers with a backup system.

Then there is configuration control, which is the list of methods and approval stages that are needed to modify a configuration point's traits and reinitiate them. Configuration status accounting is the facility needed to document and deal with the configuration baselines correlated to each point at any time period. The last task is Configuration audits, which has two aspects: functional audits and physical audits. The former deals with the functional and performance attributes of the configuration point. On the other hand the latter makes certain that the configuration point is established according to what is required by the detailed design records.


To summarize, the immediate advantages of using system management are very much real and the possibilities even bigger. End of the day, each company has to make an informed decision about this based on its own size and growth curve. A cost benefit analysis to figure out the ROI of system management software would be a good place to begin.