MSTechSA

Best of MMS2013 @ TechEd Africa

2013-04-10T06:54:00Z

BETTER TOGETHER - Best of MMS 2013 and TechEd Africa

We are excited to announce that for 2013, Best of MMS will be hosted at TechEd Africa as a virtual event. Experience the latest technology solutions at TechEd Africa 2013 where we will be offering over 50 dedicated sessions in desktop, device management, datacenter and cloud technologies, presented by some of the worlds most renowned speakers from the MMS 2013 event in Las Vegas! This is not to be missed!

Best of MMS will kick-off with a “What’s the insights” session directly from MMS 2013 Las Vegas, where Rob Willis, Matt McSpirit and Symon Perriman will give us a low down of all the Hot off the Press announcements made at this year’s Microsoft Management Summit.

Join the Microsoft team, the Microsoft Product group members, industry experts as well as key Microsoft Partners and take this opportunity to cultivate key contacts and strengthen existing relationships that can help you optimize your Microsoft alliance.

	It’s an intensive 3 days of technical contents, so get your geek on We’ll dive deep with of 50 dedicated sessions, including how to manage and automate the latest products to save your organisation time and money.
	Be first to evaluate new products and solutions We will be offering over 40 hands-on-lab sessions from Upgrading from Configuration Manager 2012 to Configuration Manager 2012 SP1 to Building a Virtualisation Infrastructure with Hyper-V Server 2012.
	Accelerate your career Explore Microsoft's industry-recognised certification opportunities and build lasting relationships with your peers and industry-leading experts.
	Experience the power of community Check out networking activities and exclusive Best of MMS “Ask the Experts” and of course the now famous Tech-Ed closing party.

Special Announcement–The Microsoft System Center and Cloud OS Boot Camp 2013 is back!

2013-04-04T10:02:00Z

The System Center and Cloud OS Boot Camp will provide you with the technical learning, insight and networking opportunities (with Microsoft and strategic solutions partners) to succeed while preparing you for the future. Learn first-hand how Microsoft management solutions can empower you in your Private Cloud computing journey and help you manage a wide range of different devices in your organisations.
With technical track sessions as well as face-to-face access to Microsoft and industry IT management experts, the System Center and Cloud OS Boot Camp provides a ‘can‘t miss‘ opportunity to learn about new technologies including Windows Server 2012, System Center 2012 SP1 and Windows Azure. Witness the power of being able to use a common toolset in a consistent way - for your desktop, datacenter, cloud infrastructure and applications.

Don’t miss this opportunity of engaging with members of our Product Team from Redmond, Wally Mead, Rob Willis, Kenon Owens, Matt McSpirit as well as Dell, Intel and your local South African team.

We have a very exciting agenda lined up!

Build your Dell vStart | What is new in System Center Configuration Manager 2012 SP1

Windows Server 2012 All Up! | Intel vPro capabilities in System Center Configuration Manager 2012

What’s New in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V | Managing Heterogeneous Clients with Configuration Manager 2012 SP1

Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 | Windows 8 & MDOP: Better Together

Automating System Center Deployment with the Powershell Deployment Toolkit

Windows Azure unpacked & Self-Service for Private & Public Clouds with App Controller

What is new and System Center Virtual Machine Manager SP1

…. and much more

Reserve your seat today!

Dates:	22-23 April 2013 or 24 – 25 April 2013 Please choose the most suitable dates
Venue:	Intundla Game Lodge - Portion 7, Hammanskraal Road (R628), Boekenhoutskloof, Dinokeng, Pretoria View Map
Costs:	R3 500.00 excl. VAT Includes all meals, one night's shared accommodation and conference materials
RSVP:	Click here to register

Proud sponsors of the Microsoft System Center and Cloud OS Boot Camp

TechEd Africa 2013

2013-03-20T19:29:00Z

South Africa’s premier technology event for IT Professionals and Developers, TechEd Africa, will be staged from 16-19 April 2013 at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban.

Offering the most comprehensive education across Microsoft's current and soon-to-be-released suite of products, solutions, tools, and services; the four days will be crammed with more than 1 000 learning opportunities and hands-on training, 500 unique breakout sessions with Microsoft speakers and industry experts, and more than 200 self-paced labs created by product experts.

What is TechEd?

TechEd Africa 2013 offers hands-on learning, deep product exploration and countless opportunities to build relationships with a community of Microsoft experts and tech industry peers. This mega-event brings together not only local delegates, but internationally-acclaimed speakers eager to share their insights and knowledge and demonstrate innovative technology solutions.

Why you should attend...

If you are a technology professional involved in building, deploying or maintaining IT solutions using Microsoft technologies, TechEd Africa will help you solve today's real-world challenges and prepare you for tomorrow's innovations.

Delegates have the opportunity to immerse themselves in hundreds of IT learning opportunities and have their questions answered by renowned technology experts. Even more importantly, they will be able to engage and collaborate with Microsoft innovators, industry leaders and thousands of their IT peers, building connections that will last beyond the event.

Where do you register?… Click on the image below for all the information…

Cheers...

Morgan
(@morganwza)

Community Night – March 2013

2013-02-28T05:47:00Z

The March community night will take place on the 12th of March at the Microsoft Campus in Bryanston. It will be a 15:30 for 16:00 start, to finish at 17:30.

This month we will be hosting Veeam to run through their new Backup & Replication Cloud Edition. This will consist of live demonstrations around the product, a short summary of its features are below.

“Protecting your business against catastrophic data loss is vital, and offsite storage is the key. Although tapes are often used for long-term, secure data storage, public storage clouds provide the reliability you need without the cost or complexity associated with tapes.

Veeam Backup & Replication Cloud Edition makes offsite backup to the cloud easy and lets you use Windows Azure or any other leading public storage cloud provider.”

Agenda:

Public cloud storage options
Cloud cost estimation
Encryption
Bandwidth scheduling
Compression
Job notifications

We will host this event via Lync for those that are not able to attend in person. You will find the recurring meeting invite attached at the bottom of this blog post, this will save the date of the evening in your calendar until December 2013.

We look forward to your attendance and more importantly you participation in the event, with the informal agenda it is key for your interaction to make a success of the evening.

Afterwards we will also have a networking opportunity with complimentary Beer & Pizza at ‘The Office’…

Cheers,

Morgan
@morganwza

Realising the value of an RKM.

2013-01-31T21:14:00Z

Hi All,

We recently completed, a RKM (Roles and Knowledge Management) engagement for one of our biggest customers in South Africa. This specific engagement focused on the Active Directory (AD) environment and service.

This engagement was a great success, the benefit and the value was immediately realised, the customer was extremely happy and I would like to share this story with you!

The RKM delivery provides guidance on the roles and responsibilities within the AD Team, the Standard Operating Procedures activities that need to be executed and recorded, as well as the importance of knowledge management within a supporting service.

This engagement brought tremendous value to our customer and before the engagement even ended the customer was asking Microsoft to perform this delivery within the other Technology teams.

Customers Issue:

The customer came to us with 3 main concerns:

My staff do not know what they are supposed to do on a day to day basis (their roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined)
No one is taking accountability for the functions and tasks needed to be performed within the team to ensure AD is healthy
I have no way of documenting and sharing the knowledge of the actions and tasks performed within the AD team.

These are real concerns we see on a day to day basis. How true is it that when it comes to getting more staff members, we struggle to justify the time we spend on doing our day to day operations as none of these Standard Operating Procedures (SOPS) are recorded, defined or assigned responsibility. Although calls are logged via a Service Desk majority of the time, we often miss recording the proactive maintenance and preventative tasks we perform on a daily basis to ensure the AD environment is stable.

The Solution:

We proposed an RKM Solution to assist and achieve the above mentioned concerns:

Clearly understand roles and responsibilities of service managers, administrators, and other Operations staff
Create an environment where proactive focus drives daily, weekly, and monthly tasks
Increase accountability and assign tasks for effective execution
Improve knowledge sharing to increase employee skill levels
Develop and maintain consistent documentation

How this offering works:

RKM combines the implementation of structured management processes and proactive operational tasks presented through an application and delivered as part of the solution, which is based on Microsoft SharePoint 2010.

Role and Responsibility Optimization

RKM delivers roles, responsibilities, and detailed proactive work instructions contained in pre-packaged content packs specific to a Microsoft technology.

Power and Benefits of SharePoint 2010 Technology

Operations Center is a SharePoint 2010 application with role-based views of the organization’s operational documentation and the work instructions performed. This enables management to easily assign administrative staff the work applicable only to their role.

It’s About the Knowledge

Pre-packaged content packs of recommended work instructions are the heart of the offering. These work instructions contain best practice guidance from Microsoft Services, Microsoft IT, and the Microsoft Center of Excellence.

Maximize the Value of Your IT Investments

Ensuring you get the most out of your IT investments is the mission of Microsoft Services.

(An RKM is currently available for the following technologies: Windows Server 2008 and 2003 Active Directory, Exchange Server 2010 and 2007, SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, SQL Server 2008 and 2005, System Center Configuration Manager 2007, System Center Operations Manager 2007, and Office Communications Server 2007 R2 environments)

This engagement helped the customer identify which engineers of the AD team were performing functions that should have been performed by other teams and sometimes departments. We were able to optimize the tasks and workloads of the team and streamline the activities per engineer.
We were also able to track the activities and maintenance tasks and assign owners to ensure the Standard Operating Procedures were actioned and tracked on a daily, weekly and monthly basis.

All of this was created within SharePoint 2010, linked to automated reminders with activity guidance documentation and operating procedures, making it easy to know what to do and when. A calendar view and inbuilt reports helps to keep track of everything and the effort required to complete the scheduled tasks.

All in all, the value we delivered through this engagement has provided the customer with a sustainable approach to defining roles and responsibilities, monitoring tasks and provided knowledge sharing in a central location.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article! Please contact your Microsoft representative should you require any further information on this.

Have a great day further.

Regards,

Natalie

MVA Series – Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator

2013-01-31T07:17:00Z

In this second part of a two part blog post, previous one here, we will conclude the Service Delivery & Automation portion of delivering IT-as-a-Service with a series of videos from the Microsoft Virtual Academy focussing on System Center Orchestrator SP1 (SCO).

The series will take you from learning about the SCO Architecture, which is critical for it’s use to automate the creation, monitoring, and deployment of resources in your environment, to Administering and Troubleshooting your deployment.

The diagram below highlights the focus area of this post…

System Center 2012 SP1 Automation - Part 1

*Delay in video post, will be uploaded asap*…

System Center 2012 SP1 Automation - Part 2

Orchestrator Architecture Overview with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator - Part 1 here
Orchestrator Architecture Overview with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator - Part 2 here

System Center 2012 SP1 Automation - Part 3

Interface and Workflow Settings with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator here

System Center 2012 SP1 Automation - Part 4

Workflow Basics with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator here

System Center 2012 SP1 Automation - Part 5

Advanced Workflow Concepts with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator - Part 1 here
Advanced Workflow Concepts with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator - Part 2 here

System Center 2012 SP1 Automation - Part 6

Creating Complex Workflows with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator - Part 1 here
Creating Complex Workflows with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator - Part 2 here

System Center 2012 SP1 Automation - Part 7

Error Handling, External Interfaces and Lifecycle Management with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator here

System Center 2012 SP1 Automation - Part 8

Troubleshooting & Advanced Administration with System Center 2012 SP1 Orchestrator here

Cheers…
Morgan
(@morganwza)

MVA Series - Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1

2013-01-29T05:53:00Z

In this two part blog post, we will follow on from the previous post that focused on Configure & Deploy and Monitor & Operate,with some webcasts around System Center Service Manager 2012 SP1 (SCSM) and its role in enabling the delivery of IT-as-a-Service.

These Microsoft Virtual Academy modules will assist you to learn how Service Manager now supports Windows Server 2012 and SQL Server 2012 along with improvements to the Cloud Service Process Pack to provide new Service Catalog content. Additionally you will find out about improved integration with System Center Orchestrator (SCO), new chargebacks and price sheet features, role-based access, and the simplified self-service portal with Silverlight web parts and SharePoint.

Finally you will see how the key themes of standardization, self-service and automation are used to complete the request fulfilment process, including importing, building, publishing, creating, invoking, and monitoring.

The diagram below highlights the focus areas for this post and the following one…

Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1

Import Data and Runbooks here

Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2

Build and Publish Request Offerings here

Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 3

Create, Invoke & Monitor here

Service Manager in System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 4

Chargeback here

Cheers…
Morgan
(@morganwza)

Wave of training content following the System Center 2012 SP1 launch - MVA

2013-01-21T13:08:00Z

If you attended any Microsoft event in 2012 that discussed System Center 2012 or Cloud, you no doubt would have seen the following graphic positioning how System Center 2012 enables the delivery of IT-as-a-Service between the Application Owner and the Data Center Administrator.

The key talking points were around the provisioning of infrastructure (physical or virtual), and then the operating of it on a continuous basis. These were categorized into Configure & Deploy and Monitor & Operate, and logically the Private Cloud certification that covered these areas was also named the same.

MCSE: Private Cloud

Configuring and Deploying a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 (70-247)
Monitoring and Operating a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 (70-246)

With the recent release of Service Pack 1 for System Center 2012, there has been a wave of training posted on the Microsoft Virtual Academy to cover all the topics that fall under these two areas.

I have summarised all of the current webcasts below, and listed them in a logical manner to make it easier to run through from the Deployment topics to the Operations topics.

Overview of System Center 2012 SP1 here.

Configure & Deploy

Infrastructure
Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 – Compute here

Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 – Storage here

Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 3 – Network here

Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 4 – Network here

Configure & Deploy Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 5 – Cluster here

Private Cloud

Configure & Deploy Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 – Abstraction here

Configure & Deploy Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 - Heterogeneity & Control here

Configure & Deploy Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 3 – Expansion here

Applications

Configure & Deploy Applications with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 here

Configure & Deploy Applications with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 here

Service Delivery & Automation

Configure & Deploy Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 – Standardization here

Configure & Deploy Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 – Self-Service & Systems Automation here

Monitor & Operate

Infrastructure

Monitor & Operate Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 - Proactive & Corrective here

Monitor & Operate Infrastructure Components with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 - Standardize & Available here

Private Cloud

Monitor & Operate Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 - Cloud Utilization here

Monitor & Operate Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 - Control Access here

Monitor & Operate Private Cloud Infrastructure with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 3 - Application Servicing here

Applications

Monitor & Operate Applications with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 here

Monitor & Operate Applications with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 here

Service Delivery & Automation

Monitor & Operate Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 1 - Integration & Management here

Monitor & Operate Service Delivery & Automation with System Center 2012 SP1 - Part 2 – Reporting here

Cheers…
Morgan
(@morganwza)

How to use Windows Server 2012 Essentials with more than 25 Users?

2013-01-13T09:27:00Z

As you know Windows Server 2012 Essentials is primarily designed for small businesses that need support for up to 25 user accounts and up to 50 devices. But even beyond this, Windows Server 2012 Essentials provides a number of unique, value-added features, such as Remote Web Access and automatic client computer backup, which many customers and partners want to have available in larger environments.

As in my previous session on “What do you do with Windows Server 2012 Essentials when you grow beyond the 25 user ceiling?” , here is another scenario which is new for Windows Server 2012 Essentials, but has been available in the Windows Server family for some time. The downgrade rights for Windows Server 2012 Standard and Datacenter have been expanded to include the Windows Server 2012 Essentials edition. This means that when you purchase, or receive as a Software Assurance (SA) grant, a Windows Server 2012 Standard license, you can choose to run Essentials as one of your two virtual instances, without having to purchase Essentials separately.

Remember that Windows Server 2012 Standard allows you the virtual use rights for up to 2 virtual instances, which means that you can install Windows Server 2012 Essentials on one of those instances and use the other for an application virtualisation workload or a line of business application.

This right is documented in the Windows Server 2012 Licensing FAQ as well as in the latest Microsoft Product List and this downgrade right is available to all customers in all available channels (except for SPLA), including volume licensing (VL), OEM, and retail (FPP).

"Q15. If I want to use the bits from an earlier version or edition, what are my options?"

Remember that the ability to run downgrade bits does not change the licensing or support terms in which you can use the product you purchased, for example if you purchase Windows Server 2012 Standard, you will need Windows Server 2012 CALs even if you choose to downgrade an instance to run Windows Server 2012 Essentials.

If you purchase an OEM or retail copy of Windows Server 2012 Standard, you can download Windows Server 2012 Essentials and obtain a product key to use during installation from the TechNet Eval Center, and then perform an in-place license transition by using your Standard product key, which gives you a fully licensed and supported instance.

Customers go wild for MOF!

2012-12-11T09:47:00Z

Microsoft PFE Operations Consultants love to talk about best practices, and lately we have had many requests from clients for MOF workshops.

These workshops are aimed at helping a customer’s staff gain a practical understanding of MOF and IT Service Management best practices and the activities that help drive Service Management benefits throughout the operations support functions.

MOF workshops are held over a 2 day period per group or customer, and combine interactive sessions as well as practical examples of each Service Management concept through an online role based simulation included in the workshop.

The simulation allows delegates to use their experience and bring in their own organisations experience to create their own processes to meet the demands of the simulation. As they are introduced to MOF principles these learned concepts can be incorporated to showcase their understanding of best practices. This embeds the importance of the 4 P’s of Service Management (People, Process, Products and Partners) and how these can positively affect the efficiency of any IT organization.

Following the successful delivery of our workshops, our customers recognized the potential benefits of utilizing MOF best practices in their operations functions, and have now expressed interest in gaining assistance from Microsoft PFE Operations Consulting for the following:

Specialized workshops that focuses on specific functions within their organizations e.g Service Desk
Operational Risk assessments to understand the risks within their operations management processes and practices
Creation of Service Catalogues and Service Mappings to properly define IT services and optimize support efforts
Documenting Roles and responsibilities and the operational support knowledge generated on a daily basis
Further training through MOF workshops for the rest of the organization to improve their understanding of best practices.

Some customers feedback was that they thoroughly enjoyed themselves, and that the simulation was “Good Fun” and an “Eye Opener”.

Running the MOF Simulation allows customers to see the best practices processes in action, the potential benefits of IT service management and assist in understanding the value that IT operations can provide to the business.

If you would like to hear more about our MOF Workshops, please contact your Microsoft Account Manager, Services Executive or Service Delivery Manager.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Best regards,

Natalie