Hi Everyone, Well, we are well and truly steamroller-ing through 2013, I cant believe it is nearly June! Here is this week's compilation of annoucnements from Microsoft. Have a good weekend y'all! Rob York Premier Field Engineer Microsoft...

If I had a pound for every customer that had said to me "I would love to deploy a test of.....[insert name of random Microsoft product here].... but cant because we don't have a test environment", I would..... well I would still be sat here and not on...

Hi all, I know a lot of people have been waiting for this release, its now finally here… the 2013 version of the mailbox server role calculator! It’s got a new name, but can still help you correctly plan your hardware and storage for 2013. Have a read...

Yesterday at the JP Morgan Technology, Media and Telecom conference, Microsoft Windows CFO Tami Reller shared that the next version of the Windows client OS will be Windows 8.1.  In addition, the Windows product group shared that there will be a...

A lot of customers are starting to consider building their own private cloud. If you fall into this category, Leigh Simmonds from the UK PFE team, has written up a great over view of SCVMM 2012 Sp1. I hope you enjoy it and thank you Leigh! System Center...

Hi Everyone, A short but sweet compilation this week. Wishing everyone a great weekend. Rob York Premier Field Engineer Microsoft UK Recent Releases : New update available for MS13-036 - 23-Apr-2013 SCSM - Exchange Connector 3.0 RTM...

Hopefully many of you have carried out a RAP (risk assessment program) against your AD, Exchange or SQL etc. For those that are not familiar with RAP, it is a Microsoft Services Premier Support offering that helps prevent serious issues from occurring...

Hi everyone, I wanted to make you aware of the following changes, in case you missed this! We have released the first phase of our new ignite online experience – http://ignite.office.com . This portal will be the one stop shop for Ignite events and webcasts...

Hi all, I hope everyone is enjoying the sun shine! Our colleagues over at TechNet UK have some great SharePoint content from the MVP community. If you are thinking about migrating and or deploying SharePoint for the first time, I would recommend having...

Hi Everyone, Here is part three of this weeks announcement series, normal service will be resumed next week :) Rob York Premier Field Engineer Microsoft UK Recent Releases : Updated Outlook.com app for Android devices - 16-Apr-2013 ...

Hi Everyone, Here is part 2 from this weeks series! Rob York Premier Field Engineer Microsoft UK Recent Releases : Project Codename GeoFlow Unveiled - 11-Apr-2013 Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack 2013 Now Available - 10-Apr-2013 ...

Hi Everyone, Sorry for the delay in getting these up, I have been out with customers the past few weeks and not had chance to upload the blogs. The good news is that there is a triple whammy of announcement goodness this week! Rob York Premier...

Below are two examples of varying size engagements where PFE’s have been involved. These focus on SQL server, but the approach and methodologies discussed here are leveraged across all technologies and PFE engineers, Scenario 1: Covers a smaller engagement...

This is another article following up from the "Dedicated Support Engineers: What They Are and How They Can Help You" post. In this post I'll cover how a SQL DSE can help you and your organisation get the most out of your SQL Server and also...

We are constantly updating and improving our events list, however we wanted to call it out today Firstly what is the events diary? This is a list of all of the workshops that we offer in the UK, comprising of sessions offered at our Reading office, as...

Hi Everyone, Here is the latest compilation of key announcements from around Microsoft. Rob York Premier Field Engineer Microsoft Services, UK Recent Releases : Global Service Monitor and System Center Advisor Support for Windows Server...

Following our last update on the Evaluate This series another great Server 2012 resource has been published - this guide brings together the best MVA, TechNet and blog articles to give an end-to-end self-study guide for Server 2012. The level ranges from...

If you still haven’t tried installing and playing with Windows Server 2012 then you’re missing out on a huge range of new and improved features – but it’s not too late to get started. Microsoft UK’s Andrew Freyer has been working on an excellent series...

Hi Everyone, It's been a glorious 4 day week here in the UK, so for me it seems like hardly any time has passed since I was last here. And despite the coldest Easter on record and snow falling for most of yesterday, it is well and truly April!! ...

Learn tools and techniques to monitor, diagnose, and repair performance issues in Microsoft SQL Server 2008/2012 As a SQL Server Administrator, you want to proactively prevent or minimize problems ; if they occur, you want to diagnose the cause and take...

Hello All, My name is Steve Gillett and I am a Premier Field Engineer (PFE) for Microsoft Premier Support. I currently work with customers providing assistance with System Center Configuration Manager. As part of our ramp-up guide series from PFEs within...

Hello All, My name is David Williamson and I am a Premier Field Engineer (PFE) for Microsoft Premier Support. I currently work with customers to provide assistance with Active Directory / Platforms. As part of our ramp-up guide series from PFEs within...

Hello Everyone, We have yet another addition to our Ramp-Up Guide Series and this one covers Exchange 2010 . The purpose of this guide is to provide a single reference point for those wishing to gain a better understanding of Exchange. We are regularly...

Hello fellow IT enthusiasts, my name is Anuj Airan and I am a Premier Field Engineer (PFE) for Microsoft Premier Support. I currently work with customers to provide assistance with deployment and operations of Lync Server technologies and hybrid deployments...

Hello everyone, my name is Sanjaya Padhi and I am a Premier Field Engineer (PFE) for Microsoft Premier Support specializing mainly in SQL performance and Business Intelligence. Quite often we’re asked by customers for useful resources and online learning...