Goodbye SCOM Managed Instance: The End of an Era

SCOM MI had a good run. It gave sysadmins the illusion of modernity — “look, mom, it’s in Azure!” — while still behaving like 2010-era System Center in disguise. But now, it’s official: Azure Monitor SCOM Managed Instance will retire on September 30, 2026.

After that date, it’s gone. No grace period, no hidden extension. Just 404: service not found.

☁️ What’s Happening

Microsoft is sunsetting SCOM MI — the managed cloud version of System Center Operations Manager.
After 2026:

  • Access is revoked.

  • Your MI instances must be deleted.

  • Monitoring responsibilities? Back on you.

The company gives you two roads:

  1. Old-school: run SCOM on-premises again (hosted locally or in Azure VMs).

  2. Modern: move to Azure Monitor + DCRs + VM Insights.

🧱 Option 1: Go Back to Basics

If you monitor on-prem workloads, Microsoft says: fine, run it yourself.

Reinstall SCOM, patch it, maintain your DBs, deploy agents, and remember the golden rule:
If it breaks, it’s your problem now.

You can host it in Azure IaaS, but the managed dream is over.

🌩 Option 2: Go Cloud-Native

If you monitor Azure or Arc-enabled workloads:

  • Delete your SCOM MI.

  • Export your old Management Packs.

  • Recreate them as Data Collection Rules (DCRs).

  • Plug them into Azure Monitor VM Insights and Log Analytics.

No RMS servers. No “OpsMgr HealthService.exe” chewing 2 GB RAM. Just telemetry pipelines and metric-based alerts.

It’s the observability renaissance — if you can survive the migration.

💀 Why It Matters

This isn’t just another service retirement. It’s a milestone:

  • Microsoft is cutting off hybrid relics.

  • Azure Monitor becomes the new heartbeat of ops visibility.

  • You either modernize or fossilize.

SCOM MI’s death is the final reminder that “lift-and-shift” management tooling doesn’t age well.

🧠 What to Do Now

✅ Inventory your current MPs and alerts.
✅ Map them to DCRs in Azure Monitor.
✅ Test VM Insights alerts early.
✅ Document dependencies and dashboards.
✅ Migrate gradually — before the 2026 scramble hits.

You’ve got roughly a year to evolve — or to join the sysadmin dinosaur exhibit.

⚰️ The Epitaph

Here lies SCOM Managed Instance (2019–2026).
Born in hybrid dreams, died in Azure reality.