The Business Story

If you’ve ignored PowerShell up until now, or were skeptical about it, let’s look at what Microsoft has done.

In version 1, PowerShell emerged as a the first management interface specifically designed for administrative automation.

In version 2, PowerShell gained native remote management capabilities, enabling remote management of any server or client running PowerShell. PowerShell’s “reach” extended to hundreds of management APIs, enabling real-world management. The product also matured a deceptively simple, powerful scripting language that can be used to build professional-grade units of automation.

In version 3, PowerShell learned to run long-running tasks in a disconnected, stateless fashion - called workflows. The product’s reach extended even further, covering all major Microsoft server platforms, and pushing into Microsoft’s cloud offerings. By this version, PowerShell was a very real thing, so much so that many Microsoft native GUIs began to use PowerShell “under the hood.”

In version 4, PowerShell was extended with even more “reach,” and gained a new technology: Desired State Configuration. DSC lets administrators describe, in more-or-less plain text, how a computer should be configured. Leveraging the existing investment in PowerShell, DSC then puts the machine into that state, and keeps it there.

In version 5, PowerShell matured DSC and extended its “tool making” capabilities into professional developer space. With support in Visual Studio, PowerShell started to span a much broader spectrum of user, from entry-level administrators to advanced developers.

The point is that Microsoft has clearly been building PowerShell since its v1 release in 2006. They’ve done so in a way that they’ve never done before in languages like VBScript, and they’ve done so while maintaining consistency and efficiency.

What’s more, PowerShell has inspired a broad ecosystem of supporting vendors, and an enthusiastic global community. Administrators are, more than ever, able to get assistance, answers, and even ready-made solutions from those vendors and that community.