Last week I discussed the importance of data center high availability , and how the cost of data storage is minimal compared to the cost of not being able to access that data. There are a lot of options for creating a highly available system with disaster...

In episode 7, I take some extra time to look at Wednesday's "Better Together' post in greater detail. In particular, we talk about the performance benefits of running Microsoft workloads (Exchange, SharePoint, etc.) on Microsoft platforms (Windows...

I’ve heard IT departments all over the world share a very similar joke about how the rest of the company has no idea where their e-mail comes from or where their SharePoint sites are stored – they just want these things to be there when they need them...

In this episode, I take a look at the topic of high availability, back up, and disaster recovery.  These are incredibly important topics for businesses that depend on consistent access to corporate data, and whose customer base insists on avoiding...

As many of you already know , at this year’s TechEd we’re going to take the wraps off a range of new products and services, and I am very excited to be delivering the keynote address at both TechEd North America and TechEd Europe .  I cannot wait...

In this episode I talk about the Hybrid Cloud and CRN 's recent piece entitled "Microsoft Leaps Ahead of VMware in Hybrid Cloud Management."  You can read my post on this same topic from late last week here . As always, if you have questions...

One of the most important things an IT department can do for itself is demonstrate its value to business leaders clearly and regularly. The easiest way to do this is with a dynamic, real-time dashboard view of the IT operation. The bad news is that accurate...

In episode four, I take a look at the very big and very complex topic of Hybrid IT -- public, private, hosted clouds, and on-prem deployments.  To get a head start, check out one of my previous posts on the topic. Questions?  Comments? ...

From the comments I’ve seen on Twitter and the e-mails hitting my inbox, I know that many of you have seen CRN’s article from last week entitled “ Microsoft Leaps Ahead of VMware in Hybrid Cloud Management ” – and I want to add a couple thoughts to John...

In this episode I take a look at how enterprise IT can really support the modern workforce’s desire to work from any location with any device – and how organizations can embrace this trend.  I touched on this topic in my post about corporate computing...

Several weeks ago I met with a customer who expressed a very common problem: “If we can’t access our data at any moment, from any location, we immediately begin losing money.” This comment was made before any other topic we discussed that day – before...

In case you haven’t had a chance to see it yet, included below is the entire Day 1 keynote from the 2013 Microsoft Management Summit.  Thanks to everyone who attended – what a great opportunity to get our industry together!  

If you were able to catch my keynote on Monday (either in person, or on demand ), you got to see a pretty remarkable story from Domino’s Pizza . I’ve been thinking a lot about Dominos ever since last summer when I had lunch at one of India’s 500+ Domino...

My keynote at MMS yesterday featured six separate demos (if you haven’t seen it yet, you can watch it on-demand here ), and, as promised on-stage, this post will provide a detailed overview of each one. What’s really exciting to me about each of these...

  As seen before my keynote at MMS 2013!  Featuring Microsoft MVP’s from around the world!

Every year there are a handful of audiences that I really look forward to seeing, and the 5,000+ IT professionals who attend the annual Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) are among the very best anywhere in the world. This is a big week for Microsoft:...

On this week’s podcast, I look ahead to the big event kicking off on Monday:  The 2013 Microsoft Management Summit!     If you have any questions or topics you’d like to hear discussed on a future podcast, let me know in the comments below...

Until just a few years ago, the entire IT industry was pretty tightly focused on two things:  PC’s and Servers.  These clients are still the biggest players in our market, but, for a modern IT pro, today's landscape also includes slates, tablets...

I get to talk about the Cloud with customers and colleagues every day – and these discussions always leave me even more excited about this industry and the work we’re collectively doing. To share some of that enthusiasm with all of you, I...

No two enterprise IT departments are the same – but one thing they all have in common is this: They want the components of their IT infrastructure (hardware, software, cloud, apps, etc.) to JUST WORK. One of the things I really love about my...

Over the last few years I’ve had, in one meeting or another, countless discussions with my teams and colleagues about the size, shape, and impact of the Cloud.  If you’ve been to a Microsoft event like TechEd or MMS, you’ve heard us talk about the...

Microsoft is fortunate to count among its customers some of the most innovative and productive companies in the world, and one thing that each of these organizations have in common is a drive to make their IT budgets, dollar-for-dollar, flawlessly efficient...