• Free Event: "How Opalis and System Center can make your life so much easier" by SCUG.be (9 Sept in Brussels)

    The System Center User Group Belgium invites you to their next free event, where they’ll show you how we can use Opalis and the System Center suite together to make your life easier! With real life examples, like maintenance mode due to server patching, using System Center Operations Manager (SCOM) as the manager of managers, automating VM creation, Alert enrichment,  etc they will demonstrate how to use the full strength of Opalis as an orchestration tool together with Operations Manager, Data Protection Manager (SCDPM), Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), Service Manager (SCSM) and Configuration Manager (SCCM). If you want to be much more efficient in your day to day work, you will not want to miss this session!

    Practical info

    • Date: 9 September 2010
    • Location: Microsoft Belgium, Da Vincilaan 3, 1935 Zaventem
    • Speaker: Alexandre Verkinderen
    • Registration is free but required

    Speaker bio
    Alexandre has a strong focus on everything around the Microsoft System Center product family and an industry expert in the systems management area. He has a wealth of systems management expertise, and uses this expertise to help his customers to achieve an easier to manage ICT environment.
    Alexandre is an ITIL- certified engineer and strives to deliver quality on every single assignment he has. Additionally he believes strongly in sharing knowledge amongst his peers, for this particular belief he founded the System Center User Group Belgium. SCUG shares a wealth of System Center knowledge through its online web presence at http://www.scug.be  but also through at least 4 events a year where SCUG members or international industry experts present on Systems Management topics.

    As an industry expert and MVP Alexandre is a frequent speaker and ask-the-expert guest at both national and international events. In line with the continued education principle Alexandre can also be found at both national and international industry events to stay on top of what is moving in the industry, watch industry trends, and analyze how this might benefit its customers.

  • Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010

    If you’re helping customers to move to Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, and/or Office 2010, you need tools and guidance to help you through the process. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) 2010, a free Solution Accelerator, is designed to fill that need.

    clip_image002The latest MDT 2010 Update 1 release, now available for download, offers something for everyone:

    • For System Center Configuration Manager 2007 customers:
    • New “User Driven Installation” deployment method. An easy-to-use UDI Wizard allows users to initiate and customize an OS deployment on their PCs that’s tailored to their individual needs.
    • Support for Configuration Manager R3 “Prestaged Media.” For those deploying Windows 7 and Office 2010 along with new PCs, a custom OS image can easily be loaded in the factory and then customized once deployed.
    • For Lite Touch Installation:
    • Support for Office 2010. Easily configure Office 2010 installation and deployment settings through the Deployment Workbench and integration with the Office Customization Tool.
    • Improved driver importing. All drivers are inspected during the import process to accurately determine what platforms they really support, avoiding common inaccuracies that can cause deployment issues.
    • For all existing customers:
    • A smooth and simple upgrade process. Installing MDT 2010 Update 1 will preserve your existing MDT configuration, with simple wizards to upgrade existing deployment shares and Configuration Manager installations.
    • Many small enhancements and bug fixes. Made in direct response to feedback received from customers and partners all around the world, MDT 2010 Update 1 is an indispensible upgrade for those currently using MDT (as well as a great starting point for those just starting).
    • Continued support for older products. MDT 2010 Update 1 still supports deployment of Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Office 2007, for those customers who need to be able to support these products during the deployment of Windows 7 and Office 2010.

    Next Steps

  • David Chappell on Effective IT Innovation

    David Chappell is Principal of Chappell & Associates based in San Francisco, California. Through his speaking, writing, and consulting, he helps people around the world understand, use, and make better decisions about new technology.

    In the following episode of ARCast.tv, David talks to Bob Familiar about Effective IT Innovation. David talks about how innovation is more than just coming up with great ideas. He makes the case that innovation is a change that provides value. He goes into some detail on his i3 approach to taking ideas and moving them through the implementation and infusion phases so that their value has the broadest impact.

    Get Microsoft Silverlight

  • Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit 5.0

    Solution-Accelerators_bLThe Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 is an agentless tool designed to simplify and streamline the IT infrastructure planning process across multiple scenarios through network-wide automated discovery and assessments. This Solution Accelerator performs an inventory of heterogeneous server environments and provides you with usage information for servers in the Core CAL Suite and SQL Server, SQL Server 2008 discovery and assessment for consolidation, Windows 2000 Server migration assessment, and a readiness assessment for the most widely used Microsoft technologies—now including Office 2010.

    imageIs your organization spending valuable resources planning its IT infrastructure? Download the MAP Toolkit 5.0, and let this tool do the heavy lifting for a wide variety of your IT planning projects.

    Next steps:

    What's new with MAP Toolkit 5.0?

    • Heterogeneous server environment inventory
    • Software usage tracking for Windows Server, SharePoint Server, System Center Configuration Manager, Exchange Server, and SQL Server
    • Microsoft Office 2010 readiness assessment
    • SQL Server discovery and assessment for consolidation
    • Windows 2000 Server migration assessment

    The MAP Toolkit 5.0 includes the following new features:

    Heterogeneous Server Environment Inventory: Know what’s in your IT environment. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit performs a network inventory of IT assets remotely without the use of agents, identifying heterogeneous server environments consisting of Windows Server and Linux operating systems, including those running in a virtual environment. MAP 5.0 also automates the discovery of Linux-powered LAMP stacks.

    Software Usage Tracker: Right-size your IT environment with MAP Toolkit 5.0, and simplify your software license management and compliance processes. MAP 5.0’s new usage tracking feature provides consistent software usage reports for key Microsoft server products: Windows Server, SharePoint Server, System Center Configuration Manager, Exchange Server, and SQL Server. Run updated reports whenever you need to accurately assess current software usage and client access history in your environment. This reduces time and administrative costs for managing your server and client access licenses (CALs) and helps you to streamline the management of your software assets.

    Microsoft Office 2010 Readiness Assessment: Streamline your migration to Office 2010 with MAP 5.0’s hardware compatibility proposal document. The MAP Toolkit provides readiness details and specifics of your IT infrastructure inventory, including hardware and OS requirements and upgrade recommendations for planning a seamless deployment of Office 2010. The actionable recommendations and assessments presented shorten the time it takes to plan your Office 2010 migration and prepares your IT environment for Office 2010 deployment and migration scenarios.

    Database Discovery for SQL Server Consolidation: MAP 5.0’s new database discovery feature gives you the information you need to optimize your database resources and investments. MAP helps you simplify database administration and provides wide-ranging details of databases and server instances—information you can utilize for consolidation. Use the MAP Toolkit’s proposals to better utilize hardware and database resources, reduce administrative costs, and streamline your software licensing needs—all essential for cost-effective IT planning and operations.

    Windows 2000 Server Migration Assessment: As support for Windows 2000 Server ends soon, MAP 5.0’s Migration Assessment feature helps you prepare for migration to Windows Server 2008 R2 by assessing the Windows 2000 Server environment and legacy workloads in the form of proposals and reports. The MAP Toolkit’s actionable recommendations help you to understand the potential business impact of maintaining legacy workloads and the benefits of migrating to the robust Windows Server 2008 R2 environment. With migration to Windows Server 2008 R2, you’ll be able to utilize the increased IT flexibility and efficiency from such technologies as Hyper-V and Remote Desktop Services, as well as tap into power-savings features to decrease TCO.

  • Exchange Server 2010 Service Pack 1 available

    Resources: