Gary Sweeting/Hong Kong

Microsoft Windows Azure Demystified

2008-12-06T20:19:00.004+08:00

Drue Reeves, VP & Research Director for Burton Group Data Center Strategies, discusses the implications of Microsoft's entry into cloud computing - with one of the more useful definitions I've seen of Windows Azure:

"Windows Azure is an application development and runtime environment (.NET in this case), hosted and managed by Microsoft (within Microsoft "owned and operated" data centers), that enables IT organizations and software vendors to offer software as a service (SaaS). To put it more succinctly, Windows Azure is an application platform offered as a service (PaaS)."

Source : Microsoft Windows Azure, Demystified (CIO.com)

Microsoft's Ray Ozzie Talks Open Source, Azure and More

2008-10-31T22:27:00.002+08:00

Microsoft's chief software architect, Ray Ozzie, in an interview with eWEEK at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference, delved into a series of subjects, most prominently open source and interoperability, software modeling, and the Windows Azure cloud operating system.

Source : Microsoft's Ray Ozzie Talks Open Source, Azure and More

Executive E-Mail - A Platform for the Next Technology Revolution

2008-10-29T21:27:00.002+08:00

Recent executive e-mail from Steve Ballmer outlining our S+S strategy and recent announcement at the Professional Developers Conference of our Azure services platform.

Source : Microsoft Executive E-Mail > A Platform for the Next Technology Revolution

Creative Commons Hong Kong Launch

2008-10-23T12:50:00.004+08:00

http://hk.creativecommons.org/

Microsoft Web Application Installer

2008-10-22T22:26:00.006+08:00

The Web Application Installer helps get you up and running with the most widely used Web Applications freely available for your Windows Server.

Web AI provides support for popular ASP.Net and PHP Web applications including Graffiti, DotNetNuke, WordPress, Drupal, OSCommerce and more. With just a few simple clicks, Web AI will check your machine for the necessary pre-requisites, download these applications from their source location in the community, walk you through basic configuration items and then install them on your computer.

Source : Microsoft Web Application Installer Beta

"We're All Mixed Source Companies"

2008-10-22T13:43:00.009+08:00

"It is harder and harder to continue to define the world of software as a world divided between open source companies and proprietary companies. The truth is that today we're all mixed source companies. Every company that traditionally comes from an open source background has over time moved to the middle after realizing that in addition to the open source foundation, they also need proprietary offerings that will differentiate their services from others and therefore will enable them to build a viable business."
Horacio Gutierrez,
Microsoft VP & Deputy General Counsel for IP&L

Source : Infoworld > Microsoft Exec Touts Mixed Source Ventures

Steve Ballmer’s Cloud Computing Ambitions for Microsoft

2008-10-22T13:40:00.004+08:00

"This Is The Way IT Ought To Get Delivered"
Randy Benz,
CIO Energizer

Source : Fast Company > Steve Ballmer’s Cloud Computing Ambitions for Microsoft

Touchless SDK Released Under Open-Source License

2008-10-16T16:43:00.005+08:00

Microsoft has talked for a while about the need for natural user interfaces to increase productivity and provide richer user experiences - speech and touch-based interactions being the most obvious examples. Touch-based technologies are becoming more pervasive - from the smart phone, tablet PC, Apple's multi-touch iPhone and our Surface/Touchwall technologies. Some require special input devices - the majority require only the touch of the finger(s) on the screen.

Recently Microsoft released the Touchless SDK to an open-source license. What's touchless? It's best to see this video for an introduction by the developers, put simply it enables you to build multi-"touch" applications that use a webcam for input… or as the team would say - it's touch without touching.

Source : Touchless SDK on CodePlex

Lotus Notes or Microsoft Exchange - Top 100

2008-09-15T21:15:00.007+08:00

As the slide suggests – to understand the context of this initiative by Volker, please see the following post & comments.

Couple things to bear in mind:

The reason for the apparent confusion is because many customers that migrate from Lotus Notes/Domino to Microsoft Exchange Server for messaging & calendaring, also retain at least one Lotus Domino server in their organisation for applications. It doesn’t matter if one person uses an application, or a hundred thousand – it will be marked as a Lotus customer.
We know of other very large customers that are currently migrating to Exchange Server that are not flagged as such on this list, however we’re not at liberty to share this information.

Lotus Notes or Microsoft Exchange

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: server exchange)

Exchange 65%; Lotus Notes 10%

2008-09-14T21:12:00.020+08:00

Reading up on more articles on the huge announcement earlier this week, I came across the following:

"Microsoft Exchange commands a 65% share of corporate e-mail servers, according to analyst firm Ferris Research".

It seems that this was one of the largest surveys ever conducted – the 65% isn’t a surprise (see here) – but Lotus at 10% - that's significantly less than the 26% Gartner pegged it at.

I'm sure the numbers will be challenged, but the trend is something we see & hear every day and will only accelerate as we roll out our Online Services (subscription services to Microsoft hosted Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications & Live Meeting). Look at the following posts in the past week for why this will continue - please do read the linked posts for full context:

#1. "There are lots and lots of accounts where applications (not email) are the only thing keeping Notes and Domino around. Where, if email were all it did, it would have been tossed out completely."
(Bob Balaban - It’s the Applications that Keep the Product Alive)

#2. "I am very aware that commodity e-mail can be procured from many sources, and that without applications, Notes would just be another commodity e-mail product."
(Ed Brill, WW Sales Lotus/IBM)

#3. Lotus Notes users can now download their calendar (ready only) to their iPhone – only costs US$2.99 though users must have designer access to their database & be able to add an agent, plus configure the server as explained here. Another option, that synchronizes calendar, contacts & mail is available if the user subscribes to Mobile Me ($99/year) and has Outlook and DAMO installed on their client - detailed here.

Public service announcement for those that want to enjoy more than a commodity e-mail experience on their iPhone.

Similar to 80 million Nokia users, millions of iPhone users can enjoy push e-mail, calendar & contacts for free with Microsoft Exchange Server today. Go to Apple's Enterprise site here for more details if you want more than just a commodity e-mail experience with your decidedly non-commoditised phone.

80 Million Nokia Phones Support Microsoft Exchange Server (Free!)

2008-09-14T20:42:00.008+08:00

80 million Nokia phone users can now access their corporate e-mail, calendar, tasks & contacts with Exchange Server. That's in addition to the tens of millions of Windows Mobile, iPhone and Motorola users Microsoft Exchange Server already supports.

"Nokia owners whose companies use Exchange can set up Mail for Exchange for free on their devices in various ways without paying additional services or subscription fees."(Nokia)

43 Nokia devices available today now feature the Mail for Exchange mobile email application.
Mail for Exchange will be available out-of-the-box in future releases of Nokia Eseries and Nokia Nseries devices
Nokia owners whose companies use Exchange can set up Mail for Exchange for free

"This announcement with Nokia further demonstrates the importance consumers and businesses place on accessing Exchange Server data from mobile devices in addition to traditional desktop clients. Nokia's announcement today will help give its users that access and help make them more productive."
Terry Myerson, Corporate Vice President, Exchange Server, Microsoft Corp

Source : MarketWatch

BarCampHK - Open Source & Microsoft

2008-09-08T10:46:00.006+08:00

This is the presentation delivered at BarCampHK on Saturday; I would post Haggen's presentation - but it may be misinterpreted without accompanying delivery :-). Siu Ying posted his recording if you'd like to view both segments.

I'd like to thank Napoleon, Aaron, Belle and all the camp guides for organising such a fun and invigorating event... and everyone that attended our session for the gentle ribbing. I've attended a fair share of events/conferences, and this is right up there as one of the most enjoyable !

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: microsoft open)

Recent Articles on Office Communications Server 2007

2007-10-19T21:56:00.000+08:00

Microsoft's Gates: Say Goodbye to VoIP As You Know It
Bill Gates sat down for an interview with CMP Channel Assistant News Editor Jennifer Hagendorf Follett to talk about the "magic of software" and the importance of our partner ecosystem in redefining communications in the enterprise.

Microsoft OCS 2007 Review
Tom Keating from TMCnet has performed a comprehensive review of OCS 2007 at his VoIP & Gadgets blog.

Microsoft's Marriage of Easy Communications
InfoWorld review of both Exchange Server 2007 & Office Communications Server 2007.

Bill Gates on the Age of Software-Powered Communications

2007-10-17T14:42:00.000+08:00

Fresh off the UC Launch at San Fransisco today, Bill made time to shoot off a note to us all ushering in the new era of Unified Communications. As you can see I was oh-so ready to ping him ... but he was offline ... which is strange, as it's only midnight in Seattle... maybe he's implemented the new work-life balance protocol.

In the e-mail Bill highlighted that he's just sent out one of his Executive E-mails, in which he outlines his vision for how software-powered communications technologies will raise business productivity by streamlining communications across networks/devices/apps and weaving it into collaboration & business processes; in other words, a right riveting read if you're more interested in talking innovation than playing the commodity card.

Source : Bill Gates on the Age of Software-Powered Communications

Unified Communications Launch 2007 - Watch the Keynote

2007-10-17T14:18:00.000+08:00

Bill Gates & Jeff Raikes officially launched the next wave of our Unified Communications software in San Francisco on October 16th. The keynote address was recorded and is available for viewing here.

Trial Office Live Meeting 2007 for 60 Days Free

2007-10-14T22:05:00.000+08:00

You can now sign up for a free Office Live Meeting 2007 60-day trial. Throughout the trial period, you can host an unlimited number of web-based meetings and collaboration sessions online, with up to 1250 simultaneous participants. During the 60-day trial, no shared recording, audio broadcasting, or storage is available; however, the you can store your recordings locally.

Link: Office Live Meeting 2007 trial site

Exchange 2007 SP1 Documentation Available

2007-09-23T18:55:00.000+08:00

Scott Schnoll recently announced that we've refreshed our online documentation for Exchange 2007, and it includes content on Service Pack 1. Incuded in this release are the following:

Source: Service Pack 1 for Exchange 2007 Documentation Available

Step-By-Step - Migrating from Domino to Exchange Server 2007 with the Lotus Transporter Suite

2007-09-23T18:19:00.000+08:00

Neil Hobson, a Principal Consultant at Silversands – a UK-based MS Gold Partner, is writing a series of articles that walks the reader step-by-step through the migration process for customers upgrading from Lotus Notes/Domino to Exchange Server 2007 using the Lotus Transporter Suite.

Neil plans to write 6 articles – detailing the scenario where a customer running Exchange (Contoso) has acquired an organisation running Notes/Domino (Fabrikam), and the journey as they move from co-existence to full migration of Exchange Server 2007. This’ll involve 4 key milestones:

Directory synchronization : This is where Contoso and Fabrikam share address books across the two systems.
Free/Busy lookups : Configuration of the free/busy connector allows users on either system to check the availability of users on the opposing system.
Migrate users to Active Directory : This process ensures that the Domino users’ email addresses are represented in the Exchange Global Address List (GAL).
Migrate mail to Exchange : When Fabrikam is ready to move users from Domino to Exchange, this process moves the users’ mailbox items from one system to the other.

The first two articles have been published on Exchange.org and provide a good overview, then detail how to synchronise the directories so that users from both organisations can e-mail each other with ease.

OCS 2007 Virtual Lab Learning Series

2007-09-15T11:10:00.000+08:00

Between October 17th – November 2nd, Microsoft is running a series of guided virtual labs for IT pros looking to deploy Office Communications Server 2007. These things get filled very quickly, so if you’re interested – I'd suggest that you register for each now.

OCS Architecture
Details the system architecture that is used by OCS 2007, OCS fundamentals, server roles, component dependencies, planning and deployment scenarios.
OCS IM Presence Clients
Describes the rich presence advancement that Office Communications Server is delivering as well as Office Communicator clients, and deployment scenarios.
OCS Conferencing
Illustrates the new on-premise conferencing capability within OCS 2007 and the differences between LiveMeeting Service and on-premise capability. This module also differentiates conferencing clients and requirements
OCS Management and Troubleshooting
Articulates the new management tools and techniques for troubleshooting OCS 2007, and for identifying any deployment problems.
OCS Compliance
Details the features that OCS 2007 provides to help deliver compliance scenarios, as well as tools and techniques for reporting information.
OCS and Exchange UM
Explains the interaction of OCS 2007 and Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging, details the environment, dial-plan integration, and steps required to add OCS 2007 to Exchange UM infrastructure.

Revisiting Exchange Unified Messaging @ Microsoft

2007-09-14T20:24:00.000+08:00

One of the perks of being a product manager for unified communications is that I get to enjoy the benefits of using our software before many of my colleagues as I'm hosted on our "dog food" servers, the idea being to eat our own dog food before we ship. So whilst the rest of Hong Kong will be getting Exchange Unified Messaging next week - I've had it for almost a year. I’ve realised that UM is something that I now take for granted – and there are two reasons for this. First off it's the simplicity and integrated nature of it all – I got used to using it as I would any other e-mail message very quickly. The second reason is that I started getting less voice messages – by that I mean that I miss less calls, which can be attributed entirely to call-control provided by Office Communications Server. So now if someone calls my office extension, I receive the calls on both my laptop and whichever phone I'd chosen to forward it to – wherever I am in the world.

Who knows, a year from now I’ll probably take this for granted too.

I do still need UM though, as I do miss calls (and there are times I choose to forward the call to voicemail) so knowing that all these things will arrive in my mailbox means that I don’t have to check my voice mail to see if I’d missed any calls from customers, partners, agencies and colleagues – and I get to respond far more quickly. I rarely get faxes, so that wasn’t a major issue for me – but I know others that do. Other companies clearly see the need for UM as well – the most visited post almost every month is the one referencing Ryan's excellent step-by-step guide to connecting Exchange Unified Messaging with Asterix.

So, what’s the experience like for end users like me ? As you can see in the image below, if someone leaves a voice mail I’ll receive an e-mail notification – simple enough – but being able to see who left the voice-mail enables me to prioritise which message I’ll take if time is short; as opposed to listening to all voice mail sequentially.

Below you can see the actual message - I’ve blanked out Lily’s contact information as I hadn’t checked with here before posting this.

There’s actually quite a lot of information provided in this short e-mail:

Play : I can play the message within Outlook
Play on Phone : Alternatively I can choose to have Exchange call me on a phone if I’m not wearing my headset, or am moving around
Play on Phone (Again) : This isn’t immediately obvious, but I generally choose to have Exchange call me on Office Communicator – as I use OC to control the flow of communications and forward to the most appropriate phone/device.

Presence : Through presence I can decide how best to respond – if Lily was available I’d ping her via Office Communicator rather than send an e-mail. It’s past 8pm on a Friday so I guess that’s a good thing that she's offline now. Presence is a huge topic in itself – but just by looking at the information & range of options provided you can get an idea of how this streamlines our communications.

Audio Notes: I’m pretty organised at filing things into their respective folders – but if I want to find it – I’ll generally do a search across mailboxes – it’s just quicker that way. Audio notes provide me with the ability to file and find this when I need it, just as I would any other message.
Contact Information : This part is just plain cool – by providing all the modes of communication – from within this e-mail I can choose how to respond immediately - no need to look up her contact details - just click to call/IM/e-mail. Of course, I can do all this from the presence indicator anyway - but for those that don't have Office Communications Server - it'll still makes for more convenience and will shave a few seconds off performing a manual lookup.
Flag It : The key here is that the voicemail can be treated just like any other e-mail, so I can categorise, flag for follow up, create an appointment with it etc.,

Did I miss anything?

A Three Year Lead in the Wrong Direction?

2007-09-02T16:52:00.000+08:00

Following on from the previous entry .. one of the funniest lines delivered was when Gurdeep announced the latest results from the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications 2007 - this saw Cisco and Siemens slip from the Leaders quadrant due to either a lack of execution, or lack of vision. Gurdeep's observation:

"When you do not have a software-centric point of view, you're headed in the wrong direction .... Sometimes - and I won't mention names - you can have a three year lead in the wrong direction."

This was a clear jab at John Chambers, whose bluster earlier this year about Cisco having a three year lead in the unified communications space caused a few chuckles all round.

Frivolity aside - I'd encourage everyone to view the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications.

Video of Gurdeep Singh Pall @ VoiceCon

2007-09-02T16:24:00.000+08:00

Gurdeep Singh Pall (Corporate VP, UC) delivered a keynote at VoiceCon that sparked a lot of industry coverage, emphasizing the opportunity inherent in our software-centric approach. Go here to see a recording of this event, with his deadpan delivery of the claim that "the most powerful muscle in the human body is the muscle which controls the right-click finger." :-)

Video Tour of Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007

2007-09-01T23:05:00.000+08:00

Though Office Communications Server 2007 gets most of the attention - with the full-duplex, multi-party voice/video conferencing - I've developed a soft spot for Live Meeting 2007.

The web conferencing service is usually demonstrated when showing off our Office RoundTable device (see Jeff Raikes demo this unit here) but even without RT I'm finding this to be increasingly useful as we coordinate with corp and other subsidiaries in preparation for our Unified Communications 2007 launch later this year. In previous companies, and even with LM 2005, it would be common for us to attend a web conference and then dial-in using telephones. Cost considerations aside, the experience itself wasn't great and it would invariably lead to requests for people to mute their phones, or queries to determine who was present & who was speaking - we even know one chap who fell asleep during a call, not in itself an extraordinary event, except that his snoring held up the call until the hotel sent someone to wake him. What's great about Live Meeting 2007 is that we can leverage all the goodness baked into OC/OCS 2007 - so that we're now able to conduct everything via the PC. To learn more about the features/benefits in LM 2007 - check out the following videos.

Take A Tour Of Office Communicator 2007

2007-08-30T12:18:00.000+08:00

Recent News on MS Unified Communications

2007-08-26T22:43:00.000+08:00

Tafiti Search

2007-08-23T16:46:00.000+08:00

I've been pretty poor at updating this blog - we're super busy here with Channel Kick Off, TechEd and preparing for our own UC Launch - there have been some incredible announcement around UC - which I'll cover briefly this weekend - a slick view of the latest news can be found here.

Exchange 2007 SP1 Moves a Step Closer

2007-08-16T11:32:00.000+08:00

Interesting article from eWeek on the recent release of Exchange SP1 beta. In addition to highlighting the tighter integration with Office Communications Server 2007 - enabling me to check voice-mail with one-click from Office Communicator, and support for frequently requested functionality like Standby Continuous Replication & policies to manage mobile e-mail - we provided an insight into the size of the movement from Lotus Notes to Exchange.

"We have seen over 1,000 customers dropping off Lotus Notes and coming to Exchange in the past year alone. That represents about three million PCs and more than three million people, which shows that Exchange has quite a bit of traction in the marketplace," ( Ray Mohrman, Group Product Manager of Microsoft's Unified Communications Group ).

I'm sure these numbers will be disputed pretty vigorously, just as there's dispute over the size of the install base. However you slice and dice it, this is an impressive shift ... it's not a rout ... but it's sizeable movement nonetheless.

Source : Exchange 2007 SP1 Moves a Step Closer

OCS/OC 2007 Trials Available To Download

2007-08-06T20:27:00.000+08:00

Trial downloads of OCS/OC 2007 are now available to download:

If you need technical assistance, or would like to provide feedback – please visit our forums which are monitored by various communities such as MVP and CSS.

Office Communications Server 2007 is Gold!

2007-07-28T22:47:00.000+08:00

Yesterday, OCS 2007 was released to manufacturing (RTM)

Congratulations to the RTC Group for getting such a solid release out to market so quickly, it's a huge addition to the UC portfolio and is something most of our enterprise customers have been asking for.

We plan to have the trial DVDs avaiable in HK in the next few weeks .. in the meantime, you can always step into our virtual labs to install, configure & experience the next generation in real-time communications.

Whitepaper - Microsoft Software Enables Progressive Enterprise Migration to Unified Communications

2007-07-28T22:02:00.000+08:00

Art Rosenberg, who has been credited with coining the term "unified communications", has released a white paper analysing Microsoft's software approach to enterprise UC.

"This paper discusses the two big challenges facing enterprise organizations in planning to move their voice communications to the converged environment of unified communications (UC). The first challenge is for business management to understand how new UC functionality will improve high-value business processes in terms of end user communication productivity and business process performance.

The second challenge is for enterprise IT to migrate selectively and cost effectively from legacy telephony technology silos to an open, integrated UC environment of telephony applications, messaging, and business process applications that will exploit new IP network infrastructures. Microsoft is well positioned to play a strong role in facilitating both this transition of IP telephony applications to UC and its integration with high value business process applications.

Source : Microsoft Software Enables Progressive Enterprise Migration to Unified Communications - A White Paper by Art Rosenberg

Q&A with Gurdeep Singh Pall (VP, UC Group)

2007-07-27T20:38:00.000+08:00

(H)ighlights Microsoft’s progress on Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 as the company readies for its unified communications launch this fall.

Source : Microsoft Delivers on Its Unified Communications Vision

Chris Capossela on the Future of Unified Communications

2007-07-26T18:42:00.000+08:00

Chris Cap is the VP of our Information Worker group - in this session at the WPC he outlines business productivity infrastructure for Microsoft Office, introduces the new Office Performance Point Server and demos Office Communications Server 2007 highlighting:

Integrated presence
Multi-party video conferencing with VGA quality video
Software powered VoIP
Using the PC as your phone

:: View highlights (3m 12s)
:: View complete webcast (38m 35s)

Microsoft Office RoundTable Demo @ WPC

2007-07-26T18:34:00.000+08:00

Allison Watson & Paul Duffy conduct a very short conference with partners, showing the immersive experience provided by RoundTable's 360-degree panoramic cameras and active speaker technology.

Digital WorldWide Partner Conference

2007-07-26T18:21:00.000+08:00

Over 7,300 partners from all over the world attended Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 in Denver between July 10-12 - learning how to drive profitability and reach business goals, expanding skills, increasing opportunities, closing more sales, or supporting customers more effectively.

If you weren't able to make it this year, visit the Digital WPC for On Demand keynotes, product and tool demos.

Snapshots from MGX08

2007-07-25T21:02:00.000+08:00

Last week was the annual MS pilgrimage as around 14,000 of us descended on Orlando, Florida for the Microsoft Global Exchange. Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Kevin Turner, Jeff Raikes, Ray Ozzie and many more were on stage to rally the faithful for yet another year when great innovations will be released.

It really was an incredible experience, and choreographed with the precision one would expect from Cirque du Soleil. Getting to see Bill Gates, in what will probably be his final appearance at MGX (at least in the capacity as Chairman of Microsoft) was a privilege ... seeing Steve Ballmer punch & kick the air with raw exuberance after a Circle of Excellence winner threw himself into his arms was absolutely priceless. Ballmer may very well be balmy the way he leaps around the stadium, but there's no denying that he loves this company.

Innovative Communications Alliance Celebrates One-Year Anniversary

2007-07-16T22:43:00.000+08:00

Simplicity in Communications: A Forward-Thinking Idea

4ward delivers powerful, innovative, yet user-friendly outsourced IT, telephony, and unified communications solutions targeting small and medium-sized businesses in Hong Kong. 4ward initially deployed a unified communications solution consisting of Nortel's CS 1000E with CallPilot and Office Live Communications Server 2005 for its internal IT network as a proven success case before offering unified communications services to its customers.

"4ward makes IT and communications solutions easy to buy, easy to own and easy to live with so customers can focus on their core business, not their infrastructure," said Brad Pfeffer, managing director, Asia-Pacific at 4ward. "Our unified ommunications system combines the power of Nortel's IP telephony with the collaboration capability of Office Live Communications Server and the unified messaging features of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to provide a seamless user-friendly experience."

This is timely as I caught up with Norman, my counterpart at Nortel, this afternoon for our regular review and we looked back on the past year. This time last year, I was still at IBM, this announcement between Microsoft and Nortel made waves in both of our industries. Over the past 9 months since I joined MS, working with Norman, Zoe, David and the committed team from Nortel has been one of the most rewarding parts of my role .. and we’re just getting started. Congratulations to Brad and his dedicated team at 4Ward, you guys have done an incredible job in such a short time.

Source : PR Newswire

PacHosting Launches Exchange 2007!

2007-07-16T22:15:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to PacHosting on being the first company in Asia to provide a hosted Exchange Server 2007 service!!

For more details on the the solution and plans PacHosting provides, please see the following:

Source : Web Host Industry Review (WHIR)

Case Study - Queensland University of Technology

2007-07-16T12:26:00.001+08:00

Queensland University of Technology to Save A$340,000 with Unified Communications

Overview
Leading Australian educational institution Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has approximately 40,000 students and 3,500 staff across nine faculties and four campuses in Brisbane.

Situation
The university wanted an integrated collaborative environment so staff, researchers and students could communicate. However, its technology infrastructure could not handle this level of functionality.

Solution
The university conducted a pilot project of 120 user mailboxes on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 to evaluate its capabilities as a communication platform and ease of integration with legacy systems.

Benefits

Potential savings of more than A$340,000.
Advanced collaboration capabilities.
Better data security.
Improved compliance.
Server consolidation.

Notable Quotable

"Unifying all these communication systems will allow staff to work more efficiently in an integrated team environment and help us deliver information to the right people as quickly as possible."
Graham Keys,
Director of Infrastructure Services

Related Links

Lotus Migration Case Study - SK C&C

2007-07-15T20:26:00.000+08:00

IT Service Provider Boosts Productivity and Cuts Costs with Unified Messaging Solution

Overview
Part of the Fortune 500 SK Group, SK C&C serves as that group’s system integration partner. SK C&C, which has 2,800 employees, offers solutions in IT consulting, system integration, and IT outsourcing.

Situation
SK C&C had used the IBM Lotus Notes/Domino system for ten years, but the system lacked voice mail and mobile access. SK C&C wanted to add those components and create a high-performance work environment.

Solution
SK C&C deployed a unified communications solution based on Microsoft® Exchange Server 2007 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

Benefits

Offered real-time access to multiple communications
Enhanced messaging speed and stability
Provided access for mobile workers
Increased productivity

Notable Quotable

"Because it delivers e-mail messages, voice messages, and faxes to the same inbox … Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 with unified messaging was the perfect answer."
Jae-Chol Hong
General Manager HIPER
Workplace TFT
SK C&C

Related Links

Lotus Migration Case Study - Vodafone Ireland

2007-07-15T20:12:00.000+08:00

Telecommunications Employees Improve E-Mail and Mobile Working with Messaging Environment

Overview
Vodafone Ireland is Ireland’s leading mobile services provider with a customer base of over 2.17 million. The Vodafone Group is the world’s leading international mobile communications group.

Situation
Vodafone Ireland wanted to migrate 2,220 mailboxes from Lotus Notes to Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003, integrating with existing investments such as Active Directory® directory services.

Solution
Working with Quest Software, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, the organisation successfully deployed the new environment and upgraded the new infrastructure to Exchange Server 2003 Service Pack 2.

Benefits

Employees gain direct push e-mail.
Workers can work remotely.
Standardised environment is more cost effective.
Administrators reduce fire fighting.
Environment provides IM platform.

Related Links

Lotus Migration Case Study - The Israeli Ministry of Defence

2007-07-15T19:40:00.001+08:00

Israeli Defence Ministry Upgrades E-Mail System from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange in Just Three Days

Overview
The Israeli Ministry of Defence (MoD) is the government department responsible for defending Israel against internal and external threats. Its key component is the Israeli Defence Force.

Situation
The ministry wanted to upgrade its Lotus Notes e-mail system because it was difficult to link to third-party products, had limited support for Hebrew, and was difficult and expensive to maintain.

Solution
After a rigorous analysis, the MoD decided to replace its system with Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003 communication and collaboration server and upgrade its desktops to Microsoft Office 2003.

Benefits

Users experience smooth transition to new system.
No need for civil servant training.
Improved integration capabilities.
Advanced sharing solutions for managers.
Faster decision-making by workers.

Notable Quotable

"The decision to upgrade to Office 2003 derived from our need to prepare our people for an age of integration and knowledge workers."
Moshe Zeira,
Head of MLN, The Israeli Ministry of Defence

Related Links

Lotus Migration Case Study - LG-Nortel

2007-07-15T16:35:00.000+08:00

Communications Firm Implements Next-Generation Groupware Using Microsoft Platform

Overview
LG-Nortel develops telecommunications appliances and network solution products. Headquartered in Seoul, the company has 1,500 employees, and annual sales of U.S.$ 91million.

Situation
LG-Nortel needed a robust, easy-to-use and scalable IT groupware infrastructure to replace its Notes-based system. It also wanted a platform that could support its roadmap for its UC&C future plans.

Solution
LG-Nortel implemented groupware functions with Microsoft® Exchange Server 2003, including e-mail, scheduling, and contacts, while assuring unified user information management using Active Directory®.

Benefits

Improved Internal Communication
Enhanced Business Processes
Reduced Development Costs
Clear Future Roadmap

Notable Quotable

"User familiarity means extensive training is not required. Increased functionality in a user-friendly environment translates into improved productivity both for individuals and the organization."
Kim Kyung Jin, Finance/IT Team Manager
LG-Nortel Co. Ltd.

Related Links

National Health Service Upgrading its 260,000 Staff to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

2007-07-15T15:40:00.000+08:00

"The significant increase in functionality for NHSmail web users and the extension of the range of supported mobile devices will further enhance the working lives of the many peripatetic users in the NHS – extending the ways in which they can communicate with each other and their patients. As a result of the technology refresh NHS staff will be using the de facto standard for email services."

Will Moss, Programme Head for NHSmail

Source : NHSmail to move to Microsoft Exchange

Microsoft Begins Carving Out A Voice Channel

2007-07-14T16:31:00.000+08:00

The release will enable voice over IP and represents "a huge step" for Microsoft into the unified communication space, said Chris Capossela, corporate vice president of the Microsoft Business Division Product Management Group.

In a keynote speech Tuesday at Microsoft's worldwide partner conference in Denver, Capossela described the partner opportunity around unified communication as "massive."

"Massive" ?

Let's see ... $36 billion in professional services opportunity around unified communications alone? Yes, I think that qualifies as massive.

Source: CRN - Microsoft Begins Carving Out A Voice Channel

Score Free Gear from Polycom & Jabra

2007-07-14T14:07:00.000+08:00

If you're evaluating Office Communications Server 2007 and part of the public beta you may be able to get some gear from our strategic partners to maximise your experience.

Source : Office Communications Server 2007 Partner Device Trials

7 Best Features in Exchange 2007

2007-07-10T18:26:00.000+08:00

Continuing the lists theme, here are the 7 best features in Exchange 2007 according to Rand Mormoto.

7) Local Continuous Replication (LCR) and Cluster Continuous Replication (CCR)
6) Site to Site and User to User Encryption
5) Mobile Provisioning and Deprovisioning
4) Hub Transport Rules
3) Safe List Aggregation
2) Remote Document Access
1) Outlook Web Access

Source : Best Features in Exchange 2007 - Part 1 & Part 2

Six Burning VoIP Questions

2007-07-10T18:08:00.000+08:00

Good article at NetworkWorld covering considerations cusotmers have deploying VoIP in the enterprise. I suppose the fact that MS is listed as the #1 burning question is a good thing, though the it's a little disappointing to read that some customers still have concerns with the stability of Windows systems; as Jeff Raikes points out - the Nasdaq stock market runs on Windows and SQL server, and upwards of 10 million Cisco IP phones are tied into Windows servers running Cisco's CallManager platform.

I had no idea that companies were spending as much as $800 "on a beautiful IP phone for the desktop". Still, as the article starts out stating - VoIP is hot.

Source : The 6 Burning Questions

E-Learning Clinic : Introduction to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging

2007-07-02T22:37:00.000+08:00

In this online clinic, you are introduced to the new Unified Messaging features and functionalities in Exchange Server 2007. In addition, you learn how telephony and Unified Messaging can be integrated in Exchange Server 2007. This online clinic is composed of a rich multimedia experience. It is intended for IT Professionasl who are interested in telephony or Unified Messaging.

Source : Clinic 5091: Introduction to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging

Free E-Learning Clinics : Office Communications Server 2007

2007-07-02T22:11:00.000+08:00

Microsoft Learning have made available a collection of clinics for IT Pros interested in Office Communications Server 2007. The following clinics are available as part of this collection; each takes around two hours to complete.

Source : Collection 5125: Introducing Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

Exchange 2007 Update Rollup 3 Released

2007-07-02T20:46:00.000+08:00

Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007 is now available. Details & list of fixes are here.

Source : Update Rollup 3 for Exchange Server 2007

Analyst: Microsoft Exchange Expected To Continue To Dominate And Even Accelerate Growth

2007-06-22T19:22:00.000+08:00

There's an interesting article at ComputerWorld here, I've taken the liberty of changing the title to reflect the reports findings.

Notes/Domino's share of the market is expected to dip slightly from 20% this year to 19% by 2011.

Outlook and Exchange are expected to continue to dominate and even accelerate their growth.... giving it slightly more than 50% of the total market.

Source: Analyst: 112M corporate e-mail accounts to use Lotus Notes by 2011 (ComputerWorld)

Step Into The Microsoft Office Communications Server Virtual Labs For Free

2007-06-21T09:57:00.000+08:00

It's simple! No complex setup or installation is required to try out Microsoft Office Communications Server running in the full-featured TechNet Virtual Lab. You get a downloadable manual and a 90-minute block of time for each module. You can sign up for additional 90-minute blocks anytime. As part of the TechNet Virtual Lab, you will have access full access to security features and tools through the following modules:

Source: TechNet Virtual Labs: Microsoft Office Communications Server

Unify Composer - Complete Migration Of All Lotus Notes Applications To The Microsoft Office System

2007-06-20T23:55:00.000+08:00

With the tagline of "Renew Your Legacy, Recapture Your Advantage" Unify is offering a tool that promises to dramatically simplify the process of migrating from the Lotus Notes/Domino platform.

Unify Corp. is offering a product that lets companies switch their IBM Lotus Notes e-mail and collaboration applications to the Microsoft Office system.

The company's product, called Microsoft Edition of Composer for Lotus Notes, can capture both template-based and custom Lotus Notes applications, exposing them as services in a service-oriented architecture (SOA). The migrated Lotus Notes components can then be supported by Microsoft's SharePoint, Visual Studio and SQL Server solutions.

Source: Application Development Trends Magazine

Related Resources:

Bill Tomim (LG-Nortel) on Unified Communications

2007-06-17T21:48:00.000+08:00

Bill Tomim, Director of Products at LG-Nortel, does as good a job as any I've seen explaining the value of Microsoft's software-driven approach to Unified Communications.

Source: LG-Nortel (on10.net)

Free Windows PowerShell Book

2007-06-17T20:05:00.000+08:00

This has been out for a while, however I just came across it in Mark Fugatt's blog. Frank Koch, from the Developer & Platform Evangelism in Switzerland, has composed a short book (44 pages) peppered with examples to get any Exchange admin using PowerShell in no time. Too bold a claim? The subtitle of the book is "An introduction to scripting technologies for people with no real background knowledge" which was either an interesting choice of translation, or a very lofty goal.

The book can be downloaded here, accompanying source files here - and the TechNet Blog of the authors here.

Source: Mark Fugatt's Blog

EMC Forum 2007

2007-06-14T20:49:00.000+08:00

A couple of us will be speaking at the EMC Forum 2007 event tomorrow - more details here. I'm on first in the morning session, covering one of my favourite areas - message records management & compliance in Exchange Server 2007. If you attend, please do come over and introduce yourself.

Microsoft Sessions:
11:40-12:20 - Mastering Message Records Management & Compliance with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

15:30-16:10 - Business Process Automation in Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007

Threepeat : Microsoft Wins ComputerWorld Reader’s Choice Award for Messaging & Collaboration

2007-06-11T22:39:00.000+08:00

News like this deserves a second post and the opportunity just arrived in my mailbox with the June issue of ComputerWorld HK's eZine - featuring the 2007 Awards.

For the list of all the winners you can either read the magazine online or you can download the e-book for offline viewing by submitting your name & e-mail here.

Related Links:

Deep Dive into Windows Mobile 6.0 and Exchange Server 2007

2007-06-11T00:05:00.000+08:00

The Microsoft Exchange Team Blog has an excellent article on the enterprise-ready messaging features built into Windows Mobile 6 when used in conjunction with Exchange Server 2007.

Some were present in WM5 and have been enhanced, others are new.

Do you know which is which in the following list?

HTML E-mail Support
Meeting Attendee Information
Out-Of-Office Management
Remote Device Wipe
SSL Encryption
Password Recovery
Device Certificate for Authentication Management

Source: Deep Dive into Windows Mobile 6.0 and Exchange Server 2007

Getting Started with Exchange Server 2007 Guide

2007-06-10T22:21:00.000+08:00

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 brings a rich set of new technologies, features, and services to the Exchange Server product line. Exchange 2007 is designed to be a comprehensive, integrated, and flexible messaging solution for customers of all sizes.

Exchange 2007 has been re-engineered to improve the administrative and management experience by using new server roles. Exchange 2007 provides distinct server roles that align to how messaging systems are typically deployed and distributed across an organization.

Use this guide to learn the basic concepts and steps that are required to install a simple Exchange 2007 organization.

Source: Getting Started with Exchange Server 2007 Guide

June Webcasts - Office Communications Server

2007-06-10T19:13:00.000+08:00

TechNet Webcast: Mediation Server and PSTN Gateways in Communications Server 2007 (Level 300)
Thursday, June 14, 2007 1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time
Friday, June 15, 2007 at 4:00:00 AM (Hong Kong)

TechNet Webcast: Planning for Communications Server 2007 Deployment (Level 200)
Monday, June 18, 2007 1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 at 4:00:00 AM (Hong Kong)

TechNet Webcast: Nortel CS 1000 IP PBX Integration with Communications Server 2007 (Level 300)
Tuesday, June 26, 2007 11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 at 2:30:00 AM (Hong Kong)

TechNet Webcast: Managing and Automating Communications Server 2007 (Level 300)
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time
Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 2:30:00 AM (Hong Kong)

TechNet Webcast: Planning for Office Communications Server 2007 Deployment (Level 200)
Wednesday, June 27, 2007 1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time
Thursday, June 28, 2007 at 4:00:00 AM (Hong Kong)

TechNet Webcast: Unified Communications Devices for Communications Server 2007 (Level 200)
Thursday, June 28, 2007 11:30 A.M.–12:30 P.M. Pacific Time
Friday, June 29, 2007 at 2:30:00 AM (Hong Kong)

More News on the LiveMeeting Announcement

2007-06-10T14:22:00.000+08:00

The analyst & press response to the announcement have been positive - such as this from Oliver Rist/InfoWorld "(O)ffice Live Meeting 2007 is one of the slicker Web-based meeting apps I've seen in quite a while.".

Whilst I've been using Office Communications Server 2007 for a few months, I only had an opportunity to try out the 2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting during our planning sessions last week and am inclined to agree with Oliver - it is pretty slick. I wouldn't actually call it "web-based" though, rather it's a powerful example of the strengths of the software+service approach (think Google Earth) - with the added convenience that we're able to schedule/join meetings within Outlook without launching a browser.

If you would like to get an idea of how it looks you can :

Check out this slideshow from InfoWorld
Download the public beta
Contact me and we can share a LiveMeeting at the click of a button. Note that you can e-mail or IM me at the address specified (if you're on MSN/Yahoo/AOL or are one of our federated partners).

Reviews:

Microsoft Office Live Meeting 2007 First Look (TMCnet)
Microsoft Unveils New Version Of Live Meeting Web Conferencing (InformationWeek)
Microsoft packs A/V Web conferencing features into RoundTable (InfoWorld)
Microsoft Debuts Office Live Meeting 2007 (Mike Gotta)

Virtual TechEd 2007

2007-06-09T20:45:00.001+08:00

If you weren't able to attend TechEd this year, but would like to see some of what 12,500 others experienced - head over to Virtual TechEd.

Not sure if I'm just old school - however, it wasn't immediately apparent to me that the "Blogs" and "Online Sessions" tabs were active - so just in case, here are the links to the key resources.

Jevon Fark from our UC Group was on hand to talk about the UC vision and upcoming announcement around LiveMeeting.

Gartner Report - Microsoft Communicator Overhangs the Enterprise Communications Market

2007-06-09T20:09:00.000+08:00

"With this launch, Microsoft will effectively overhang the market for enterprise VoIP delivered through enterprise IT applications, and may cause buyers to halt their planned migrations to IP telephony while Office Communications Server is evaluated. Microsoft has taken the significant step of making enterprise telephone system functions and enterprise communications applications available directly within Office Communications Server 2007."

Source: Microsoft Communicator Overhangs the Enterprise Communications Market (Gartner)

APAC SharePoint Conference 2007 -> Compliance Resources

2007-06-07T14:40:00.000+08:00

In addition to the Exchange Server 2007 compliance resources listed here, there's a wealth of material made available by the TechNet team after the APAC SharePoint Conference which I've snagged below for convenience.

Session Presentations:

Related Resources:

VoIP As You Are

2007-06-06T23:22:00.001+08:00

Announcement: The 2007 Release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting

2007-06-06T22:14:00.000+08:00

The UC Group introduced the next version of Microsoft Office Live Meeting at TechEd yesterday - this is a major release for us, with LM including 360-degree video, integrated VoIP + PSTN audio and rich media integration.

In conjunction with this announcement, it looks as though the Unified Communications website has undergone a facelift - with more trials, videos & webcasts. For example, the following video tours below show the 2007 release of Microsoft Office Live Meeting in action:

Be productive quickly with the new streamlined user experience and collaboration tools (2m 43s)
Immerse yourself in a fully integrated media experience that includes audio, VoIP, live and recorded video (3m 40s)
Set up and schedule a meeting in just a few clicks (2m 52s)
Boost productivity and enhance participant learning with new training tools (3m 10s)
Conduct full-scale events with public registration, surveys, tests, and more (2m 43s)

Stop The Press! Microsoft Wins ComputerWorld Reader’s Choice Award for Messaging & Collaboration!

2007-06-05T22:19:00.000+08:00

Thank you Hong Kong ComputerWorld readers!

This evening Team Microsoft was out in force as we received three awards at the ComputerWorld Awards event – and it’s all down to your votes.

Congratulations to Cisco, HP and PCCW on winning five apiece. Cisco almost cleaned up in the Networking category winning 5 out of 6; kudos to Polycom for stopping it from being a whitewash - winning the Video Conferencing award. HP demonstrated their breadth/depth, winning awards in the Hardware, Storage and Software categories. Our good friends at PCCW meanwhile are the reader’s choice for various managed services and IT outsourcing. We were the reader’s choice for Developer Tools, Server OS and of course Messaging & Collaboration.

This is the fourth year that ComputerWorld has conducted this survey – and the team there made an effort to stop interested parties from <ahem/> influencing the results - partners, system integrators and vendors were not permitted to vote - so no poo-pooing the results please.

Related Links:

Computerworld Hong Kong Awards 2007 Awards Categories

Innovative Communications Alliance Roadshow

2007-06-01T21:22:00.000+08:00

Thanks again to Zoe, Norman & Stanley from Nortel for all the hard work that went in to the event yesterday. If you missed the event, or would like to learn more:

View the demo to learn how the Innovative Communications Alliance can change the way people communicate, operate and service business communications in the Enterprise.
Download white papers, case studies, solution briefs and other information on Unified Communications.
Visit the Innovative Communications Alliance solutions web site.

Exchange Server 2007 Compliance Resources

2007-05-29T22:38:00.000+08:00

The compliance features that we provide in Exchange Server 2007 is something that many of our customers are excited to see – the transport rules wizard make it so easy to create organisation wide rules that there’s no excuse for every company not to implement policies to safeguard their information, employees and ultimately their company. I’ve been meaning to create a listing of all the compliance resources, seeing that Paul Robichaux had some difficulty finding some resources, I decided to get this out the door in case others are in the same situation.

Webcasts

Webcast - Microsoft Windows Vista and Exchange 2007: Certification Review

2007-05-29T21:48:00.000+08:00

Following up on the "Exchange Server 2007 Certifications" seminar held on February 15 - there is another seminar scheduled for Vista and Exchange Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) to provide a review of the certification paths, an update on recommended training materials, and an opportunity for you to ask questions about your next step.

It will be held twice in an attempt to cater for numerous timezones - we have a choice of either 10:30pm or 8am.

Date/Time
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 7:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 at 10:30 PM (Hong Kong)

or this one:

Wednesday, May 30, 2007 5:00 PM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 8:00 AM (Hong Kong)

Related Links:

Datasheets - Workplace UC Phones/Devices

2007-05-20T14:01:00.000+08:00

Following on from this post, below are links to datasheets on devices announced.

ASUS S7F Notebook (PDF, 144 KB)
Jabra GN2000 USB Headset (PDF, 176 KB)
Jabra GN9330 USB Headset (PDF, 167 KB)
Jabra GN9350 USB Headset (PDF, 167 KB)
LG-Nortel Bluetooth Headset (PDF, 159 KB)
LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540 (PDF, 153 KB)
LG-Nortel USB Phone (PDF, 151 KB)
NEC UC USB Phone (PDF, 179 KB)
Polycom CX100 Speakerphone (PDF, 186 KB)
Polycom CX200 Desktop Phone (PDF, 185 KB)
Polycom CX400 Cordless Phone (PDF, 182 KB)
Polycom CX700 IP Phone (PDF, 179 KB)
Samsung SyncMaster 225UW (PDF, 146 KB)
ViTELiX Unified Communications Phones (PDF, 162 KB)

Source: Industry Partner Press Material

MS Download - Technical Architecture of Exchange Server 2007

2007-05-18T22:19:00.000+08:00

Similar to the "Deploying Exchange" compilations, this tome is a compilation of the Exchange Server help topics in a convenient format for printing. It's comprehensive - and coming in at 594 pages, it'll take up a fair amount of paper - maybe things like this should come with their own carbon rating .

Source: Technical Architecture of Exchange Server 2007

MS Download - Deploying Exchange

2007-05-18T22:12:00.001+08:00

Even if you're not planning to deploy Exchange Server 2007 quite yet, these are great resources to understand what has been baked into this product. However, if you are in the process of planning an Exchange Server 2007 deployment, these are invaluable resources conveniently ordered by the size/type of deployment you require.

Microsoft, Manufacturers to Deliver New Generation of Workplace Phones and Devices

2007-05-17T22:33:00.000+08:00

Workload is heavier than usual this week as we're in the middle of FY08 planning (our fiscal year starts on July 1st), however there's been so much buzz around the announcement earlier this week regarding the Microsoft UC compatible devices — phones, headsets, videocam monitors - that I figured I must write something.

The third device, the Tanjay phone, is the only permanent fixture on my desk as we removed my (dare I say) legacy phone a few weeks ago. This is the device that gets all the attention - maybe it's because I can log on with a swipe of my finger (biometric fingerprint authentication), or the touch screen with presence indicator which enables me to view the availability of the person I want to communicate with.

My favourite is actually the first device, this USB device plugs into my computer and I manage calls using Office Communicator 2007 - that's why there isn't a keypad on the phone. It was a little weird at first, but now I'm addicted to the simplicity of it. We also discovered that it's a useful speaker system. Why is it my favourite? It's the portability factor - since I'm rarely at my desk, but usually connected via my laptop - I like the fact that I can have my phone in the office, at home and on the road - no power unit, no ethernet or telephone port required. Of course, once I get my hands on the wireless headsets, my favourite may change.

Related Links:

Microsoft, Manufacturers to Deliver New Generation of Workplace Phones and Devices ( Mike Gotta, Burton Group)
Microsoft’s (Beta!) VoIP Device Blitz (Paul Kapustka, GigaOM)
VoIP, Conferencing Added to Office Communication Server 2007 Beta (Michael Domingo, RedmondMag.com)
Microsoft Unified Communications - Image Gallery

Availability of Exam 70-237 - Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

2007-05-13T21:19:00.000+08:00

The preparation Guide for Exam 70-237 (Designing Messaging Solutions with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007) is available.

Related Links:

Microsoft Wins CRN Channel Champions Awards!

2007-05-13T00:37:00.000+08:00

The results are in for the CRN Channel satisfaction survey - Microsoft & Cisco received "Special" Honours for achieving the highest average scores in technical criteria, program and support criteria, and financial criteria.

In the E-mail & collaboration software category Microsoft once again came top - with solution providers validating what we're seeing in the market - that "Exchange Server 2007 is looking like a hit".

"The gap between Microsoft and its rivals in the e-mail and collaboration software space is widening. Microsoft bested its competitors on every single criterion and sailed past the runners-up with a 77.8 overall rating, more than 10 points higher than IBM's 67.6 score and Novell's 64.3 finish."

Related Links:

Video - Benefits of Unified Messaging Features Provided By Exchange Server 2007

2007-05-12T23:12:00.000+08:00

This short (7 minute) video features Microsoft partners describing the advantages and partner opportunities presented by the Unified Messaging features in Exchange Server 2007.

Source: Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging Video

Quick Reference for Outlook Voice Access Commands

2007-05-12T20:54:00.000+08:00

Outlook Voice Access enables users to access their Microsoft Exchange Server mailbox via voice or telephone touch commands. That means that people can access their contacts, tasks, calendar entries and messages via a standard phone. If you'd like to see this in action you can either watch some Day-In-The-Life videos, or you can create a trial account on Exchange Server 2007 and test it out for yourself.

Microsoft have also created a quick reference card for the commands that you can issue, which can be downloaded here.

White Paper - Overview of Exchange Server 2007

2007-05-12T20:06:00.000+08:00

Overview
For most businesses today, e-mail is the mission-critical communications tool that allows their people to produce the best results. This greater reliance on e-mail has increased the number of messages sent and received, the variety of work getting done, and even the speed of business itself. Amid this change, employee expectations have also evolved.

Today, employees look for rich, efficient access—to e-mail, calendars, attachments, contacts, and more—no matter where they are or what type of device they are using. For IT professionals, delivering a messaging system that addresses these needs must be balanced against other requirements such as security and cost.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 has been designed specifically to meet these challenges and address the needs of the different groups who have a stake in the messaging system. The new capabilities of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 deliver the advanced protection your company demands, the anywhere access your people want, and the operational efficiency you, in IT, need.

This whitepaper provides an overview of the new capabilities of Exchange that help executives, business users and IT professionals do more with less.

Source: Overview of Exchange Server 2007 White Paper

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Online Concierge

2007-05-12T19:41:00.000+08:00

This one is for Gold/Certified Partners only I'm afraid; there are other places to get some assistance/support - see here.

Need help locating technical resources for Exchange Server 2007? Let us help point you in the right direction - use Online Concierge to find answers to your Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 questions using Microsoft technical resources including:

The Partner Program website
The MSDN Library and Knowledge Base
Your MSDN subscription
TechNet
Documentation and resources found on Microsoft.com
Search assistance
Support options

The Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Online Concierge is available (in English) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except during United States holidays. Use the Online Concierge as often as you would like to help locate the technical resources available to you as a Microsoft Gold Certified and Certified Partner.

Source: Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Online Concierge

Introducing ... the oFone!

2007-05-10T21:56:00.000+08:00

We've done it, we've reinvented the wheel!

HK Launch of Microsoft System Center & Microsoft Forefront

2007-05-08T21:42:00.000+08:00

We’ve just wrapped up the joint launch of Microsoft System Center & Microsoft Forefront – it was a gorgeous day in HK, not a day to be cooped up in seminar rooms, but the HKCEC witnessed a good turnout. There were a couple keynote sessions in the agenda followed by two tracks – management & security. For me, the highlight was the customer discussion panel – these can sometime be a little dry however Eugene Liew, from the Walt Disney Company, provided an entertaining assessment of the requirements, challenges and solutions that they’ve adopted to support a “cast” of over 100,000 around the world.

Thanks to my colleague Ivan Leung for the photos.

Related Links

TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Designs and Architects its Exchange 2007 Based Messaging Environment

2007-05-07T00:41:00.000+08:00

Event Overview
How does a large enterprise plan and implement the design and architecture of its next generation of messaging systems? In this webcast, engineers from the Microsoft IT messaging team uncover the details on how they introduced and fully deployed the Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 infrastructure in a production environment with more than 120,000 mailboxes. Join this session as we discuss:

Messaging topology design.
Hardware planning for various Exchange Server 2007 server roles.
Client Access server role and mobility scenarios.
Transport server role architecture.
Mailbox server role and storage designs.
Backup, restore, and high-availability strategies.

Date/Time
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Wednesday, May 30, 2007 12:30 AM (Hong Kong)

Related Links

TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Deploys Exchange Server 2007 Edge Transport

2007-05-07T00:37:00.000+08:00

Event Overview
Join this webcast to learn how Microsoft IT deployed Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Edge Transport server role, which is used for perimeter network deployment. We discuss how Exchange Server 2007 Edge Transport supports Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) routing, provides anti-spam filtering technologies, and support for antivirus extensibility.

Date/Time
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 12:30 AM (Hong Kong)

Related Links

Microsoft Webcast: Build an Extensible VoIP Foundation with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007

2007-05-07T00:33:00.000+08:00

Event Overview
Join this webcast as we provide a first look at Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, the next version of Microsoft Live Communications Server. The streamlined communications within Communications Server 2007 can help your users find and communicate with the right person from the applications they use the most, such as Microsoft Office Outlook.

We discuss how your organization can deliver these benefits on an extensible Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) foundation without expensive infrastructure and network upgrades. We also review how your IT department can deliver these enhanced capabilities and provide operational control alongside your existing Microsoft Exchange Server and Active Directory directory service infrastructure.

This webcast is a prerequisite for additional technical webcasts on Office Communications Server 2007.

Date/Time
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 2:00 AM (Hong Kong)

Related Links

MSDN Webcast: Building Office Communications Server 2007 Telephony Speech Applications

2007-05-04T19:38:00.000+08:00

Event Overview
Join this webcast to learn about the versatile developmental features [sic] of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. We discuss how Microsoft Speech Server 2007 fits into Communications Server 2007, and we provide an overview of the developer tools for telephony-based speech applications in Communications Server 2007. We also demonstrate how other Microsoft .NET applications can be enhanced by a telephone application based on Speech Server 2007. Join this session as we:

Describe the new managed APIs within Communications Server 2007.
Explore the telephony, speech recognition, and speech synthesis capabilities in Speech Server 2007.
Start from an existing Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) application and demonstrate the step-by-step development of a sample application using the WF-based Dialogue Workflow Designer and Microsoft Visual C#.

Date/Time
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 2:00 AM (Hong Kong)

Related Links

Microsoft Webcast: Maximize Your Existing IT Infrastructure with Microsoft Unified Communications

2007-05-04T19:23:00.000+08:00

Event Overview
In this session, we give you a detailed overview of the Microsoft Unified Communications (UC) vision. See a demonstration of how Microsoft is combining e-mail, instant messaging (IM), voice, and video into a single, intuitive system built around people, not technology. In addition, we show you how Microsoft has built people-centric, integrated, secure communications into the 2007 Microsoft Office system.

Discover the value of a Unified Communications environment that takes advantage of your existing data and telecommunications infrastructure. We explain how UC enables IT departments to deliver more flexible and secure communications, with a simplified infrastructure that streamlines management and reduces total cost of ownership (TCO).

Date/Time
Tuesday, May 08, 2007 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007 2:00 AM (Hong Kong)

Related Links

TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Deploys Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging

2007-05-04T19:10:00.000+08:00

Event Overview
What is the best way to implement the Unified Messaging (UM) features of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007?

Join us to discover how Microsoft IT uses Unified Messaging to integrate voice messaging with an internal e-mail messaging environment. In this webcast, we detail the technical implementation and deployment strategy for deploying Exchange 2007 Unified Messaging features in the Microsoft enterprise messaging environment.

Learn what UM features and functions are deployed at Microsoft so far, why UM is a compelling service to offer Microsoft employees, and the design issues to consider when planning to integrate Exchange Server 2007 with an existing PBX infrastructure in your own organization.

Date/Time
Tuesday, May 08, 2007 9:30 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
Wednesday, May 9, 2007 12:30 AM (Hong Kong)

Related Links

White Paper - Unified Communications & Collaboration

2007-05-04T00:02:00.000+08:00

Overview
In today’s global business environment, business needs drive IT requirements. IT departments are constantly being asked to deliver more services to increase business efficiency—while spending less money and using fewer resources to do it.

Today’s businesses require the ability to collaborate on-demand—anywhere, anytime. They need access to the right information and people at the right time and place. To make this happen, businesses need collaboration tools that give them in-context access to the appropriate communications methods from within the business applications that they already use every day.

This document describes the Unified Communications and Collaboration platform from Microsoft and how Microsoft's approach to unified communications and collaboration delivers these capabilities for businesses of all sizes.

Source: Unified Communications & Collaboration White Paper

"Do They Have A Browser On That?"

2007-05-02T23:08:00.001+08:00

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's Chief Software Architect, provided another insightful interview - this time with CNet at the Mix '07.

Source: Ozzie's quiet revolution at Microsoft

Windows Mobile 6 Video on Channel9

2007-04-30T00:39:00.000+08:00

Mel Sampat (Program Manager, Windows Mobile) recently sat down with Rory Blyth from Channel9 to talk about some of the new features in Windows Mobile 6. "In the video, you'll get to see some of what's new with Pocket Outlook, an experimental managed implementation of voice recognition APIs, and more."

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Set Up Exchange UM With sipX/Asterix : Step-By-Step

2007-04-29T19:56:00.000+08:00

Ryan Newington, an Aussie IT Pro has made time to compose a step-by-step guide to connect Exchange Unified Messaging with a couple Linux based packages, enabling the set up of UM without the need for any additional hardware; useful if you'd like to setup a test environment to evaluate some Exchange UM features. As Ryan says, it's "good for IT pros who want to get some practical experience, but don't have the ip-pbx infrastructure yet at their place of employment.". Thanks Ryan!

If this still seems like too much work, remember you can create a free trial account to try out these features today on an environment hosted by Unisys. More details can be found here.

Viral Campaign - Breaking VoIP Barriers

2007-04-28T21:50:00.000+08:00

This is interesting, it's similar to the "Snakes On A Plane" viral campaign that featured Samuel L. Jackson. Given the range of options, they did a good job of handling names that weren't in their dictionary; though it would have been nice if they'd come up with a script that hadn't limited it to the US.

TechNet Webcasts - 24 Hours of Exchange Server 2007

2007-04-27T22:31:00.000+08:00

The final episode in the 24-hour learning series was completed on April 13th. All sessions are now available to view either as a web-cast online, or you may download the slides, demonstrations and audio.

Harold Wong also did a splendid job of recording the hundreds of questions (and answers) that were raised. For each topic I've provided links to both the event [MS] and Q&A log [Q&A]

Integration of Exchange Server 2007 and Active Directory [ MS / Q&A ]
Transport and Routing Architecture [ MS / Q&A ]
Planning Installation [ MS / Q&A ]
Installing Exchange Server 2007 [ MS / Q&A ]
Transitioning and Migrating to Exchange Server 2007 [ MS / Q&A ]
Configuring Exchange Server Introduction [ MS / Q&A ]
Configuring Exchange Server Conclusion [ MS / Q&A ]
Introduction to Windows PowerShell [ MS / Q&A ]
Using PowerShell for Exchange Management [ MS / Q&A ]
Recipient Management, Policies, and Permissions [ MS / Q&A ]
Messaging Policies and Compliance [ MS / Q&A ]
Configuring Edge Transport Servers [ MS / Q&A ]
Maintaining Anti-Spam Systems [ MS / Q&A ]
Maintaining Antivirus [ MS / Q&A ]
Using Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 for Secure Exchange Server Publishing [ MS / Q&A ]
Outlook Web Access in Exchange Server 2007 [ MS / Q&A ]
Unified Messaging [ MS / Q&A ]
Mobility [ MS / Q&A ]
Introduction to Exchange Server 2007 Disaster Recovery [ MS / Q&A ]
Exchange Server 2007 Disaster Recovery [ MS / Q&A ]
Monitoring [ MS / Q&A ]
Using the Toolbox [ MS / Q&A ]
Troubleshooting MAPI and Client Access Server Clients [ MS / Q&A ]
Troubleshooting E-Mail Flow [ MS / Q&A ]

Can The Ubiquitous PC Outperform The IP Phone?

2007-04-26T22:00:00.000+08:00

Apparently so. Psytechnics have published the findings of their evaluation of the speech quality performance of Office Communicator 2007 with USB handsets and Cisco’s 7961 IP phones with Cisco Call Manager 5.0. Psytechnics, a spin-off from British Telecom, “is an established world leader in objective and subjective quality measurement and the provision of voice and video quality assessment solutions”(*).

What this means is that they know their stuff and value their reputation therefore, even though the study was commissioned by Microsoft, it was conducted independently.

I encourage you to read the report to understand the test conditions/scenarios - it’s free (though registration is required). The principal conclusions of the study were:

Overall, the one-way listening speech quality provided by the combination of Microsoft’s client and USB handset was consistently better than that provided by Cisco’s IP phones and Call Manager, whether using G.711 or G.729.
More detailed analysis showed that the mean transmission bandwidth of the Microsoft solution typically fell between 24kbps and 80kbps, which are the bit-rates of the Cisco solution with G.711 and G.729 operation respectively. The peak bandwidth of the Microsoft solution was 100kbps for some IP conditions.
In general, the maximum recommended value for round-trip delay is approximately 400ms, i.e. a one-way delay of 200ms. The delays observed for both Clients with low IP impairment conditions are within, or close to, this budget, although it should be noted that control of the delay budget within VoIP networks remains essential.

In short – this is good news(!). Microsoft developed their own VoIP and video codecs for OCS/OC, one of the goals being to work well on wideband and narrowband connections – this seems to validate that approach.

Mike Hollier, CTO at Psytechnics, had this to say of the findings:

"Users have been cautious about PC desktop telephony, but our tests show that concerns about speech quality have now been addressed by software .... This evaluation emphasizes the positive transformation that software-based VoIP solutions will have on unified communications and telephony in the future. The familiar PC can now outperform the IP phone."

On a side note - the report also introduced me to a whole new set of acronyms that I plan never to utter:

ERP	: Ear Reference Point
HATS	: Head and Torso Simulator
MRP	: Mouth Reference Point
SPL	: Sound Pressure

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Video Reviews of Exchange Server 2007

2007-04-25T21:34:00.000+08:00

Ron Bertino, Solutions Architect at Professional Advantage ( a Microsoft Gold Partner in Australia), has taken the time to record a series of short video reviews of Exchange Server 2007. Ranging from 4 - 30 minutes, not only are they educational, they're actually rather fun to watch.

Introduction to all of the new features that will be covered in the reviews (3 mins 20 secs)
Disaster Recovery features (13 minutes)
Unified Messaging (12 minutes)
Outlook Web Access 2007 (27 minutes)
Mobility features (13 minutes)
64-bit Technology (11 minutes)
Management features (21 minutes)
Compliance features (17 minutes)

A Blackberry on a Windows Mobile Phone?

2007-04-25T00:33:00.000+08:00

"BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. is introducing a software application that can make Palm Treos and other Windows-based mobile devices made by rivals work like a BlackBerry...

RIM said it was unknown whether there would be a charge to download the software, or if it might come free with a subscription to BlackBerry service, which generally costs from $30 to $50 a month. As RIM provides its devices and service to customers through wireless carriers, those details are still to be decided...

Jim Balsillie, RIM’s co-chief executive, said the company’s corporate clients made it clear that they would prefer to standardize around a single mobile e-mail platform, but not be confined to BlackBerry devices, 'which seemingly was a paradox.'"
Get the full story here.

Well, with 48 manufacturers developing handsets powered by Windows Mobile, most people should be able to find a device that meets their requirements - and, of course, with Exchange Server 2003/2007 prosumers don't need to purchase additional licenses to enjoy mobile e-mail.

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On-Demand Virtual Labcast Series - Exchange Server 2007

2007-04-24T20:01:00.000+08:00

Virtual Labs are very cool - not only do you get taught by the best, you get to do it yourself - all via your browser. This "Exchange Server 2007 Guided Labcast Series", facilitated by Harold Wong, will walk you through a basic installation, and introduce you to more advanced features like compliance, LCR & CCR.

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Exchange 2007 Update Rollup 1 Released

2007-04-22T21:43:00.000+08:00

Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2007 is now available. It includes the following fixes:

932487 - The Microsoft Exchange Information Store service stops unexpectedly when the Exchange Server 2007-based server replicates the Public folder
929756 - The DoSnapshotSet method may stop responding in the Exchange store, and a backup application stops responding on an Exchange 2007 server

Case Study - Lifetime Products

2007-04-22T00:05:00.000+08:00

Lifetime Products Boosts Productivity and Cuts Costs with Unified Messaging Solution

Overview
With facilities in the United States and China, and customers in more than 50 countries, Lifetime employees depend on messaging technologies to stay connected to customers and the office. Lifetime decided to undertake a deployment of the beta version of Exchange Server 2007. As a result, the company has begun to experience significant savings in IT and business costs, employee productivity, and system availability and security. In addition, Exchange Server 2007 will eliminate the current voice-mail system and provide the foundation required for a unified communications environment that excludes desktop phones.

Situation
To better support mobile employees and improve communication, Lifetime is deploying a unified messaging solution that will eliminate its traditional voice-mail system and expand mobile system access.

Solution
Using features in Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, engineers built a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) gateway to replace the existing voice-mail system and a replication strategy that allows for streamlined access to messaging.

Benefits

Boosts productivity
Reduces costs
Increases availability and security
Creates an infrastructure to support goals

Notable Quotable

"The deployment of a mobile solution was the first step towards our vision of building a unified messaging environment"

"Our ability to access e-mail from remote locations has saved our company tens of thousands of dollars in annual phone costs and portable computer maintenance. We also found that by incorporating mobile access with Exchange Server 2003, we actually gained an hour a day in productivity for participating employees."
John Bowden
Chief Information Officer, Lifetime Products

"Integrating our PBX system with Exchange Server and transferring voice mail over to the new environment only took us one and one-half days. We really thought the process was going to be much harder."
Jared Sahleen
Senior Technology Manager, Lifetime Products

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