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Our very own Mr Lamb keynoted at the recent event on "Building a Security Infrastructure with Microsoft Forefront".  The main sessions were delivered by Ronald Beekelaar MVP on Security and Virtual Machines.  I'd recommend checking them out to get an overview of what you can achieve with Forefront in your environments.

• Building a Security Infrastructure Keynote- Steve Lamb, IT Pro Evangelist, Microsoft UK
• Forefront Overview, Ronald Beekelaar, MVP Security and MVP Virtual Machines,        Beekelaar Consultancy
• Forefront Client Security Ronald Beekelaar, MVP Security and MVP Virtual Machines, Beekelaar Consultancy
• Forefront Server Security Ronald Beekelaar, MVP Security and MVP Virtual Machines, Beekelaar Consultancy
• Forefront Edge Security Ronald Beekelaar, MVP Security and MVP Virtual Machines, Beekelaar Consultancy

The interop momentum is growing now with news of the release of Moonlight which is in a nutshell Silverlight for Linux allowing designers and developers to create rich experiences and applications once and land them on Windows and now Linux.  Moonlight is being developed by the guys behind Project Mono which looks to port the .NET framework to other platforms like Linux, Solaris, Mac OSX to allow .NET apps to be deployed.

At Mix we announced that we were working with Nokia to allow Silverlight apps on their phones perhaps we'll see some other similar news on other vendors devices soon? 

This coupled with Live Mesh looks like the perfect way to deliver experiences on a potentially unlimited number of devices without having to do much rewriting of code or redoing design.  Silverlight provides the vehicle to surface your app on the device and allows for cool experiences whilst Live Mesh is the engine that runs and orchestrates data transfer between the apps and their devices.

Ahhh Ray, looks like you've got your sh*t together my man - bring it on!

Hat tip to Live Side

We still have some spaces available on the Deploying and Administering Forefront Client Security, Forefront Security for Exchange and Forefront Security for SharePoint Training course.

Overview of the course –

Learn critical deployment and administration skills in this 400-level instructor lead training class on Forefront Client Security and Forefront Server Security products.   Targeted at systems integrators, consultants, and deployment partners, this 5-day class includes lecture and hands on labs (both client and server) and was developed by Microsoft Consulting Services using their detailed implementation knowledge and best practices.

Delivery Date – 9^th – 13^th June 2008

Delivery Location - London

Further Details of the course can be found by logging into the Partner Learning Centre and using the link below -

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/details.aspx?publisher=12&delivery=232649&site=UK&lang=en-uk

We've just announced the pricing for the versions of Small Business Server 2008 and the brand new Essential Business Server 2008.  You can read the full press release here, but essentially these are important bits you need to take away:

Windows Essential Server Solutions pricing* is as follows:

• Windows Small Business Server 2008 Standard Edition software, including five CALs, $1,089 (U.S.); additional CALs $77 each (U.S.)
• Windows Small Business Server 2008 Premium Edition software, including five CALs, $1,899 (U.S.); additional CALs $189 each (U.S.)
• Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Standard Edition software, including five CALs, $5,472 (U.S.); additional CALs $81 each (U.S.)
• Windows Essential Business Server 2008 Premium Edition software, including five CALs, $7,163 (U.S.); additional CALs $195 each (U.S.)

Examples of licensing improvements over the current Windows Small Business Server 2003 R2 product include these:

• Customers will be able to purchase single client access licenses (CALs), so they will pay only for the exact number of employees using the product.
• Customers can cost-effectively purchase a mix of Standard or Premium CALs, as appropriate to the technologies that individual employees are using.
• CALs now apply to other copies of Windows Server, SQL Server or Exchange Server on the network, eliminating the need to purchase additional CALs.

Partners can get trial versions of the software from the Essential Server Solution web page http://www.MultiplyYourPower.com

Loving the work from the team in the UK on this demo app to show off Microsoft's Common User Interface for healthcare applications based in Silverlight 2.  Follow the demo guides and it'll take you through all the key aspects of the app.

Check it out here.

Congrats to Martin Grayson and the team. Some of the stuff they are using in the demo includes:

• Deep zoom to view complex ECG (electrocardiogram) data
• Intelligent, scaling layout
• Data-binding everywhere
• Animation and media
• Vector graphics enabling real time manipulation of chart data

Great news today that the Worldwide Telescope project is now unveiled and you can download the software yourself and explore amazing scenes in space.  It's based on some of the best telescopic imagery on the planet and provides a rich way of navigating around the sky whilst zooming in and out of areas that interest you.

Looking round the universe is fun but a lot of the time I have no idea what I'm looking at which is why the guided tours are really useful!

For a more detailed description of what WWT is check out this page.

The Microsoft Licensing Sales Specialist (MLSS) accreditation is made up of seven modules.   Each module has a test that you must take which has 25 questions and you have 30 minutes to complete.  In order to pass the module you require an 80% pass mark.  Although you have 30 minutes to complete on average they will only take around 15-20 to allow for reading the questions fully.

There are 5 core modules:

Microsoft Product Fundamentals
Fundamentals of Licensing

Product Licensing: Windows and Office
Product Licensing: Server Applications
Selling Software Assurance

For the remaining two modules you have the choice of focussing on either Small & Medium Businesses or Large Organisations.  The Small and Medium businesses focus on the different versions of Open licensing.  The Large Organisation modules focus on Select and Enterprise -

Either

Microsoft Volume Licensing for Small and Medium Businesses: Core

Microsoft Volume Licensing for Small and Medium Businesses: Advanced

Or

Microsoft Volume Licensing to Large Organisations: Core
Microsoft Volume Licensing for Large Organisations: Advanced

All the above recordings also have a PDF slides (accessible on the Learning Path or from the links above) that could be easily downloaded and/or printed to create licensing handbook for quick reference or to write notes on while sitting the recording. It should take between 30 and 60 minutes to read review each module prior to sitting the test.

Computacenter believe that as a result of putting their employees through this qualification their Open Sales business has increase 200%.

These recordings can be found on the Partner Learning Centre by either searching for ‘MLSS’ or from the following link –

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/plc/search_adv.aspx?ssid=360d30e2-c7c0-49bc-8778-f8dad90965f4

We are finding the MLSS Exams really important within the Partner community, Partners are even asking for this accreditation when advertising for new staff.

Put the volume to 11 and press play...

Via Mark Brown's Blog.

I've just been reading the Microsoft Small Smart Business newsletter (sign up here) and they are advertising the StartupsLive events that are running up and down the country during May and June.  They look pretty good with interesting speakers ranging from the CEO of Love Film to the lady who started up Texperts.  As well as a chance to hear inspiring stories from the UK's leading entrepreneurs it's a fantastic networking opportunity.  Think of the business angels and investors who will me milling around ;-)

The Microsoft Small Business Center has more details. 

The Smart Business Newsletter is full of useful tidbits this month!  I've been having internal conversations with people at Microsoft arguing that small businesses can have mature IT practices and fit on the IO model - in addition to using Small Business Server or Essential Business Server, here's another example...

How to stop worrying about IT security

When you're confident that you can find the information you need, quickly and simply; that you can retrieve 'accidentally deleted' files, and that your systems are being backed up regularly and automatically, you can stop worrying about technology and focus on growing your business.

- Why it's time to upgrade to Windows Vista SP1
- How do you stay safe, not sorry?
- Get a free 90-day trial of Windows Live OneCare

I was chatting with my pal Viral today and he pointed out an employee at Microsoft who had the title "Zune Ninja" stored in Active Directory.  What a cool title I thought - I wonder if I can change my title to become "Partner Technology Ninja".  Anyway Viral emailed the guy and he explained the interesting story behind how he became a Ninja whilst working in the Xbox team under J Allard.

Anyway it seems that the title stuck and as Josh moved into the Zune team he took his rather individual title with him.

Cool Stuff.

The product managers for Live Maps in the UK have taken a slightly more proactive approach than last time to let you and I know that they will be changing the way that you get to Live Maps or Multimap.  Here are the golden rules you need to remember:

If you visit the URL http://maps.live.com you will get to Live Maps UK.

If you go to maps via http://www.live.com then you will get to Multimap.

If you go to maps via http://www.msn.co.uk then you will get to Multimap.

The changes will come into affect on the 9th May.

The idea is to have the minimum impact to business and developers who have used the Live Maps platform in their own applications, whilst allowing Multimap (which according to Autoexpress is the #1 site for directions) to receive traffic from our other web properties.

Here's the official statement:

We recently announced the integration of Multimap into Live Search in the UK and will start to route users directly to the Multimap service from MSN UK and Live.com from 9^th May.

This release is part of our longer term consumer strategy to have one mapping and local search site in the UK, integrating the best of both Multimap and Virtual Earth (Live Search Maps) technologies. The management and development teams of Microsoft and Multimap are working collaboratively, with a common vision bringing localised products to market faster.  Given that Multimap resonates successfully with UK consumers serving over 45% of the UK mapping audience, building on this brand is the right strategic direction.

We recognise, however, that we must continue to offer users a choice of services while we complete the integration of all Virtual Earth features into the Multimap site.  We are therefore maintaining the Live Search Maps UK site and users can still access this at http://maps.live.com to use favourite features such as Windows Live Collections and 3D maps. Powerful VE Aerial and Bird’s Eye imagery has been integrated into the Multimap site to give consumers the broadest array of map styles on the market today.

Additionally, we are going to provide prominent signposting to Live Search Maps UK from the Multimap site for those who are redirected there. All Live Search and MSN UK mapping traffic through ‘Maps’ links will be redirected to www.multimap.com but any shared Collections links will not.

Developers and businesses that have invested in the Virtual Earth technology are unaffected by the redirection of our Live Search Maps and MSN mapping traffic to Multimap. We will continue to support both technology platforms and expect to offer an expanded set of opportunities and features over time.

We thank our users for the feedback and passion they have shared so far as we continue to evolve our local and mapping sites in the UK. We encourage you to try out these sites for yourselves.

Does this work for you? What do you think?

I'm always reading the blogs from Chris Pendelton and Johannes Kebeck because they are rich with information about the latest happenings on the Virtual Earth platform (a part of the Live Services from Microsoft). 

One of the interesting additions that has been unlocked for enterprise customers who are using their Customer Identification to authenticate with the service is the ability to display multiple routes for directions to the same place as shown in the image above.  Johannes has also covered what is new in Version 6.1 of Virtual Earth, including Bird's Eye Hybrid mode with road names and vegetation featured in 3D mode.

Las Vegas looks stunning now in 3D - I can't believe how realistic it is.  I almost want to go back again ;-)

A quick headsup that I posted a new interview on the Partner TV blog on System Center Operations Manager where I cover off with Andrew Driver topics like:

• Product overview
• How to position it to customers
• Differences to MOM
• Key Features
• How ISVs can hook into System Center

I was also chatting to one of our licensing experts, Emma Healey, who I discovered keeps a fantastic blog on all things to do with Microsoft licensing.  It's a great resource and I would encourage you to take a look if you have questions on how to license our products - it even has a post on System Center licensing too!

Well I never.  Having been at the Future of Web Apps conference last year and hearing a "leading" web 2.0 company say they had no idea what Microsoft had in the form of authentication and identity APIs having reeled of options from Google, Yahoo, eBay, Facebook, (insert other web 2.0 company here).  Clue = LIVE ID, I mean hello?  I was pleasantly surprised to read this week that Microsoft was rated as having the number 1 platform for developing web 2.0 apps on.  Yes that's right, numero uno.

I have to say that has got to be down to some of the fantastic work our DPE teams do as well as the product group who in Angus Logan have found someone who just won't shut up about Live and it's services - and that's a good thing Angus, don't worry. 

Even more surprising is the giant leap that Microsoft has made in the survey that was undertaken by Evans Data Corporation who last year placed Microsoft in last place in opinion amongst web developers.  Here's an excerpt from the report:

"A big surprise in this category is Microsoft’s top ranking. In last year’s survey, MSN ranked last among developers. But as Microsoft moved from the relatively closed-in MSN portal to the more Web 2.0-savvy Windows Live collection of services, users have begun to recognize it as a provider of top-notch web services.

While most of Microsoft’s web service products have so far been geared towards commercial consumption, a lot of their current work attempts to address infrastructure issues that aid the flow of information for the next Web."

You can read more about the report here on Computer World.