Network Computingwww.networkcomputing.com

When: March 19, 2003

What: Microsoft lays the foundation for the autonomic data center based on XML and an open framework

FUDFactor: A complex, multivendor environment can be easily and in many cases automatically managed via XML, APIs and development tools

FUDBust: With the DSI (Dynamic Systems Initiative), Microsoft has stepped into the autonomic computing ring along with Sun and IBM. The goal is to get computers to manage themselves, limiting human control to initiating and defining goals and outcomes.

But before you explain your CRM needs to your laptop, realize that this stuff is about as real as Star Trek. Not that it can't happen, but beyond the theoretical coordination between various vendors, nothing is that easy. This effort is larger than one company's initiative. To understand the complexity of its environment, an autonomic manager will need to understand diverse computing systems.

For now, Microsoft's DSI is a step in the right direction. But it remains a Microsoft direction plotted to reduce the complexity of its own code base.

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