What are some common add-ons for SCOM which make it more effective in monitoring your IT environment?

"In its basic form, SCOM is essentially a data collection tool. While skilled operators can view and analyze the data, there are add-ons available, which makes this job easier. One such add-on is from a company called SquaredUp. They provide a console that visually displays the data in a format that provides operators a clear picture of exactly what is going on within the network. Operators can also build a dashboard customized to their specific needs using this tool."

The interviewer is now extending their questions beyond SCOM. They are expressing interest and third-party applications and add-ons, which help to make SCOM more useful and applicable to their environment. This signals that you have been successful at convincing them to use the tool and that you have the capabilities to manage it. By answering this question, you are further demonstrating your expertise in this area.

"While SCOM is a data collection and monitoring tool, it is only as useful as the information it provides to the system operators. In order to make it more effective, companies often purchase add-ons to SCOM. One of these is available from a company called SquaredUp, which has created a console for the management server. The console displays the information that the server collects in a visual format, which is easily interpreted by the operators. Operators can also create dashboards customized for their specific needs."

Since we already have SharePoint Health Analyzer, do we really need SCOM?

"Both SCOM and SharePoint Health Analyzer are capable of monitoring the health of a SharePoint farm. However, SCOM is more granular and will monitor things that can't be seen by SharePoint Health Analyzer. Moreover, the alerts that you get on SharePoint Health Analyzer contain information that may not be relevant to your situation. I'd recommend replacing Health Analyzer with SCOM 2019 and the appropriate management pack."

This is a legitimate question an interviewer may ask if they haven't yet committed to SCOM 19. They're looking to you for advice as to whether this makes sense for them. The best way to respond to this question is to point out the differences between these two products. If you're confident enough, you can make a recommendation at the end of your answer.

"While it's true that both SharePoint Health Analyzer and SCOM with the appropriate SharePoint management pack can both provide monitoring services for SharePoint, there are some distinct advantages to using SCOM. First and foremost is that the alerts are much more granular withSCOM and will give you the information you can use to fine-tune the application. The other advantage is that you can consolidate monitoring all of the services on your network under the SCOM console, whereas Health Advisor only monitors SharePoint services."

Can you walk me through the configuration process for SCOM 2019?

"SCOM 2019 is relatively easy to configure. The first step is to install and set up SCOM on a windows server. Once this is complete, you install the appropriate management packs on the SCOM server. The management packs are specific to each type of component on the network. Next, you need to install SCOM agents on the application servers. The agents gather performance information and logs. This will complete the configuration process."

By now, you should recognize this as an operational question. The interviewer is trying to determine how you go about doing this job. Your answer will also provide them information on your communication skills and your ability to describe a technical process to someone with little or no technical background.

"Configuration of SCOM 2019 can be done quickly by following a prescribed process. The first step is to install SCOM on a Windows server. Once this is done, you need to identify the individual management packs for each of the services you will be monitoring. These are installed on the same server as SCOM. The final step is to install the agents on the individual application servers across the network. The agents are what generate the performance data and alerts which are displayed in the SCOM console."

Do you believe OMS will fully replace SCOM at some point in the future?

"It is well known that Microsoft has been gathering customer interest around this topic. There is a consensus that customers would like to leverage their current investment in OMS for alerting and reporting capabilities currently offered by SCOM. I do believe that this will occur in the future, but how long that will be is difficult to know."

Yet another question in which the interviewer is asking you to project what a third party company will do in the future. The better you can answer these questions, the more you will demonstrate your expertise in this area and differentiate yourself from other applicants. It may be wise to review the Microsoft help forums, and official pages for SCOM 2019 before the interview to better prepare yourself for these types of questions.

"There are many customers who currently use both OMS and SCOM 2019 to monitor their IT infrastructure. While these two tools integrate well, it still requires multiple licenses and additional management overhead to use both of them, In my opinion, Microsoft will soon combine the functionality of these two tools into a single product."

What do you know about App Insight integration with SCOM 2019?

"App Insight will be publishing a management pack which will enable you to visualize the application's monitoring experience within SCOM. It will provide data about alerts and metrics for the application. Since App Insights is already integrated into Azure, it's metrics and alerts can currently be viewed through the Azure management pack for SCOM 2019."

This is another question the interviewer is asking to determine how closely you follow developments within the SCOM 2019 environment. You may or may not have the answer to this question. If you don't, you should say so and then provide the interviewer with a description of how you would go about finding this information.

"That's a great question. However, I have never worked with App Insight, so I am not familiar with its management pack stats. If given some time, I can research this and get back to you with the answer. I'm sure the information is available in either the App Insight or Microsoft support forums."

Do you anticipate that Microsoft will release any improvements to the Office 365 Management Pack for SCOM 2019?

"When Microsoft originally released the office 365 management pack, it only offered basic metrics for the product. In my opinion, they may enhance this, but are challenged because of the variety of options users can include with their subscription for office 365. I understand they are continuing to evaluate this."

The interviewer is asking your opinion about a future release from Microsoft. They know you can't provide a definitive answer to this question, however they are trying to determine how closely you follow developments with this product. When asked for an opinion, you may want to preface your answer by stating that it is a conjecture, based on your knowledge and the limited information you have access to.

"The management pack for Office 365 currently only offers basic metrics for the product. This is primarily due to the variety of options users can specify when they subscribe to Microsoft Office 365. To expand the items which SCOM 2019 could monitor, Microsoft will need to create a brand new schema for this product. I understand they are currently evaluating this and may have an announcement soon."

Can you manage the maintenance and versions of software components using SCOM?

"Since Microsoft has end-of-lifed Silverlight, it has been integrating the Silverlight functionality into its system management and monitoring tools. While this feature currently is unavailable and SCOM 2019, you can anticipate that Microsoft will look at whether it should be added going forward."

This operational question is addressing a very detailed feature of the SCOM product. Again, the interviewer is seeking to understand your knowledge and experience with the product by asking a very specific question. As an experienced SCOM operator, you should be able to answer this question easily.

"The feature you're asking about has been available historically in Silverlight. However, since Silverlight is being eliminated, Microsoft has focused on adding this functionality into HTML5 dashboards. It is yet to be seen whether maintenance mode scheduling will be added to SCOM going forward."

What is the difference between Microsoft SCOM and Microsoft SCCM?

"Microsoft SCOM and System Center Configuration Manager, or SCCM are both Windows products that are often confused with one another. SCOM focuses on enterprise monitoring on the server-side, while SCCM focuses on the client-side and is not considered a monitoring application. SCCM's purpose is to combine physical and virtual clients across the network in one infrastructure from a management perspective."

This is a common question which you should anticipate. Many people are confused about the differences between these two Microsoft products and how they are used to manage network infrastructures. Demonstrating your knowledge of this will further cement your value to the organization.

"It is very easy to confuse Microsoft SCOM and SCCM. The easiest way to remember their differences is that SCOM works on the server-side while SCCM's focus is on the clients. SCOM is a monitoring tool used to optimize network assets, including hardware, software, and infrastructure. SCCM's main purpose is to combine both physical and virtual assets and allow them to be managed from a single console. Both of these tools can be used in concert with each other."

What are some of the alternatives to Microsoft SCOM?

"There are several management monitoring tools available to enterprise organizations. Examples of these are Nagios, which is an open-source to server monitoring program similar to SCOM. The advantage Nagios offers is that it has a very active user and developer community, so it is continually being enhanced. The disadvantage is its reporting and visualization features that require Add-ons. Zabbix is another open-source monitoring platform. It supports both agent and agentless monitoring with SNMP. SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor supports both Windows and Linux. It can monitor up to 12,000 applications, servers, and databases. It also checks the status of Microsoft applications in Azure."

This question indicates that the organization may not be fully committed to implementing SCOM or just wants to understand your knowledge of all the tools available in the marketplace. A qualified administrator should know about alternatives and be able to discuss whether they would be a viable option for the organization. For exampl: "There are several management monitoring tools available to enterprise organizations. Examples of these are Nagios, which is an open-source to server monitoring program similar to SCOM. The advantage Nagios offers is that it has a very active user and developer community, so it is continually being enhanced. The disadvantage is its reporting and visualization features that require Add-ons. Zabbix is another open-source monitoring platform. It supports both agent and agentless monitoring with SNMP. SolarWinds Server & Application Monitor supports both Windows and Linux. It can monitor up to 12,000 applications, servers, and databases. It also checks the status of Microsoft applications in Azure."

"System management and monitoring tools are available from a variety of sources, including both open-source and proprietary. Open-source alternatives include Nagios and Zabbix. Both these programs have features similar to SCOM, but since they are open-source, they have a wide support base and are continually being updated. Both of these tools support agent and agentless monitoring. One of the proprietary solutions is available from SolarWinds. Their product supports both Windows and Linux, can monitor multiple thousands of assets and is also compatible with Microsoft applications and Azure."

In addition to what you've already mentioned, what are some of the other changes and updates in SCOM 2019?

"There were quite a few changes released in SCOM 2019. Most of these enhanced the software's monitoring features and capabilities. The first prevents an alert from being closed until the health state of the monitor is corrected. They've also prevented alerts from being replicated if the primary management server fails. Linux support has been enhanced by adding several new versions of Linux service packs. On the client-side, you can now monitor the SCOM using browsers other than Windows Internet Explorer. These include Edge and Google Chrome. Other new capabilities related to monitoring Windows network components have also been added to the software."

This is a follow-up to the previous question. As a reminder, any answer you give could elicit a follow-up question from the interviewer. Typically this is used to extract additional information about the topic and continue to test your knowledge. A good strategy for follow-up questions is to limit your original answer to just the basics, so the interviewer will either move on to a new topic or ask you a follow-up question to which you can provide additional information.

"The 2019 version of SCOM contains quite a few enhancements. One category of these deals with the alerts and how they are managed. The first update prevents alerts from being deleted until the monitor has been restored. It also prevents alerts from being replicated if the management server fails over to another device. Other updates include Linux enhancements, compatibility with additional browsers, and extending the monitoring capabilities to additional Microsoft components across the network, including SharePoint, Azure, NTFS, and Windows 10."

Can you walk me through the version history of SCOM?

"SCOM was originally developed by Serverware Group and was known as SeNTry ELM. A company by the name of Mission Critical Software acquired the rights to this back in the nineties and changed the name of the product to OnePoint Operations Manager. Microsoft acquired the product in 2001 and renamed it Microsoft Operations Manager, or MOM. MOM was very similar to SCOM 2019, except for the number of Service Packs available. In 2007, Microsoft renamed the product to SCOM 2007 and included several new features in this new release. There were two updates to SCOM and 2012, and another in 2016. The product was most recently updated in 2019."

The interviewer will ask this question to again test your knowledge of the software and try to determine how long you've been working with it. Knowing about this will demonstrate your expertise and convince them that you're able to work with older versions of SCOM and, if necessary, upgrade older versions they may already have.

"SCOM originated as SeNTry ELM from a company called Serverware Group plc. Mission Critical Software acquired the rights in 1998, adapted it, and changed the name to OnePoint Operations Manager. Mission Critical Software merged with NetIQ and sold the rights to Microsoft in 2000. They renamed the product to Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) and released it in 2001. MOM worked in concert with two other Microsoft programs: Systems Management Server (SMS) 2.0 and Application Center 2000. Microsoft released MOM 2005 Service Pack 1 in 2005 with several enhancements, including mutual authentication, agent proxy capabilities, a secure communications channel, and secure credential storage. In 2007, Microsoft renamed MOM to System Center Operations Manager (SCOM). The company added the command shell to this update. In 2012, Microsoft released System Center 2012 and introduced high availability, application performance monitoring, dashboards, and network device monitoring. Microsoft released System Center 2016 with more advanced cross-platform infrastructure and workload monitoring, further integrating SCOM with the rest of System Center. SCOM 2019 was released in March and focused on areas of monitoring, such as adding tools for monitoring and managing data centers, adding support and management capabilities to newer versions of Windows server, and enabling hybrid management and monitoring with Azure."

What is Microsoft's release cadence for SCOM?

"in March of 2019, Microsoft announced changes too often they would update SCOM. Since most of their customers were using the long-term servicing channel or LTSC support option, Microsoft is moving to this model. Summarized, it provides five years' worth of support for the software, with periodic patches and bug fixes as needed. This will replace periodic version releases of SCOM."

The interviewer is asking a question about release dates to determine whether you continue to educate yourself about SCOM and are on top of the administrative issues related to the software. They may be genuinely interested in this topic as well because it requires them and to plan ahead. Knowing this information will establish your expertise in this area.

"Historically, Microsoft's policy has been to release manager versions of its software products periodically, with patches and fixes available during the interim. However, since most of Microsoft's customers opted for a long term service and channel support model, they decided to move all the software to this. LTSC guarantees a five-year support window for the software with patches and fixes released as needed. This replaces major version updates."

What is required for SCOM to manage applications?

"SCOM has the capability to monitor third-party applications. This requires that the operator create a model of the application, which is called a Service in the Distributed Application Designer within SCOM. The service contains all the information about the application and creates a relationship between the application and a management server."

This is an example of a follow-up question. The interviewer will ask this after you've responded to the previous question to gain additional information about the topic under discussion. You can anticipate follow-up questions to any response you give an interviewer. This is why you keep your answers short and concise. It allows the interviewer to decide whether to dig deeper into the topic or move on to something new.

"SCOM 2019 as the capability to monitor applications on the network. To do this, operators must create a model of the app called a Service in the distributed application designer, which is a component of SCOM. The service defines the application and creates a relationship between the application and the management server. SCOM will then display the health of the application."

Can you define SCOM and how it is used?

"SCOM and stands for System Center Operations Manager. It is a monitoring solution produced by Microsoft as part of the System Center suite. its purpose is to help you monitor, manage, and automate your IT infrastructure and workflows."

This is an example of a general or opening question which the interviewer will ask early in the interview. The purpose of this question is to begin a conversation, learn about your background, and gather some information which the interviewer can use for subsequent queries.

"The System Center Operations Manager or SCOM is a tool developed by Microsoft as part of its System Center suite of management products. Its purpose is to monitor the IT assets within an organization's network. Along with the other tools within the System Center suite, SCOM provides you with the information necessary to monitor, manage, and automate your entire IT infrastructure and related workflows."

What are the limitations of SCOM, and how can they be overcome?

"While SCOM is a handy monitoring tool, it does have a few limitations. The first is that it produces a great amount of network traffic between the agents and the management server. It can also produce a large number of alerts. However, you can minimize this impact by fine-tuning the alert thresholds and the notices you want to receive. Another limitation is that SCOM reporting is somewhat limited. Experienced operators can overcome this by being able to interpret the reports. The final limitation is that SCOM only works with VBScript of the box. Therefore operators new to program diagnostics or recoveries into the alerts."

Having just learned about the benefits of the SCOM, the employer is naturally curious about the tool's limitations. You should be able to speak authoritatively about these limitations. However, you want to minimize these to convince the employer to move forward with the adoption of the SCOM. Be prepared in case the employer voices concerns about one of these limitations. You should be able to address how you would overcome it if hired.

"Like any technology, SCOM has a few limitations. Overall these are minor compared to the functionality and oversight provided to the operators. The main limitation is the amount of network traffic that SCOM produces. This is generated by alert traffic between the agents and the management server. These alerts can be minimized by fine-tuning the alert thresholds and the notices you're interested in. Another limitation is the type of reports that SCOM can generate. Finally, SCOM only works with VBScript in this native mode. All these limitations can be overcome through customization of SCOM and the skills that a seasoned operator has."

What are the benefits of SCOM, and why should system administrators use it?

"SCOM has many benefits to an organization such as yours. It is very customizable, so you can adapt it to your infrastructure and the information you need to monitor it. SCOM can also be used to monitor applications, services, processes, and other components of your IT infrastructure. The information SCOM collects is beneficial in increasing the performance and the reliability of your network. Another feature is that it can be used to monitor systems across the entire infrastructure, including on-prem, hosted or in the cloud."

An interviewer will ask this question if they are in the process of evaluating the SCOM and determining whether it is appropriate for their organization. This indicates that they may not have already committed to the technology and are looking to you for guidance as to whether they should. Naturally, since they will only hire you if they adopt the technology, you should work hard to promote the benefits of SCOM.

"A SCOM management group provides many benefits to organizations with hybrid IT infrastructures such as yours. This monitoring tool provides data to the system operators that enable them to ensure that every component within the infrastructure is up and running. It also helps the operators to analyze and optimize the various components of the network. SCOM is able to monitor components across the entire network, including on-premises and external locations such as hosting providers and in the cloud. SCOM can be adapted to monitor assets other than those running Microsoft OS."

What are Management Packs, and how do they contribute to SCOM's monitoring capabilities?

"Management Packs or MP's are the brain of SCOM and define its monitoring capabilities. All of the monitoring logic and user preferences come from the management packs. They are the collection of rules, monitors, discoveries, and reports as well as all the workflows. Management packs are specific to different components of the network. There are MP's for SQL, Active Directory, and Windows OS, among others."

This is another technical question. As the interview progresses, the interviewer will ask a more detailed in complex questions. This signals that they are becoming more confident in your capabilities and are more willing to dig deeper into your skillset to understand how capable you are to manage this tool.

"Management packs, or MPs, are the brain of SCOM and the core element of its monitoring capabilities. All the monitoring logic and operator preferences come from and go into the management packs. They define the rules, monitoring, discoverability, and reporting features of SCOM. Operators can also set up workflows using the management packs. An SQL MP will monitor SQL databases, and a Windows operating system MP will monitor windows OS. Management packs can be developed for each component within the network."

How is a gateway server used in a SCOM environment?

"A gateway server is used to monitor assets which are external to the main domain where the SCOM management server is installed. It acts as a proxy for the agents outside of the domain boundary. It ensures that the data passing through the gateway is secure."

By asking this question, the interviewer is continuing to explore your knowledge of the SCOM management group. Since every organization and IT infrastructure is different, you need to be prepared for a wide range of questions about SCOM, its components, and its application. A good way to prepare is to review these questions and answers before the actual interview.

"A gateway server is an important component of the SCOM management group. It is a server that lies outside the boundaries of the main domain on which the SCOM management server is installed. The agents external to the domain pass their information to the management server via the gateway. The benefit of having a gateway server is that it reduces network security vulnerability. It also minimizes the number of SSL certificates required for communication between the agents and the management server."

What are the databases withing SCOM, and can you describe their characteristics?

"There are two primary databases that are installed when implementing a SCOM instance. These are an operational database and a data warehouse. The operational database contains the configuration for the management group. It also retains the data collected for a short period, the default of which is seven days. The data warehouse stores the monitoring data collected by the agents permanently. SCOM uses this data for reporting and historical analysis purposes. The data is written to both of these databases simultaneously."

As you've probably deduced, this is another technical question which the interviewer is using to continue to explore your knowledge of the SCOM tool. As mentioned earlier, the majority of your interview will consist of operational and technical questions. If you've reviewed the SCOM principles and researched the company's operations, you should have no trouble responding to these types of questions.

"The SCOM Management Group contains two different types of databases. One is an operational database, and the other is the data warehouse. The operational database contains the configuration information for SCOM as well as short-term data. The data warehouse holds all of the information collected by the MMA's and retains the data permanently. The data is then available for historical analysis as well as reporting by the monitoring tool."

What is a SCOM Management Group, and what does it consist of?

"A single instance of SCOM is called a Management Group. The Management Group contains everything you need to monitor the IT environment. The individual components are the Management Server, Operational Database, Data Warehouse, and the MMA's."

The interviewer is continuing to pursue information that demonstrates your knowledge of the SCOM management tool, how it works and its components. If interviewers ask multiple questions about a specific topic, it indicates that it is crucial to the operation of their IT infrastructure. You should anticipate additional questions about the subject as well as followup questions.

"SCOM consists of several different components, which together are called the Management Group. These components include the Management Server, an operational database, the data warehouse, and the monitoring agents, or MMA's. The Management Server and MMA's are specific to SCOM, whereas the database and data warehouse can be shared with other applications."

How does SCOM work, and what are some of its components?

"SCOM is an agent-enabled monitoring tool. It requires you to install software called the Microsoft Monitoring Agent on each of the assets you need to monitor. Each of these agents collects information and relays it to the SCOM management server."

By asking this question, the interviewer is seeking to understand your knowledge of the functions of SCOM. This will also provide them with an idea of how well you can manage this tool and apply it to their environment. Since this is a technical question, your answer should be straightforward and concise.

"SCOM is an agent-based monitoring tool. What this means is that Microsoft Monitoring Agents or MMA's need to be installed on each piece of hardware in the network. These agents collect information and relay it back to the SCOM management server for analysis and presentation to the operators. The drawback of this is that the agents add overhead to both the servers and the network. However, this is negligible except in very high-performance environments."

Can SCOM monitor cloud resources even though it is installed on a network server?

"While SC OM was originally designed primarily for on-premise-to environments, subsequent upgrades and iterations now allow for the tool to monitor assets in other locations. These include hosted environments as well as assets in the cloud."

An interviewer will ask this question to determine if you are familiar with environments other than a standard network. Since most organizations have resources that span multiple environments, including on-premise, hosted, and cloud, it's important to be able to discuss how SCOM can monitor assets throughout the entire infrastructure.

"SCOM has gone through several iterations since its original introduction. In the most recent upgrade to SCOM 2019, the ability to monitor assets in the cloud was added. This enables operators to see the organization's entire infrastructure, regardless of where the assets reside."

Is SCOM compatible with other IT environment monitoring tools?

"SCOM is compatible with a wide variety of system monitoring tools. So if you already have a tool you use for managing your network, Linux, or other components of your IT environment, you can add SCOM with little impact. Examples of technologies SCOM works well with include SolarWinds (for network monitoring), specialist APM tools such as DynaTrace, log analytics tools such as Splunk, and IT Service Management tools such as ServiceNow."

This is an example of a technical question. Technical questions probe your understanding of the concepts, tools, and techniques utilized in the role for which you are interviewing. Technical questions typically involve a definition of a term or discussion of how the technology is used. Like operational questions, technical questions should be answered directly and concisely. The interviewer will follow up with another question if they need additional information or are especially interested in this topic.

"If your organization is like most, you have a wide variety of system components, operating systems, and applications. You may already be using commercially available monitoring tools to manage these products. SCOM can easily be integrated into the system and will not impact any of the other monitoring tools you are currently using. It is recommended that you purchase the entire Microsoft Service Manager suite, which provides complementary products for SCOM."

In addition to the Microsoft applications SCOM monitors, what other third-party applications, operating systems, and utilities can SCOM be used for?

"While specifically designed for the Windows stack of technologies, SCOM is also useful and monitoring non-Microsoft products and technologies. Examples include Oracle, VMWare, Citrix, and Linux."

This is another operational question. As a SCOM Administrator, you can anticipate that the bulk of the interview will involve both operational and technical questions. You can prepare for these by reviewing the terminology related to this role, the job posting, and any information you can find about the company's IT operations.

"SCOM is s Microsoft product designed to monitor Windows technologies as part of the overall Systems Center management suite, and therefore works best in this environment. However, SCOM can also monitor a wide range of products from other vendors such as Oracle, Citrix, VMWare, and Linux."

What type of organizations can best benefit from SCOM?

"SCOM is a monitoring solution for businesses of all types and sizes. It will work in environments with only a few servers, as well as those with multiple thousands of servers. It is applicable in industries across the entire spectrum, both public and private. While it is most applicable in Microsoft environments, it is also useful for monitoring disparate hardware, software, and other technologies."

This is an operational question. Operational questions test your knowledge of a topic and provide the interviewer with information as to how you would use the technology in the role for which you are interviewing. The best way to respond to operational questions is directly and concisely. The interviewer will ask follow-up questions if they require additional information.

"Businesses of all shapes and sizes and in a wide variety of industries, both public and private, can benefit from using SCOM. The tool is designed to monitor Microsoft assets such as servers, operating systems, and other tools. However, it is also useful for related technologies from a variety of different companies within the industry."

SCOM 2019 Interview Questions

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1. What are some common add-ons for SCOM which make it more effective in monitoring your IT environment?
2. Since we already have SharePoint Health Analyzer, do we really need SCOM?
3. Can you walk me through the configuration process for SCOM 2019?
4. Do you believe OMS will fully replace SCOM at some point in the future?
5. What do you know about App Insight integration with SCOM 2019?
6. Do you anticipate that Microsoft will release any improvements to the Office 365 Management Pack for SCOM 2019?
7. Can you manage the maintenance and versions of software components using SCOM?
8. What is the difference between Microsoft SCOM and Microsoft SCCM?
9. What are some of the alternatives to Microsoft SCOM?
10. In addition to what you've already mentioned, what are some of the other changes and updates in SCOM 2019?
11. Can you walk me through the version history of SCOM?
12. What is Microsoft's release cadence for SCOM?
13. What is required for SCOM to manage applications?
14. Can you define SCOM and how it is used?
15. What are the limitations of SCOM, and how can they be overcome?
16. What are the benefits of SCOM, and why should system administrators use it?
17. What are Management Packs, and how do they contribute to SCOM's monitoring capabilities?
18. How is a gateway server used in a SCOM environment?
19. What are the databases withing SCOM, and can you describe their characteristics?
20. What is a SCOM Management Group, and what does it consist of?
21. How does SCOM work, and what are some of its components?
22. Can SCOM monitor cloud resources even though it is installed on a network server?
23. Is SCOM compatible with other IT environment monitoring tools?
24. In addition to the Microsoft applications SCOM monitors, what other third-party applications, operating systems, and utilities can SCOM be used for?
25. What type of organizations can best benefit from SCOM?

SCOM 2019 Interview Questions

1. What are some common add-ons for SCOM which make it more effective in monitoring your IT environment?

2. Since we already have SharePoint Health Analyzer, do we really need SCOM?

3. Can you walk me through the configuration process for SCOM 2019?

4. Do you believe OMS will fully replace SCOM at some point in the future?

5. What do you know about App Insight integration with SCOM 2019?

6. Do you anticipate that Microsoft will release any improvements to the Office 365 Management Pack for SCOM 2019?

7. Can you manage the maintenance and versions of software components using SCOM?

8. What is the difference between Microsoft SCOM and Microsoft SCCM?

9. What are some of the alternatives to Microsoft SCOM?

10. In addition to what you've already mentioned, what are some of the other changes and updates in SCOM 2019?

11. Can you walk me through the version history of SCOM?

12. What is Microsoft's release cadence for SCOM?

13. What is required for SCOM to manage applications?

14. Can you define SCOM and how it is used?

15. What are the limitations of SCOM, and how can they be overcome?

16. What are the benefits of SCOM, and why should system administrators use it?

17. What are Management Packs, and how do they contribute to SCOM's monitoring capabilities?

18. How is a gateway server used in a SCOM environment?

19. What are the databases withing SCOM, and can you describe their characteristics?

20. What is a SCOM Management Group, and what does it consist of?

21. How does SCOM work, and what are some of its components?

22. Can SCOM monitor cloud resources even though it is installed on a network server?

23. Is SCOM compatible with other IT environment monitoring tools?

24. In addition to the Microsoft applications SCOM monitors, what other third-party applications, operating systems, and utilities can SCOM be used for?

25. What type of organizations can best benefit from SCOM?