Amazon Makes AWS Integration Easier for System Center Customers with SCVMM Add-in

Earlier this year, Amazon added a management tool to its offerings that would allow for Enterprises to connect their VMware implementations to the Amazon Cloud. Just a day later VMware took offense. In a blog post, the company's CTO, Chris Wolf, blasted Amazon, telling customers "Don’t be fooled by Import Tools disguised as Hybrid Cloud Management," and "Anyone who has been in IT long enough knows how easy it is for a tactical Band-Aid to unexpectedly become a permanent solution."

We've not heard much else since then, but I'd say VMware can't be happy about it, considering the company is intent on competing in this new Cloud world.

However, it seems Amazon wasn't intent on just singling out VMware to pick on. Last week, the company quietly announced a similar add-in for AWS to allow System Center Virtual Machine Manager customers to enjoy the same type of integration.

Simply called the AWS System Manager for Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), the add-in is a free download and allows AWS customers to monitor and manage their EC2 instances from with their standard SCVMM console. The add-in is not full-featured, but does allow for restarting, stopping, and removing instances.

More information about the new add-in resides on Amazon's AWS System Center page, which also houses information about AWS Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager, released in 2013.

You can find the download, information, and a FAQ here: AWS Add-Ins for Microsoft System Center

So far, Microsoft hasn't made any mention of the added capability like VMware did. Microsoft is course to topple AWS with its own Cloud services, so it may be a bit more confident and comfortable than VMware.