Greetings !
I have spoken about the two new versions of Windows Small Business Server which were announced by Microsoft recently. The Good news is that one of them is now available for Public Beta.
Here is the link to some additional information including side by side comparison of the new Server Platforms from Microsoft for the Small Businesses:
Microsoft Servers for Small Business
The above link will also help you to get started with the Beta if you wish . The above information comes courtsey my friend Susan , the SBS DIVA !
with warm regards
Suresh Ramani
Microsoft MVP 2009
www.techgyan.com
www.msexchangeindia.com
In my past few blogs, I have mentioned about the announcement by Microsoft on next version of Small Business Server and a new addition to the Small Business Server Family . Well, I have got hold of a great video which demos what Aurora is and its capabilities . I am personally quite excited by Aurora and what it can do . Together with Small Business Server V7 , it offers an unbeatable Solution Stack . Check this Video on Aurora !
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year award winner 2007
In my post yesterday , I informed you about a few details of the 2 exciting products announced by Microsoft in the Windows Small Business Server Family . I have located a couple of video interviews about these products which will give you a better understanding of the products.
In the first Video, Guy Haycock , a Senior Microsoft Manager who is part of the Server Team , gives more information on the new Server Products .
In the second Video, Dave Sobel , a Microsoft Partner , shares his views on the announcement of a brand new Server codenamed Aurora.
I’m sure these videos will give you lots of information on what promises to be 2 great products announced by Microsoft for the Small & Medium Businesses .
In the ongoing Microsoft Partner Conference in the USA, there was a BIG announcement about the new versions of the Windows Small Business Server which are now available for preview . Given below is the extract of the Article published by the SBS Team . Please read the article below for details.
Microsoft Online Services Partner Advisor
[Today’s post comes to us courtesy of Kevin Kean from the SBS Product Team]
Not a week goes by when we don’t get emails asking about the next version of Windows Small Business Server (SBS). When’s it coming? What will it include? What’s the partner opportunity?
I am very pleased to say that today at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, we disclosed that we will issue not one, but TWO, public preview releases for the next version of SBS by the end of our summer in the Pacific Northwest – an update to the standard edition plus a new server that will be our first to deliver both traditional and cloud computing capabilities for small businesses.
If you’re interested in downloading and testing the previews, you can visit www.microsoft.com/sbs and sign-up for the program. You will be notified when the actual bits are available for download.
The offerings we will have for you to try out will be:
In addition, we are announcing the forthcoming release of a Windows Server Solution Software Development Kit (SDK), which will enable developers to build add-ins and write drive integration of new and existing on-line services with SBS Aurora. Developers interested in downloading the SDK should go to http://connect.microsoft.com/sbs.
I know that we are going to create a lot of industry buzz with these offerings, in large part because we’re updating the standard edition with SBS 7 and delivering an easy to use and affordable way through SBS Aurora for small businesses to enjoy important server functionalities like backup of client and server, file and print sharing, run critical applications on-site while at the same time taking advantage of the emerging number of online applications and services on a pay-as-you-go basis to extend the functionality of your server.
We’re also getting a lot of partner interest, particularly around SBS Aurora. In fact, Symantec, Level Platforms and Disk Keeper are all making statements this week around plans to integrate products with SBS Aurora. HP is not only showing SBS Aurora in their booth at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference, but has a sneak peek at http://www.facebook.com/CoffeeCoaching. And you’re sure to hear more as we get closer to releasing the preview.
See what all of the buzz is about. Sign up for the previews today!
I recently came across a nice blog from Computer Information Agency on how to install Sharepoint Foundation 2010 on SBS 2008. By default you get Windows Sharepoint Services 3.0 on SBS 2008. So if you want to use the latest and greatest Sharepoint , please read the stuff below.
So you want to install SharePoint Foundation 2010 onto SBS 2008 eh? We’ll I’m here to tell you that you need to do your prep work or else you are going to end up in a horrible mess. This post will take you through the steps you should complete prior to any upgrade. Future posts will cover the upgrade process.
Let’s assume that you have decided that you really want to install SharePoint Foundation 2010 on SBS 2008. The most compelling reasons are the ability to run Office Web Apps and allow document co-authoring with Office 2010. The first question to ask is whether you are planning to migrate your existing Companyweb data or start fresh? If you want to migrate your data (which the most likely option) then you are going to need to ensure that it is backed up.
I’d always recommend that you backup your SharePoint data a number of different ways just in case you need to roll back. So the first suggested way is to do a normal full backup or image of your system using the inbuilt SBS backup or imaging software. Ensure that you have all the SharePoint databases on that backup. By default the WSS v3 databases on SBS 2008 live in
c:\windows\sysmsi\ssee\mssql.2005\mssql\data (although they can be relocated manually or via the SBS 2008 wizards).
Next I’d do a command line stsadm backup via:
stsadm –o backup –url http://companyweb –filename drive:\directory\filename –includesecurity -overwrite
This will create a single file backup of your WSS v3 site. Why this? It is much easier in my books to create a new clean WSS v3 site somewhere (say on a virtual PC) and then restore a full WSS v3 backup using the above command. This form of backup is probably the most easily transportable there is for WSS v3.
While still at the command line I’d also do:
stsadm –o export –url http://companyweb –filename drive:\directory\filename1 –includesecurity –overwrite
Why this extra command you ask? The difference is that the –export command allows me to import the data into an existing WSS v3 site, whereas the –backup command overwrites what is there. Thus, maybe I want to import the data to a sub area of another site for testing or maybe recovery. Like I said the more options the better in my books.
With that complete and still at the command type the following:
stsadm –o preupgradecheck
What that will do is run a check to see whether there are any obvious deal breakers to prevent an upgrade from WSS v3 to SharePoint Foundation 2010. That command will produce a file you can study at your leisure and see if something untoward might pop out during the upgrade process.
If all that looks good then you are probably ready to commence the upgrade but here’s where I’d ask you to stop and think. What is your fall back procedure? What happens if it all goes belly up and you need to roll back to the original WSS v3? What happens if you need to reinstall WSS v3? Have you ever tried that? Do you know where to find the documentation for that? I’ll tell you now that there ain’t any install wizard to get Companyweb back up and running on SBS 2008 if things go pear shaped so I strongly recommend you understand how to do a full disaster recovery of WSS v3 on SBS 2008 before you go any further.
With that in mind, and with you hopefully scurrying off to do some research I’ll let you know that you can’t simply upgrade WSS v3 Companyweb on SBS 2008 to Companyweb on SharePoint Foundation 2010. You will have to uninstall WSS v3 completely from SBS 2008 before attempting to install SharePoint Foundation 2010. Yep, you read that right, totally remove WSS v3 from SBS 2008.
Now even before you install SharePoint Foundation 2010 on SBS 2008 you are going to need to install a swag of prerequisites. Do you know what these are? Will they affect anything that is already on the server? Will they interfere with any third party apps installed on the server (like AV produces say). Hopefully, you now understand my point about making sure you have a fall back plan in case problems do arise.
Next consider what database version you are going to use with SharePoint Foundation 2010. By default SharePoint Foundation 2010 comes with SQL Express 2008. Great you say but remember that SQL Express 2008 has a 4GB database limit. WSS v3 came with SQL Server Embedded Edition 2005 (SSEE) which has no database limit. So if your existing Companyweb databases are greater than that, or likely to grow beyond 4GB you have some thinking to do. The easiest and cheapest option is to go with SQL Express 2008 R2 which now has a 10GB database limit and remains a free download. Maybe you want to go full SQL Server 2008 as a license is included with SBS 2008 Premium if you have it. See, not as straight forward as you think.
Now SharePoint Foundation 2010 is going to need to have a version of SQL Server 2008 at least to operate installed prior to the installation of SharePoint Foundation 2010. There is already SQL Server 2005 on SBS 2008 that is used for WSUS amongst other things. What conflicts might that cause? What compatibility issues might that raise? Well for starters SQL Server 2008 generally can’t be installed if SQL Server 2005 Management tools are already installed so these will have to come off before SQL Server 2008 goes on. Do you know how to do this? Have you every installed SQL Server onto a SBS 2008 server? Do you know the correct procedure for getting it working? In some cases when you go to install some versions of SQL Server 2008 onto Windows 2008 it says that it won’t work on that version of the operating system. As I have blogged here before you may need to install an SQL Server 2008 Service pack first, then SQL Server 2008 then the Service Pack again. Simple eh?
I hope that you can at least begin to appreciate the complexities involved in getting SharePoint Foundation 2010 on SBS 2008 operational. I agree there are plenty of benefits but in my experience there is also plenty of pain. Stayed tuned to future posts where I’ll run through the steps of actually getting SharePoint Foundation 2010 running on SBS 2008. But for now do your backups, run the upgrade check and make sure you have a recovery plan.
I just came across a very good report from Gartner on Sharepoint 2010 . This reports is extremely detailed and should help any Company which is planning to implement Content Management or Document Management System.
Microsoft Most Valuable Professional
I just came across a good article in Information week on Office 2010 vs. Google Apps. Essentially what the article says is that its comparing Apples to Oranges . And with the launch of Web Edition of Office Apps, there is very little incentive for even small Companies to shift to Google Apps. And in Large Enterprises, MS Office is so deeply ingrained in various work processes, it will be difficult to dislodge it with Google Apps. So very clearly MS Office has nothing to fear from Google Apps which is nothing more than a minor irritant.
Todays’s post comes to you via courtsey Eric Ligman .
If you or someone you know is running Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), then you and/or they absolutely NEED TO READ THIS!
As part of the standard Microsoft Support Lifecycle, Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, and Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) will reach “End of Support” on July 13, 2010.
Here’s what you need to know if you are running Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2):
If you are running Windows 2000:
On July 13, 2010, the Extended Support phase for all editions of Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Professional (including Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server, Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition, and, Microsoft Windows 2000 Server) will end. If you are running one of these versions of Windows, what this means is: Microsoft will no longer issue security updates or non-security hotfixes for Windows 2000 after this date. In addition, assisted support will no longer be available for this product. To put it in real terms, at the end of the Extended Support phase for Windows 2000, customers will not have access to the following:
So what are your support options for Widows 2000 after July 13th, 2010? Support options for Windows 2000 after July 13, 2010 are:
If you are running Windows XP SP2:
On July 13, 2010, support for Windows XP SP2 will also end. This date was established when Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) was released on April 21, 2008. (For service packs, the end of support is 12 or 24 months after a new service pack is released. Support for the previous service pack is either 12 or 24 months, depending on the product family.)
What this means is: After July 13, 2010, customers still with Windows XP SP2 will not have access to the following:
Something to be aware of and keep in mind: The terms of the Service Pack Support policy do not impact the Mainstream Support phase or Extended Support phase dates for Windows XP as a product. Windows XP transitioned from the Mainstream Support phase to the Extended Support phase on April 14, 2009. During the Extended Support phase for Windows XP (April 14, 2009 – April 8, 2014), Microsoft will continue to provide paid support and security updates at no additional charge. To be eligible for Extended Support for Windows XP, customers must be on Windows XP SP3 after July 13, 2010 since support for Windows XP SP2 retires on July 13, 2010. Then on April 8, 2014, Extended Support for Windows XP SP3 will come to an end as well, as part of the standard Microsoft Support Lifecycle.
Support options for Windows XP SP2 after July 13, 2010:
Guidance for customers
Unsupported products or service packs pose a significant risk to your computer’s security; therefore, Microsoft advises customers to migrate to the latest supported service pack and/or product prior to the end of support. Our latest products, such as Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2, provide greater security, reliability, environment-friendly features, and a host of other benefits.
While we have had the End of Support information included in newsletters, on the websites, and in many other communications for some time, I wanted to put it here on my Blog as well so that you see it once again and it reminds you that if you are running Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server, or Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), you only have a few weeks left to address this before support ends.
Partners, be sure to utilize these resources as well when helping your clients address their needs around this:
You can also find links to these resources above on the Windows End of Support Page on the Microsoft Partner Network site.
Consumers can visit www.windows.com/end-of-support for more information as well.
Microsoft MVP
[Today’s post comes to us courtesy of JoAnn McKimpson from the SBS Marketing Team]
As a business owner, you are no doubt always looking for ways to give yourself a competitive advantage and make your business more efficient and customer responsive. As organizations of all sizes spend increasing amounts of time out of the office with customers, it's a competitive advantage to have mobile access to information that you would typically need to be in the office to have—email, calendar, contacts, sales databases, intranet, and more. Mobile technology is now an affordable way to achieve competitive advantage by being more responsive when you are on the road.
Do any of these issues sound familiar?
Fortunately, you can solve these issues quickly and easily with technology you are familiar with, at minimal cost, with almost no training needs and very little additional support overhead.
With Windows Small Business Server (Windows SBS) 2008 and Windows Mobile, you can extend more of your business out to these powerful mobile devices. With additional off-the-shelf solutions, you can provide your sales database (CRM) out to mobile devices. You can also provide satellite navigation that not only allows you to find customer addresses more efficiently but also allows you to track sales staff and communicate with them when they are mobile. You can add simple applications such as live traffic information that may seem trivial but can save time and get you to the customer site on time. This is all in addition to being able to view Microsoft Office documents on the road, communicate by using instant messaging, and access the web.
Windows SBS 2008 and Windows Mobile let you spend less time in the office gathering information. You'll have more up to date information in front of a customer and look like a much larger company. You also promote the image of an innovative, forward-looking company that uses technology for the benefits of itself and its customers. Best of all, you just need a server running Windows SBS 2008 (which comes with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007), a Windows Mobile device (which comes with Pocket Outlook), and a mobile data connection from your existing mobile phone provider. Windows Mobile devices come with Internet access and can be easily enabled to connect to Windows SBS 2008, making you mobile instantly.
To show you just how powerful Windows SBS 2008 and Windows Mobile are together, let's follow Kim Akers, a marketing manager at Contoso, Ltd., on a typical workday.
This is Kim's Windows Mobile smartphone. It looks and operates like a normal phone, but it has additional functionality that lets her be more productive immediately.
The home screen shows Kim something similar to the Outlook Today screen—details of Kim's next business meeting and her email inbox—directly synchronized with the office.
Kim's coworker calls her to ask whether she's available to take some clients out to dinner tonight. Kim quickly glances at her Windows Mobile phone and sees that she already has plans.
Kim decides to find someone else who can go to the client dinner. All of her contacts from Outlook are synchronized between Windows SBS 2008 and her Windows Mobile phone—with all the important details such as addresses, phone numbers, and even clients' birthdays.
Kim quickly finds the contact information for Dave Barnett, whom she works with in the marketing group. She can call, text, or even email him from this screen.
Kim can view her entire inbox or calendar—including meeting requests and attachments—directly from her Windows Mobile phone. Kim looks up some information about the meeting location to forward to Dave.
Data is constantly synchronized between the server that is running Windows SBS 2008 and the Windows Mobile phone, so Kim and Dave are always up to date. When Dave uses his Windows Mobile phone to add the client dinner to his calendar, the staff in the Contoso office can immediately see this. Dave's data is all stored in one place—and it is backed up and available.
As you can see, Windows SBS 2008 and a Windows Mobile phone are quite a productivity-enhancing duo. For more about the great features you get with Windows SBS 2008 and a Windows Mobile phone, download the Multiply Your Power with Windows Small Business Server 2008 and Windows Mobile datasheet (http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/6/6/766E6D2F-B239-433C-B1B6-881B97732566/Datasheet_SBS.pdf)
Now that you know about the great capabilities and benefits of using Windows SBS 2008 and Windows Mobile together, you might still have some concerns.
Perhaps you've recently invested in new phones for your staff, and you're wondering, "Is my phone compatible?" Windows Mobile was designed with your needs in mind and runs on a growing variety of phones to fit your business and personal needs, including touch screen phones with slide-out keyboards, sleek full-keyboard smartphones, and rugged handhelds. However, when you purchase Windows Mobile phones, you should check with your wireless provider to make sure that your service plan meets your specific business requirements.
You might also be concerned about the loss of your data if a phone is lost or stolen. You might wonder, "Have we lost the customer information?" Not to worry: your data is backed up on your server and during transmission to your device. Should your device ever fall into other hands, you will still have access to the same data on your server that is running Windows SBS 2008.
Windows Mobile phones can be secured from third-party access if they are lost. Because all of your data is constantly synchronized with the server that is running Windows SBS 2008, all you need is a new device which can be provided preconfigured, and you can be reunited with your data quickly.
With these security features in Windows SBS 2008, you can help protect your data should your Windows Mobile phone be lost or stolen:
Windows SBS 2008 and Windows Mobile allow your staff to be more productive and not tied to the office for information. Your staff can be more responsive to customers with real-time access to information. Finally, you can do all this and control costs by standardizing on a mobile platform rather than having lots of different devices and applications chosen randomly. Perhaps most crucially, you can extend your existing investment in Windows SBS 2008 to make it mobile overnight—you don't have to buy any additional server software.
With Windows SBS 2008 and Windows Mobile, you can:
To learn more, visit the Windows Mobile website (http://windowsmobile.com/business) and the Windows SBS 2008 website (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver/essential/sbs).
To see Windows Mobile in action, watch the following videos:
For a more in-depth look at Windows Mobile, view the webcast on How to Take Advantage of Windows Mobile to Enhance Productivity in Your Organization (http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032393171&Culture=en-US).
IAMCP India West Founder President (www.iamcp.org)
Today’s post comes to us courtesy of Kunal Ghotge, Gagan Mehra, David Copeland, Justin Crosby, and Shawn Sullivan from Commercial Technical Support]
In this post, we will discuss options to backup and restore your SharePoint (Companyweb) site. A good backup and restore strategy is essential for maintaining business continuity when disaster happens.
Available Tools for backup
Tools
User Interface
Backup Type
Windows SharePoint Services: STSADM.exe
Command Line
Full and Differential
Windows SBS 2008 Backup
Graphical
Full and Incremental
Windows SharePoint Services: Central Administration
STSADM is a utility that is installed with SharePoint that allows you to perform administrative tasks on your SharePoint sites. By default, it is located in the following path: %ProgramFiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\12\BIN.
Note: You must run these commands from an elevated command prompt.
STSADM –o backup –url <SharePoint url> –filename <backup target file location> –overwrite
For example: STSADM –o backup –url http://companyweb/ –filename “D:\backup\companyweb.bak” –overwrite
STSADM –o restore –url <SharePoint url> –filename <backup source file location> -overwrite
For example: STSADM –o restore –url http://companyweb/ –filename “D:\backup\companyweb.bak” –overwrite
For more information on STSADM commands, see: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288981.aspx
Now that we have shown you how to backup SharePoint (Companyweb) using STADM, here is how to schedule those backups so that you always have an up to date backup.
Note: Make sure that the Administrator account that will run the task has the “Log on as batch job” user right. This can be done using the Group Policy settings. Additionally, when the password for the Administrator account changes in Active Directory, you must update the task with the new password.
You can also use Windows Small Business Server 2008 backup to backup and restore SharePoint (Companyweb). For information on how to configure Small Business Server 2008 backup to backup your server and SharePoint on a schedule, see: http://blogs.technet.com/sbs/archive/2008/11/03/introducing-sbs-2008-backup.aspx
Once SBS backup has been configured using the above link you will have the ability to create a backup immediately without having to wait for the schedule. To do this:
Once the restore finishes you will see a summary screen.
You can also use the SharePoint Central Administration site for backup and restore. However, we recommend using the above methods on Small Business Server 2008. For more information on the use of the SharePoint Central Administration site for backup and restore, please visit the following link: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc288396.aspx
I just came across a nice utility from Microsoft for IT Pros and Developers. Its called Microsoft Desktop Player and it player allows IT professionals to access technical content (videos, webcasts, podcasts, white papers, and more) and links to resources (such as IT evangelists, local training opportunities, and local user groups) in your area. You can either view it online or download the WPF application to view offline.
Check it out!
IAMCP India West Founder President ( www.iamcp.org)
Microsoft is shortly releasing Office 2010 . By all accounts it will be a very major release. I came across a wonderful post by my friend Eric Ligman where he has compiled some great resources on Office 2010 . Given below is his post . I’m sure you will find the same very useful
IAMCP India West Founder President
Eric’s Article:-
As you may have seen in my, “Microsoft Office 2010 reaches RTM! Download on April 27th if you have Software Assurance” post earlier this week, Microsoft Office 2010 will be available through our Volume Licensing Programs starting on May 1st. With this date quickly approaching, I thought I would post some Office 2010 resources and information we have available for you to help you get the most from it:
I hope you find these resources and pieces of information helpful in your quest to know more about Microsoft Office 2010.
I came across this informative article on Infoworld through my good friend Dr. Petri. It talks about the Security concerns in Cloud Computing and how they compare with the On Premise Solutions. Happy reading !
Cloud computing is more secure than you think
By Roger A. Grimes
Created 2010-05-04 03:00AM
Recent security problems with Google's cloud offerings [1] have sparked a flood of questions about whether or not cloud services are ready for prime time. Are they sophisticated enough to handle the world's mission-critical applications reliably and securely? In my view, the answer is a resounding yes. Choosing one or more cloud service could, in fact, reduce expense and security risks for the average company.
That view may come as a surprise in light of the dozens of stories that emerge each week summarizing various cloud failures. Those failures aren't the norm, though; it's just that the media makes more money when it reports bad news instead of good. How many articles have you read about cloud vendors with 99.999 percent uptime and availability? How many news alerts have you seen this year discussing the cloud products and services that experienced no significant security issues? Not many, I suspect.
[ Get the no-nonsense explanations and advice you need to take real advantage of cloud computing in InfoWorld editors' 21-page Cloud Computing Deep Dive PDF special report [2]. | Stay up on the cloud with InfoWorld's Cloud Computing Report newsletter [3]. ]
Over the last 10 years of my career, I've performed hundreds of security reviews at an array of organizations. In general, the average company has dozens of security gaps, many of them of the highest risk. It's never a surprise to the companies that have hired me. Heck, the participating staff usually knows of far more problems, but there's little incentive for them to volunteer information. It's common to find huge policy gaps, unpatched software on mission critical servers, bug-filled applications, spotty data restoration, and a myriad of maliciousness.
Most of the cloud providers I review, however, fall at the other end of the spectrum: They have highly focused and fairly locked-down environments. Instead of the 40- to 90-page report I typically deliver, my reports to cloud companies tend to be 5 to 20 pages long, citing only a few problems. The bigger the cloud vendor, the fewer problems I find on average.
The biggest cloud vendors are in huge, globally distributed data centers with very narrowly task-focused employees. In order to serve a wide range of clients and provide the best service, cloud vendors must have their policies and processes down. Physical security is as tight as can be. Everything is actively monitored and keyed to actionable alerts. If an action can be automated, it is. The fault-tolerant features are redundant-redundant, as if two of everything isn't enough.
Most noncloud companies I know do nightly backups -- or perhaps transaction-based backups on a few mission-critical applications. But should an email or Web server go down, the best data available is from the night before. Cloud vendors generally back up every transaction of every app immediately. The major players back up every bit of data instantly and spread it across two or more globally distributed backup arrays.
The typical power backup sources at these companies would make most network administrators drool. Many cloud vendors have dual instances of every supporting system: electricity, environmental controls, network connections, and so on.
I don't mean to say that every cloud vendor is perfect and cloud products don't have data loss or downtime. It's far from the truth, and I've found a few cloud vendors that would be ranked the worst in every category. Some of the vendors I've reviewed run a technological deck of cards, waiting for one weak link to bring down the whole house. But the typical cloud vendor has its security and availability issues better resolved than the average noncloud company.
One of the biggest advantages of running a cloud is that a single fix affects all customers simultaneously. For example, in most of today's enterprises, patching critical security holes can take days to weeks, from the time the patches are released to the moment systems are updated. A cloud vendor can patch once and protect all its customers.
Even enabling better security is easier in the cloud space. Google, for example, recently enabled requiring HTTPS for its Gmail service. HTTPS is normally required for only secure logons and sensitive information. In terms of performance, it's very costly to turn on for all transactions. An HTTPS-versus-HTTP transaction can run 200 to 300 percent slower. That sort of decision in a normal corporation could take months of review and another few months to pull off, if it's ever accomplished. Google made the security decision and, in a flash, increased the security protection to their millions of customers.
The trade-off, of course, is that Gmail users who didn't want this feature couldn't do anything about it. Once again, the majority of cloud decisions are more about features (and hence, control) than about security.
The real question is, How secure will all cloud services be as the entire world turns to them? It will probably be life as usual. We'll have vendors who do a better job at security and others who don't, just as with today's decentralized software world. Attackers will migrate from attacking your desktop to attacking the cloud. They always follow the end-users and data.
Some people, myself included, are worried about the repercussions of a huge, shared cloud. Won't one vulnerability in the cloud automatically put all clients at risk? Sure, but that's not a lot different than today. For example, the Robert Morris worm [5] essentially took down the Internet in 1988, and the 2003 Slammer worm [6] exploited the majority of vulnerable hosts on the Internet in less than 10 minutes. The Slammer worm went off around 1 a.m. ET; by the time most of the United States woke up, the problem had made the rounds.
Most of the computer security problems we'll face in the future will have much in common with today's threats, but it'll take a new amount of effort to contain the problem and apply the fix. For a cloud vendor with 24/7 staff, if proactively alerted, responding technicians should be able to minimize the damage, fix the problem, and have the system back online, likely quicker than before. I mean, who is more familiar with the systems and apps than the experts running the system, especially if it's their only system and their only responsibility?
This is not to say that cloud vendors don't have data loss or downtime -- they do and they will. But the remaining nascent issues will quickly be resolved as the cloud grows and matures. It reminds me of InfoWorld former writer and industry legend, Dr. Robert Metcalfe, who famously worried whether the Internet could be resilient enough to handle mission-critical business traffic [7] without a major collapse. As one of the key inventors of networking as we know it today, Dr. Metcalfe was right to sound the alarm. I'm sure he's just as happy to see the Internet mature enough to become synonymous with business commerce.
I'm here to say that the security problems of the cloud have been drastically overblown in the media, especially when compared to the typical company. I say, "Come in. The water's fine!"
Given below is the wonderful post by Eric Ligman on upcoming Microsoft Competencies for Small Business
Since the very inception of the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community many years ago and for every year since then, it has been my absolute pleasure to work with all of the Partners dedicated to serving the needs of the SMB segment and help communicate the efforts Microsoft is making around the SMB market. During this time, there have been people that, with each passing year, will ask or make statements along the lines of, “Microsoft is moving away from the SMB market,” or “Microsoft is killing off the Microsoft Small Business Specialist Community.”
For those of you that have followed me for awhile, you know that one of the commitments I have made to you is that I will always strive to bring you the RIGHT answers to the questions you have. With this commitment comes the understanding that if I am going to bring you the RIGHT answers, that almost guarantees that at some point, I am going to bring you an answer that you do not like; however, it will be the right answer. For some of you, today is that day.
The fate of SBSC has been signed, sealed, and is now being delivered. The answer to, “Can you believe it? The end of SBSC and a shift away from the SMB market,” is: “No, don’t believe anyone that tells you that!” The Microsoft SBSC designation is absolutely living on and Microsoft’s commitment to the SMB Market, and the Partners around the world that serve this market, is as strong as ever, if not stronger!
We’ve worked diligently to ensure that we have solid opportunities for our SMB focused Partners to partner with Microsoft, no matter their size. (Sorry competitors, this is the RIGHT answer to the question, even though you may not like it) I wanted to be sure to bring the RIGHT answer to these questions to you, to ensure you had them and there is no misunderstanding or thoughts that we hid it in a footnote somewhere.
With the announcement of the new Microsoft Partner Network (MPN), we explained how some things would be changing as we move into the new program and recently, we launched several MPN webcasts to describe more about the Microsoft Partner network as well as conducting a live Q&A session online. One of the items you may have heard in there is an expansion in focus on the SMB market for our Partners through the introduction of two new Competencies and two new Advanced Competencies for Partners focusing on the SMB market. Now, Partners focusing on serving the SMB market around the world can partner with Microsoft in even more ways and at more levels, for those that choose to:
Speaking of SBSC, have you joined the SBSC Facebook site yet? Also, keep an eye out because soon we will be posting the registration information for an upcoming webcast we will be conducting with even more news on MPN for SMB Partners
Here are the answers to some questions we have been seeing/hearing, as well as others we thought you might have:
1. Since the Small Business Specialist Community is continuing, does that mean that the Small Business Specialist logo is staying too?
2. To obtain the Microsoft Small Business Specialist designation, the requirements remain the same:
3. To obtain either the Small Business Solution Provider Competency or the Midmarket Solution Provider Competency:
4. To obtain either the Small Business Solution Provider Advanced Competency or the Midmarket Solution Provider Advanced Competency:
5. Customer References have not been a requirement for me in the past. What resources are available to help me do/prepare for this requirement if I want to try to attain either competency?
6. Will the Small Business Specialist designation change, as a result of the introduction of the Small Business Solution Provider Competency and Midmarket Solution Provider Competency?
7. Can I use more than one logo?
8. If I’m an active member in the Small Business Specialist Community today, do I automatically qualify for the Small Business Solution Provider Competency when it’s launched?
9. I have already taken a Sales & Marketing Assessment to become Small Business Specialist. Does that suffice to gain the competency as well?
10. Can I be an active member in the Small Business Specialist Community and also hold a Small Business (or another) competency at the same time?
11. When will these competencies be available for me to join?
12. Do I need to update my skills to remain in the Small Business Specialist Community? For example, I have completed the MPC requirement by passing the Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 (SBS) exam. Do I need to pass to SBS 2008 exam to meet the criteria for the community?
13. If the Small Business Specialist Community remains, why would I want to attain a Small Business or Midmarket Solution Provider competency?
14. What are the fees for the Small Business and Midmarket Solution Provider Competencies and Advanced Competencies?
I hope this puts to rest any of the speculation out there that you may encounter around, “What’s happening to SBSC in the new MPN?” and if Microsoft is committed to the SMB market. Let me assure you we are and that SBSC continues to be a key component of our efforts together. I look forward to seeing all of the Microsoft SBSC Partners at WPC this year!
I was invited today for the Microsoft Cloud Services Summit which was held at Taj Land’s End, Bandra. It was a full day event . The Hall was jam packed with 500 odd delegates, mostly CIO’s and IT Pros.
The event was kicked off by Mr. Tarun Gulati, GM , Business Strategy, Marketing & Operations , Microsoft India. He spoke of 3 inflections points of Computers:
1) PC
2) Internet
3) Cloud Services
He spoke of the USD 9 billion annual investment of Microsoft on Cloud Services.
Next he spoke on why Cloud Services:
1) Economics
2) Speed of Innovation in IT
3) Acceptance of Software being delivered as a service.
4) Critical attributes becoming important like Information Security , Just In Time Inventory
Why Cloud Services For India:
1) We can leapfrog the legacy IT into Cloud Services just as the Mobiles did in Telephony
2) Broadband usage will triple from 2006 to 2015
3) Cloud is no longer on Horizon. Its in.
Why Microsoft for Cloud Services:
1) In past 15 years , one billion people have consumed Microsoft Cloud Services
2) Microsoft is the only vendor who plays it end to end. Others are active only in parts.
3) Microsoft is committed to flexibility eg. Private Clous, Public Cloud, mix of On Premise and Cloud Architecture
4) All products where Microsoft will innovate will have Cloud as integral part.
The next speaker was Rajan Anandan , Managing Director, Microsoft India. He spoke on “ India’s shift to the Cloud and the role of Microsoft.
Rajan spoke of 5 generations of Enterprise Computing:
1970’s Mainframe
1980’s Client Server
1990’s Web
2000 SOA
2010 Cloud Services
Each Era builds on the previous era.
Definition: Standardized IT capability delivered via Internet in pay per use model and software as a service way
3 types of Cloud Services:
Saas : Software as a Service – email, CRM
PaaS : Platform as a Service - Operating System in a Cloud
IaaS : Infrastructure as a Service
Microsoft believes that there are some fundamentals of Cloud Services :
1) It should Scale Out
2) It should have High Availability
3) Support Multi tenancy
4) Facilitate Automatic Service Management
On Top of this is Microsoft Customization:
1) Location : On Premise or offsite
2) Infrastructure : Homogenous or Heterogenous
3) Capex : Public or Own
4) Ownership : lease or rent
Large Enterprises will move to Private Cloud
Medium Enterprises will have Mixed Cloud
Small Enterprises will move to Public Cloud
Microsoft has 15 years of experience in Cloud Services via:
Hotmail
Xbox LIVE
Bing
Microsoft Online Services
Windows Update Services
All products being built by Microsoft will be available on Cloud:
Windows Server
Exchange
Dynamics
Sharepoint
Office
Types:
Saas : MS Exchange , CRM
PaaS : Windows Azure, SQL Azure
IaaS : System Centre , Dynamic Data Centre Toolkit
In India, Reliance & Netmagic offer IaaS.
Microsoft is the only Company offering all 3.
Cloud Services is here to stay as the Economics of having Private Cloud is Compelling.
In India, Microsoft has more than 11,000 seats sold and 48 Enterprise Customers using Cloud Services
Why Microsoft for Cloud Services :
1) Active in all 3 layers
2) Flexibility of On Premise or off premise
3) Enterprise Class Services
4) Across Devices
5) Ecosystem . More than 7000 partners in India and half a million Worldwide
The next speaker was Vikas Arora, Group Director , Cloud Services, Microsoft India. Azure Platform can support Microsoft and non Microsoft tools like Java, PHP, etc.
The Dynamic Data centre Toolkit can help in making the Private Cloud:
SLA Driven
Automated Management
Distributed & Elastic
Infrastructure Fabric
He introduced 3 Customers :
1) Vinod Vyas, VP, Information Systems , Lavasa
He is using Hosted MS Exchange. His only problem is to keep Internet up. Other time is spent on how we can use more applications.
2) Sanjay Kumar, GM, HCL. He runs Azure practice at HCL
He spoke of PaaS
He mentioned that ADFS allows users to authenticate with On premise Active Directory
Data can be consumed using Service Bus Implementation.
Non Critical data can be kept on Azure Table and critical data On Premise.
3) Raghavan Subramanium, AVP SET Labs, Infosys
He spoke on IaaS and How Cloud Services will shape the future of business.
In 7 years , 30% applications will be in Public Cloud and 50% will be in Private Cloud.
Regarding Security concerns, do we check if new OS is destroying our Data ? No. We trust the vendor. The same trust will come into picture for Cloud Services also.
The risk will always be balanced with convenience.
The Benefits of Cloud are:
Cost
Service Quality
Agility
The next speaker was Michael Barnes, VP Software & Asia Pacific Research, Springboard. An Analyst.
In Cloud, people want the service aand do not care about where, how, etc.
Definition: Collection of IT enabled resources & capabilities via Internet as a Service.
Drivers for Cloud:
1)Virtualization
2)Standardised and commoditized IT Infrastructure
3)Open Standards
4)Internet
CIO concerns and priorities:
1) increased Computing capacity
2) Cost savings
3) Process Improvements
4) Customer Relationships & demand generation
5) Business Continuity
Users don’t need to know their IT. They only focus on usage.
IT is the Plumbing. Applications is the value.
The afternoon session also included breakout sessions for IT Pros. All in all , a very impressive show.
IAMCP India West – Founder President ( www.iamcp.org)
Greetings!
I just checked with a small video on the upcoming Windows 7 Phone. Its very impressive . Check this youtube video on Windows 7 Phone. You can also check another video on the Windows 7 First Looks . The sad part is that it will only be launched in December 2010 . And I hope I will be able to upgrade my Samsung Omnia Pro with Windows 6.5 to it. Steve, Are you listening ?
While surfing the web, I came across this nice video on Microsoft Multipoint Server and HP Multi seat Computing Solution. . I must confess that I had very little idea on what this Solution is . But the video has given me an idea of the Solution . I just need to dig deeper and get more facts on the same. So if anyone knows more about this Solution, please put in your comments. The Solution does have some interesting applications though . It is eco friendly and hopefully purse friendly.
Great article for IT Pros to check out if you are having network issues with your SBS 2008 network!
We have seen an increase of instances where customers are experiencing various networking problems because they have altered the networking topology by installing multiple NICS or assigning multiple IPs to their single NIC. Some of the more common issues we have seen with this scenario include, but are not limited to:
· Slow or complete loss of file share/network login access
· Problems with Outlook connectivity (mailbox login, Autodiscover, OAB, Free/Busy, OOF assistant, Outlook Anywhere)
· Issues accessing web sites (OWA, RWW, Sharepoint, Connect)
· Issues with service startup, particularly Exchange.
· The server hangs at “Applying Computer Settings” upon boot.
· Inability to complete the SBS networking wizards (IAMW and CTIW)
I came across this great article which is very useful for all IT Pros. This is a must read for all Network Administrators . Check the link below for more details
10 Core Concepts