System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Release Candidate is Here

Great News!  The SCCM 2012 product has hit the RC stage!  As announced on the Server and Cloud Platform Blog we now have available several pre-release versions of the System Center 2012 family of products.

For private cloud, we will release betas of the 2012 versions of System Center Service Manager and System Center App Controller, as well as a Release Candidate (RC) of System Center Orchestrator.

These System Center products are essential to the Microsoft private cloud, which helps IT organizations meet the needs of their businesses with the better agility, focus and economics.  The products available as pre-releases today deliver on a unique part of our approach to private cloud:  Helping IT manage applications - not just infrastructure - across both private and public cloud environments.  Key to making this happen is providing simple, self-service experiences that empower business owners across the organization to quickly and reliably deliver applications on their own.  You also need process automation standing behind the self-service experiences, so the various technologies are connected and services “just happen.”  To learn more about how these products give those capabilities to you for private cloud computing, see on the Server and Cloud Platform blog.

For client management, we will release the RC of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager and System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection, which help IT manage the “consumerization of IT” – the growing trend of modern, mobile workforces using an array of devices, including PCs, mobile phones and tablets.  This version of Configuration Manager takes a “user-centric” approach, which lets IT empower people to be productive from anywhere on any device.  At the same time, it makes life easier for IT professionals with unified management across physical, virtual and mobile work environments and by ensuring compliance and security.  System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection (formerly known as Forefront Endpoint Protection 2012) is built on Configuration Manager to further simplify administration by integrating client security and management into a single experience.  To learn more about these new offerings, see on the Server and Cloud Platform blog

System Center 2012 presents IT organizations with exciting opportunities to progress beyond traditional or virtualized systems to true private cloud services, and from device management to a more flexible work style for end users.