Welcome to the System Center Virtual Machine Manager Self-Service Portal (VMMSSP) 2.0 SP1 Beta program! As a Beta program member you have the opportunity to test drive the next version of VMMSSP—version 2.0 SP1! This new version includes some exciting new feature enhancements to help simplify your move to the private cloud. Give the tool a try and let us know what you think!
DOWNLOAD THE VMMSSP 2.0 SP1 BETA
What’s new with VMMSSP 2.0 SP1?
Import virtual machines: Allows DCIT (Datacenter) administrators to re-import virtual machines that were removed from the self-service portal and also import virtual machines created outside the portal but managed by VMM.
Expire virtual machines: This feature provides the user the ability to set an expiration date for the virtual machines that are being created or imported so that the virtual machines auto-delete after the set date. This feature also provides users the flexibility (through role-based access) to set or change the expiration date for the virtual machine.
Notify administrators: This feature provides functionality to notify BUIT(Business Unit) or DCIT(Datacenter) administrators about various events in the system (for example, Submit request, Approve request,Expire virtual machine, and so on) via email through SQL server mail integration.
Move infrastructure between business units: This feature allows DCIT(Datacenter) administrators to move an infrastructure from one business unit to another when the system is in Maintenance Mode.
The VMMSSP 2.0 SP1 Beta review program is now open.
Tell us what you think! Download the beta and provide us with your feedback, especially in the areas of its usefulness, usability, and impact. Send an email with your input to sspfeedback@microsoft.com.
Your input helps to make the guides we publish as helpful and useful as possible. We look forward to hearing from you!
Kinds of Feedback: We would especially appreciate feedback in the following areas:
· Usefulness: What portions of the tool are the most useful to your organization?
· Usability: Is the solution is easy to setup and neviagate through?
· Impact: Do you anticipate that this tool will save you time in your organization? Has this tool had a positive influence on your opinion of the Microsoft technologies it addresses?
To participate in the program visit https://connect.microsoft.com/site1044/program5055
Happy Virtualization
In my last blog http://blogs.technet.com/b/aviraj/archive/2011/05/16/microsoft-download-center-microsoft-lync-server-2010-resources-part-i.aspx, I shared some of the most useful resources. Now, in this post I am planning to share some more resources about some specific deployment methods, troubleshooting, management and more.
Resources
Microsoft Lync 2010 Release Notes Microsoft Lync 2010 Release Notes
Microsoft Network Assessment for Unified Communications This document guides you through the process of preparing a network assessment for capacity planning to understand the capabilities of unified communications (UC) for your network.
Configuring Microsoft Lync Server 2010 to Support Communicator Mobile for Java and Communicator Mobile for Nokia This document provides the necessary steps for installing the Communicator Mobile component alongside Lync Server 2010 so that Office Communicator Mobile 2007 R2 for Java and Office Communicator Mobile for Nokia 1.0 can connect to the Communicator Mobile component as usual, and the Communicator Mobile component can connect to Lync Server 2010.
Lync Network Monitor Parsers The Lync Network Monitor Parsers are a set of files that extend the parsers in Microsoft Network Monitor. The Microsoft Network Monitor tool loads these files and uses the rules defined in them to analyze network traffic.
Microsoft Lync 2010 Localization Release Notes Microsoft Lync 2010 Localization Release Notes
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit The Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit is the technical reference for the product. This book extends the product planning, deploying, and managing documentation in the Lync Technical Library. This book serves as a companion to the product documentation to learn how the product works under the hood.
Lync 2010 Instant Messaging and Presence Quick Reference This quick reference card helps you sign in and get started using Microsoft Lync 2010 for instant messages and for your presence information.
Lync 2010 Sharing and Collaboration Quick Reference This quick reference card describes what you can share and collaborate on during a Microsoft Lync 2010 meeting or instant messaging (IM) conversation.
Lync 2010 Attendant Quick Reference This quick reference card describes the tasks that you most commonly do by using Micorsoft Lync 2010 Attendant.
Lync 2010 Quick Reference Cards This zipped file contains the quick reference cards for Microsoft Lync 2010.
Lync 2010 Attendee Quick Reference Card This quick reference card provides instructions for getting set up with Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee.
Lync 2010 Voice and Video Quick Reference Card This quick reference card summarizes the common phone and video tasks in Microsoft Lync 2010.
Enabling QoS with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 If your Windows Server network supports Quality of Service (QoS) management, you can take advantage of this functionality to optimize media traffic in your Microsoft Lync Server 2010 deployment. This guide shows you how.
Migrating from Communications Server 2007 to Lync Server 2010 This document provides guidance from migration from Office Communications Server 2007 to Microsoft Lync Server 2010.
Migrating from Communications Server 2007 R2 to Lync Server 2010 This document provides guidance from migration from Office Communications Server 2007 R2 to Microsoft Lync Server 2010.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Getting Started Guide Descriptions of new features in Microsoft Lync Server 2010. Both server features and client features are included.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Voice Guide This download contains two documents: Deploying Enterprise Voice at Central sites and Deploying Branch Sites
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Edge Server Deployment Guide This document guides you through the process of deploying Lync Server 2010 edge servers and Directors.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition Deployment Guide This document guides you through the process of deploying Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition and configuring dial-in conferencing for Lync Server 2010.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Supportability Guide This guide provides a central, high-level reference for supported server topologies and configurations and supported client configurations. It is also intended to answer frequently asked questions. This document identifies supported topologies, configurations, and scenarios described in detail in the Lync Server deployment and planning documentation.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Documentation Help File This download contains a compiled help file (chm) of all the available Lync Server 2010 IT professional documentation on the Technical Library.
Server Virtualization in Microsoft Lync Server 2010 This document outlines a series of best practice recommendations for running Lync Server 2010 in a virtualized environment.
Client Virtualization in Microsoft Lync 2010 This document outlines a series of best practice recommendations for running Lync 2010 in a virtualized environment.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Planning Guide The planning phase is the time in which you decide what Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software features to deploy, and how to deploy them. The Planning Guide chapters describe how to plan for a successful Lync Server 2010 deployment.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Monitoring Deployment Guide This document guides you through the process of deploying Lync Server 2010 Monitoring Server.
Deploying Lync Server 2010 in a Multiple Forest Environment This document explains how to deploy Lync Server 2010 in a multiple forest environment.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Remote Call Control Deployment Guide This document describes the how to deploy remote call control in a Lync Server 2010 deployment.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010: Deploying Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition by Using the Planning Tool This document describes the how to deploy Lync Server 2010 Enterprise Edition by using the Planning Tool.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010: Using Monitoring Server Reports This document describes the how to use Monitoring Server Reports in a Lync Server 2010 deployment.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Client and Device Deployment Guide This download guides you through the process of deploying client software and devices for Lync 2010.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Archiving Deployment Guide The purpose of the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Archiving Deployment Guide is to guide you through the process of deploying Lync Server 2010 Archiving Server and the related components that are required to support archiving of instant messaging and web conferencing (meeting) content.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Deployment Guide This document guides you through the process of migrating and deploying Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Server and the related components that are required to let organizations set up searchable, topic-based chat rooms that persist over time, allowing geographically distributed teams to better collaborate with one another while preserving organizational knowledge.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Administration Guide This document guides you through the process of administering Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Server and the related components that are required to let organizations set up searchable, topic-based chat rooms that persist over time, allowing geographically distributed teams to better collaborate with one another while preserving organizational knowledge.
Uninstalling Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and Removing Server Roles To maintain any system, you need to modify the deployment over time. An important part of maintenance is the retiring or decommissioning of existing components that you replace with different or newer components. “Uninstalling Lync Server 2010 and Removing Server Roles” includes procedures for removing server roles and decommissioning a deployment.
Troubleshooting Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Clients: Help Desk Resource This resource is for first-level help desk agents who support Microsoft Lync Server 2010 clients. Note: The .zip file contains both the print documentation and the Help file.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Response Group Application This download contains the Response Group Application chapter of the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit book. This book is currently being developed. Chapters will be available for download while this book is being completed. This chapter takes a deep dive into the Response Group application.
Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Aastra 6721ip and Aastra 6725ip Microsoft® Lync™ 2010 Phone Edition for Aastra 6721ip and Aastra 6725ip is the first generation of software designed specifically for the phones from Aastra to interoperate with Microsoft® Lync™ Server 2010. Lync Phone Edition provides traditional and advanced telephony features, integrated security, manageability and much more.
Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Polycom CX700 and LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540 Microsoft® Lync™ 2010 Phone Edition for Polycom® CX700 and LG-Nortel IP Phone 8540 is the next generation of software designed for the phones from Polycom and LG-Nortel to interoperate with Microsoft® Lync™ Server 2010. Lync Phone Edition provides traditional and advanced telephony features, integrated security, manageability and much more.
Microsoft Lync 2010 Phone Edition for Polycom CX500, Polycom CX600 and Polycom CX3000 Microsoft® Lync™ 2010 Phone Edition for Polycom® CX500, Polycom® CX600 and Polycom® CX3000 is the first generation of software designed specifically for the phones from Polycom to interoperate with Microsoft® Lync™ Server 2010. Lync Phone Edition provides traditional and advanced telephony features, integrated security, manageability and much more.
IM an Expert for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 IM an Expert is an instant messaging question and answer service that you can set up within your organization. With the IM an Expert service, you can use Microsoft Lync or the IM an Expert Welcome page to submit a question to the service. The IM an Expert service will locate an expert for you within your company and initiate an IM session between you and the expert who can answer your question.
IM an Expert for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Documentation This download provides documentation for the IM an Expert for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 service
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Edge Server Reference Architecture Diagrams The Lync_Server_2010_Edge_Server_ReferenceArch_Diagrams.zip file contains diagrams for the Single Consolidated Edge, Scaled Consolidated Edge (DNS Load Balanced), and Scaled Consolidated Edge (Hardware Load Balanced) topologies. You must have Microsoft Visio installed to view these files.
Lync Server 2010, Stress and Performance Tool
The Lync Server 2010 Stress and Performance Tools (LSS) can be used to prepare, define and validate performance targets of user scenarios offered by on-premise Lync Server 2010 deployment. LSS includes multiple modules and can simulate simultaneous users on one or more Lync Servers. More detailed information can be found in the documentation provided within the installation package.
Lync Awareness Resources Awareness resources for Lync Adoption and Training, including email templates, form templates for sign-up and feedback, and poster templates
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Reference: Call Data Recording and Quality of Experience Database Schema This document describes the call detail recording (CDR) and the Quality of Experience (QoE) databases schemas in Microsoft Lync Server 2010.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Call Park Deployment Guide This download guides you through the process of configuring the Call Park call management feature for Enterprise Voice.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Announcement Deployment Guide This download guides you through the process of configuring the Announcement call management feature for Enterprise Voice.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Response Group Deployment Guide This download guides you through the process of configuring the Response Group feature for Enterprise Voice.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Reference: Group Chat Database Schema This document describes the Group Chat database schema in Microsoft Lync Server 2010.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Planning Tool Readme This document contains an overview and release notes for the Lync Server 2010 Planning Tool.
Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Monitoring Management Pack The Lync Server 2010 Group Chat management pack supports health monitoring for the following Group Chat Server roles (Channel service, Lookup service, and Compliance service).
MUI for Microsoft Lync 2010 This package adds Multilingual User Interface (MUI) functionality to Microsoft Lync 2010.
Opportunities with Microsoft Lync as a platform for Communications Enabled Business Process (CEBP) Microsoft developer partners discuss how the open development architecture of Microsoft Lync platform is changing the conversation, offering great partner opportunity, and broadening service opportunities.
Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit Tools Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit Tools are provided to help make some routine tasks easier for IT administrators who deploy and manage Lync Server 2010.
Lync Server 2010 Monitoring Management Pack Lync Server 2010 Monitoring Management Pack is a comprehensive End-to-End monitoring management pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2.
Lync Server 2010, Group Chat Admin Tool Administration of users and chat rooms.
Unified Communications Enhanced Presence Schemas for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Microsoft Unified Communications Enhanced Presence Schemas for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 consists of the technical documentation for the enhanced presence support by Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and Microsoft Lync 2010.
Lync Server 2010 Group Chat SDK Lync Server 2010 Group Chat Software Development Kit (SDK) includes documentation and sample applications developed with the Lync Server 2010 Group Chat platform.
Lync 2010 Trial (32 Bit) Microsoft Lync 2010 provides a single interface that unites voice communications, IM, and audio, video, and Web conferencing into a richer, more contextual offering.
I hope you enjoyed these 2 posts on Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resources.
Hello IT Professionals,
Local P2V Migration Using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010 and Sysinternals Disk2VHD http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg516519(WS.10).aspx
Webcast on Edge http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/edge/windows-xp-to-windows-7-local-p2v-migration-using-mdt-2010-and-sysinternals-disk2vhd.aspx
Happy Migrating
Service Pack 1 is on track for release at the end of June.
SP1 will include many interesting changes. Across the client suites and server products, SP1 offers a sprinkling of improvements to make a strong 2010 release wave even stronger. During TechEd and beyond, teams on http://blogs.office.com will update their blogs with more specific details of 2010 Service Pack 1 contents.
There are far too many changes in SP1 to list here, but the list below is a sample of SP1 highlights to get things started. This is a list of things that you can do now that you couldn’t before, or things that are just better than they were with the original release:
For complete article visit http://blogs.technet.com/b/office_sustained_engineering/archive/2011/05/16/announcing-service-pack-1-for-office-2010-and-sharepoint-2010.aspx
This is called RapidBoot Extreme. This particular Lenovo model T420s supports & watch it live in the following link…
Watch the video to see it in action. Enjoy.
Danica Patrick Boots Up the Fastest Windows 7 PC in the World at the Lenovo Lounge
Thanks to my friend Keith Combs for the link.
I have been planning since long time to put together all the Lync 2010 based resources under couple of posts. This will be helpful for all the messaging administrators to find out the relevant information that running around. Some of the links are direct Microsoft Product Pages but most of them would be links from Microsoft Download Center to give you necessary resources to test out Lync 2010.
Lync 2010 Attendee Microsoft Lync 2010 Attendee is a conferencing client that allows users without Microsoft Lync 2010 installed, to participate in online meetings. A user with an administrator account on the computer can install Lync 2010 Attendee so that users of the computer can join Microsoft Lync Server 2010-hosted meetings.
Lync Web Scheduler Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Web Scheduler provides a Web-based online Lync meeting scheduling and management experience for Lync Server 2010.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 New Features Overview This download contains the New Features Overview chapter of the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit book. This book is currently being developed. Chapters will be available for download while this book is being completed.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Technical Overview This download contains the Technical Overview chapter of the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Resource Kit book. This book is currently being developed. Chapters will be available for download while this book is being completed.
Lync Server 2010 Administration Guide This document contains procedures and guidance for administering a Lync Server 2010 deployment.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Active Directory Guide This document guides you through the process of preparing Active Directory for Microsoft Lync Server 2010 and includes the Active Directory schema reference.
Lync Server 2010 Capacity Calculator A spreadsheet for calculating a user’s hardware requirements based on information about users and traffic.
Lync Server 2010, Planning Tool The Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Planning Tool provides prescriptive guidance to get you started with planning your topology.
Lync 2010 Bandwidth Calculator A Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that calculates WAN bandwidth requirements for a Lync Server deployment based on administrator-specified user profiles and network information.
Lync Server 2010 Visio Stencil This stencil provides over 125 shapes to help you create a visual presentation of your Lync Server architecture.
Lync Server 2010, Best Practices Analyzer The Microsoft Lync Server 2010, Best Practices Analyzer is designed for administrators who want to determine the overall health of their Lync Server environment.
Lync 2010 SDK The Lync 2010 SDK is the client-side API set that enables the integration and extension of Lync experiences.
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Security Guide The Security Guide provides guidelines for assessing and managing security risks to your Lync Server 2010 deployment.
In the next part I will share some more resources about some specific deployment methods, troubleshooting, management and more. Stay tuned.
Exactly a year back in May 2010 I had blogged about Microsoft PoC Jumpstart Kit v1.0 over here http://blogs.technet.com/b/aviraj/archive/2010/05/01/proof-of-concept-jumpstart-kit-v1-0.aspx Everyone liked the PoC Kit offered by Microsoft. Now, we have released Microsoft Proof of Concept Jumpstart Kit v2.0.
The PoC Jumpstart provides resources to deploy a desktop PoC with Windows 7, Office 2010, Internet Explorer 8, and Application Virtualization with Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack technology. In this release of PoC Kit you will find the updated images of the following products to test drive to start your PoC in your organization.
This self-contained, self-service kit will help you complete a Proof-of -Concept (PoC) at your organization, allowing you to quickly evaluate the new Microsoft desktop technologies, including Windows 7, Office 2010 Pro Plus, Internet Explorer 8, and Application Virtualization with Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack technology App-V. It will also familiarize you with some of the important deployment tools provided by Microsoft to assist with your broader deployment efforts. This PoC is not meant to be comprehensive training mechanism but rather an introductory set of modules to familiarize you with tools and technologies. • Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition – A platform that helps IT Professionals increase the flexibility and reliability of their server infrastructure. • Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) – A tool to assess your hardware readiness for Windows 7 and Office 2010. • Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) – A tool to assess your software readiness for Windows 7 and Office 2010. • Microsoft Office Migration and Planning Manager (OMPM) – A tool to assess and upgrade Office versions and files. • Microsoft Office Environment Assessment Tool (OEAT) – A tool to assess Office add-ins. • Microsoft Office Code Compatibility Inspector (OCCI) – A tool guide remediation of Office VBA code. • Microsoft Security Compliance Manager (SCM) – A tool guide management and customization of group policy settings • Microsoft Deployment Toolkit – A tool to create, configure, and deploy custom images, applications, and components. • Windows 7 Enterprise 90-day Trial image – This evaluation edition forms the base image for deployment on client computers. • Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 – Evaluation version - both MSI and App-V sequenced package. • Microsoft Visio Premium 2010 – Evaluation version. • Microsoft Project Professional 2010 – Evaluation version. • Office 2010 with Application Virtualization – This system is deployed virtually to streamline and centralize operations. • Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Evaluation Edition – This database system is used to store tool results. The PoC Jumpstart is intended to show you that an upgrade to new Microsoft Optimize Desktop technologies can be seamless, feasible, easy and cost-effective. The PoC Jumpstart will also shed light on the deployment process (tools and technologies) and give your organization confidence for undertaking a broader deployment motion. After completion of the PoC, you should have a test environment setup that will allow you to evaluate the various features of the Microsoft Optimized Desktop and help you make informed decisions to meet your business needs.
DOWNLOAD HERE
The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance and best practices for deploying Microsoft® Exchange Server 2010 in a virtualized environment with Windows Server® 2008 R2 Hyper V™ technology. This paper has been carefully composed to be relevant to organizations of any size.
Many organizations today rely on some degree of virtualization. Whether it is a few virtual machines running on a single physical computer or a whole server farm across multiple root servers, virtualization optimizes investment in hardware and network infrastructure by:
• Increasing the utilization of underused hardware. • Improving server availability. • Reducing IT costs.
Filename: Best_Practices_for_Virtualizing_Exchange_Server_2010_with_Windows_Server.docx
So here I was presenting at Windows Azure Boot Camp. I am an IT Pro Evangelist but sometimes I tend to spend time on Developer Technologies as well. Just like that I have been reading about Windows Azure for quite a long time & also discussed with the audience how can an IT Professional can contribute to Windows Azure. In other words What does Windows Azure mean for IT Professionals? You can find lot of information online at the same time you can attend TechEd Sessions by Joey Snow, Technical Evangelist.
Now, in today’s post I won’t be spending time around Windows Azure Deep Dive but will be focused on VM Role. This is the new offering in Windows Azure and currently it is available as Beta Release for Windows Azure. To begin with first you need to have Windows Azure Account & later you need to activate the VM Role from the Beta Tab.
Once Approved you will see the role is now available for use.
Now, for the complete VM Role Deployment Process please visit the Microsoft Documentation with all the step-by-step guidance and here I will provide some of the essential things required to get going on the machine with just Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2.
To start with Windows Azure VM Role
Visit this link: VM Role Version 1.0 http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/gg502178
Here are the other links that I have used to deploy VM Role quickly without spending more time.
In Exercise 1: When attempting to upload the virtual machine into windows azure I got the following error:
Cannot access the certificate specified in the connection string. Verify that the certificate is installed and accessible. The syntax for the connection string 'SubscriptionId=<id>; CertificateThumbprint=<id>' is not valid.
This could be a number of things such as you don't have the certificate on azure. However, the thing that documentation fails is to say that the certificate and the virtual machine must be uploaded from the machine where the certificate was created.
I hope this saves you a couple hours of debugging.
The above extract is taken from this article…http://www.microsumol.com/2011/03/windows-azure-certificate-error/
Now, to create a certificate you can use the following command (You need to have Windows 7 SDK installed in order to use makercert.exe)
makecert -sky exchange -r -n "CN=aviraj" -pe -a sha1 -len 2048 -ss My "aviraj.cer"
Also, make sure to use Appendix A: Configuring your Windows Azure Management Portal Credentials in Visual Studio. It means that you need to first create a certificate and upload it on the Azure Management Portal in order to authenticate your Windows Azure account so that you can deploy your application from Visual Studio & Visual Studio can use VHD from the Azure.
I hope that will help you deploy VM Role & in case you have any question/queries feel free to write at aviraj@microsoft.com
What Is the Security Intelligence Report?
The Security Intelligence Report (SIR) is an investigation of the current threat landscape. It analyzes exploits, vulnerabilities, and malware based on data from over 600 million systems worldwide, as well as internet services, and three Microsoft Security Centers.
Volume 10 (SIR v10) is the most current edition covering 2010 and contains five sections:
For E.g. Key Findings - Malware: Operating System Infection Rates
Average quarterly infection rate (CCM) by operating system and service pack in 2010
TO DOWNLOAD COMPLETE REPORT VISIT http://www.microsoft.com/security/sir/default.aspx
I have recorded & uploaded Windows Virtual PC & Windows XP Mode Screencast on TechNet Edge
Enjoy
And after long time Microsoft has acquired any company. Finally it is officially announced as Microsoft has acquired Skype. Look for more opportunities in the upcoming time. This acquisition for the combined companies will benefit consumers, businesses and increase market opportunity.
REDMOND, Wash., and LUXEMBOURG – May 10, 2011 – Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: “MSFT”) and Skype Global S.à r.l today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Skype, the leading Internet communications company, for $8.5 billion in cash from the investor group led by Silver Lake. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both Microsoft and Skype.
The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities. The combination will extend Skype’s world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft’s existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services.
With 170 million connected users and over 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations in 2010, Skype has been a pioneer in creating rich, meaningful connections among friends, families and business colleagues globally. Microsoft has a long-standing focus and investment in real-time communications across its various platforms, including Lync (which saw 30 percent revenue growth in Q3), Outlook, Messenger, Hotmail and Xbox LIVE.
Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.
“Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world.”
Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft, and Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Ballmer.
“Microsoft and Skype share the vision of bringing software innovation and products to our customers,” said Tony Bates. “Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype's plans to extend our global community and introduce new ways for everyone to communicate and collaborate,” Bates said.
“Tony Bates has a great track record as a leader and will strengthen the Microsoft management team. I’m looking forward to Skype’s talented global workforce bringing its insights, ideas and experience to Microsoft,” Ballmer said.
Read more at this Microsoft Presspass http://www.microsoft.com/Presspass/press/2011/may11/05-10CorpNewsPR.mspx