At MMS, Microsoft launched into beta a set of extensions called System Center Operations Manager 2007 Cross Platform Extensions. The extensions incorporate OpenPegasus and the XML-based WS-Management protocol developed by Microsoft. The two are used to discover both physical and virtual systems on a network and monitor and manage them. The first agent-based extensions will cover HP-UX, Sun Solaris, Suse Linux Enterprise Server and Red Hat Enterprise Linux.

The extensions are core to a central management platform anchored by Operations Manager 2007.

Microsoft also will release for free Operations Manager 2007 Connectors, which integrate the software with HP OpenView and IBM Tivoli management platforms.

The connectors are based on the same standards as the Cross Platform Extensions, and will ship between April and June 2009 as part of Operations Manager 2007 Service Pack 2.

The beta versions of the connectors will be uni-directional, moving Operations Manger data to the HP and IBM platforms.

When the connectors are completed, they will have bi-directional functionality, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft also released a beta of Virtual Machine Manager 2008 that will support both Microsoft's forthcoming Hyper-V add-on to Windows Server 2008 and VMware's ESX Server.

Microsoft also is introducing Performance and Resource Optimization capabilities that let OEMs develop Operations Manager management packs that monitor unique features of their platforms, such as power management.

In addition, Microsoft lined up 30 partners who will endorse its enterprise distributed management efforts.