If SCCM07 is implemented to manage remote clients (internet) basically laptops. What are the features we will get from it? Can we do remote updates to laptops when they connect to the internet?

Essentially, it's like a scaled down management via SCCM. You still get client inventory data, and you can deploy software/updates to machines, although it will probably be much slower than normal, and you can only deploy machine packages, no deployment to users can be done via IBCM. It's not clear from what you posted if you have an SCCM environment. This kind of deployment of SCCM is not meant to manage your clients full time, it's more like an in between while clients are on the internet while the user is out of the office, until they plug in again to get the full SCCM support as usual.Scott Gill SCCM Consultant

The complete list of functions and features not supported over IBCM is available at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb693755.aspx.I do disagree with the statement that IBCM is not meant to manage clients full-time. It absolutely is and many organizations do in fact use it as such. The functions and features lost are not significant and what is still available is enough to successfully manage a remote system. This document covers the question of if you should use IBCM and specificaly references clients that are always connected over the Internet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb633027.aspx.Jason | http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jsandys | http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/jsandys/default.aspx | Twitter @JasonSandys

We do have SCCM in place just single site server. We were looking forward to remote in to the remote laptops via IBCM. Do you know any other native MS product that we could use to remote into the laptops (Windows XP) besides Remote Assistance?

Unless the PC is directly on the internet, you will have a hard time with remote controlling those PCs without a VPN connection. This is mostly due to name resolution and firewalls between you and the remote PC. http://www.enhansoft.com/

As John mentions above, many/most are moving to third-party products for this and a handful of other reasons. The two most robust and capable that I have seen are Remotely Anywhere and Bomgar. (I think Remotely Anywhere is the commercial name of the personal LogMeIn service.)Jason | http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jsandys | http://blogs.catapultsystems.com/jsandys/default.aspx | Twitter @JasonSandys

I was going to say LogMeIn... But the list is endless, GoToMyPC, Webex, Dameware, (sorry these were the only others I knew of off the top of my head that haven't already been mentioned), etc.As for IBCM, I didn't mean to say that it couldn't be used for long term support of clients. But it's my opinion that without OSD/TS/Client Deployment, the support to manage full time remote clients is pretty limited. How would you expect to get the client installed if it's never connected to the network? Depending on the user to do it is really not an option, and you know that those clients are eventually going to break, what then? Depend on the user to fix it? I don't think so.I'm not saying that IBCM is bad, it's great and I'd love to use it, but I don't see how managing clients over the internet for any length of time, without the clients every being on the network is going to be remotely reliable.Scott Gill SCCM Consultant

The main advantage of IBCM, IMHP, is the ability to continue to collect inventory from and patch machines that are rarely on the network. It's not meant to be used for OSD or advanced software deployments.John Marcum | http://www.TrueSec.com/en/Training.htm | http://myitforum.com/cs2/blogs/jmarcum