Chris Henley is a fun and energetic representative of Microsoft. He works on the Developer Platform Evangelist team at Microsoft as an IT Professional Evangelist in the western region and is the co-author of Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Administration Instant Reference from Sybex press. Chris is a regular speaker and presenter at user groups, Technet events, and major conferences around the US.
He has extensive experience in the world of computer networks. He is passionate about the way that technology helps people. He has an entertaining and insightful style of communicating technical information and of making difficult concepts easy to understand. He is an expert in server architecture and network design. He loves to push the envelope of what we think about computers, and what software can do. Chris spends his spare time playing XBOX360 with his wife and kids, fly fishing, camping, hiking, and searching for the best chocolate cake on planet earth.
One of the best things about my role as an IT Evangelist is being able to assist organizations with resources and expertise to help them find solutions to their network challenges. One of the ways that Microsoft has facilitated this process is through the use of the IT Pro Momentum Program. As we work with organizations we will often highlight the work they have been doing and the results they are getting. One of these organizations is Educational Service District 112 in the state of California. They were having some real challenges solving problems related to desktop management and reporting issues in their network.
They profiled a project to work with System Center and test its functionality in their network. The initial evaluation went well and they decided to pilot a solution using System Center. Early on in the pilot one of their Key IT Professionals said,
"We’re just at the beginning of this project. Our hope is to be able to install changes, monitor problems both related to errors and hardware problems before the user contacts us."
What a great concept! This kind of proactive management philosophy will have a significant positive effect on the overall health of the network and the users in it. When I asked about other benefits to running System Center they are hoping to save more than 100 hours of labor. Easier management, savings, and better control seem to represent a better solution for this organization.
Finally, I asked about the value of the IT Pro Momentum program in this pilot project. The response was clear.
" It’s doubtful that we’d push forward with this process without seeing how the product would help us."
That's exactly what I had hoped to hear.
If you are interested in participating in the IT Pro Momentum program and are willing to provide tracking and feedback information about a project in your organization please contact me.