Writing a book is a huge project, and ConfigMgr is a massive topic. This book would not be possible without the help of many individuals. I would like to particularly thank Cameron Fuller, my coauthor since 2005 in the Operations Manager Unleashed series, for developing the Configuration Manager Visio template used in this book and stepping in as a contributing author. I would also like to thank Pete Zerger and AKOS Technology Services for contributing the lab resources used throughout System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Unleashed. Maintaining a ConfigMgr hierarchy requires a considerable amount of resources; without Pete’s assistance, it would have been far more challenging than it was! Thank you also to Scott Weisler of AKOS, for supporting our lab environment.

Additional thanks go to Byron Holt for his inspiration, dedication, and effort throughout this entire project. Thanks to Raymond Chou and Allen Wat for their research on App-V, to Hamid Yusuff for his thoughts on Asset Intelligence, to Panu Saukko, to Maarten Goet, and to the ConfigMgr community for their dedication and commitment to Microsoft’s flagship configuration management product. And, of course, thanks to the ConfigMgr team at Microsoft!

Thanks also go to the staff at Pearson and Sams Publishing, in particular to Neil Rowe.

Last but definitely not least, thanks to my coauthors and contributors, for their patience and work in developing the material for this book, and to Steve Rachui, an awesome technical editor, for vouching for the technical accuracy of the material.

—Kerrie Meyler