Great news! We just publically announced today at Educause that Office 365 ProPlus will be offered to students at no additional charge if all your faculty and staff are already licensed for Office 2013 Professional Plus via EES agreement or via Office 365 ProPlus subscription.

This is incredible news for students as they can now take advantage of all that Office 365 ProPlus has to offer.

I put together a quick FAQ for what this means for your education institution:

What is included with Office 365 ProPlus subscription license?

• Office 365 ProPlus for PC (Office 2013 ProPlus base applications)
• Office 365 ProPlus for Mac (Office 2011 for Mac base applications)
• Office Mobile for iPhone
• Office Mobile for Android

How many machines/devices can I run this subscription on?

Each subscription license allows you to run Office on up to five machines being Mac or PC. You can also run Office Mobile for Android or Office Mobile for iPhone on up to 5 mobile devices.

Is this a full version Office and available for offline use?

Yes, this is full Office on the PC, Mac, iPhone, and Android platform and all are available for offline use.

What applications come with Office 365 ProPlus for PC?

Word 2013

Excel 2013

PowerPoint 2013

OneNote 2013

Access 2013

Publisher 2013

Outlook 2013

Lync 2013

InfoPath 2013

What comes with Office 365 ProPlus for Mac?

Word 2011

Excel 2011

PowerPoint 2011

Outlook 2011

What comes with Office Mobile for iPhone?

Word Mobile

Excel Mobile

PowerPoint Mobile

OneNote and Lync Mobile available as separate download.

See here for more options.

What comes with Office Mobile for Android?

Word Mobile

Excel Mobile

PowerPoint Mobile

OneNote and Lync Mobile available as separate download

See here for more options.

What are the PC requirements for Office 365 ProPlus?

• Windows Server 2008 R2
• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2012
• Windows 8

32-bit Office can be installed on 32-bit or 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit Office can only be installed on 64-bit operating systems.

Computer and processor
1 GHZ or faster x86 or 64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set.

Memory

1 GB RAM (32-bit)

2 GB RAM (64-bit) recommended for graphics features, Outlook Instant Search, and certain advanced functionality.

Disk space
3 gigabytes (GB)

Monitor resolution
1024 x 768

What are the Mac requirements for Office 365 ProPlus?

• A Mac computer with an Intel processor.
• Mac OS X version 10.5.8 or later.
• 1 GB of RAM recommended.
• 2.5 GB of available hard disk space.
• HFS+ hard disk format (also known as Mac OS Extended or HFS Plus).
• DVD drive or connection to a local area network (if installing over a network).
• 1280 x 768 or higher resolution monitor

What are the iPhone requirements for Office Mobile for iPhone?

iPhone 4

iPhone 5

iPhone 5s

iPod Touch 5th generation

All devices above must be running iOS 6.1 minimum

What are the Android requirements for Office Mobile for Android?

Android OS 4.0 or greater

Android touch enabled smartphones only

Do students have to sign into Office 365 to use any of these applications with Office 365 ProPlus?

Yes, a valid Office 365 ProPlus license tied to a valid Office 365 login for students is required to enable any of the four Office 365 ProPlus features.

How long can a student leverage Office 365 ProPlus?

The guidelines are they can leverage this until they graduate or are no longer attending your school. At that point, you must disable their Office 365 ProPlus license.

How is this different from Office 2013 Professional Plus?

The Office 2013 applications are exactly the same however there are some differences including patching, license sign in for usage, and Click-to-run (C2R) technology for rapid installs (2 minutes for quick usage).

Can I run a local image of Office 365 ProPlus to install from and can I customize the install share?

Yes, you can install Office 365 ProPlus for PC from a local share and still leverage C2R technology for a few minutes installation of Office and with the Office Deployment Tool you can also customize the Office installation. See here for more instructions

Where can I get training on Office 365 ProPlus?

There is some excellent end user training on Office 2013 here.

There is some excellent end user training on Office for Mac 2011 here:

• Excel 2011
• Outlook 2011

• PowerPoint 2011
• Word 2011

Some end user help guides on Office Mobile for iPhone here and here.

Some end user help guides on Office Mobile for Android here and here.

Is there a deployment guide for Office 365 ProPlus?

Yes, there is an excellent IT Pro reference guide here.

By Anthony Salcito, Vice President of Worldwide Education

As students and teachers head back into the classroom this fall, many will be thinking about what's next - specifically, how today's education will translate to tomorrow's most sought-after jobs. Recent Pew Research found a skills gap in education, concluding that today's education system is not adequately preparing students for the jobs of the future. In fact, IDC research commissioned by Microsoft found that this skills gap could be closed by focusing on communications, knowledge integration and presentation skills; combined with a solid competence in the productivity tools of Microsoft Office that facilitate 21^st century work. And, with the job market beginning to tighten, having the right skills translates to finding the best jobs.

To that end, I'm pleased to share some very exciting news: Beginning today, students in the U.S. are eligible for free Office 365 ProPlus from their school using a new self-service sign-up process that gives them all the benefits of Office 365 ProPlus including all of the familiar (and professional grade) Office applications like Word, PowerPoint and OneNote. Also included is 1TB of storage on OneDrive for Business, Office Online and more. The new self-service sign-in is quick and easy for students, but still allows school IT managers to maintain all the control, flexibility and security that Office is known for while reducing the amount of administrative work needed to provide these free services to students. This same service will be available worldwide in the next few months.

Office 365 ProPlus benefit is an update to last year's well received "Student Advantage" program, and was created to address the very real needs of our fast-changing global economy. According to the IDC data, the high-growth/high-salary occupations of the future consistently require a high level of competence in communication, knowledge integration and presentation (CIP) skills. And many 21^st century employers specifically require Microsoft Office or Microsoft Office-related skills. In fact, the only software package called out within the top 20 skills across all occupations is Microsoft Office.

For today's digital natives, Office 365 Education matches their anywhere, anytime learning style, putting them on a path to succeed. With tools like Lync, they can seamlessly collaborate with students in classrooms around the world. And with OneNote, students can keep class notes, photos, and important information in one, easy-to-find location that's available on all of their devices (PCs, Macs, Windows Phone, iPhones, iPads, Android Phones, Android Tablets) and now even wearables. Students can type directly into their notebooks, capture and convert photos of whiteboards and handouts, even record meetings or voice memos, and they're all available from any device with a simple search.

We're also excited to announce that faculty and staff will soon be able to access the same Office 365 ProPlus benefit as students. This means that any organization purchasing Office for all their faculty and staff can now include an Office 365 ProPlus subscription at no extra cost for all students, faculty and staff. Extending the Office 365 ProPlus benefit to teachers and staff ensures that educators have access to all their Office documents across all their devices, at work or at home. It also means that teachers are using the same technology and features as their students. With Office 365 ProPlus, teachers get continual updates, which means they are always using the latest, best version of Office. They can install Office on up to five PCs or Macs and can unlock the editing capabilities of Office apps for iPad. Using their Office 365 ID also means they can access the same Office content while on the go with the mobile apps on Windows Phone, iPhones and Android Phones. Teachers can take advantage of great Office apps and add-ins like Office Mix to record and publish class lectures. They also get plenty of storage space with the 1TB of storage on OneDrive for Business.

Eligible educational institution employees in the U.S. can sign up at office.com/teachers beginning in October with availability worldwide starting in December.

At Microsoft, we are committed to making both the technology and the programs needed for college and career readiness available to as many students as possible - an imperative in today's market, where worldwide youth unemployment is continuing to rise . The new Office 365 ProPlus benefit, along with the more than 30 programs included in the Microsoft YouthSpark initiative - which was developed to close the opportunity gap between those who have access to the skills and training they need to be successful, and those who do not - are just some of the many ways Microsoft works to to inspire and prepare students for success in the global workplace of tomorrow.

Check out the Office blog for even more information on this amazing offer.

To check your eligibility and learn more about Office 365 ProPlus go to self-service sign-up page. For more information on the benefits of Office in education visit Microsoft in Education. Students can also explore additional deals and resources Microsoft has to offer students.

Great news today we announced the availability of Yammer Enterprise in your Office 365 Education tenant.

I put together a quick FAQ to help with the launch:

What is Yammer Enterprise?

Yammer Enterprise is an enterprise social platform providing seamless, open sharing, and cross collaboration within your campus/district/school. It is a transformational technology which has changed the way we work inside of Microsoft where we share ideas, thoughts, find information and ask questions where previously we may not have had this insight.

See an excellent overview and demo of Yammer here and here:

What are the requirements for Yammer to work?

All HTML5 browsers are supported see here which is consistent with the Office 365 browser requirements and there are also mobile/tablet apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone and Windows 8.1. See here.

Yammer for Windows Phone 8

Yammer for iOS app

Yammer for Android app

Yammer for Windows 8.1 app

Does this cost extra to use in my Office 365 Education tenant?

No, it is included with A2 and A3 SKUs.

Can I use this with external users? Does this require an additional license?

Yes, you can use it with external users parents, partners, companies with no extra licensing required.

What scenarios in education can I use Yammer Enterprise?

The possibilities for using Yammer in education are endless. Here just a few scenarios that might help get the ideas going:

• Classroom collaboration – teacher to student, student to student, mentoring, questions, announcements
• Teacher collaboration – teacher to teacher sharing, sharing ideas/lesson plans
• Campus/School collaboration – campus communities – freshmen, sports, interests/clubs, announcements, questions/answers, financial aid, etc.
• Departmental collaboration – professor sharing, collaboration, information sharing
• Projects – project information, graduate student projects, sharing of ideas
• IT helpdesk – questions, information sharing
• Research – sharing ideas, working cross teams, working with external parties securely
• Alumni – Alumni collaboration, announcements, jobs
• Parents – parent discussion, collaboration, feedback
• External collaboration with researchers, companies, other universities/schools

If I have an existing Office 365 Education tenant what do I have to do to get Yammer Enterprise?

If you already have A2 or A3 academic skus enabled the ‘Yammer Enterprise’ license will just appear in your tenant. You do not have to order anything additional to make this work.  You still have to activate Yammer within your Office 365 Education tenant. See steps here and Activation FAQ here.

If I am using Yammer Basic for my school/campus already what do I have to do?

The good news is you can upgrade your Yammer Basic to Yammer Enterprise. See steps here.

Where can I find more information on learning about Yammer or deploying Yammer?

Please visit this training link here and deployment link here for more information on Yammer.

I will be posting a more detailed Yammer Enterprise deployment in this blog coming soon.

Before I actually start explaining and demonstrating how to build SQL Server Reporting Service (SSRS) reports there are few things you must have installed or restored before you can begin. As mentioned in my previous post, SQL Server 2012 for Beginners, this is a journey. While the first part of the journey is focused on SSRS, there is a possibility that we may take short excursions that explain or demonstrate other features and capabilities of SQL Server. As with the case of this post.

Let's get started.

Perquisites

1. SQL Server 2012 Database Engine sp1
2. SQL Server Management Studio sp1
3. SQL Server Data Tools sp1
4. SQL Server Reporting Services 2012 sp1
5. Restored Copy of the ContosoSchoolsDW database

I am going to go against the main purpose of these blog posts by assuming that the first 4 have already been installed, configured, and that you have been given access to the Database Engine and the Report Server. With that said, I am going to back track eventually and explain how to install and configure each in future posts. Hopefully, that is ok for now. If not, please feel free to contact me and I would be happy to direct you to resources that could assist you in getting these set up. One thing that I can suggest is that you go out and pre-order a copy SQL Server 2012 Step By Step (SHAMELESS PLUG), which explains how to setup and configure each.

Now that you have all the required tools in place, the next step is the restore the database that will be used throughout the demonstrations. You can click HERE to download the backup file. Ensure that the account that is specified to run the SQL Server Database engine has access to the download location.

Watch the Video if you prefer:

Restore a Database

Using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) you can restore a database several ways. In this posting I will explain how to restore a database using SSMS Graphical User Interface (GUI) and TSQL. Since these are introductory posts the main focus will be on the GUI, however I will provide a sample (Transact SQL) T-SQL script that restores the database.

Restoring a Database with SSMS

1. Open SSMS
2. The Connect to Server window will open. Select Database Engine from the Server type drop down list.
3. Enter your server name in the Server name drop down list.
4. Select your Authentication method from the Authentication drop down list.
5. If you selected SQL Server Authentication you must enter your User name and Password in the corresponding checkboxes.

    

   

    

6. Click the button labeled Connect.
7. The Object Explorer should be open on the left-side of the SSMS window. If it is not press F8 to open it or in the menu select View | Object Explorer.
8. Expand the SQL Server instance that you are connected to.

    

   

    

9. Right-click on the Databases folder and select Restore Database from the context menu that appears.

    

   

    

10. The Restore Database window will open.
11. Ensure that General is selected in the Select a page pane located in the left section of the window.
12. The options of this page are divided into three sections, Source, Destination and Restore Plan.
13. In the Source section select the radio button labeled Device.
14. Click the Ellipses button located to the right of the Device textbox and the Select backup devices window will open.
15. Ensure that File is selected in the Backup media type drop down list.
16. Click the button labeled Add and the Locate Backup File window will open.
17. Navigate to the location where you download the ContosoSchoolDW.bak file and select it.

     

    

     

18. Click the OK button.
19. You will return to the Select backup devices window.

     

    

     

20. Click OK.
21. Back on the main Restore Database window your screen should resemble the following:

     

    

     

22. Select Files in the Select a page pane.
23. Now this is where things can get tricky if you are not familiar with restoring SQL Server databases.
24. Expand the Restore As column and ensure that the path specified in each row does exist. The path specified in this column may be different than the one specified in the Original File Name column.

     

    

     

25. Click OK and the database restore will begin.

Once the database restore is complete you can begin querying its contents. If you receive any errors or have any questions about the contents of this post please feel free to post a comment here.

    Restoring a Database using TSQL

1. Open SSMS.
2. The Connect to Server window will open. Select Database Engine from the Server type drop down list.
3. Enter your server name in the Server name drop down list.
4. Select your Authentication method from the Authentication drop down list.
5. If you selected SQL Server Authentication you must enter your User name and Password in the corresponding checkboxes.
6. Click the button labeled Connect.
7. In the menu bar locate and click New Query.
8. Enter and execute the following query:

   USE [master]

   RESTORE DATABASE [ContosoSchoolsDW]

   FROM DISK = N'C:\SQL Server\backup\ContosoSchoolsDW.bak'

   WITH

       FILE = 1,

       MOVE N'CrescentSchools' TO N'C:\SQL Server\data\CrescentSchools.mdf',

       MOVE N'CrescentSchools_log' TO N'C:\SQL Server\log\CrescentSchools_log.ldf',

       STATS = 5

   GO

    

Note: If you have already restored the ContosoSchoolDW you will receive and error if you execute the query.

In the next post, Creating a SQL Server Reporting Service Project, I will discuss the differences between a solution and a project and provide the steps to create both.

Talk to you soon,

Patrick LeBlanc, Microsoft, Technical Solutions Professional SQL Server and Business Intelligence

Founder www.sqllunch.com

At Microsoft, we have an unwavering commitment to education. It’s a phrase you’ve heard me say more than once, and it’s true not just in theory, but also in practice. In fact, during the last year alone, we’ve recommitted to our work with educators by extending our investment in Partners in Learning by $250 million; we’ve launched Youthspark to bring opportunities to 300 million youth worldwide; and we’ve offered Office 365 for free to educational institutions worldwide.

Today, I am pleased to announce one more great opportunity exclusively for education institutions: The availability of Surface RT devices at a reduced price for a limited time.

Now through August 31, 2013, K–12 and Higher Education institutions can get:

• Surface RT (32 GB) for $199 USD (Estimated Retail Price is $499 USD)
• Surface RT (32 GB) Touch Keyboard Cover for $249 USD (Estimated Retail Price is $599)
• Surface RT (32 GB) Type Keyboard Cover for $289 USD (Estimated Retail Price is $629)

Surface RT provides students and educators with access to powerful tools like Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 RT – Microsoft Office is the most-used productivity software in schools and businesses (1 billion people using it today) and Windows is used by 95 percent of employers. It also opens the door to thousands — more than 20,000, to be precise — of education related apps in the Windows Store, from big names like Khan Academy, Kno, Chegg, and major textbook publishers such as HMH and Pearson.

Personally, I love that Surface RT offers the richness of a mouse and keyboard, USB and HD video-out to support printing and presentations, a dazzling 10.6” ClearType HD display for textbooks and education videos, all-day battery life, multitasking to show two apps side-by-side, and multi-user support. Quite simply, this is a great choice for schools and universities.

If you’re asking why now is the right time to take such an ambitious step into the education market, the answer is simple: It’s because Microsoft believes every student and teacher deserves a fair opportunity to reach his or her full potential, and this means ensuring our education customers have access to affordable and high quality tablets with laptop functionality ready for education.

What we’re announcing today is just one offer.  Windows devices come in a variety of shapes, sizes, features and price points to serve all our education customer needs.  We continue to work with OEMs on delivering their latest tablets and PCs.

The Microsoft Surface for education offer is available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States (including Puerto Rico).

For more information and to order in North America visit here; For the rest of the world see the Surface RT for Education brochure below and return the completed order form to SurfaceEDU@microsoft.com.

Update 7/18 - We’ve received great feedback and strong demand for the Surface RT for Education Limited Time Offer. Schools are discovering Surface and Windows 8 for the first time through this program and many of them have asked us to extend the offer so they can purchase when they come back-to-school in September.  We’re excited by this response and we agree it makes a lot of sense to extend the deadline to September 30th. We want to make sure that every school that wants a Surface gets one.