Rob Waggoner   Have you ever gone to install an application into a customer’s environment, especially a new customer’s environment, only to find that Active Directory, DNS, or even Exchange isn’t properly configured?  How do you handle that...

Woody Walton   Okay, I have been using touch for a while, but I have never stepped away from the ability to fallback to a traditional keyboard as I mostly use a touch enabled laptop.  A combination of events allowed me to take the next step...

Q: (from Nikkia) Good morning Stephen!  It was great to meet you last night at the IAMCP DC chapter meeting!  I remember you saying (hopefully, remembering correctly) that SharePoint development can be done on Azure.  Is that true? ...

Josh Condie – I was searching our internal resources recently for a video that I could share with a partner and came across a nice, publically available library of a/v resources – YouTube!  This partner was looking for some quick training (that he...

Are you prepared?!? Windows Server 2012 was released to manufacturing (RTM) earlier this month: http://blogs.technet.com/b/windowsserver/archive/2012/08/01/windows-server-2012-released-to-manufacturing.aspx?Loc=zatfz_zTS1z&type=zEVz&media=zWCz&tech...

Josh Condie – The Bing Business Portal is in beta and is a great resource to acquaint yourself, and your business, with.  It is nicely tailored for the SMB segment, and replaces Bing Local Listings .  Bing Business Portal is a free service that...

By Ron Grattopp …..Back in September, I did a post called “The greatest browser security technology you probably never heard of…” which was a security focused post around the idea that socially-engineered (SE) malware is a far more prevalent threat today...

Josh Condie - There are significant changes in the pricing, licensing, skus, and key product features of Windows Intune with the new Wave D offering launching this month – greatly enhancing the partner reselling and services opportunity.  Many partners...

Q: (from Bill) I’m giving a presentation on Tuesday morning.  I’m going to be highlighting Windows 8 but also wanted to talk about the other product launches in this wave.  Do you have any resources that gives some details about the new versions...

  By Ron Grattopp …..Well, it’s been over 2 years since I’ve blogged about the SIR (last one I did was for V8, Apr 2010), so I thought it might be time for a reprise.  You might remember that the SIR is published twice a year for the previous...

I will be hosting a webcast on Monday, January 25th to discuss the Critical patch for Internet Explorer that was announced on January 21st.  We will discuss the details around this vulnerability within the various versions of Internet Explorer and...

by Ron Grattopp….. If you’ve followed my blog (or Microsoft) for any length of time, you’ll recognize the name Mary Jo Foley, she publishes the “All About Microsoft” blog.  Back on Jan 24th, she published a post, How Microsoft plans to market against...

J.J. Antequino ---------------------------------- If you are in one of the following cities, don’t miss the opportunity to hear about Windows Server 2012 straight from the mouths of our MVPs! Denver Monday, November 12, 2012 8:00 AM-12:00PM Mountain Houston...

by Ron Grattopp ……  I’m pretty sure by now that many of you have an idea that Microsoft invests heavily in research, at least you have if you’ve followed my blogs.  I believe our current investment is in the range of $9B/year .  It’s this...

Todd Sweetser I wanted to share information with you regarding the Office Ignite Webcasts that are currently on the calendar.  Note that Ignite Webcasts are online sessions led by Microsoft Office 365 Product Managers, Engineers and support staff...

Join us on Friday, May 18, at 10:00 AM Central Time May's Agenda will include: Central Region Highlights and Insights WPC — the latest information to help you know what's happening with WPC2012 5 Reasons to Pick Office 365 Over Google Office 365 User...

Josh Condie - Office 365 Deployment Training: Next Offering in Mountain View, CA – Apr 3-5 th Office 365 Partner Deployment Training is designed for partners with a focus on building Office 365 deployment capabilities. Developed by the Microsoft Premier...

Q: (from Matt) A client is asking about Microsoft Search Server Express and it’s something I’m not too familiar with.  I’ve done a little bit of research but it looks like this product is designed for mid-large companies (total data at the client...

J.J. Antequino ---------------------------------- On April 8, 2014, Microsoft will end support for the decade-old Windows XP as well as Office 2003. This means your customers will no longer receive updates, including security updates, for Windows XP from...

Woody Walton I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to present the sixth webcast in the Windows Server Samurai Webcast Series for Partners on the topic of storage last week.   If you missed the webcast, it can viewed online here .  ...

Josh Condie – In my many interactions with our SMB partner community throughout the year, I often come away with requests to assemble and consolidate targeted training resources for partners looking to start a new practice or update old skillsets in preparation...

J.J. Antequino ---------------------------------- This is really cool stuff! I’ve been a big proponent of our Ready-To-Go campaigns… FREE and CUSTOMIZABLE marketing materials for you to use with your customers!?  Seriously?  Yes. Seriously....

  By Ron Grattopp …..As you know, TS2 travels a LOT.  Of course, in my travels I see many folks using business laptops, and even though we all know that Windows 7 is rapidly gaining momentum I still see a significant number of laptops running...

Michael Kophs – You’re probably aware that Microsoft has released a “Preview” version of the New Office. Well did you know that you can also preview the New Office 365 Enterprise? The “New Office 365” is the major service update that existing Office 365...

  B  V  A Microsoft is introducing new business models for Office 365, available March 1st.  This video is Part 2 in a 3 part series. It highlights the benefits of Office 365 and targeting the SMB Customer. The Midmarket Opportunity...