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Hello folks,  This is my compilation of some of the online resource available to you in January 2012. JANUARY 2012 !!! My god… Where did 2011 go??? Time really flies by, and that’s one more reason to review this list and plan our learning opportunities. This list featuring both live and on-demand content for December including webcasts, videos, virtual labs, and podcasts by product and topic. this is not the WHOLE list of the available content. but these are the ones i thought were relevant to the conversations I've had with customers and IT pros. Microsoft webcasts are 30-90 minutes in length and feature interactive presentations, product demonstrations, and question-and-answer sessions. Virtual labs give you an opportunity to test drive Microsoft’s newest products in an online environment. It's simple—no complex setup or installation is required. Stream or download audio podcasts and quickly access content with RSS feeds. Microsoft podcasts are free — just click and Learn! You can View all the podcasts for IT professionals here. (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9637723.) Or visit the Interactive IT Professional Webcast Calendar.
Live Webcasts: TechNet Webcast: Information about Microsoft Project and Project Server December 2011 Software Update (Level 200)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 - 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032493964&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Live! IT Time: Private Cloud Chat (Episode 3) (Level 200)
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032496992&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Information about Microsoft Security Bulletins for January (Level 200)
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Pacific
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032499498&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Integrating Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 with SAP for Expense Management (Level 300)
Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032499676&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: Career Progression: Getting Ready for the Cloud (Level 200)
Wednesday, January 18, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032501883&Culture=en-US TechNet Webcast: IT Pro's Heaven: The Private Cloud (Level 200)
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time
https://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032501887&Culture=en-US Highly Rated On-Demand Webcasts: TechNet Webcast: Security Talk Series: Toward Privacy by Design, the Microsoft Experience TechNet Webcast: A Tale of Two Clouds: The Microsoft Hybrid Cloud Solution TechNet Webcast: The Public Cloud: What It Is and Why You Should Care? Popular Virtual Labs: TechNet Virtual Lab: Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6 SP1 Sequencing Lab TechNet Virtual Lab: Windows Server 2008 R2 for Embedded Systems : Implementing Centralized Publishing Using Remote Desktop Services TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center Operations Manager 2012: Infrastructure and Application Performance Monitoring TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012: Building Your Cloud Infrastructure TechNet Virtual Lab: System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012: Building a Service Template New Videos: TechNet Video: (Part 1) An Interview with Mark Minasi – Thoughts on Windows Server 8 TechNet Video: (Part 2) An Interview with Mark Minasi – Thoughts on Cool Technology TechNet Video: (Part 1) Interview with Jeremy Moskowitz – Overview of the PolicyPak application New Podcasts: TechNet Radio: A Preview of Windows Server 8 Storage Management WMA | MP3 | WMV TechNet Radio: System Center VMM and Configuration Manager 2012 MVA Preview WMA | MP3 | WMV TechNet Radio: Microsoft Private Cloud Community Evaluation Program WMA | MP3 | WMV TechNet Radio: Vlab Insider - System Center Configuration Manager 2012 WMA | MP3 | WMV Small Business Content: New Customer Events for Office 365
Join us for a Microsoft Office 365 Customer Event to experience Microsoft Office 365 first-hand, along with related cloud technologies such as Microsoft Windows Intune and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. New and Exciting Uses for the New Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is a suite of Microsoft Office collaboration and productivity tools delivered through the cloud. Office 365 can revolutionize your organization by helping to empower individuals through the best productivity experience, deliver business insights quickly, support compliance requirements, connect various devices, and cut costs for maintenance and training.
Please let me know if this is something you find valuable. or if there is something specific you’re looking for. Also, I encourage you to take advantage of the “Double Double” promotion that Rick mentioned earlier this month (http://blogs.technet.com/b/canitpro/archive/2011/12/16/how-would-you-like-a-doubledouble.aspx). it’s a great way to learn. go ahead, get your hands dirty… As always, please contact me should you have any comments or questions. Cheers! 
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | Senior Technical Account Manager | Directeur de Compte Technique Senior
IT Pro blog | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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 Over pints Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and Rick Claus decided they would put together a concise and timely podcast each “Update Tuesday”. The object is to keep it simple by letting you know in plain non technical language what the updates are, what they resolve and why you should care.
As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail Rick directly – rick.claus@microsoft.com
Direct Download:
Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode)
  
Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.
Bulletins discussed for June 14th, 2011:
Podcast Participants: Rick Claus, Pierre Roman
Additional Technical Show Notes:
- Recorded remotely after a depressing Game 6 in Boston.
- PodSafe music from PodSafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/. Artist: Derek K Miller, song - “You’re the Big Sky - rock guitar instrumental”
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
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Hello Folks,
Over the last few years while demonstrating the Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2 Cluster and Virtualization capabilities, I've been asked several times, How can I take advantage of Hyper-V and/or cluster capabilities such as Live Migration (LM) and High Availability (HA) if i don't have access to a SAN? As you know, to use both LM and HA, these require shared storage. This shared storage can be in SAS, iSCSI or Fibre Channel SAN. Yes there are third party solutions like the StarWind iSCSI SAN software which i have used in the past in lab environments with great success. But nothing out of the box.
In large environment access to a SAN is not necessarily an issue but in some other scenarios where you may need LM and HA, the cost of a dedicated SAN can become a blocker. Like if you’re staging an environment for testing. Like if you’re learning the technology and you only have a TechNet subscription and a few PCs. And many other scenarios
Wouldn't it be great to have options other than spending more money? well now we do. Microsoft is making the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target available for free.
You can install the Microsoft iSCSI software target on a Windows Server 2008 R2 system and use it as shared storage for Live Migration or High Availability.
you can find the The Microsoft iSCSI Software Target Download here and Jose Barreto has written a great article on how to configure the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target with Hyper-V. you can find this article here.
before you start asking the standard questions here is what i know. Yes, the Microsoft iSCSI Software Target is supported in a production environment, but only on Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard, Enterprise and Datacenter Editions. other details can be found in the official Windows Virtualization Team Blog.
Have fun.
Cheers!
Pierre Roman, MCITP, ITIL | Senior Technical Account Manager | Directeur de Compte Technique Senior
IT Pro blog | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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Over pints Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and Rick Claus decided they would put together a concise and timely podcast each “Update Tuesday”. The object is to keep it simple by letting you know in plain non technical language what the updates are, what they resolve and why you should care.
Have a listen directly from the embedded Silverlight player OR subscribe to the feed and download it to your iTunes / Zune software.
As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail Rick directly – rick.claus@microsoft.com
Direct Download:
Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode)
Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.
In Depth Webcast on this bulletin will take place: Wednesday, July 14th - 11:00 a.m. PST (UTC -8). (Registration link):
Bulletins discussed for July 13th, 2010:
Podcast Participants: Rick Claus and Pierre Roman
Additional Technical Show Notes:
- Recorded at Mexicali Rosas on their patio in the Glebe, Ottawa, Ontario.
- Beverage of choice – a pair of frosty Corona’s with lime – no glasses.
PodSafe music from PodSafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/. Artist: Derek K Miller, song - “You’re the Big Sky - rock guitar instrumental”
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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Over pints Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and Rick Claus decided they would put together a concise and timely podcast each “Update Tuesday”. The object is to keep it simple by letting you know in plain non technical language what the updates are, what they resolve and why you should care. Have a listen directly from the embedded Silverlight player OR subscribe to the feed and download it to your iTunes / Zune software.  As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail Rick directly – rick.claus@microsoft.com Direct Download:
Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode) Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog. In Depth Webcast on this bulletin will take place: Wednesday, May 12th - 11:00 a.m. PST (UTC -8). (Registration link): Bulletins discussed for May 11th, 2010: Podcast Participants: Rick Claus, Pierre Roman, and Bruce Cowper. Additional Technical Show Notes: - Recorded at the Ottawa Microsoft Office at the World Exchange Plaza, 100 Queen Street.
PodSafe music from PodSafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/. Artist: Derek K Miller, song - “You’re the Big Sky - rock guitar instrumental”
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn 
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Over pints Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and Rick Claus decided they would put together a concise and timely podcast each “Update Tuesday”. The object is to keep it simple by letting you know in plain non technical language what the updates are, what they resolve and why you should care. Have a listen directly from the embedded Silverlight player OR subscribe to the feed and download it to your iTunes / Zune software. As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail Rick directly – rick.claus@microsoft.com Direct Download:
Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode) Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog. In Depth Webcast on this bulletin will take place: Wednesday, April 14th - 11:00 a.m. PST (UTC -8). (Registration link): Bulletins discussed for April 13th, 2010: Podcast Participants: Pierre Roman, and Bruce Cowper. Additional Technical Show Notes: - Recorded at the Ottawa Microsoft Office at the World Exchange Plaza, 100 Queen Street.
New Twitter feed I wanted to let you know that the MSRC has launched a Twitter feed @MSFTSecResponse http://twitter.com/msftsecresponse they will use this account to augment the content from the blog. For example, they will use the account to rapidly respond to emerging issues while they are gathering information for a more complete blog post. In addition, they will also use the account as a way to push content to their followers quickly. Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc677002.aspx) The Security Compliance Manager is the next evolution of the Security Compliance Management Toolkit (SCMT) Series. We’ve taken our extensive guidance and documentation and incorporated it into this new tool, enabling you to access and automate all of your organization’s security baselines in one centralized location. The Security Compliance Manager provides centralized security baseline management features, a baseline portfolio, customization capabilities, and security baseline export flexibility to accelerate your organization’s ability to efficiently manage the security and compliance process for the most widely used Microsoft technologies. PodSafe music from PodSafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/. Artist: Derek K Miller, song - “You’re the Big Sky - rock guitar instrumental”
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn addthis_pub = 'CDNDPE'; 
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Over pints Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and Rick Claus decided they would put together a concise and timely podcast each “Update Tuesday”. The object is to keep it simple by letting you know in plain non technical language what the updates are, what they resolve and why you should care.
Have a listen directly from the embedded Silverlight player OR subscribe to the feed and download it to your iTunes / Zune software.
As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail Rick directly – rick.claus@microsoft.com
Direct Download:
Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode)
Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog. In Depth Webcast on this months bulletins will take place: Wednesday, Feb 10 - 11:00 a.m. PST (UTC -8). (Registration link):
Bulletins discussed for February 9th, 2010:
Podcast Participants: Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and Rick Claus.
Additional Technical Show Notes:
- Recorded at Starbucks across from 100 Queen Street (Microsoft Ottawa office).
- Beverage of choice for this edition: Chai Latte, Grande Vanilla and Venti Vanilla latte.
PodSafe music from PodSafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/. Artist: Derek K Miller, song - “You’re the Big Sky - rock guitar instrumental”
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
addthis_pub = 'CDNDPE';
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 Over pints at D’Arcy McGee’s, Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and I decided we would try to help solve the issue of information overload regarding patching and put together a timely podcast to go live each “Patch Tuesday”.
Goals:
- Use plain English terms and every day language that any Technical professional can understand – minimize “corporate speak”.
- Breakdown each Security Bulletin with summary information first followed by more details as to the impact an IT Pro would face.
- Outline mitigation factors in case patches couldn’t be tested or applied in a timely fashion
- Keep it top 20 minutes OR LESS. This one is critical – Keep It Simple, repeatable and get out of the IT Pros way to get on with their day.
- Have fun!
Have a listen directly from the embedded Silverlight player OR subscribe to the specific feed and download it to your iTunes / Zune software.
As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail me directly – rick.claus@microsoft.com
Direct Download:
Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode)
Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.
Bulletins discussed for January 21th, 2009:
Podcast Participants: Pierre Roman and Rick Claus.
Additional Technical Show Notes:
- Recorded remotely in Rick’s HomeOffice and Pierre’s Basement.
- Beverage of choice for this edition: water
- You are REALLY going to want to check out the Microsoft Security Response Center blog - lots of very good information
PodSafe music from PodSafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/. Artist: Derek K Miller, song - “You’re the Big Sky - rock guitar instrumental”
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
addthis_pub = 'CDNDPE';
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Over pints at D’Arcy McGee’s, Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and I decided we would try to help solve the issue of information overload regarding patching and put together a timely podcast to go live each “Patch Tuesday”.
Goals:
- Use plain English terms and every day language that any Technical professional can understand – minimize “corporate speak”.
- Breakdown each Security Bulletin with summary information first followed by more details as to the impact an IT Pro would face.
- Outline mitigation factors in case patches couldn’t be tested or applied in a timely fashion
- Keep it top 20 minutes OR LESS. This one is critical – Keep It Simple, repeatable and get out of the IT Pros way to get on with their day.
- Have fun!
Have a listen directly from the embedded Silverlight player OR subscribe to the specific feed and download it to your iTunes / Zune software.
As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail me directly – rick.claus@microsoft.com
Direct Download:
Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode)
Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.
Bulletins discussed for January 12th, 2009:
Podcast Participants: Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and Rick Claus.
Additional Technical Show Notes:
PodSafe music from PodSafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/. Artist: Derek K Miller, song - “You’re the Big Sky - rock guitar instrumental”
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
addthis_pub = 'CDNDPE';
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Three guys got together over pints in February 2009 and talked about how one of the issues facing Technical Professionals today is keeping their systems patched and up to date. This issue was brought up to them at a User Group meeting they were attending (Ottawa Windows Server User Group) where we were participating in an “Ask the Microsoft Guy” panel discussion.
Over pints at D’Arcy McGee’s, Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and I decided we would try to help solve the issue of information overload regarding patching and put together a timely podcast to go live each “Patch Tuesday”.
Goals:
- Use plain English terms and every day language that any Technical professional can understand – minimize “corporate speak”.
- Breakdown each Security Bulletin with summary information first followed by more details as to the impact an IT Pro would face.
- Outline mitigation factors in case patches couldn’t be tested or applied in a timely fashion
- Keep it top 20 minutes OR LESS. This one is critical – Keep It Simple, repeatable and get out of the IT Pros way to get on with their day.
- Have fun!
Have a listen directly from the embedded Silverlight player OR subscribe to the specific feed and download it to your iTunes / Zune software.
As always - if you have suggestions on making it better - please pass on your comments. Mail me directly – rick.claus@microsoft.com
Direct Download:
Subscribe to the podcast: (so you don't miss an episode)
Disclaimer: This podcast was produced with the best information available to us at the time of recording. Your primary source for all things Security Bulletin related should always be the Microsoft Security Response Center blog.
Bulletins discussed for November 10th, 2009:
Podcast Participants: Pierre Roman, Bruce Cowper and myself.
Additional Technical Show Notes:
- Recorded at the local Starbucks across the street from the Ottawa offices of Microsoft Canada.
- Beverage of choice for this edition: Vanilla Latté and Chai Latté
- Get Security Essentials from www.microsoft.com/securityessentials
- Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) can be found here.
PodSafe music from PodSafe Music Network @ http://music.podshow.com/. Artist: Derek K Miller, song - “You’re the Big Sky - rock guitar instrumental”
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
addthis_pub = 'CDNDPE';
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Hello folks, In December I had written a little piece regarding Todd Lamothe, the system administrator for the County of Lennox and Addington, and his deployment of Windows 2008. Well, he’s been driving hard to bring more value and order in his environment. His latest project involves the migration of a lot of statistical information from a manual Excel based process to a SQL 2008 system that will allow him to save time and money all the while providing a lot more value than the system he is using now. All libraries in the County of Lennox and Addington provide their stats to the Information Services office in the form of a text file that is dumped from their terminals. Let me tell you that from what I understand from Todd, that’s not a fun process. He takes the info and re-enters it in an Excel spreadsheet for each library and links it to a “roll-up” master spreadsheet that get distributed to management. The goals of this project were to: - Create a single database server that will be used for collecting all statistics and eventually to provide BI tools and analysis.
- Simplify the reporting and allow for easier queries
- Eliminate the manual Data entry
- Enable historical analysis
- Provide a dashboard environment for management.
His current environment does not allow for historical data past 18 months, which becomes an issue when trying to establish trends year over year. When I asked him what were are the challenges faced by Todd? He replied that the stats are in is responsibility because of the “data entry” function and that the manual process did not leave him much time to address other issues. Also, the current system was not granular enough to provide detailed analysis. Furthermore, the old system did not produce the historical data he needs for his planning exercise. To remedy that situation he rolled out SQL 2008 with the following technologies: - Data transformation services, In order to convert and import the data from the text file generated by the library systems
- Dashboard & Reporting services, for management and real time stats
On top of the benefits he will gain by eliminating the manual processes he will also use the SQL server to host a Microsoft Deployment Toolkit database that will give him the options of automating the deployment of customized workstations throughout the environment based on roles and location. Talk about flexibility…. Here are some details of his implementation. - SQL is running in a Hyper-V environment.
- The SQL Server installation was very straight forward since he had nothing to start with.
- 3 things (.Net Framework, XML, Management tools) did not install properly the first times, but were easily fixed by re-installing those parts (unknown if this was an interface problem between the chair and the keyboard)
Now that the server is up, the DTS process is being tweaked, and he expect the whole solution to be running very soon. WOW! How about that? This is a prime example of the business needs dictating the IT innovations. If you have stories like this one, feel free to contact me and we can tell others, and hopefully, we can inspire other to do the things that brings them value and success. Cheers.  
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Hello folks, Todd Lamothe, the system administrator for the County of Lennox and Addington was in town a few weeks ago to present at TechDays and we started to talk about fun, and cool stuff he’s been doing. Well let me tell you, he’s been busy. He told me that he upgraded his entire forest to Windows 2008. He’s now running AD in 2008 native mode and is also taking advantage of a lot of the new features and capabilities. I asked him what was the underlying goal for upgrading to Windows 2008 the day it went RTM (he did all his testing and planning using Beta code. talk about bleeding edge) his reply was “I want to include the windows 2008 feature set in my environment. I’m a one man shop and I cover a very large area. so any tools, features or capabilities that can make my life easier is welcomed” Here is a map of the locations Todd is responsible for: (click on it for more details) 
The network supports and Exchange 2007, and about 100 workstations scattered throughout the libraries. But the problem is that other than the 30 staff members that work in those libraries that are over 12,000 users of this network. (library members) Todd’s challenges were mainly the maintenance of those desktops in libraries across the county. This was originally done by getting in a car and driving to all locations. not something he liked doing especially when you have to drive through blizzards like we have had lately. Here are some of the changes that Todd has now implemented: - Change Desktop icons on Kiosk machines and add local content by using GPO and Preferences.
- Eliminated the complex Logon script thus shortening the logon process
- Established different security policies per OU
- Implemented folder redirection to enable roaming users to access their files anywhere on the network.
- Implemented WDS – WDS and Multicast support allows him to deploy single MDT images to the library desktops and kiosk in a multicast scenario.
Todd also told me that because of the size of his environment the Migration from Windows 2003 AD to Windows 2008 was virtually painless. All he had to do after taking a good backup was to: - Extended the schema
- Perform an in-place upgrade of one of the 2003 DCs to Windows 2008
- After verification of the success of the upgrade he upgraded all the other DCs sequentially.
- When all the DC’s were converted to 2008 he switched the domain and forest functional levels to Native.
And now after 10 months of operations…. all is well. no issues. What is the environment like for the IT staff now? So I asked him, How has the change affected your IT staff? he replied: “I put on some weight because I don’t move as much anymore…. And my car does not need as much maintenance. but other than that, it’s been rock solid.” when I asked him what had been the impact on the users? “They have not noticed a thing. Other then that I’m not around as much anymore… 2008 makes the management of the environment a lot easier and there will be saving in time and money.... Witch translates into saving my own neck. “ he replied I know Todd is planning his next move….. I’ll be sure to let you know how it unfolds. Cheers 
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Paul Laberge is back with the final instalment of this series. Please shoot us an email via the link in the top left of the page and let us know what you think of this information and share experiences and ideas you have to survive the tough times.
Rodney
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Without a doubt, most of us are experiencing the most serious economic recession in our lifetimes. There's an awful lot of uncertainty that goes with that; everything from our retirement savings, disposable income and job security.
IT as an industry is certainly not immune to these worries and as professionals in this space, I'm sure the concerns I have are similar to those that you are facing. So, in stressful times like these, what are some of the things you can do to be successful and how can Microsoft help you achieve that success?
Well, to answer that question, let's take a look at it from a few different angles. First, there's the personal angle (i.e.: how do you make yourself more marketable and valuable in recession economy?). Second there's established business angle (i.e.: how can I make the business more efficient with IT?). Third, there's the start-up angle (i.e.: how can I launch a new business and make it successful?). Let's take a look at each of these angles separately through 3 separate yet connected blog posts. In this third and final post in the series, I will focus on Launching a Start-Up Business in a Recession.
Launching a Start-Up Business in a Recession
Yesterday a conference for Start-Ups called Startup Empire was held in Toronto. Microsoft was one of the sponsors of the event and my colleague David Crow, a bit of a rockstar in the Canadian startup community, was one of the organizers.
The tone of this conference was a bit different than your typical startup event, mainly because of the shape our global economy is in. That being said, it's interesting to note that the speakers at this conference see great opportunities for startups to thrive in a situation like this, but you need to be ready to fail, too..
My boss, Mark Relph, also notes some wise learnings for startups that are especially relevant in tough times like this. Things like:
I'd also add that finding the right industry vertical is important. For example, while anything is possible, I'd argue as of today that a startup focusing on the retail industry is gambling in dangerous territory. Launching a start-up in a more recession-resistant industry like healthcare or education (regardless of the economy, people will always need medical services and schools will always be open) may make more sense. Something to keep in mind.
From a Microsoft perspective, there's some exciting things that we provide to start-ups to help them build their dream solution. The first is BizSpark.
BizSpark is Microsoft's premier initiatives to help get start-ups off the ground. The details about BizSpark can be found in this document, but in a nutshell, it provides Microsoft software to build the solution, gives start-ups access to partners and other global support resources and visibility on Microsoft sites like StartupZone and the BizSparkDB which potential customers can use to view solutions that might fit their needs (i.e.: it will help you drum up customers).
Another resource, one that is not strictly for start-ups is the Microsoft Partner Programme (MSPP). The partner programme offers a great deal of support to companies building solutions on the Microsoft platform, including deeply discounted software in order to build your solution, free training only for partners, co-marketing opportunities and the ability to profile your solutions in the Partner Solution Profiler which customers can search to find solutions that fit their needs, among other things.
-Paul
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- Do you work in a small IT shop or are you the only IT resource that your company has?
- Are you the "go to" guy/gal for anything to do with technology?
- Do you (or others) consider yourself a "jack of all trades"?
- Do you work in a small company with less than 250 PCs?
- do you spend most of your day reactively fixing and addressing issues that come up and feel like you can't proactively plan to get ahead?
If you answered yes to any of these questions this blog post and series is for you. This is the third post in a series of blog articles aimed at sharing solutions to issues facing IT Professionals working in this type of environment. We’re taking articles from YOU on how you’ve overcome issues in the past with innovative solutions to get the job done. Maybe it’s using Microsoft technology – maybe it is not – what matters is that it addresses a problem, allowing you to get on with your day. I had a technical glitch - either a PEBKAC or ID10T issue ;-) This post was set to go live on the 18th as scheduled, but it was either in limbo or my dyslexia kicked in and I had the date format wrong. My apologies, I've resolved the issue for now and we're 24 hrs late for this post in the series. It look like people are enjoying these posts and the general topics we're coving so far - I encourage you to comment directly on the post or email the team with suggestions or stories you'd like to share. This one came in as a "what was the worst task you've been asked to complete while working in the "IT Industry"...". As IT Staff, we generally get called in to do all sorts of jobs - some go above and beyond the call. Kevin J. sent in this post and asks you a question... Leave your war stories in the comments section - try to keep it "work safe" if you please. My personal story was a nightmare'ish evening of cable schlepping in a very dusty dropped ceiling that had not been cleaned in years. I had to take cable runs tied to the end of brooms that we chucked as far as we could to run the length of the building with minimal effort. It wasn't pretty or ISO standard approved, but it got the job done and is still running today.
IT Pro Team Blog | IT Managers Blog |Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
My Shared Bookmarks p.s: Are YOU up for the challenge of contributing your thoughts, ideas and solutions to “The IT Guy / IT Gal” series? Contact me directly or use the email link at the top of the blog with draft stories AND/OR suggested topics. Let's ramp up the noise and start giving back!!! -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Rick, Should THE IT guy/gal have to play in p**p? I'm the IT/IS Manager for a small community's governing body. In a day, I have to deal with an exchange server not sending e-mail, software development in VB.NET, failing power supplies on 10 different PC's, government issued software and my personal favourite, water and sewage treatment plants. I've been on 3 water main breaks and a RBC reconstruction. In my realm of IT, I have 210 computers and 6 servers spanning 12 buildings. Anywhere there is something that needs electricity, I get called in. One year the sewage plant was short staffed. Sewage plants rely on a device called a comminutor to grind up solids before entering primary treatment. No one was around so I had to disassemble and resemble. None of my college or university course dealt with sewage plants. I'm just rambling of course, but I think a good topic would be what was the worst task you've been asked to complete while working in the "IT Industry" Cheers! Kevin J. 
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This is part 2 of a 3 part series written by our collegue Paul Laberge on surving tough economical times.
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Without a doubt, most of us are experiencing the most serious economic recession in our lifetimes. There's an awful lot of uncertainty that goes with that; everything from our retirement savings, disposable income and job security.
IT as an industry is certainly not immune to these worries and as professionals in this space, I'm sure the concerns I have are similar to those that you are facing. So, in stressful times like these, what are some of the things you can do to be successful and how can Microsoft help you achieve that success?
Well, to answer that question, let's take a look at it from a few different angles. First, there's the personal angle (i.e.: how do you make yourself more marketable and valuable in recession economy?). Second there's established business angle (i.e.: how can I make the business more efficient with IT?). Third, there's the start-up angle (i.e.: how can I launch a new business and make it successful?). Let's take a look at each of these angles separately through 3 separate yet connected blog posts. This post, the second in the series, will focus on Retaining Momentum for Established Business in a Recession.
Retaining Momentum for an Established Business in a Recession
Staying ahead of the curve as a business in this economy is really tough. Cost cutting is a common theme and finding ways of doing more with less is becoming more and more a way of life.
Development Tools
Microsoft's tools and platform are built to streamline the process of building great solutions. Visual Studio 2008, for example, allows development teams (including application developers, architects, testers and DBAs) to collaborate on projects as well as deliver the solution more quickly.
Collaboration and Line of Business
Our server software allows you to potentially save costs that are traditionally associated with day-to-day business. A great example of this would be our Unified Communications platform. Business travel is something that will never go away, but our Unified Communications solution with technologies such as LiveMeeting and Office Communicator, can reduce the need for employees to travel. You can also manage your telephony infrastructure with Unified Communications as it is VoIP-enabled.
Another platform that may surprise you with respect to increasing the productivity of employees is the Office 2007 platform. There are two aspects of this - desktop and server.
The server components include Microsoft Office Sharepoint Server (with the unfortunate acronym of MOSS) and Microsoft Exchange. Sharepoint provides an enterprise-ready content management and collaboration platform that allows your employees to access the most up-to-date information and share ideas with others. Microsoft Exchange gives employees access to email literally anywhere and anytime. Regardless of location, employees have access to email on their desktop (using a mail client such as Outlook 2007), securely over the internet (through Outlook Web Access or OWA) and through mobile devices such as smartphones. The agility that these two server products offer allows employees to be agile and respond to business opportunities quickly.
The desktop component includes Microsoft Office 2007. Microsoft offers a number of versions of the Office 2007 suite to fit your business needs. That way you are not required to pay for functionality you don't necessarily require. It also is extremely customizable. With the introduction of Office Business Applications (OBA for short), you can now seamlessly integrate backoffice data into Microsoft Office. This is extremely valuable as it allows employees to access and manipulate data using familiar tools (such as Excel), reducing training requirements and potentially reducing complexity in data transfer processes by eliminating some third party applications for things like reporting.
Manageability
Virtualization is a concept that is continuing to pick up steam. Microsoft's virtualization strategy focuses on five areas: server/hardware virtualization, application virtualization, storage virtualization, desktop virtualization and presentation virtualization. Microsoft's solutions in each of these areas is focused on allowing businesses to reduce bottom-line costs through a number of ways, including:
- rationalizing the amount of hardware required to run line of business applications
- lowering the number of installed software products on desktops
- increasing the manageability of servers and desktops from a central location
Microsoft System Center is another administrative tool that can help manage adminstrative costs associated to IT. While associated to our virtualization strategy, it offers a number of benefits to IT departments including:
- Configuration Management: Allows IT departments to centrally manage the configuration and provisioning of software to the company in a controlled manner
- Compliance: Central management of all servers with respect to ensuring compliance to policies driven by the business (such as security policies) as well as other compliance pressures such as regulatory compliance (e.g.: SOX, HIPAA, FISMA, etc.)
- Monitoring: Ability to monitor the health of servers from a centralized location and alert administrators when an issue arises
- Data Protection: manage the backup and recovery processes for multiple servers in a systematic fashion, both for physical and virtualized environments
Windows Vista
I'll admit it - Windows Vista has been getting hit hard with FUD around its value as a desktop operating system. The interesting thing is that there is much evidence to the contrary that states that businesses that use Windows Vista actually have a lower TCO than those that use other desktop operating systems (including Windows XP). For example, a whitepaper published by Wipro and GCR Custom Research titled Reducing the TCO with Windows Vista states that the average cost savings vs. Windows XP for mobile notebooks deployed within an organization is $251 per notebook.
It's also the most secure operating system Microsoft has produced. Loss of data through theft, subversion or even accidental data loss is expensive and also poses potential costs associated with it including fines (in the case of privacy breaches) as well as loss of reputation. The Windows Vista One-Year Vulnerability Report shows "that researchers found and disclosed significantly fewer vulnerabilities in Windows Vista than either it predecessor product, Windows XP, or other operating systems such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, and Apple Mac OS X 10.4" (page 19 of the report).
Finally, with increasing costs associated to energy (and even if energy prices may be relaxing somewhat from all-time highs), technologies that reduce their energy footprint are certainly useful in reducing costs associated with IT. To that end, many people don't realize that Windows Vista's enhanced sleep mode features and smart use of power can save a surprising amount of money in the form of energy savings. A white paper from Microsoft outlines some of the potential savings and on page 6 of the report states that a typical Pentium IV running Windows Vista with a 17" LCD monitor can save $55.63 per year compared to the same PC running Windows XP.
-Paul 
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