Well the cat is out of the bag and inboxes, Facebook and the Twittersphere are full of Energize IT chatter. If you subscribe to the Canadian versions of the TechNet Flash or MSDN Flash you would have received this invitation in your inbox on Thursday afternoon. Since then the Energize IT mailbox has been flooded with questions. As Ricky would say to Lucy “You got some ‘splaining to do!”, hence the...

Three guys got together over pints a while ago and talked about how one of the issues facing Technical Professionals today is keeping their systems patched and up to date. This issue was brought to the forefront at a User Group meeting we were attending ( Ottawa Windows Server User Group ) where we were holding an “Ask the Microsoft Guy” panel discussion. Over pints at D’Arcy McGee’s , we decided...

So Windows Server 2012 has launched, and you are all running out this month to upgrade all of your production servers immediately to that platform.  Hoorray! Ok, so maybe some of you are going to migrate over time, as compatibility tests are completed, as compliance mandates are written, as time permits, and even as your older servers warranties/leases/lifecycles expire.  That’s fine. ...

Over the last few weeks I have received many emails from individuals across the country asking about TechDays 2011 so I figured I would give you all an update. Over the last few months the team and I have been discussing how we can make TechDays 2011 even better than in previous years. We took your feedback over the last three years as the basis of our discussion on making an improved TechDays 2011...

It’s here! It’s live! You can now register for TechDays 2011 in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver!! We are really excited about the great sessions you will be able to attend grouped into the following content areas: Communications & Collaboration featuring sessions on SharePoint 2010, Office 365, Exchange 2010, and Microsoft Lync Server 2010! Cloud Computing & Online...

I was busy with internal events yesterday and traveling back to Ottawa when the announcement was made. I noticed this morning that the Windows Server Team blog announced Windows Server codenamed "longhorn" Beta 3 has been declared and made available for downloading. You would have known this if you signed up to TechNet Beta Central (hee hee) and probably already are finished downloading it to evaluate...

As anyone who has talked to me, or attended a TechNet event over the last few months can tell you, I am a big fan of Windows Home Server . I even blogged about how during my vacation I got my geek on and got it up and running at our house to ensure the photos and other valuable information that translate into our family's precious memories are kept safe. The fact is that it was possible to download...

One of the cooler parts of my job is being able to take a look at different hardware and software that our partners provide us with and then share my impressions with you.  Recently, Bell provided me with an HTC Touch Windows Mobile 6 device to try out and use as my every day mobile phone.  I was very happy to receive the device as other members of the team purchased the HTC Touch, raved...

Tomorrow, Tuesday December 4, marks the last stop of the Unified Communications Launch Tour .  If you have not yet registered to attend the event, although registration has closed we can still take a few more folks so come down to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre - South Building and learn about how to enable your organization to enhance productivity and enrich the experience of communicating...

I just wanted to remind you of a post I made earlier in the month... ( here it is if you don't remember ) We're still looking for your feedback and comments around how we're doing with the blog AND I'm going to sweeten the pot by randomly choosing a winner from the pool of a dozen or so contributors for a TecNet backpack to carry your laptop and stuff! Your odds are good that you can win this puppy...

My team is in the midst of our planning cycle right now and a question came up that has me scratching my head. “What conferences or face to face activities do technical professionals in Canada attend in order to get training and keep up to date on what’s out there?” Times have changed – there used to be a lot of conferences and activities years ago – but what about now...

I’ve always had the belief that in order to really understand something you have to break it and then fix it. Well maybe not break it but take it apart at least :) I really believe this when it comes to security. If you don’t know what threats are out there, how can you protect against them? If you don’t understand how hackers get through firewalls, how can you deploy one or manage it? Have you...

I posted this to my other blog, thelazyadmin.com but thought it might be useful to post here as well. One of a new features in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is the ability to boot from a VHD. It is pretty simple to enable this feature and have it ready at your disposal! Before you begin you should note the following… You can only boot a Windows 7 or Windows Server 2008 R2 VHD You...

As IT Pros we tend to work long and sometimes strange hours. Once in a while it is a good idea to inject a little fun into the equation to keep us grounded. The Canadian IT Pro team would like to help and needs your input. We are thinking of putting together XBox Live game nights where you can challenge your peers and members of the Canadian IT Pro team to a game online. See whether or not Rick...

I took a snapshot of my temporary office space I used for staffing the LiveMeeting Q&A and streaming feed that wrapped up a while ago with the Toronto event. As you can see I have my tablet PC (running Windows XP) on the left, to test the XP experience of the stream as well as have a communication channel (office communicator) up to Bruce and Damir on stage. The middle laptop is running with...

I can’t wait. I’ve wrapped up mastering a resource DVD set as well as helping the team to plan the logistics and event flow for EnergizeIT these past couple of weeks. What a time it has been. We plugged the EnergizeIT event during the live Toronto Future of the Desktop tour stop and I’ve already gotten some feedback and questions regarding THIS SATURDAY. I’m in charge of the “excitement” and logistics...

About a week ago Damir gave me a Palm Treo 750w to try out.  I recently switched to Rogers so I'd have the freedom of switching SIM cards between devices.  I am a bit of a gadget guy and love to try new mobile devices and SIM cards make this easy.  My own personal device is an HTC Touch which I love, but as with every device it has some shortcomings, most notable the lack of a keyboard...

Like most IT pro you need to maintain the web farm for your company. Well I'm sorry to say you've got work to do...  Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 came out yesterday and you'll soon see it pop out on desktops out there in the wild. But we'll get to the work part later...  first the cool stuff... Personally, I love it... It's fast, it has not died on me yet, (touch wood) and I can use some of...

It has been a little quiet around here lately! Too quiet! Why? Well it is summer and even IT Pro Advisors get holidays, but we are also in full planning mode for the next set of tours that are kicking off in September. I heard this little bit from the WWPC and just had to share it! February 27th, 2008 is the worldwide launch date for for Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008...

Graham Jones (Surrey, British Columbia, IT Pro) My entry into the PC world started with the Commodore 64 . I bought the “kit”; C64 computer, 1541 disc drive and 1084 RGB monitor (good monitor which did service for many years). All excited I took the “kit” home and set it up only to find myself in constant competition with my 10 year old son. Suffice it to say that it was very clear where his career...

A few weeks ago we announced the My TechNet Tour and opened up voting. We had narrowed the list down to three things on the minds on IT Pros, Security, Collaboration and Disaster Recovery, and let you decide which theme you wanted us to talk about on the tour. Voting has now ended and we have a winner! After over 1300 votes the winner is..... (drum roll please) Security! The vote was close with...

Is your Infrastructure Optimized? Are you ready to take the next steps? Windows Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007 have launched but that isn't all Microsoft has up their sleeve. Microsoft has got big things coming in the virtualization arena. The System Center and Forefront Security tools are being released and there's the next generation of Windows Server codenamed "Longhorn" coming out in Beta...

Yes, he is back with yet again, another humorous look at what makes you an IT Pro. If you haven't seen Sean's other posts be sure to read them here and here for a good laugh! I've gone ahead and convinced him to become a regular on the CanITPro blog so until he gets carted off to an asylum you can look forward to a good laugh every Friday! -------------------------------------------------- You know...

As soon as you embark on a career in IT - you get classed as a free technical support resource for all your friends and family - it's the norm.  I got this email from a friend of mine (Richard Hagemeyer - a prof. in CompSci at Algonquin College ) who got roped into a support call while visiting family on the return trip from EnergizeIT in Toronto. Has this happened to you? Do you cringe when you...

Early in my career as an IT professional, I realized some things... WOW... management speaks a language that I do not understand and, as much I thought I controlled the IT environment for my enterprise... Management really controlled the IT environment. So, I set out to figure out a way to address those things. Management controls the money. Money is generated by the business units. And, business...