MacKBlog

Windows Azure Infrastructure Services, Virtual Machines and Virtual Network, now are generally available

AMacKinnon — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:14:21 GMT

Today is a major milestone for Windows Azure and all of our customers and partners. We are excited to announce that Windows Azure Virtual Machines and Windows Azure Virtual Network now are generally available. These new services make it possible for you to move your applications into the cloud as is. We also want to update you on a new price commitment we’ve made.

This announcement is a significant step in our cloud computing strategy, which has been influenced directly by our discussions with customers and partners around the world. One point holds true in every one of our discussions with you - the cloud should be an enabler for innovation, and an extension of your organization’s IT fabric, not just a fancier way to describe cheap infrastructure and application hosting. This brief video explains what we mean by extension of your organization’s IT fabric.

You’ve also told us that you don’t want to have to choose either a low price or good performance; you want a low price and good performance. That’s why today we are also announcing a commitment to match Amazon Web Services prices for commodity services such as compute, storage and bandwidth. This starts with reducing our GA prices on Virtual Machines and Cloud Services by 21-33%.

You can find the general availability announcement and the price reduction details at Windows Azure Blog.

We have great guidance on scenarios in which you can take advantage of Windows Azure Infrastructure Services. Learn more at our Infrastructure Services page and get going with a free trial at www.windowsazure.com today.

State and Local Governments Adopt Microsoft Dynamics CRM to Improve Citizen Service Delivery

AMacKinnon — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:13:18 GMT

At our annual Public Sector CIO Summit held in late March, Microsoft Corp. announced four Microsoft Dynamics Customer Excellence Award winners and showcased eight unique customer approaches to using Microsoft Dynamics in the state and local government market. These customers join more than 500 state and local government organizations leveraging the power of the Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform to achieve cost savings, streamline operations and transform the delivery of citizen services.

To read summaries of the work these customers are doing with Dynamics CRM, take a look at the press release. If you want to see the actual case studies or customer postings, please follow these links:

Innovative Service Delivery and Cost Savings: Commonwealth of Virginia
Managing a Citywide Convention: City of Charlotte, N.C
Driving Up Jobs and Revenue: State of Indiana Economic Development Corp
Unified Offender Case Management: County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania
Advanced Information Sharing and Mobile Victim Notification: Indiana Department of Corrections (PDF download)
Reforming the Criminal Justice System: Illinois Department of Corrections
Reimagined Health and Streamlined Delivery of Care: Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals
Rapid Hotline Response and Reduced Abuse: Florida Department of Children & Families Abuse Hotline
Inter-County Standardization and Care Coordination: Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities
Timely and Responsive Benefits: The State of Wisconsin Department of Health Services
Greater Patient Care, Savings and Retention: Cancer Treatment Centers of America

NEC Rolls Out OpenFlow for Hyper-V

AMacKinnon — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:20:00 GMT

The unstoppable momentum that is Windows Server 2012 rolls right along with another partner announcement. Earlier this week, NEC unveiled the NEC ProgrammableFlow PF1000 for Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V.

From NEC’s announcement:

“As a cornerstone of the Cloud OS platform, Windows Server 2012 and Hyper-V bring groundbreaking capabilities such as network virtualization to the private cloud customer,” said Mike Schutz, general manager, Server and Tools Business, Microsoft. “We are committed to working with strategic ecosystem members such as NEC to build on Windows Server 2012’s performance, scalability and manageability. The NEC SDN solution is compatible with Hyper-V Network Virtualization and allows for easy configuration of virtual appliances such as load balancers, intrusion detection systems, and networking monitoring solutions.”

There's also an article on Network World: NEC rolls out OpenFlow for Microsoft Hyper-V - NEC virtual switch adds IPv6 support to SDN controller.

Another article on SDN Central: Game Changer: OpenFlow on Hyper-V Finally Arrives with NEC’s New PF1000

And one more on Light Reading: NEC Lends Microsoft a Hand in SDN

This is just another example as to why having an open, extensible virtual switch as opposed to VMware’s closed replaceable switch is such a strategic advantage with Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V. Quite simply, we provide flexibility and choice. Think about it…

Are you a Cisco shop? Nexus 1000v for Hyper-V coming soon…
Are you an OpenFlow shop? (OpenFlow is gaining popularity in Europe and Asia/Pacific) We have that too with the NEC ProgrammableFlow PF1000
What if you’re in a branch office and #1 & #2 are overkill but you’d like a virtual firewall/IDS? 5Nine is right there.
Looking for sFlow support? That’s provided by Inmon.

…and you can expect more solutions on the way.

Are you paying extra for software defined networking (SDN) capabilities? Or just waiting for it to get here from your current platform provider? If you haven't looked at Windows Server 2012 for your virtualization needs, you're probably spending way too much money!

http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization

Internet Explorer 10 Blocks Over 99% of Socially Engineered Malware

AMacKinnon — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:23:27 GMT

Security is an important factor to consider when evaluating a browser. NSS Labs publishes numerous security reports on endpoint security and network security, including independent reports on browser security. Their latest report, published October 24th, shows that Internet Explorer 10 blocks 99.1% of socially–engineered malware. By comparison, Chrome 21 blocks 70.4% and Firefox blocks only 4.2%. Put differently, this means that your antivirus software has to work overtime to block socially–engineered attacks on some browsers; your organization may be safer with Internet Explorer 10.

Windows 8 Training and Demonstrations

AMacKinnon — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 22:21:47 GMT

Looking for some good resources to learn Windows 8 or at least see what all the buzz is about? Check out these resources:

Windows 8 Jump Start Training - Take advantage of free, online, fast-paced training courses designed specifically for experienced IT professionals with jobs that demand that they know how to best leverage the emerging features and technologies in Windows 8, such as:

Windows 8 Technical Demonstrations - Short on time, but want to know more about key features in Windows 8 for IT professionals? Check out these brief, but informative technical demonstrations:

Microsoft in Education – Teacher Resources

AMacKinnon — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:39:01 GMT

Microsoft is proud of its record in supporting teachers and faculty with resources and tools. At the Microsoft Education Site, you can find lesson plans, free tools, training and other information for teachers to make the best use of technology in the classroom.

Some of the resources include:

Teaching Guides for Office, Critical Thinking, Windows 7 and more
Individual lesson plans for Geography, Mathematics, Science, History and more. Filter by age, subject, scenario and lesson length.
A guide for using the accessibility features in Microsoft products in the classroom
Free products and add-ins for teachers and students
Resources for professional development

Visit the Microsoft Education Teacher Resources page for all of the above and more!

Microsoft Security Links

AMacKinnon — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 20:29:35 GMT

Every October, Microsoft recognizes National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) in the United States through our partnership with the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA). This month, you can read more about that
partnership and our efforts at the Microsoft Cyber Security page. Of course, cyber security is not something to only be considered in October, so bookmark these Microsoft security sites.

IT Pro Links

Microsoft Security TechCenter
Microsoft Security Bulletins
Malware Response Guide (online or download)
Virus and Security Solution Center
Microsoft Security Response Center
Microsoft Safety & Security Center (consumer site)
Microsoft Security Intelligence Report

Tools

Security Compliance Manager (SCM)
Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit
Malicious Software Removal Tool
Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer
Microsoft Security Essentials (free consumer antimalware protection)

Blogs

Developer Links

MSDN Security Page – starting point for developers
Security Development Lifecycle home page – training, blog, documentation, tools, etc.
Security Development Lifecycle Developer Starter Kit

Virtual Event: State & Local Government Summit

AMacKinnon — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:29:04 GMT

Day 1: Strategy Session — October 16, 11-5:30pm ET

Day 2: Solutions Training — October 17, 12-4pm ET

An uneven economic recovery, upcoming elections and the explosion of cloud technology all impact local and state governments — and now is the perfect opportunity to forge forward and leverage the changing landscape to create more efficient and effective operations. Join us for a two-day, virtual conference as we show you how you can embrace a new era of technology to propel state and local government productivity, improve service delivery and drive collaboration. Day 1 includes several strategy sessions and day 2 provides Solutions Training workshops.

This virtual conference is the only virtual program dedicated to the challenges state and local governments face. And, best of all, you can access it all right from your desktop! Register Today!

Regional Event: Government CIO Summit

AMacKinnon — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:22:16 GMT

Date: Thursday, November 8, 2012 – 9:00am – 4:00pm

Location: Microsoft Technology Center, Malvern, PA

Please save the date for upcoming Microsoft CIO Summit at the Malvern Technology Center! The agenda will be finalized shortly but will include sessions developed specifically for State and Local Government and presentations from Microsoft customers as well as subject matter experts. Attendees will also have an opportunity to attend a Microsoft Technology Productivity Session in the Envisioning Center. In the Envisioning Center you will have a chance to see the Microsoft solutions in action in real life scenarios, highlighting innovations in both software and hardware. Invitations will be forthcoming to IT leadership, but if you don’t see one soon, please reach out to your account team.

Local Event: Visual Studio 2012 Launch Event

AMacKinnon — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:19:36 GMT

Date: Wednesday, October 10, 2012 – 9:00am – 4:00pm

Location: Rachel Carson Office Building Auditorium, Harrisburg, PA

Join us for a full day of developer-oriented sessions to celebrate the launch of Visual Studio 2012 and all the associated tools that go with it. This content is specifically developed for our State and Local Government customers.

Agenda:

Evolve: Embracing Modern App Development with Visual Studio 2012
Rise to the Challenge: Adopting a Modern Lifecycle approach to application development (New Agile Tools)
Come Together: Tools for Teamwork
Mobilize: Building Scalable, Mobile-Enabled Government Applications with VS 2012 and Windows Azure

Please arrive a bit early so we can start on time.

Click this registration link OR call 1-877-673-8368 and reference Event ID 1032528900