Introduction

Hello – My name is Kevin Sullivan and I am the newly appointed Technology Specialist from Microsoft that is charged with spreading the good word about Microsoft’s Management platform (Operations Manager (MOM), Systems Management Server (SMS), Data Protection Manager (DPM), System Center Technologies, etc.) to our Higher Education and K-12 customer base in the US.  Many of you know me already as prior to taking on this role, I was an Account Technology Specialist for Education for three years covering many of the major HED and K12 institutions in Missouri, Kansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky.

Those that I have met know that I have a great passion for Microsoft’s management platform and am excited that I am able to assist Education customers across the country with their IT systems management initiatives.  This email is something that I would like to send out on a monthly basis to keep those that are interested in MSFT Management technologies up to date on pertinent webcasts, Beta/TAP programs, as well as any special promotions that come about from time to time.  My objective is to keep these brief but full of useful and timely information around Management technologies in Education.

Beta/TAP News

The following TAP and beta programs concerning management products are currently available.  If you have any questions with these, please let me know:

-         System Center Reporting Manager (SCRM) 2006

o       Have you ever wondered if specific patches or software distributions had any impact of your server population’s performance?  Or have you ever wanted to easily create an executive level report that shows what machines in your environment may be under- or over- utilized for future consolidation or server acquisition purposes? Look no further!   SCRM 2006 can bring together information from multiple MOM Management Groups as well as multiple SMS hierarchies into a single datawarehouse.  Whether you use both MOM and SMS or just one of these products, SCRM can provide you rich intelligence and historical trend analysis of the environment without impacting the performance of the management products.   

o       SCRM 2006 beta is currently available.  Click the following link for more information:  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/systemcenter/default.mspx

-         System Center Capacity Planner (SCCP) 2006

o       SCCP 2006 enables you to better plan upgrades or ‘green field’ installations of Microsoft Solutions.  In its first version, SCCP 2006 can help you plan for upgrades and installations of either Exchange Server 2003 or MOM 2005. 

o       The SCCP 2006 beta is currently available.  Click the following link for more information:  http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/systemcenter/evaluation/capacity/default.mspx

-         Systems Management Server 2003 Service Pack 2

o       The next service pack for SMS 2003 is right around the corner and is available today in beta form.  SMS 2003 SP2 includes the usual hotfixes and patches as well as some new functionality such as AD Security Group Discovery, tighter integration with Microsoft Updates, etc.  Click the following for more information:  http://www.microsoft.com/smserver/evaluation/2003/sp2.mspx

Upcoming Webcasts

For information on Education-specific webcasts, please consult the Education Webcast site here:  http://www.microsoft.com/Education/WebCasts.mspx.  Of particular interest is a webcast that I am conducting as part of this series on System Center Reporting Manager: 

SystemCenter Report Manager: Bringing together Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) and Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS) knowledge

Please sign up if you wish to learn more about SCRM!

The following are general TechNet Management-Specific upcoming webcasts:

TechNet Webcast: A More Secure and Well-Managed Infrastructure (Part 13 of 18): Installing and Configuring SMS (Level 300)

Wednesday, November 30, 2005 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032282173&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: A More Secure and Well-Managed Infrastructure (Part 14 of 18): SMS 2003 Software and Patch Management (Level 300)

Friday, December 2, 2005-9:30 AM Pacific Time

John Baker, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032282175&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

TechNet Webcast: A More Secure and Well-Managed Infrastructure (Part 15 of 18): Automating Desktop Configuration with SMS 2003 OSD (Level 300)  

Wednesday, December 07, 2005 9:30 AM-10:30 AM Pacific Time

John Baker, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032282177&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

Microsoft Webcast: Disk-to-Disk-to-Tape Backup with Data Protection Manager and CommVault

Thursday, December 08, 2005 11:00 AM Pacific Time

Dave Ryan, Sr. Product Manager, Microsoft Corporation, and Randy De Meno, Director of Advanced Applications & Microsoft Partnership, CommVault

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032284685&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

TechNet Webcast: A More Secure and Well-Managed Infrastructure (Part 16 of 18): Using MOM to Monitor Your Environment (Level 300)

Friday, December 09, 2005 9:30 AM-10:30 AM Pacific Time

John Baker, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032282180&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

TechNet Webcast: Planning and Deploying Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 (Level 200)

Monday, December 12, 2005 9:30 AM Pacific Time

Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032284685&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

TechNet Webcast: A More Secure and Well-Managed Infrastructure (Part 17 of 18): Using MOM Management Packs to Monitor Your Environment (Level 300)

John Baker, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032282182&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US

TechNet Webcast: Planning and Deploying Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 (Level 200)

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Pacific Time

Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032285727&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Troubleshooting Systems Management Server (SMS) 2003 (Level 200)

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 9:30 AM - 11:00 AM Pacific Time

Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032285730&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Securing Your Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 Environment (Level 200)

Monday, December 19, 2005 - 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Pacific Time

Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032285801&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: System Center Capacity Planner 2006 Overview (Level 200)

Monday, December 19, 2005 - 11:30 AM - 1:00 PM Pacific Time

Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032285733&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 for Active Directory (Level 200)

Tuesday, December 20, 2005 - 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Pacific Time

Kevin Remde, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032285738&Culture=en-US

TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM) 2005 Performance and Sizing (Level 200)

Wednesday, December 21, 2005 - 8:00 AM - 9:30 AM Pacific Time

Chris Avis, TechNet Presenter, Microsoft Corporation

http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032285743&Culture=en-US

Tip of the Month:  Useful Web Sites

The following are a few web sites that I have found very valuable over the years when seeking information around best practice and guidance around Microsoft Management technologies:

-         http://myitforum.techtarget.com/

MyITforum is THE place (outside of Microsoft.com) when looking for answers and guidance around SMS, MOM, application packaging, etc. There is also a wealth of information and discussion boards covering many complementary technologies as well.

-         http://www.appdeploy.com

Ever have trouble trying to build an automated install script for non-MSI packages or struggling with what MSI switches and transforms to use to automate a specifically configured MSI application?  Well chances are, someone else has already figured this out and have posted their results to this web site.  This site is community driven so they encourage you to give input on your packaging successes.

If you have a favorite site, please let me know!

Open invitation to share experiences using MSFT Management Products in K12 or HED environment

Do you currently utilize Microsoft Management Products heavily in your data center today?  Have you extended your use of our management products such as MOM or SMS in a way that may be of interest to other K12 or HED IT personnel?  If so, then I would like to hear from you!  I would like to start compiling information and best practices with the objective of helping others looking to better manage their environments using our technologies.  Depending on the nature of what you share, I would like to post this type of information to my Education Management blog (http://blogs.technet.com/kevinsul_blog/default.aspx) or if it is something really spectacular, showcase your solution at events such as MMS (Microsoft Management Summit - http://www.mms2006.com) or create a formal case study.  Just drop me a line – I would really enjoy hearing from you.

Disclaimer:  You are receiving this email because you have either requested to receive this type of information or a Microsoft representative you work with thought you would be interested in receiving this information.  If you do not wish to receive this information, please let me know (Kevin.sullivan@microsoft.com) and I will remove you from this distribution.  If there are folks that you think may wish to receive this and currently do not, please have them send me an email and I will add them!

Kevin Sullivan | Technology Specialist - Management | Microsoft Corporation

Tel 314-757-3992 | www.microsoft.com/education | kevin.sullivan@microsoft.com