Chris Parkes: A PC is not just for Christmas... : Demo Showcase, Microsoft Office System

SharePoint, Customisation and Sample Master Pages

chrisp — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 19:00:29 GMT

Here's another screencast I've recorded which shows how to apply the sample custom master pages available on Office Online to Windows SharePoint Services team sites.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - Customisation

This recording is based on the Demo Showcase virtual images, a resource readily available to Microsoft Gold and Certified partners. Total running time is just over two and a half minutes :)

Parkesy

SharePoint, Collaboration and Workflow

chrisp — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:12:58 GMT

Here's another screencast I've recorded which shows some of the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server collaboration capabilities including the out of the box Approval workflow.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - Collaboration

This recording is based on the Demo Showcase virtual images, a resource readily available to Microsoft Gold and Certified partners. Total running time is ten minutes :)

Parkesy

SharePoint and Search

chrisp — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:49:31 GMT

Here's another screencast I've recorded which shows some of the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server search capabilities including how to search across content including the business data catalog and people.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - Search

This recording is based on the Demo Showcase virtual images, a resource readily available to Microsoft Gold and Certified partners. Total running time is under four minutes :)

Parkesy

SharePoint, Business Process & Forms

chrisp — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 15:27:00 GMT

Here's a little screencast I've recorded showing a demonstration of some of the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server Forms Services capabilities together with InfoPath forms rendered through a browser and also including simple workflow creation and deployment through SharePoint Designer.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server - Business Process & Forms

Based on the Demo Showcase virtual images, a resource readily available to Microsoft Gold and Certified partners, the demo lasts just a touch over ten minutes, I'd love to know what you think of it!

Parkesy

Demo Showcase 2008 SMB Edition

chrisp — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:34:37 GMT

The Demo Showcase 2008 SMB Edition is now available for download.

This is a set of 4 comprehensive click through demonstrations designed for partners featuring 12 different Microsoft technologies working together to resolve business needs!

Scenarios:
Business Productivity
Customer Acquisition and Retention
Security and Reliability
Business Solutions

Products:
Windows Essentials Business Server 2008
Windows Small Business Server 2008
Office 2007
Windows Vista
SQL 2008
System Center Essentials 2007
Dynamics CRM 4.0
SharePoint Server 2007

Download from here!

Ciao for now :)

Product Demonstration Resource for ALL Microsoft Partners!!!

chrisp — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:07:34 GMT

The Microsoft Partner Demo Showcase download has been extended to include Deep Dive/Product virtual environments which are available to ALL Microsoft partners, including SBSC. Only Demo Showcase remains as the Gold/Cert benefit moving forwards...

The following are now available globally for immediate download:

2007 Microsoft Office System

47 Hands-on Labs
25 demonstrations

Microsoft Forefront and System Center Demonstration Toolkit

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager
Microsoft Forefront Security for Exchange Server
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager
Intelligent Application Gateway
Forefront Client Security

Microsoft Business Intelligence Demo (Data Warehousing, Reporting and Analysis, Performance Management)

Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007

Get your lovely new shiny Virtual Machine downloads here.

Enjoy :)

Demo Showcase 2007 - A Little Respect!

chrisp — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:01:07 GMT

I tried to discover a little something to make life sweeter, when Demo Showcase 2007 was released, there were quiet whisperings and rumblings amongst some of my colleagues here at Microsoft UK. Most of them were based around apathy "What's this release gonna give us that we haven't got already?" and sometimes even, I would hear them doubt "Is it really any good?"

Well, I'm extremely pleased to say that not only has this surpassed all of my expectations, it's even convinced some of my die hard "I build my own demos thank you very much!" colleagues to use this as a base platform for their development efforts. If you were to take a look at the Demo Showcase 2007, you would find it easy to see why. So before you jump to conclusions, maybe refrain and try this for a start.

First of all, the directory structure of the organizational hierarchy has been built with long term expansion in mind...Next, implementations of key technologies such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 have been very effectively done, with Internet, extranet and intranet 'Contoso' branding attached appropriately. In addition, the twenty four scenarios that accompany the base platform package (remember, this is a fully built virtual environment so you can still go off piste if you feel the need) have all been thoroughly thought through, tested and released as Microsoft Expression simulations to allow the novice user to get a feel for what's possible.

As for other demonstration environments, was it that "You give me no sale," I hear you calling? When it comes to Demo Showcase 2007, I'm so in love with you, I'll be forever true, especially because you give me a reason why I don't need to work so hard, so maybe please, give a little respect...

And the best piece of feedback I've had so far from a partner..? Simple, an email from a partner titled Demo Showcase Simulations with a single statement in the body... "Love it!"

Ciao for now :)

Demo Showcase 2007 Download

chrisp — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 17:41:27 GMT

The Demo Showcase 2007 edition is now available for download to all Microsoft Gold and Certified partners. It's also possible to order the two disc DVD set from the partner portal here.

Technologies included in the Demo Showcase 2007 scenarios are:

Business Scorecard Manager 2005
Dynamics AX 4.0
Exchange Server 2007
Live Communications Server 2005
MapPoint 2006
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Mobile Express
Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
Microsoft Systems Management Server 2003 (Desired Configuration Monitoring 2.0)
Office Enterprise 2007

OneNote 2007
Excel 2007
InfoPath 2007
PowerPoint 2007
Word 2007

ProClarity Desktop Professional
Project 2007
SQL Server 2005
SQL Server Analysis Services 2005
SQL Server Reporting Services 2005
Systems Management Server 2003 R2
Visual Studio 2005
Visual Studio 2005 Team Foundation Server
Windows Mobile
Windows Server 2003 R2
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0
Windows Vista
Windows Vista Enterprise

Enjoy!!!

Ciao for now :)

The Truth About Demo Showcase 2007 & Windows Vista ReadyBoost

chrisp — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 20:15:00 GMT

Microsoft will soon be launching a preview of the next iteration of the Demo Showcase for Partners to use to help evangelise around three recently launched technologies, Windows Vista, Microsoft Office 2007 System and Exchange 2007 plus complimentary solutions.

One of the most significant pieces of feedback I've had regarding the beta content so far surrounds the area of performance. With a minimum specification requirement of 3Gb RAM (available, not total!) the Demo Showcase is running the risk of becoming unusable in customer facing situations (that is until hardware refresh cycle's catch up with it) as performance is significantly affected with less RAM available. More on how this can be solved in future posts...

In the meantime, for people who have a paltry 2Gb of RAM in their machine (like me, :) one way to ensure additional resources can be kept running on the host machine (if it's running Windows Vista) is to use ReadyBoost technology. Unfortunately, as Frank points out, this is no use to anyone whatsoever in a virtual environment. I'm loving Frank's comments on the way Company Net have taken to using the Technical Demonstration Toolkit (TDT) and the Demo Showcase though!

The Demo Showcase & Office 2007 Launch (Part 2)

chrisp — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 18:56:00 GMT

There's another fantastic scenario contained with the Demo Showcase which expertly shows off the amazing conditional formatting and newly designed table capabilities of Microsoft Excel 2007.

In the scenario, we assume the character of Patricia Doyle, a Sales Manager with Contoso. Maybe the silicon chip inside her head is switched to overload (but) she don’t like downtime. So, the race is on with regards to just how fast we can get better results faster!

First of all, we're introduced to the concept of galleries and the use of the new live preview capabilities of Office 2007. We also get to understand the benefit of contextual menus and the fantastic charting options available.

By using the blandest of spreadsheets, we are quickly shown how to transform it into a professional looking spreadsheet containing automatically created totals, filters and funky new charts!

Finally, the scenario wraps with a spreadsheet containing data bars, business intelligence style icons and more... All in less than five minutes. So much for that downtime, shame we can't do anything about Mondays!!!

Ciao for now :)

The Demo Showcase & Office 2007 Launch (Part 1)

chrisp — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 21:13:00 GMT

One of the great things about the Demo Showcase is the Office 2007 content it contains. One of the scenarios let's you assume the role of Julia, the HR Manager at Contoso who needs to publish a HR newsletter on a regular basis. Now, to me, Julia looks more like someone who spends hours and hours in front of the mirror rather than in the Office. How does she manage to find time for this? Easy, she's obviously switched to the 2007 Microsoft Office System (now with workflow!)

In this example, Julia uses the new functionality included in the Ribbon to quickly format a plain looking document and transform it into a HR letter (this obviously then leaves plenty of time to later transform herself into the model pictured above!) She also uses the drop down gallery feature to insert and format graphics that need to be included.

So, the scenario shows how transforming such a bland looking document (pictured left) into the rather swanky looking newsletter (pictured right) is an extremely simple, few click process.

Give it a go if you need to know how...

So this is how it feels to leave early, this is how it feels to us all, this is how it feels when your work takes you no time at all.

Ciao for now :)

The Demo Showcase & Communication

chrisp — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 17:03:00 GMT

The moment I wake up, before I turn on my laptop, I make a little call or two...

And, chances are I will get through to someone's voicemail...at this point, I have a few options:

Leave a voicemail (which I don't know when they will get)
Send an Email (which I don't know when they will get)
Use Microsoft Office Communicator (aha!!!)

In the Demo Showcase, Office Communicator is an enterprise wide communication tool that Contoso uses and the uses are built in to many of the scenarios. The provision of built in presence really is a great advantage which allows people to find out if someone is in a meeting/out of office/on holiday/busy before deciding to contact them. It's extremely useful if, for example, there is a need to get a quick answer to a question without having to waste time generating email that may not get read for days or making a telephone call to leave a message on voicemail...

Within the Demo Showcase, one such scenario highlights how the Contoso Sales Manager uses Microsoft Office Communicator 2005 to communicate instantly with her fellow employees.

In addition, the scenario runs through quick assistance from the IT department to help solve the issue through application sharing!

The possibilities around flexible working are great. I'm thinking how I work here, waking up in the morning, checking email whilst eating breakfast, being able to review what is planned for the day on my Windows SmartPhone, using Mobile Communicator to find out if people I need to speak to are in/out of the office, contacting people over IM to inform them of urgent issues etc. etc.

So, maybe, with a little help from Aretha once more, I should rework my way through the day... The moment I wake up, I start to boot up my laptop and find out what my contacts are up toooooo...

Ciao for now :)