-
What a long post title to basically share a link to a recent video I recorded with Microsoft U.K.’s very own Eileen Brown (leading IT Pro evangelist, and social media expert) about our recent unveiling of Exchange 2010:
This video was shot just minutes after spending nearly seven hours presenting and facilitating the Exchange sessions, with fellow Redmond Exchange team’er Ed Banti, at the Reading, U.K. edition of INTERACT 2009.
Eileen even has a blog about that: Interact 2009 and Exchange 2010
Well, enjoy the video.
And, don’t forget to check out all the Exchange 2010 resources (and the beta download) available at microsoft.com/exchange/2010.
-- hama
-
After spending more than year working on the Exchange product management team, I can finally start talking about all the cool stuff the Exchange team has been building over the last several years. That’s right, today we took the wraps off, dispensed with all the secrecy, and publicly announced Exchange 2010 (Woo-hoo!):
Microsoft Unveils Exchange 2010 With Public Beta
As the title of the announcement spells out, we also released a downloadable beta of the on-premises server product. And, to complete the “unveilment” hat trick, there are a series of new Exchange 2010 websites up and running across Microsoft’s various web properties. You can best reach them all from microsoft.com/exchange/2010.
Another thing you may have noticed, is the new(ish) look and feel around the Exchange brand. We call this the Dynamic Grid, and you should recognize it from the other Microsoft server products like SQL, System Center, and Forefront. Not necessarily the coolest feature of Exchange 2010, but again something we can finally start using more widely as we talk to the release.
So, what’s so special about this release? There’s a ton…no seriously, we’ve packed a lot of great new features and enhancements into Exchange 2010. In fact, one of the biggest and newest elements introduced in this release is now my primary area of focus: Archiving and Retention.
There’ll be plenty more about this space, and the rest of the features that we’re bring to market.
For now, I’d rather share some links to a number of great review articles that have started to publish now that the curtain has been lifted.
Fellow technical product manager and Outlook Live video star, Jim Lucey and I went on the road a few weeks back to brief these various technical reviewers, and I’m really pleased with the results:
One of my personal favorite lines comes from the Windows IT Pro piece:
“I had a conversation with Microsoft senior product managers, Jim Lucey and Ian Hameroff and asked them if it should be pronounced "Twenty-Ten" or "Two Thousand and Ten." In keeping with their mantra of flexibility and choice, they said it's up to you.”
Goofy?
Yes.
But, that’s how Jim and I roll.
And, yes, flexibility and choice is more than just a marketing buzz phrase around this release. I hope that by downloading the beta bits, reading up on the details on Microsoft.com, and watching the great TechNet Edge videos (like this one on Voice Mail by Ankur Kothari) you’ll see that too.
Programming Note: Tonight, Ed Banti and I will be talking about Exchange 2010 at the “Vista Squad” user group meeting here in London. If you happen to be in London, come check it out.
-- hama
PS: As mentioned previously, I’m over in the U.K. (now in London) for the week, and I think I just saw Ray Parker, Jr. doing a parody version of his (in)famous Theme from Ghostbusters, dressed as a double-decker bus conductor, in a 118 118 T.V. advert. Oh, my.
-
Well...in keeping with the spirit of my long blogosphere absences, I'm back (once again) to let you know that I'm now rightsizing my blogging to micro-blog levels.
That's right, I've gone off and started Twitting.
Or, is it Tweeting.
Ugh.
Nevertheless, I welcome you to follow not just my random acts of blogging on this TechNet blog, but also learn fun facts about such nonesense as "I'm at Qwest Field, having a few beers in the club before first kick. Go Sounders!", or more aligned with my work in the Exchange product management team, "Just spent part of the morning playing with MS Mail 3.5 with ankbomb". (NOTE: "ankbomb" is a fellow product manager, focused on our voice mail workload made possible by Exchange)
So, go ahead and follow me at twitter.com/hameroff.
-- hama
PS: Oh, yeah. I'm off to the U.K. tonight for this year's installment of INTERACT, INTERACT2009 (if you were following me on Twitter, you'd already know that by now <g>).
-
I’m writing this post following a day on the slopes, so while my spirit remains strong and purposeful, my body does not.
(NOTE: No broken limbs or missing teeth, but I did “accidently” wonder onto a black diamond trail, and cruised my good pal and Exchange team colleague Jim for telling me to “meet him up there.” My quasi-intermediate skiing skills enabled me to get down the hill, albeit with several falls and bruised ego.)
Luckily, KC and I had pre-recorded this new TechNet Edge video we posted yesterday to outline our latest news around Exchange Labs Outlook Live (a service we are running to deliver Exchange “14” powered e-mail to schools and universities via our http://get.liveatedu.com/).
Take a look at the video and let’s us know what you think!
My demo section was shot in my humble building 31 office, and thanks to Adam Bomb’s camera work, he was able to hide most of the clutter I attempted to stash out of shot.
And, if you really dug the desktop picture I had on my Windows laptop, you can download it from my Flickr site (NOTE: a shameless self-promotional plug):
So, what’s with the “shameless self-promotional plug”?
Well, I thought it was fitting since we announced that the Government of the state of São Paulo, Brazil will be offering Live@EDU to “more than 6 million students of the state", I’d share a picture I took in the city of Sao Paulo back in December (while visiting family).
That’s all for now, time to hit the ibuprofen!
-- hama
-
My friends and colleagues over at the MacBU have shipped a beta of Entourage that features new support for EWS (a/k/a Exchange Web Services). This replaces the previous WebDAV approach used in both previously releases of Entourage and Exchange Server.
More details here for IT Pros:
Entourage for Exchange Web Services
Also, check out my bud Mike's blog posting up on the "The Office for Mac Team Blog":
Entourage for Exchange Web Services Beta is Live!
Good stuff, if you ask me (that is, someone who does not use a Mac or Entourage, but digs EWS).
-- hama
-
Hey, our Microsoft Unified Communications blog is on fire as of late. After a longer hiatus than I took with this blog, the UC team (of which I'm a member of) is blogging like gangbusters.
Check it out:
-- hama
-
Not that I want to turn a TechNet blog into a battleground Lotus vs. Exchange tit-for-tat, but in furtherance to my posting on Friday (re: Notes momentum meets Gartner reality) here's a link to a good Q&A with David Scult on the very subject of Exchange Mo':
Making Sense of the Messaging and Collaboration Market
It's short and sweet, and support with some third-party commentary too.
You can't help but feel good when we get to say things like:
"More than 10 million users are making the switch from Lotus Notes and Domino to Exchange and SharePoint, including more than two million in the last six months alone."
-- hama
-
Lot's of great buzz around the messaging space with the run up to IBM's Lotusphere. Lotusphere is kicking off on Sunday.
Here's a neat Computerworld article about where the PR "rubber" meets the Gartner analyst "road":
"Au contraire: Exchange's lead over Notes actually 'getting bigger and bigger,' says Gartner"
"While IBM argued today that its Lotus Notes collaboration software was turning the tide against the market leader, Microsoft Corp.'s Exchange, a Gartner Inc. analyst said that's not the case.
"I don't believe that in either revenue or user seat share, that IBM is closing the gap [with Microsoft]," Tom Austin, a Gartner analyst, told Computerworld today. "The gap is getting bigger and bigger."
IBM did not immediately respond to a request for comment."
-- hama
-
As both an ol' security guy, and now a nearly seasoned e-mail server guy (okay, it's been one calendar year since I moved over to the Exchange team), I really dig this whole discussion around the future of President-elect Obama's BlackBerry.
He is, much like many CrackMobileE-mailers (like myself with my growing collection of WinMo devices), a self-confessed mobile e-mail junkie.
However, national security concerns, etc. demand something more than an off-the-shelf device for the "E-mailer-in-Chief" to be issuing important orders (like righting the American economy) or taking care of other important things (such as getting a playoff system in place of NCAA football's crappy BCS system).
Look, I'm a big fan of the soon to be 44th president, but I'd have to admit I wouldn't want to be seen with Mr. Obama while he is carrying this "organizationally approved" smart phone:
More details:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10141398-38.html?tag=pop
By comparison, I am loving my HTC Touch HD. I do miss having 3G data rates, but I love the longer battery life and the screen. The virtual keyboard is way more functional than the iPhone's (even on the small screened HTC Touch Diamond I have), and the screen kids ass. We still need to work on our touch (lower-case 't' and no pun intended), but it is a very fun and functional device for me. It has officially earned the title of 'Best Windows Mobile Phone I've Owned", unseating the Touch Diamond.
-- hama
-
Well, here's a little more insight on what I've been working on these days:
http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/01/13/450397.aspx
Way more to come over the next few months.
Nevertheless, it is nice to finally have some things to talk about publicly.
Meanwhile, time to get back to work. I'm hoping to get my work laptop up to Windows 7 Beta 1 (build 7000) before the end of the week. Just digging out from 3 weeks of holiday. Once I've got my head above water, it's Win7 time.
I am also tempted to pick-up a spare SSD for my Dell Mini 9, and give the netbook a crack at Win7. It was very strange using the Mini 9 over my vacation and Windows XP. Had to almost relearn a few things being that it has been almost 4 years since I used XP on a regular basis. It's like riding a bike, right?
-- hama
-
Can you believe that I have not tended to my blog for nearly 8 months?
Wait.
Don't answer that!
Why?
Well, it is pretty easy to tell that by noticing that my last post was in March.
Moving on.
As I mentioned back in...er..January, I've been over in the Exchange Product Management team for the whole of 2008. It's been a great time, and I've learned a ton about product planning.
Yup.
I've been spending 2008 helping drive the next releases of Exchange. While I can't go into details about what's to come (at least not yet), it's a really exciting time for this space.
Heck, we just took the "beta" wrapping off Exchange Online on Monday, and we've been having a great time helping students benefit from Exchange-powered e-mail through our Live@EDU efforts.
All the while, I spent a good deal of time on the road meeting with customers across the U.S., and the world (including Germany, China, and Japan), seeking to learn more about how IT Pros are using Exchange and what they think of ideas we have for the future. What a blast that has been.
So, what happened to the blog?
Two words: "My Bad".
It's been super (FYI:"super" is one of the most overused words/phrases/modifiers at Microsoft) busy doing all of this stuff.
Nevertheless, I hope to get back on the bloggin' horse and fill you in on not just my past travels, but some other neat things. For example, I've become quite the WinMo gadget freak over the year. I plan on sharing some of my thoughts on that, and things not necessarily related to work.
Anyhow, time to go and have lunch with an old CA colleague of mine. He, like me, moved on years back, but we're both doing our thing out here in the soggy PacWest:
Stay tuned!
--hama
-
While it has been nearly three months since I moved from the role as product manager for Windows Server networking to the Exchange Server team, I still get the occasional opportunity to strut my old networking stuff.
One such example is a recent article I co-authored with Amith Krishnan (product manager for Network Access Protection) on creating a policy-driven network access solution using a bunch of the new features of Windows Server 2008. The article -- entitled Policy-Driven Network Access with Windows Server 2008 -- appears in the March edition of Microsoft's TechNet Magazine.
Here's the article synopsis:
How do you allow network access to those who need it without sacrificing security? See how new technologies in Windows Server 2008, such as Windows Firewall with Advanced Security and Network Access Protection, let you implement a policy-based approach to help you achieve this goal.
Unfortunately, the online version of article doesn't offer you the opportunity to make comments on the article. So, please feel free to post your thoughts or feedback to this blog posting.
Okay, back to Exchange for me. I'm currently completely week 2 of 3 on the road doing focus groups around our future plans for Exchange Server. Good stuff; albeit exhausting to be traveling across the US, Asia (currently in Tokyo) and then Europe. Yahoo!
-- hama
-
What?
Yes, the rumors* you heard are true.
I've decided to usher in the year 2008, by leaving the group working on a major product named after this new year (i.e. Windows Server 2008) and join the Unified Communications team! Specifically, I am now a Senior (non-AARP member) Technical Product Manager focused on Exchange Server.
"Hey, what does a networking and security hack know about email servers?" you ask.
Great question.
But the good news is, I'm learning a lot in the few short days I've been in seat and expect to learn a heck of lot more in this role.
As such, I'll start shifting this blog to focus more on my new UC/Exchange world view, but fret not. I'll leave all those great (YMMV) posts on WS08 networking and network security stuff. I will also start filling you in a bit more on what it is I'm actually doing as I get ramped up from both the holiday break and the job transition.
All in all, this new role is a great opportunity for me to stretch my technical product management skills (that's mad skillz, or at least slightly ill tempered skillz) in a new technology space. I'm still loosely connected with the ol' Windows Server 2008 launch team gang, and hope to swing down to L.A. for the premier event in February. I've also made sure to seed little bits of my networking product management meddling in a few places that will soon come to light (in and around the launch window for WS08), so stay tuned for that!
Anyhow, happy 2008 to all of you!
I hope that those of you who have read my blog in the past for networking stuff (that's the official, technical description) will stick around and save yourself a good front row seat for all my UC and Exchange Server mumblings!
* If you did hear any rumors, that pretty neat!
-
Yup.
It went live today.
More details here:
Microsoft and Industry Partners Gear Up for Biggest Enterprise Launch Wave in the Company’s History
Check it out!
-- hama
-
Yes.
I agree that it took us long enough to get this thing posted since I first mentioned it back in February.
Nevertheless, you can now download the kick ass Server and Domain Isolation demo/lab that Microsoft MVP and Virtualization and Security Guru Ronald Beekelaar built for us:
Server and Domain Isolation Demo
This kit includes everything you need to test drive a Server and Domain Isolation deployment on Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP.
Wait!
Did I say WS03 and XP?
Yes. But, don't fret.
We're working with Ron to get an updated version of the demo that highlights all the great stuff we've done in Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008. This version (no pressure Ron!) should hit the streets around the RTM/Launch of WS08. Stay tuned!
Okay, back to describing the one you now have at your disposal: You'll find 5 pre-configured VHDs and some great documentation that will step you through both basic and advanced S&DI scenarios. Ron's done a great job with visualizations that help tell the story and explain the data flows, etc. when trying out the different scenarios (like the "Start Page" shown below).
All you'll need to do to run the demo is download Virtual PC 2007 (or use an existing Virtual Server or Virtual PC installation) which you can get for free from http://www.microsoft.com/virtualpc.
After you've been wowed by the great stuff you can do with S&DI (which is an out of the box security solution with WS03, XP and Win2K, and WS08 and WinVista), visit our TechNet Server and Domain Isolation site at http://www.microsoft.com/sdisolation to learn more, review customer case studies, and download deployment guidance.
Have fun!
-- hama
