MTK Blog

Blogging Again & Expanded Team

bryanhuddleston — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 18:06:28 GMT

Three months…. It’s been almost three months since I posted last. I’m not holding up to my commitment. Well, I’m back and refreshed in a new year. I have several items to post with some upcoming events and thoughts on announcements. So look for a flurry of posts over the next few days to get caught up.

We now have expanded our team to support the area better. We’ve added two new faces in the field.

Bo Malone started in December as our Strategic Engagement Manager. We are excited to have someone with ten years experience at Microsoft working with our customers.
Jason Clishe started in November as our Server Solution Specialist. Jason has worked with several of our partners in the past. He’s focused on our server products. I’ve been a part of several customer briefings with Jason already on virtualization, desktop/server management and SQL.

I hope you will reach out to Bo or Jason if needed for anything. As promised look for several upcoming posts on happening and general info.

Microsoft Surface – a Fixture in the Nashville Office

bryanhuddleston — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:04:26 GMT

Today I had the privilege to work with our own Microsoft Surface for over an hour. Yes it was cool. Yes it was ‘playing’. But at the same time, from a software and development platform, the possibilities are extensive for customers in almost any industry.

The device comes to us by way of InterKnowlogy. They have developed applications for Surface.

One of the application on the Surface in the office is one for a doctor’s office. A card with a chip identifies who the physician is and brings up the patients seeing for the day.

Once chosen, the application ties back into HealthVault to bring up the pictures of the heart scan taken. An actual picture of the heart, there are three types, is brought up.

The doctor can then turn and move the heart, place stints, remove arteries, draw arteries all from the Surface.

The picture to the right shows me working with the surface and the HealthVault application.

The application is viewable vie an application online or you can also come by the office for a full demo.

There are other apps on the device like the one that CNN uses for the political campaigns and another one for mapping.

BarCamp Nashville Year 2

bryanhuddleston — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 20:08:03 GMT

Today I am attending BarCamp Nashville year two. Most of the folks that consume my blog may not have heard of BarCamp and I don’t see any of you here. It’s a blend of technology , marketing, social media and PR. As I have discussed with friends and colleges, it is what is next.

Already today the sessions I have attended have focused on PR and social media. What does this have to do with someone who drives IT? Good question. It comes back to business value.

Over the next few years there will be a blend between marketing & PR with technology for connecting into the customer base. I strongly feel that local IT departments can get a head start into this by starting a small group that is responsible today.

Put someone on staff that understands this blend, start small with a blog or podcast and start to measure the results. Get buy in from marketing/PR on how this will benefit and ties back into over all customer satisfaction or drives more business.

With more technologies going web, I feel that the IT leaders I engage have the power to make a difference to their customer base. Please take a few minutes and look at the BarCamp site. You can view and download all the content and videos recorded through the day.

Local Company Spotlight – Virtualization at a Value

bryanhuddleston — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 07:02:38 GMT

A good friend of mine, Michael Johnston, is the Vice President of IT at Jackson Energy Authority in Jackson, TN.

JAX recently went through and deployed Windows Server 2008 on half of their servers. At the same time they also deployed the Terminal Services in a Hyper-V environment displacing VMware.

They used ATA Technologies as the partner to deploy Windows Server and Hyper-V. The case study is posted on our website. This is a good read for those looking at a virtualization strategy.

First Ever Local Rockstar Highlight - T Burke Holland

bryanhuddleston — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:36:53 GMT

One of the great things about working for Microsoft is all the cool individuals you come across in the area. I am going to going to start putting those “Rockstars” in the blog when I can.

The first of Local Rockstars is Thomas Holland. He’s working on a SharePoint project where he works. He’s got a real vision for what it can do for his user base. The good thing for you as the community is that he is also blogging about it. You or someone on your team may find his postings helpful in your own implementation.

You can check out his blog at: http://armsinfragilehands.blogspot.com/

If you know of other local Rockstars in the area, please post a comment or let me know so I can highlight their achievements and more folks can learn.

SharePoint Training and Conference Resources

bryanhuddleston — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:19:06 GMT

I know, I know we got this cool blog going and went quiet on you for a few weeks. I’m back now. There was an internal document posted about some resources on MOSS. I thought I’d share them out.

SharePoint Learning Resources Site
This site includes a compiled list of all resources (including MSL trainings and exams, whitepapers, technical articles, webcasts, labs and so forth). Customers can use this tool to search for readiness resources, and refine the results by audience, level, and type.

SharePoint Connections 2008
November 10-13, 2008
Las Vegas, NV

This is a good event to check out if you are into or interested in SharePoint. Last year this event sold out. Connections was the largest Microsoft developer event in our industry. 75+ Microsoft architects and the world's top IT experts are in one place at one time presenting, training and networking.

Rolling out Office 2007

bryanhuddleston — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 18:38:23 GMT

This past week I was asked about rolling out Office 2007. The question was about holding off or rolling it out. From someone who has used the new version for well over 2 years, I’m a strong supporter of the new interface. We have not announced the release date of the next Office release. I would not wait.

Users will benefit from the new interface and features in Office 2007. Any subsequent version will have the new interface, the sooner the user base uses it, the faster they will learn it. Below are a few suggestions I have about rolling it out using the benefits our SA customers already have.

Technical Roll out

Develop a Plan. Use the desktop deployment planning services (DDPS) to devise a plan to manage the desktop and roll out Office 2007/Vista.
Using two versions together(MDOP). If users demand to keep the prior version whey they come up to speed on Office 2003, you can use Softgrid to run both at the same time . On demand Webcast for application virtualization.

User Adoption

Find leaders in groups. Have go-to leaders in groups that support their team and evangelize the use of the new version.
Begin Training. Most companies have the Home Use Program as an integral part of their training. Six to eight weeks prior to rolling Office 2007, the IT teams roll out the home use program. The users begin using Office at home. Learning on their time. Once it’s rolled out company wide, the users are already accustom to the new interface. You can also roll it out in bulk.
Training on the fluent interface. In the successful rollouts of Office 2007 (successful is defined by happy end users), the IT/training teams have concentrated on the different interface. They have not focused on how to use. Microsoft provides interactive guides and mapping workbooks.
Training on the products. Please make good use of the software assurance benefits. Microsoft E-Learning is a great opportunity to offer training to your users on their own time. There is also interactive training and Webcasts and podcasts available to all with or without SA.
Work with a training partner. I always suggest working with someone who has the skill set of training. There are several great partners in the area that can assist you with your training plan.

These are the comments I’ve heard from successful Office deployments. Let’s hear from you!!! What has success been? Please post a comment below on your experience.

Presenting to the Nortel Users Group

bryanhuddleston — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 17:03:19 GMT

Today Microsoft hosted the local Nortel Users Group meeting. First off, thanks to the group for allowing Microsoft to present. I must say you rank up in the top three of presentations I have done. Great group!!! Next time I present, we’ll have Phil at the front. I have immortalized the event with this picture:

Special thanks to Brad Place at Pinnacle Financial for taking time out of his day to answer a few questions. The feedback from the group was great.

The event was an overview of Unified Communications and Unified Messaging. We had discussion and demonstration of the hardware including the Microsoft Roundtable.

I have uploaded the PowerPoint to SlideShare. You can also click on the link in the area to the left.

As mentioned, Gibson has been an early adopter Microsoft Unified Communications & Messaging. Along with being featured on stage to the launch of OCS, they also worked with us on a written and video case study. There has also been a more recent interview with Network World you can read as well.

With a technical audience, you will also likely find value in the following:

Lastly, I mentioned the link to the Communication section of the Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimization (BPIO). I will be making a blog post in the near future on the IO models specifically. In a condensed explanation, the IO models allow IT leaders to prioritize and projects based on the value to the business. Please review and take the self assessment.

Christmas in July… Order your Home Use Program in Bulk

bryanhuddleston — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 07:03:04 GMT

There is nothing like getting a present. When I bring home something for my wife, her eyes just beam (it’s not a very frequent occurrence). Now, you in IT can do that for your users if you have SA on Office.

IMO, one of the most underutilized benefits provided to customers by Microsoft is the Home Use Program. This allows users to install the full version of Office at their home. Several of our customers in the territory have used this as a means to deploy Office. They use it as part of the rollout. They use the Home Use Program as a means of training for the end users.

There is a bulk order option available and further discounted cost for the Home Use Program media to offer even greater savings to our customers. The costs is $8.00. The process is as follows:

these can only be placed by the customer’s benefit administrator, To help ensure such orders have proper authorization.
There is a minimum order of 20 units
Orders must be charged to a credit card or a PO.
To place a bulk order, your benefit administrator(BA) must access MVLS to obtain the necessary information (including enrollment number, program code, and local support team telephone number, which is found on the left hand side of the screen under support and feedback).
The BA will call the MVLS support team and order a “HUP Bulk Order”. The MVLS/Software Assurance Call Center can reached via phone at 866-230-0560 or email at mvlshelpa@msdirectservices.com.
A completed order form will be sent, including the SKU number, for acceptance of the Terms & Conditions and signature.
After all necessary forms are completed, they are then sent to fulfillment.

Make your end users eyes light up and happy that you provided them with this benefit.

Resources at IT Showcase

bryanhuddleston — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 06:38:02 GMT

There are no lack of information on solutions from Microsoft. Sometimes is just good to get the “How did you do that” information. Well, Microsoft’s own internal IT publishes papers as part of their deployment and evaluation of Microsoft products.

Showcase IT can be found at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb687780.aspx. Some of the more valuable content can be consumed at one of the IT Workshops. They also have Webcasts and media.

A couple of the upcoming session that customers requested last week are:

How Microsoft does IT: Structured Active Directory Schema Management at Microsoft Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Deploying Forefront Client Security at Microsoft - Technical White Paper | Presentation | TechNet Radio Podcast

Identifying Server Candidates for Virtualization - Technical Case Study

How Microsoft IT Uses the Exchange Hosted Services to Protect the Messaging Environment

Introduction of the MSFT Team’s TN/KY Blog

bryanhuddleston — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 04:47:29 GMT

I have been saying that I would start a team blog for over a year. Well, it’s officially done. After 3 meetings in Louisville on Thursday that my action item was to email the same information to 3 different customers, I’d had it with email.

With the weekend to myself, I read up on how to do it. We discussed it on the team meeting this morning and now at 8:00… We have our blog. http://blogs.technet.com/mtk

The MTK stand for Microsoft in Tennessee and Kentucky. Yes, we know, not very creative, but if it were not an acronym then it just wouldn’t be right.

We will have a more concise and proper purpose on our about page in the coming days. But the purpose of this is to better communicate, inform and connect to the with Microsoft community in Tennessee and Kentucky. The target audience will be the decision makers within those customers.

This is V1 of this blog. The layout of this page may change as I’m not really happy with the look and feel. I’m going to see if Dan can leverage a partner and web developer somewhere to help me out with some style sheets. Hopefully to improve the experience for you.

Please engage with us with your comments and suggestions. We’ll endeavor to make this a worthwhile investment and have fun along the way.

Thank you for your investments in Microsoft.

Sincerely, Bryan