James Akrigg .:. Out of Office

Microsoft Technologies - Today > Tomorrow > Futures Pt.4

.: Presentation notes :.

SharePoint, SharePoint, SharePoint... That's all you would hear me talk about during my first six years at Microsoft.  Now in it's third version it has become the fastest growth product in Microsoft's product history reaching $1bn faster than any other product.  I put this down to several key attributes.  First the capabilities of Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) are now vast spanning collaboration, content management, portal, search, business intelligence and business process management and this makes SharePoint the ideal 'information platform' for business.  Secondly I would say that the extensibility of this platform has enabled the solutions our partners have been creating to address a wide and varied set of business problems across business functions and company boundaries.  Having a technology that can be used for Intranet, Extranet and Internet solutions is of great strategic value when considering skills needed to support and drive your information platform. 

The slide is hard to see in the scaled down image, but it basically puts SharePoint in the centre and illustrates that it requires Windows Server 2008 (or Windows Server 2003) and stores data in SQL Server.  To the right (as you look at the slide) it shows how you may protect your information platform using ForeFront for SharePoint and Data Protection Manager (part of System Centre) to help with disaster recovery.  To the left we have SharePoint Designer.  This is a design tool to make it easier to customize the look and feel of SharePoint sites and more easily create solutions based on SharePoint.  Finally at the top of the slide we have 'user experience'.  Tight integration with Office 2007 and Office Communication Server really brings the solution to life as users can use familiar tools to interact with SharePoint. (slide 1)

We have been using Office Communications Server 2007  (OCS 2007) at Microsoft for sometime now and it is transforming the way we do business.  Using Office Communicator 2007 client application to see presence information for anybody in the organization I may wish to contact is fantastic but it becomes amazing when I add contacts in partners that I work with so that we can communicate and collaborate more effectively.  Applications that contain contact information (e.g. Outlook, SharePoint etc) light up with presence information when signed into Office Communicator so that I can communicate in context.  So that's my business strength presence and instant messaging taken care of and you would think that was good.  Well in the tradition of going from good to great let's throw in PBX integration to voice enable Office Communications Server.  In a recent trip to Los Angeles I was able to make calls from my Vista Laptop via the Wireless Internet connection in the hotel and conference centre and significantly reduce my mobile roaming charges.  More recently I have been testing using a Netbook with a small bluetooth headset to make calls.  Those that attended the event should remember the demo :)

Piloting unified communications using Office Communications Server 2007 and perhaps collaboration with SharePoint is a great way to see the immediate benefits you can get in using these technologies.  Many partners are doing this today and sharing their real world experiences with customers looking at ways to reduce costs and improve communication and collaboration capabilities.  If you are not seriously looking at SharePoint and Office Communications Server you should and with the release of Office Communications Server 2007 R2 in the first half of next year there will be even more solution possibilities.  (slide 2)

.: Resources :.

SharePoint Server 2007 Homepage

Windows Server 2008

SharePoint Solution Templates

Office Communications Server 2007

Technical Resources for SharePoint Server 2007

Using the latest SQL Server 2008 features with SharePoint Server 2007

Using SharePoint Products and Technologies with Hyper-V

SharePoint Server 2007 Evaluation resources

Early information on Office Communications Server 2007 R2 and Launch Event Registration Link

Microsoft Technologies - Today > Tomorrow > Futures Pt.3

.: Presentation notes :.

The turning point in user experiences with software is here.  The transition from text based user interfaces to graphical user interfaces has been long and challenging.  The Net Gen is far more aware of what makes a good user experience when using technology than every before.  I would put much of this down to the advances in web technologies.  The ability to get instant access to information. The mass of creativity in designing cutting edge web sites that fuse sound, animation, video and other effect to provide rich visual interactive experiences. This experience is far removed from the many business applications that were simple conversions from their original text based forms to good old grey forms.  Now I'm not saying that everything should be rewritten to be in 3D and have surround sound, but what I am saying is ease of use and productivity can be greatly improved with good user experience design.  (slide 1)

The biggest enabler in accelerating advances in user experience will be through the tools used to develop applications.  We have invested heavily in R&D to improve the software development experience when using Visual Studio and now this is spanning into a new suite of tools called Expression.  The Expression tools combined with Visual Studio are designed to create rich compelling user experiences spanning from the desktop to the web and to mobile devices.  Using underlying technologies including SQL for data, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) for the desktop, using Silverlight for the Web and in the not so distant future using Silverlight for mobile devices will deliver greater visual representations of information and higher levels of interaction than every before.  The opportunity is huge and it's here today. (slide 2)

.: Resources :.

Windows Forms and Windows Presentation Foundation

Official Silverlight Site

Expression Tools

Visual Studio Development Tools

SQL Server information

Microsoft Technologies - Today > Tomorrow > Futures Pt.2

So here we are with the next part of the presentation...

.: Presentation notes :.

Looking at where we have come from and where we are today is a good place to start when beginning to think about changes for the future.  John C Maxwell wrote a book called 'Thinking for a Change' which clearly inspired me for the sub title of this section of the presentation.  (slide 1)

I always like to ask an audience which Microsoft technologies they are using and I especially like to ask this question when my audience is partners as I believe our partners make the best case studies when working with customers.  I asked about Windows Vista.  I asked how many people in the audience were using Windows Vista every day, not just looking at Vista, but actively using it day-in-day-out.  With only a few exceptions (and you know who you are) most partners are working 'without walls' to use the current terminology.  My team and I have long advocated the use of Windows Vista as the best place to work.  That's where I go to work every day knowing that it is secure and allows me to easily connect to my software services wherever I may find myself literally without walls.  (slide 2)

The final slide here was a bit of a nostalgic look back at where Windows came from and where it has evolved.  I highlighted Microsoft's commitment through the many versions of windows to compatibility with previous versions.  The key point raised here is in preparation for Windows 7.  It's early days for Windows 7 but already we have released pre beta versions to thousands of software developers at the PDC (Professional Developers Conference)  and to hardware manufacturers at WinHEC (Windows Hardware and Engineering Conference).  The current view is that any software/hardware that works with Windows Vista SP1 or later will work well with Windows 7.  So if you are deploying Windows Vista SP1 today you will have a much simplified upgrade path to Windows 7 when it ships and you can start to take advantage of the many improvements in user experience and security with Windows Vista now.  (slide 3)

.: Resources :.

Windows without walls and  I'm a PC information

Windows 7

PDC Session content

Microsoft Technologies - Today > Tomorrow > Futures Pt.1

I had an idea following the recent regional partner events to publish information on my presentation in a slightly different way.  I know I can talk at a fast pace when there is so much information I wish to share and my passion for technology exudes ( I think the scientific term for this is 'high verbalocity' - high speed verbal delivery) and I know this perhaps means that it is difficult to make notes on everything that is presented.  So I thought I would make some notes on my own presentation and share them.  So here it goes...

**PLEASE NOTE:  I'd appreciate any comments or feedback on this approach **

.: Introduction :.

Before the events I had been asked if I could provide an update on the technologies that matter to our partners success today, tomorrow and in the future.  The timing for the events was critical as we were in the midst of making many public announcements at various global events about our next generation technologies that had previously been code names internally.  (some are still code names, but at least they are public now).

.: Presentation notes :.

To set the scene I initially talked about how we are entering what is being called the '5th Generation of Computing'.  We have been talking about evolving through the 70's, 80's and 90's technology eras ranging from monolithic to Client-Server through to Web enabled computing.  Today we see many examples of where software is designed and delivered using service oriented architecture (SOA) to improve agility and integration.  The question asked is 'What's next?'.  Many, including Microsoft, believe we are entering into an era where computing evolves to where itself becomes a service powered by and complimented with software. (slide 1)

Microsoft is looking at how to provide the best user experience across the desktop, web and mobile devices that connect and interact with software services.  Early visibility of this becoming a reality can be seen in the announcements made about Windows 7 (pre beta released to PDC and WinHEC attendees) and Internet Explorer 8 (available as a public beta).  Don't worry we haven't been sitting back when it comes to mobile devices.  Future versions of Windows Mobile will continue the theme of 'best user experience'. (slide 2)

So the vision is very much to provide the best user experience through platform advances.  This will open up new areas for customers to use Microsoft technologies to deliver real business value and innovation by working with our partners.  Key areas of focus are Virtualisation (including Management - System Center Suite), Software+Service (online, hosted and on-premise), Collaboration (this includes information processes and business intelligence) and Unified Communications (email, voice, presence, instant messaging and web conferencing).  (slide 3)

.: Resources :.

Get the knowledge first by signing up to beta software using Microsoft Connect.

Service Oriented Architecture with Microsoft

Early Windows 7 information

Software + Services

Virtualisation from Microsoft

System Center Management Suite

Business Intelligence Solutions

Unified Communications

It's good to be back...

After a long time away from my blog I have decided to return to the blogsphere.  Why return and why now? I hear you ask..

Well there are a couple of things.

1) I was recently asked about blogging by a close friend who was looking for ways to express ideas and interact with peers for feedback but wanted a way that was flexible to fit in with an already hectic work/life.  Networking is often a good way to do this, but can be time consuming and requires 1:1 or 1:few meetings.  What if you could do 1:Everyone conversations?  What if you could converse in this way while on the train, at home or even from your mobile phone? This conversation rapidly turned to the idea of blogging and as I expressed the benefits I realised I had been missing this form of interaction myself for way to long.  So this is the reason why..

2) The reason for why now.. well that's a longer story.  So long story short (as they say in America)...  I recently returned from the Microsoft Professional Developer conference in LA and even though I am considered a veteran in IT (having worked in IT for over 20 years now you get the nice prefix of veteran) I was totally blown away with the work going into Windows Azure, Visual Studio 2010 and the tools to develop the next wave of solutions, Windows 7 looks like a real winner (even at this pre pre pre beta stage) and future technologies being created by our Research and Development groups.  These are exciting times and I'm inspired to write about them.

Later today and tomorrow I will be presenting at North West Regional Partner events in Manchester and the Midlands.  These will be some of the first events in the UK to share information about some of the new opportunities the changes in technology will bring to our customers and partners.

Questions and Resources will be posted following the events so check back soon...

James Akrigg

Step out from the cold and into Microsoft Enterprise Search

I have had a technical focus for sometime on Microsoft Search technologies going back in time starting with Index Server, then onto Site Server and now working with the 3rd release of our SharePoint Search technologies.

The basic principle of being able to find information and not be 'left out in the cold' of what's going on in your business has been of great interest to me and with the impact the Internet Search Engines have had on people I can only see this area of technology increase in importance. 

Consider the next wave of company employees who have grown up knowing only that the Internet exists.  It is an everyday thing for these people to first go to their favorite Internet Search Engine (mine is Live Search, but you probably guessed that) when ever they want to find some information.  Now these people enter the workplace and expect the same type of tools to be available for business information.  Well in most companies they just don't exist.  This can all change with Microsoft partners providing solutions to deliver 'Enterprise Search'.

Later today I will be presenting at the UK Search Partner Community Event in London.  It's great to see so many partners already committed to delivering search solutions using Microsoft technology today and this can only grow as Search becomes even more high profile in business.

The key topic for my presentation is about 'Technical Resources for Search' so instead of boring everyone to death with 400 PowerPoint slides I have listed my Favorite Resources here:

Search Information

Evaluation Guide for SharePoint for Search

Mike Pallot blog

Technet Virtual Labs

• Enterprise Search Overview (Lab 1 of 8)
• Enterprise Search: Security and Compliance (Lab 2 of 8)
• Enterprise Search: Customizing Search (Lab 3 of 8)
• Enterprise Search: Desktop Search (Lab 4 of 8)
• Enterprise Search: Configuring Microsoft Office SharePoint Server for Search (Lab 5 of 8)
• Enterprise Search: People and Properties (Lab 6 of 8)
• Enterprise Search: Business Data Catalog (Lab 7 of 8)
• Enterprise Search: Protocol Handlers (Lab 8 of 8)

Search Planning

• Overview: Plan search (Office SharePoint Server for Search)
• Identify your search team (Office SharePoint Server for Search)
• Plan to crawl content (Office SharePoint Server for Search)
• Plan the end user search experience (Office SharePoint Server for Search)
• Plan to deploy index and query servers (Office SharePoint Server for Search)
• Plan for administrative and service accounts
• Determine hardware and software requirements (Office SharePoint Server 2007 for Search)

Indexing Different Types of Content

iFilter Resources

• Filter Central (iFilter blog)
• iFilter org (looking a little dated, but can be handy)
• iFilters on Channel 9 
• iFilters on Live

Business Data Catalog Resources

• Adventure Works SQL 2000 Sample
• Adventure Works SQL 2005 Sample
• Adapting the Sample to work with Oracle and other Databases
• BDC Meta Man (BDC Application Definition Tool)

Get the Software

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 trial download

Microsoft Windows Desktop Search for Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 (Not for Vista)

Live Search

Well I hope this helps...

James Akrigg

The Katmai is out of the bag! SQL Server Futures Announced!

First see the Jeff Raikes Business Intelligence keynote then get key information from the following resources.

1) Read the Press Release

2) Get the Data Sheet

3) Head over the SQL Futures site

Data will never be the same again....

James Akrigg

MIX07 Challenges Vegas Rule Number 1

The number one rule in Vegas 'What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas' will never be the same again.  The irony of blogger's from around the world getting together to talk about life as a blogger and early impressions of all that is MIX07 was very interesting.  You just know that these men and women live to post information as quickly as possible during live events and all this from Vegas.  No announcement was left un-blogged!

Now blogging is fine and with the odd picture thrown in it can be very engaging, but wait there's more...  Discussions, Keynotes, Breakouts and Panel Sessions are now available for every one to view here http://sessions.visitmix.com/

Perhaps we will see new t-shirts next year!

There has been lots to take in at Mix07 so it's going to take me a few days to simplify and post more details.

James Akrigg

It's a new day, it's a new Office!

If you have yet to look at Microsoft Office 2007 then now is the time.  My team and I have been busy up and down the country meeting partners of Microsoft and customers listening to what they like most about Office 2007 and let me tell you there is a lot to like.

I personally believe this is the most significant release of Office since Office 95.  The user experience with the new user interface is amazing.

Take a look at this new site which provides a great overview and links to test drive or trial Office 2007.

http://www.microsoft.com/uk/office/newday/default.mspx

James Akrigg

Help! Not Just Anybody...

A new generation of Microsoft Certifications covering Technology, Professional and Architect roles are now published from the UK Learning site.

The Technology Specialist certifications enable professionals to target specific technologies and to distinguish themselves by demonstrating in-depth knowledge and expertise in their specialised technologies. Microsoft Technology Specialists are consistently capable of implementing, building, troubleshooting and debugging a particular Microsoft technology such as SQL, Active Directory, and the new versions of Exchange, Windows Vista and Office.

Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) credentials provide IT professionals with a simpler and more targeted framework to showcase their technical skills in addition to the skills that are required for specific job roles. The MCITP certifications demonstrate comprehensive skills in planning, deploying, supporting, maintaining, and optimizing IT infrastructures such as Business Intelligence and Security.

Are you developing .NET Framework 2.0 applications that use Microsoft Visual Studio 2005? If so, the new Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) credentials provide a simpler and more targeted framework to showcase your technical skills in addition to the skills that are required for specific job roles.

The Microsoft Certified Architect Program will validate top industry experts in Information Technology Architecture. These professionals will likely have 10 or more years of experience in Information Technology with at least three years of experience as a practicing architect, and will possess strong technical and leadership skills and form a distinguished community. Unlike other Information Technology certifications, this credential will be granted by industry architects, as candidates will be required to present to and be approved through a rigorous review board process overseen by previously certified architects.

James Akrigg

Help! I need somebody..

It's great to see we continue to listen and improve our benefits to Microsoft Partners.  I often hear from partners that business is busy and they are growing at great speed, but finding skilled resource is very challenging.  Well this may help at peak times when working on projects, take a look at 'Skills Finder'.

James Akrigg

Eyes Wide Open XML

I've just read the post on Steve's blog about the whole Open XML debate and the issue about choice.  I have always been a firm believer that having choice in our industry drives innovation in companies and keeps them honest and open to there customers/users.  I look back at how things have changed with most technology solutions now having public APIs to enable integration and extensibility.  Now in the Internet Era and the world embracing XML we see open standards for document formats that will enable the next wave of innovation.

Having worked in organizations before Microsoft that had to produce high volumes of data driven documentation the move to Open XML is something that is really going to make a difference.  Life before Open XML often meant having solutions that had banks of PCs running automated Word applications almost acting as document creation servers.  I'll be honest this had two problems 1) It was never supported and 2) It was not very good and very slow. 

Now you can create this same type of solution using Open XML to produce high volumes of data driven documents in record time.

Oh I forgot to mention.  As this is an 'Open' standard you are not restricted to developing using Microsoft tools or running it on Microsoft platforms.  (Clearly this is another choice and I would hope you would be considering Microsoft in that decision).  Take a look at http://openxmldeveloper.org/posts.aspx for articles on using Java, Linux and Microsoft tools. 

Help Microsoft help you by supporting us in making Ecma Open XML an ISO international Standard.  Show your support by signing the digital petition today.  [click here]

James Akrigg

Ultimate Laptop but does it run Windows Vista Ultimate?

I have been catching up on my blog reading and came across this post "Million dollar laptop coming from UK Luxury firm Luvaglio?" on the engadget site.

The specification looks like the ultimate in bling, but no mention of it running the ideal operating system 'Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate' :)

Luvaglio, If you are reading my blog or if anyone who reads this blog has one of these laptops then please let me know which version of Windows Vista you get and leave me a comment and let me know. 

James Akrigg

I have SharePoint 2007, but am I managing it correctly?

I had the pleasure of presenting at a couple of events last week that covered Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007.  One of the most common questions was from customers who had installed SharePoint to evaluate it, but were not sure if it was setup correctly or if they were managing it correctly. 

I was asked to recommend any books that could help.  Well you are in luck you can go to your traditional book shop or your favorite online reseller and get 'Office SharePoint Server 2007 - Administrator's Companion' TODAY.

Yes I know it's a Microsoft Press book and yes I work for Microsoft, but believe me I did look for other titles and this is currently the best available to buy today.  If you are having problems finding it then I have included a link to it on Amazon UK.

Regards

James Akrigg

Hey! Great tips!!

Are you getting the most from your recent upgrade to the 2007 Microsoft Office System?  It's a good question to ask.  Are you using this latest release in exactly the same way you have used previous version of Office?  Would you like to change and get more from your software?

Well now you can with 'Tips & Tricks 2007'. 

Microsoft Office Online delivers a huge selection of inspiration through Webcasts covering all aspects of your favorite product within the Office System.

Get more from Microsoft Office and do more today!

James Akrigg