MMS 2012: System Center 2012 Released, Windows Server '8' Now Windows Server 2012

Speaking in front of 5300 attendees at the sold-out Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) here at the Venetian in Las Vegas, Microsoft Corporate Vice President Brad Anderson used his keynote session to announce that System Center 2012 has been released, and that Windows Server '8' has been officially renamed to Windows Server 2012.

In a prepared statement released in conjunction with his keynote address, Anderson stressed the central role that System Center 2012 plays with creating, managing, and deploying the private cloud integration.

"Cloud computing gives IT professionals an opportunity to increase their strategic value to their businesses while building new skills," Anderson said. "Microsoft’s private cloud solutions help IT professionals become cloud innovators for their companies, managing and delivering the applications people need to be productive across private, hybrid and public clouds."

My colleague Jason Bovberg has also posted a bit about today's news, specifically discussing how System Center 2012 is helping transform the data center.

Reactions from IT pros about the news from the show (at least from my informal sampling on Twitter) seemed to be positive, with @rbergin tweeting that he would have called Windows Server '8' something more grandiose. "I would have called it Windows Awesome - or Windows 'Say Hello to my Little friend' VMware and Citrix.'" Twitter user @rogertruss tweeted "RT @jeffjames3 - Windows Server 2012 + System Center 2012 = Sleepless nights for VMware?» lets keep our fingers crossed."

Attending MMS this year? Add a comment to this blog post or contribute to a discussion about the show on Twitter.