Danie Gordon on Business Productivity in South Africa

Microsoft Project Server 2010 Bootcamp

2011-04-19T06:28:45Z

Project Server 2010 is the biggest release of Project in a decade! With an integration of Portfolio Server into Project Server 2010, demand management flows through to project management on a single platform. Business can create workflows that start with idea generation (innovation) and flow thru the complete project lifecycle, with appropriate governance steps along the way. Re-basing Project Server onto the SharePoint 2010 platform brings SharePoint reporting capabilities (delivered in the PerformancePoint engine) to Project Server. It also delivers on the value that organizations have in their new or existing SharePoint 2010 Enterprise investment, by adding project management capabilities to existing collaboration environments.

Date :	3 - 4 May 2011
Venue :	Intundla Game Lodge, Pretoria (View Map)
Cost :	R2250 excl. VAT Includes all meals, one night's shared accommodation and conference materials
RSVP :	By Clicking here or Email : pam@shanghaievents.co.za Phone : 082 821 4508

The Project Server 2010 Boot Camp is a 2 day course with 8 modules, focused on the Project Server setup and configuration at a level 300, including hands-on-labs.

By the end of the Boot Camp, delegates will be able to:

Understand new Project Server 2010 features
Understand the architecture and licensing requirements of Project Server 2010.
Gain knowledge on typical administration tasks of a new Project Server 2010 deployment.
Understand how to create a project governance workflow.
Understand how to create and deploy new reports on PerformancePoint Server, using data from the Project Server 2010 database or cube.
Understand the value-add of UMT Financial Server - a third party component that extends the demand management capability of Project Server.

For more information and full agenda, please contact the organizers, but be quick these sell out fast!

--D

Updated Core CAL suite to provide huge boost to UC

2011-03-23T11:31:09Z

Microsoft Corp announced on 21 March at the MMS conference that the Core CAL suite will include Microsoft Lync^™ Server Standard CAL and Microsoft Forefront™ Endpoint Protection in August 2011.

Essentially this adds in functionality of Instant Messaging / Presence, PC-to-PC Voice & Video as well as Antivirus and Antimalware Protection for every user licensed per Core CAL.

This is great news for all our existing customers that own Core CAL with active software assurance as it means that you will automatically own these components at that time. If you renew your Enterprise Agreement with the Core CAL Suite prior to the August 1, 2011 price change, you will receive automatic rights to the updated Core CAL Suite at no additional cost for the duration of your agreement. Other promotions may apply.

The new Core CAL suite:

The CAL (Client access license) is only one of the components when it comes to owning Microsoft Lync, but it is arguably the largest cost component to a standard Lync deployment. For more information about the other components required to license Lync, please see my blog post on this topic.

NB: This information is provided as a guideline, always check with your licensing specialist / partner for the latest information.

--D

Microsoft Lync Server licensing and bandwidth

2011-03-17T13:08:22Z

No doubt there is a huge amount of interest from both the customer and partner space around Microsoft Lync in South Africa. And rightfully so. The product has matured into so many usage scenarios and received great reviews (see customer testimonials). Whether you’re looking to oust free IM tools (i.e. Windows Live Messenger, Skype, etc), reduce travel by introducing very capable virtual meeting experiences or even replace the PBX; Lync does it all.

However it can be quite a task to understand the licensing, integration and bandwidth impact.

Licensing

There are 3 components to the licensing: Server, CAL and Client. There are licenses for public IM connectivity and external connectors, but you can see these at the links provided below.

Server

Either Standard or Enterprise. Effectively standard does all the functionality, but you’ll need enterprise if you’re looking for high availability.

CAL (client access license)

There are 3 CALS that are licensed per user

Lync Standard CAL is for instant messaging and presence. The simplest to deploy with the lowest network impact, but can dramatically save costs within a business and facilitate remote work scenarios.

Standard is always required as a building block for the Enterprise or / and Plus CAL.

Lync Enterprise CAL is for conferencing, voice and video. This allows for dial in voice conferencing as well as web and video conferencing.
Lync Plus CAL is for voice, whether you use Lync as the voice server (full VOIP) or use it in conjunction with a PBX.

Note: The Enterprise CAL Suite includes the Lync Standard and Enterprise CAL.

Client

The Lync client software runs on the workstation and provides the rich experience and integration with Microsoft Office. The good news is that the Lync client comes with Microsoft Office 2010 Pro Plus. I would highly recommend using this version of Office in the first place as it is required for the presence within the other Office apps (I.E. Outlook, Word, etc).
Some more good news is that you don’t have to have Office 2010 to use Lync. It will run on previous versions of Office as outlined below and also run on Windows XP SP3 and up.

Lync 2010 and Microsoft Office Compatibility

Capability	Microsoft Office 2003 (SP3)	Microsoft Office 2007	Microsoft Office 2010
Presence in Microsoft Outlook To and Cc boxes	Presence on hover	Presence always displayed	Presence always displayed
Reply with conference call from Presence menu	No	Yes	Yes
Presence in a Meeting Request on the Scheduling Assistant tab	No	Yes	Yes
Reply with IM or call from received e-mail toolbar or ribbon	No	Yes	Yes
Presence in Outlook From box	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reply with IM or voice from Presence menu	Yes	Yes	Yes
IM and presence in Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel (smart tags enabled)	Yes	Yes	Yes
IM and Presence in Microsoft SharePoint (Outlook must be installed)	Yes	Yes	Yes

I found the following resources very helpful to make sense of the licensing:

Lync 2010 Licensing Blog post by Bill Hagen on Microsoft TechNet
Official Lync 2010 Licensing information at Microsoft.com

Integration / other requirements

Active Directory

Windows Server 2003 native mode. For all AD requirements please see this page.

Exchange Server

Exchange Server is not a requirement to run Lync. Although you get great benefits like rich presence when using Exchange in conjunction with Lync as well as benefits such as voicemail in Email when using Exchange 2007 or higher.
For integration with Exchange a minimum of Exchange 2003 is required.

Lync can get free / busy times for presence from Exchange 2003 (using MAPI). Not all the features are available, like conversation history. Everything that uses “EWS-only” is not available with Exchange 2003. A list of this can be found here under “Exchange Server Communication Interfaces”

For all Lync Server requirements please see this page.

Bandwidth

Another frequently asked question is around the bandwidth that Lync uses.

Here is the guide on Technet. Please see the planning sections for the different solution areas.
In particular please see this page which outlines the bandwidth usage.

NB: All the information in this post is provided as a guideline. Always check with your licensing specialist when purchasing as information is subject to change.

Lync you later!

--D

Update on blog status

2011-03-17T10:59:50Z

I know that it has been a couple of months since I’ve added a new blog post… I would like to get this up and running again and explain why things have been so quiet .

I took up a new role at Microsoft in November last year. This brought to an end my tenure as the product manager for our productivity solutions in South Africa after 4 years. It was a greatly rewarding experience with one of highlights being the launch lead of all our latest productivity solutions over the past 18 months.

My new role is a Productivity Solutions Specialist for our corporate accounts, which effectively means I still work on the same products, but get to work a lot closer with specific customers. For the most part I’m focusing on a customers that are roughly between 250 and 1000 users large (both commercial and public sector), a really exciting place in the South African economy.

This blog will in essence continue with similar content as before and I will also start sharing resources I find useful in my new role.

If you have any suggestions / comments, please let me know!

--D

SharePoint 2010 Web Content Management–2 day boot camp

2010-11-23T11:48:13Z

Build great public facing web sites on SharePoint!

In this boot camp we will look at how to build a web content management solution on SharePoint 2010 from scratch. If you are planning on building internet sites on SharePoint then this workshop is for you. Taking you from zero to hero in 2 days, with instructor led theory followed by intensive hands-on-labs. A good background in HTML, CSS, JavaScript and some ASP .Net skills are essential to get the most from the boot camp.

Date :	8 - 9 December 2010
Venue :	Farm Inn - Sentinel Room (View Map)
Cost :	R 2250 excl VAT
RSVP :	Book Online Now. Email: microsoftevent@shanghaievents.co.za Call: 082 821 4508

Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Launch Roadshow–South Africa

2010-10-27T07:32:25Z

Connecting People in New Ways

Microsoft^® Lync^™ Server 2010 is the next generation of Microsoft^® Office Communications Server 2007 R2.

Microsoft Lync ushers in a new connected experience, transforming every communication into an interaction that is more collaborative engaging and accessible. Lync provides a single solution that unites voice, IM, audio-, video-, and web-conferencing into a richer more simplified experience.

Join us at the Launch Roadshow to see Lync in action. This roadshow is aimed at business and technical decision makers at customers larger than 250 users.

Cape Town:

Date:	Tuesday, 9 November 2010
Time:	8:30 - 12:00
Venue:	Cape Town International Convention Centre
Register:	Click Here Event ID: 1032466151

Johannesburg:

Date:	Monday, 15 November 2010
Time:	9:00 - 12:30
Venue:	The forum - the campus, Bryanston
Register:	Click Here Event ID: 1032466860

Durban:

Date:	Tuesday, 30 November 2010
Time:	8:30 - 12:00
Venue:	1 On 1 Gateway, Umhlanga
Register:	Click Here Event ID: 1032466371

Agenda:

08:00 - 09:00	Arrival, Registration, Breakfast and Partner Pavilion
09:00 - 09:05	Welcoming
09:05 - 10:00	Experiencing Microsoft Lync Server 2010 (by Microsoft)
10:00 - 10:20	Coffee / tea break & partner pavilion
10:20 - 11:00	Empowering mobile workers with Windows Phone (by Microsoft)
11:00 - 11:35	Platinum Partner Presentation (Dimension Data)
11:35 - 11:45	Closing / Q&A
11:45 - 12:30	Finger Lunch & Partner Pavilion

Sponsors:

Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Released!

2010-08-26T11:41:16Z

Exchange Server 2010 SP1 is now available for customers to download, here. For full info, please see the Microsoft official Exchange team blog here.

At Tech·Ed North America in June 2010, Exchange Server 2010 SP1 Beta was released to the public. We are now announcing the General Availability of Exchange Server 2010 SP1 on August 25, 2010.

Exchange Server 2010 SP1 benefits customers with archiving and discovery enhancements, a faster Outlook Web App (OWA), upgraded mobility features, and several management tools improvements.

--D

SharePoint 2010: User Training in September

2010-08-24T10:55:29Z

Inobits Consulting, a Microsoft Gold Partner for Learning Solutions, will be running a NEW course, “SharePoint 2010: Basics to Power User” from 8 to10 September 2010

Click here to book. R 2950 excl VAT.

About this Course

This 3-day instructor-led course will provide you with the knowledge and skills required to use and work with SharePoint 2010 from a Basic user to a Power User perspective. The course covers:

SharePoint 2010 Introduction (“What” and “Why” should we be using SharePoint 2010)
Collaboration Experience
SharePoint Lists
List Management
Permissions in SharePoint 2010
SharePoint 2010 Foundation Sites
SharePoint 2010 Server Sites
SharePoint 2010 Integration with Office
My Site – Social Computing
Real world examples and references

Audience Profile

Anyone that works with SharePoint team sites, libraries, lists and items should attend this training. It will be beneficial if attendees have an understanding of SharePoint 2007 basics, but are not required.

At Course Completion

After completing this course, students will be able to:
Describe the major components of SharePoint 2010
Describe the new features and capabilities of SharePoint 2010 as compared to 2007
Describe what business problems SharePoint 2010 can address*
Describe the new User Interface features of SharePoint 2010
Understand how the Ribbon works
Describe and use the new Asset Library
Understand when to use a List and when to use a Database*
How to use and create Document Sites*
Learn to create External Lists*
Multi-Document Actions
Use Column\List level validation*
Use Content Ratings
Use Audience Targeting*
Use Metadata Navigation
Use Manage Item Scheduling
Use Document ID Service*
Use File Plan Reports
Use Record declaration settings
What it means to say permissions are cumulative*
Understand that SharePoint has no deny*
How to use the Permission Checker*
Understand how to create and what a Group Work Site is*
Understand how to create and what a Visio Process Repository Site is*
Describe each of the SharePoint Server Site definitions*
Be able to effectively use the SharePoint Server site definitions*
Describe how SharePoint integrates with Office (from SharePoint and to SharePoint)*
How to describe and use Office Web Applications*
How to describe and use Access Services
How to describe and use Visio Services
Describe what a My Site is
How to create and modify a My Site
How to work with My Site social networking features
How to protect yourself in the Social Computing realm

*Parts of this topic will include advanced concepts

Benefits

Training will allow attendees to increase their skills and productivity, enabling them to increase adoption and usage of this technology within their organizations.
Increase your independence from your organization’s Technical staff.
Presenter is an experienced Microsoft Certified Trainer and SharePoint consultant.
Introductory Cost saving of 10.5% on Standard pricing

Course Booking Details

Duration: 3 days

Date: 8-10 September 2010

Launch Cost: R2950 Excluding VAT (standard Costing R3300)

Where: Inobits Consulting Building A, Peermont Place, 152 Bryanston Drive Bryanston

Contact: Kylie Botes kylie@i5.co.za or training@inobits.com

Phone: 011 875 3000

Understanding Unified Communications

2010-08-12T09:10:33Z

Recently I was asked by Entrepreneur Magazine in South Africa to explain what Unified Communications is all about. I’ve decided to post a blog on the information I supplied as it does offer a good overview of what it is and how it can benefit your business. In addition to the blog post below, also see the article in the innovation section of the August Entrepreneur Magazine.

What is unified communications?

Unified Communications solutions eliminate the separation between phones and computers. Email, voicemail, faxes, IM, and calendar events all arrive in one place: the inbox. And a single, familiar interface for PC, web, or mobile devices makes it easy to use, regardless of location. When communication is faster and easier, productivity goes up and travel costs go down.

Unified Communication includes technologies for presence, instant messaging, conferencing, unified messaging, email and enterprise voice.

Why is it becoming increasingly popular?

As a solution Unified Communications (UC) drastically save time connecting people. UC can improve the way we do business and make us so much more effective, and companies more competitive, it really makes sense.

Apart from the productivity benefits UC allows us to work the way we want. Since the younger workforce generation are familiar with more ‘modern’ ways of communicating by using consumer versions of Windows Live Messenger, Skype, Yahoo, etc; having ‘similar’ tools controlled and available in business allows companies to attract and retain staff.

How can unified communications benefit companies of all sizes?

One of the key capabilities of UC is presence and instant messaging. Presence is the ability to see someone status before you communicate with them. In the business context my presence is updated based on my calendar and what I’m doing. For instance when I’m logged in and in a meeting my presence is red, if I’m away its yellow and when I’m available its green. There are many more statuses for presence, but essentially it allows people to know if / how I’m available to talk to. If I’m offline the best way is to email or call me on my mobile phone, and if I’m online an instant message will be the most effective. Since I’m online most of the time it means that I can quickly deal with communications via instant messaging without having to deal with hordes of email or be on the phone the whole time, which also saves phone charges.

The above scenario in essence explains why it is so attractive for companies of all sizes. Even if you’re a small business with two offices, allowing staff to communicate between the two effectively is a big productivity booster and cost saver. Systems can be federated between companies (i.e. key suppliers / customers) so that presence info is shared making it even more attractive.

Even though presence and instant messaging is only part of the solution it is quick to deploy and provides a quick win.

It is key to understand that unified communications solutions for business is very different to the publicly available / free programs like Windows Live Messenger, Skype, etc. Although they may sound similar, business versions are far more capable, integrated and secure. For example, in a business context all communication should be encrypted, seeing someone’s availability in frequently used programs, I.E. Microsoft Outlook, and your buddy list comes directly from the company directory (i.e. Microsoft Active Directory). Beyond presence and instant messaging described above lies conferencing, unified messaging and VOIP which provides tremendous increased value.

When is it advisable to implement a unified communications solution?

Any business, whether office bound or on the move, with more than two staff members will find a UC solution beneficial. Businesses that have more than one location / floor will definitely find a lot of value in such a solution.

What should one look for in a unified communications solution?

Look for a solution that has the ability to integrate with most / all of your existing communication systems. This includes your email system (i.e. Microsoft Exchange) and your productivity suite (i.e. Microsoft Office). Key to the success of UC is having the new capabilities is programs that people use all the time, such as Microsoft Outlook. Being able to see someone’s presence, like a green, yellow or red icon next to the person’s name on an email and click on it for options is very powerful.

Also look for secure, extensible solutions that you can build on. Being able to start with presence and instant messaging and add on VOIP, conference or Unified Messaging later makes it a lot more realistic to implement. Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 (www.microsoft.com/uc) is built with all of these requirements in mind.

What should one beware of when implementing a unified communications solution?

Unified Communications solutions sounds complicated, but it can easily be understood when taking bite size chunks at a time. I suggest starting with presence and instant messaging which is simple to deploy and to get familiarised with the system. One can then add to the communication options with VOIP and conferencing.

When deploying presence and instant messaging it is important to deploy it across the entire company. The real value of it is being able to look up anyone in the company at any time and know how to reach them. For instance if you have a customer on the phone and you need a question answered quickly, being able to find someone to chat to over instant messaging and resolve the query there and then is real business value. If you only part deploy presence and instant messaging this value is lost.

When deploying voice or conferencing workloads consider the impact to your network as well as any integration requirements or costs.

What direct business benefits can be achieved as a result of unified communications?

Increased productivity, much improved collaboration, employee retention, reduced telephony charges, reduced travel charges, and if allowing remote work scenarios also real estate savings.

If a company makes the move to unified communications, is it required to buy both new hardware and software? Can you enhance what you already own?

You can definitely build on what you already own. The beauty of Microsoft Unified Communications is that in most cases you can add it onto your existing network / telephony system and derive excellent benefits. At a minimum it does mean that you will require a new server with the UC software but not at the expense of replacing all other existing systems.

--D

Connect your Inbox to Facebook and Windows Live with the Outlook Social Connector

2010-07-21T08:08:07Z

Now you can plug Facebook and Windows Live right into Microsoft Outlook through the Outlook Social Connector. You can view your social network as you look through your email to stay connected with your friends, family, and colleagues. Here are the key links:

1. Outlook 2003 and 2007 users can download the latest version of the Outlook Social Connector from the Microsoft Download Center.

2. Outlook 2010 users can get the Outlook Social Connector update through Microsoft Update.

3. Get the Facebook provider download for the Outlook Social Connector from the Microsoft Download Center.

4. Get the Windows Live Messenger provider download for the Outlook Social Connector from the Microsoft Download Center.

5. Stay tuned to the Outlook team blog for updates: http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook.

6. See what other social networks are available through the Outlook Social Connector provider page.

According to the Nielsen ratings, 67 percent of the global online population now goes online to visit social networks and blogs to stay connected, make decisions, and get things done. Today's news demonstrates our commitment to evolving Office to support the way you get things done. The Outlook Social Connector doesn't add another social network into the mix; rather it offers busy people the convenience of accessing them in Outlook.

LinkedIn and MySpace for the Outlook Social Connector became available in Outlook a few months ago, and earlier this month we added Facebook and Windows Live. Now you'll be able to view status updates and photos right next to an email. Also, you will be able to grow your social and professional network directly within Outlook by simply adding "Friends" to Facebook and Windows Live directly from the Outlook People Pane.

To give more Outlook users the ability to connect their Inbox with their social networks, we have also updated Outlook Social Connector to work with Outlook 2003 and 2007.

We've also released a new version of the Outlook Social Connector (v1.1). This update gives you the ability to receive real-time updates in the "People Pane" within Outlook.

We built the Outlook Social Connector with privacy and security in mind. The information people share is a personal choice, so it's up to you to determine what you share, and with whom.

Working closely with key partners including Facebook, our goal is to help you stay in touch with the people you care about, and simplify your daily routine.

If you haven't tried it yet, we encourage you to give the Outlook Social Connector a spin and share with us your thoughts and ideas.

-- Most content above copied from Paco Contreras Herrera, Group Product Manager, Microsoft Office from his blog post at http://blogs.msdn.com/outlook.

--D