Microsoft announcement: WaaS and Windows 7

Microsoft announcement: WaaS and Windows 7

There was a very significant announcement that was made public today. Summary of announcement: Longer Windows 10 servicing for enterprises and educational institutions moving from 18 month cycle to  a 30 month cycle. (per version) Windows 7 Extended Security Updates:  Microsoft will offer paid Windows 7 Extended Security Updates (ESU) through January 2023. Not sure…

Microsoft Platform: Workspace Transformation

Microsoft Platform: Workspace Transformation

Workspace transformation is gaining  lot of momentum at the moment.   At its core,  it is about letting users access data and applications securely anywhere anytime.   Enabling users to quickly provision their devices is only part of the story.   Request applications so they can quickly securely access the  data without the large bureaucracy associated with IT…

The Value Proposition of a Platform: Microsoft Win10/Office365/EM+S
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The Value Proposition of a Platform: Microsoft Win10/Office365/EM+S

[ Update 20161004: I encourage you to watch Brad Anderson’s keynote session at Microsoft Ignite 2016 – Simply IMPRESSIVE!  ] As I have written before,  technology management has made an incredible shift over the past few years (maybe the last 3-5 years).    Infrastructure as a Service, Platform as a Service are now the common conversations in most…

Windows 10 Timelines..

Windows 10 Timelines..

AS a follow-up to my Windows 7 End of Mainstream Support posting,   several questions came in regarding the Windows 10 availability dates… ( This is based  on multiple publicly  available news stories and sources.. ) Regarding Windows 10 availability: September 2014 — Windows Technical Preview (WTP) for laptops and desktops Microsoft’s Windows Insider Program opened…

Disintermediated: IT Consulting Firms and System Integration

Disintermediated: IT Consulting Firms and System Integration

Over the last few years, many System Integrators (SIs) and Information Technology (IT) consulting firms have found themselves in trouble as the number of clients decrease and revenue takes a downward trend. In-house IT departments, who’s budgets are cost-centers, are also being affected and in the same category.     What has changed so dramatically within the…

Microsoft: A Platform Agnostic Company  – Yeah!
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Microsoft: A Platform Agnostic Company – Yeah!

My professional live has revolved, in great percentage, around Microsoft and Microsoft technologies.   It has been a good life, but  over the few years it has felt it like swiming against the current because of the major trends out there..    With so much of the market going cloud-services, device independent application delivery, bring-your-own-device,…

Technology Infrastructure Managed as Code

Technology Infrastructure Managed as Code

I have been involved in Technology Management for much of my professional life.   I have helped people in many type of organizations (small, medium, large and global) manage their technology improvements, migrations and transformations including PCs, Internet, virtualization, and as of late, cloud-based infrastructures… I have seen what it takes organizations adopt, transform and shift…

Benefits and Dangers of BYOD – Report

Benefits and Dangers of BYOD – Report

In a July 2012 published report by Osterman Research (available via InfoWorld),   where they survey of 760 individuals with regard to the BYOD issues they face in their organizations. The research found widespread use of third party, cloud-based storage and file synchronization, which are not often supported by the IT organizations… Their report includes benefits…

Tips for Effective BYOD Management

Tips for Effective BYOD Management

The quintessential smartphone has evolved from a high-end consumer product for the executive level business person, to a common man’s necessity. Taking this development into consideration, businesses are now considering implementing Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) programs with an aim to drive employee productivity using new technology. Managing BYOD Whether you already permit your personnel to bring their…

Operational Benefits OF BYOD Strategy

Operational Benefits OF BYOD Strategy

The influx of new communication devices and solutions in the corporate environment resulted in the workforce becoming increasingly mobile. Take for instance, remote desktop access and SSL VPNs, which has made it possible for the workforce to make the choice with respect to location and time. Similarly, very many technological innovations have made the concept…

Going Paperless at Home/Office: Introduction

Going Paperless at Home/Office: Introduction

Since the creation of the computer and data storage, people have been making every attempt to transition from their cluttered offices full of paper and rooms (or attics) full of file cabinets into a paperless, streamlined and easy to search environment. As technology has evolved, so has our ability to make the transition into paperless.Whether…

What is BYOD?

What is BYOD?

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is the latest trend in workplace IT deployment and one that all businesses are going to have to address whether they embrace it or not. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is defined by Wikipedia as: ‘the recent trend of employees bringing personally-owned mobile devices to their place of work, and…

Couldn’t make MMS 2012 conference?
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Couldn’t make MMS 2012 conference?

Not to worry!   Microsoft has posted all of the PowerPoint and videos at http://www.mms-2012.com/digitalmms    regardless if you attended or not, you can register and browse through the sessions…   Thank you  Microsoft!!    For those of you that want to download the content for offline viewing: Videos:   Stefan Roth has created a PowerShell script that will…

Microsoft Online – $4B startup and counting
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Microsoft Online – $4B startup and counting

It is simply amazing to see how much is Microsot investing into its online division. Based on the the latest Microsoft quarterly result published last week, the operating loss for the online services division was  $726M  in the 3rd quarter alone, and a loss  $1.8B for the current year. If we look back to when the…

Cloud Services 101

Cloud Services 101

Cloud computing (or cloud services) is the new buzz in the world of IT services. The term, which is still pretty nebulous for many users, refers to a model in which computing resources are hosted and delivered via the Internet than can dynamically grow and shrink depending on its demand and you pay only for…

Cloud Services 101-4: For Small Businesses

Cloud Services 101-4: For Small Businesses

Originally published for Averro.com blog. Cloud computing is quickly altering the way small businesses work.  Hardware procurement, setup and software licensing in order to support  the applications for all users in the organization is a significant effort and constant concern for the management team in any small business. With the development of cloud based services,…

Cloud Services 101-2: The Big Names in the Field

Cloud Services 101-2: The Big Names in the Field

Originally published for Averro.com blog. Thanks to the convergence of multiple technology trends, including virtualization, data center consolidation, web-services, browser and commercialization of hardware advancements, there is simply no way of ignoring or denying the impact that cloud services are having within the industry. Placing files, email and applications on the cloud has its significant…

Windows Intune – Cloud-based Desktop Management

Windows Intune – Cloud-based Desktop Management

The beta version of Windows Intune, formerly known as  System Center Online Desktop Management,  it is now officially part of the Microsoft Online Services. is now in full beta.  Windows Intune simplifies how businesses manage and secure PCs using Windows cloud services and Windows 7—so your computers and users can operate at peak performance. Windows…

VDI Overview

VDI Overview

Traditionally, companies have deployed desktop or laptop computers to their end users.  The operating system, applications have been individually installed on every desktop or laptop via imaging software or remote installation, and application configuration settings and most user data is stored locally on the computer.  While this may have worked when the company started small,…

Palm Pre – WebOS 1.4 upgrade.

Palm Pre – WebOS 1.4 upgrade.

I just got the much anticipated WebOS 1.4  which, amongst many others features, enables video capture and which supports Adobe’s Flash Player.   I just did a couple of quick tests. Pretty good  video quality and Flash works nicely. Can wait to check the rest of the list. A silly quick test follows: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOEWbfZswJM&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]

iPhone vs Palm Pre

iPhone vs Palm Pre

No this will not be a full comparasion or anything like that, just a quick rambling in myblog regardind my observations between the two platforms, after using both for about a couple of months now. Although I secretly wanted for the Pre to be the one to write about, I have to say that iPod…

Google Wave News

Google Wave News

The IT industry is all about change.  Change to make thing better, most efficient, response faster, while still reducing cost…  At least in theory.   In the past couple of years, there has been a significant transformation occurring.   The move to Cloud Computing has been slowly transforming everything – and I mean *everything*.  from the way we look at hardware…

New Vision Desktop Management – Article Series

New Vision Desktop Management – Article Series

Desktop management is now a critical function of IT services within any organization. Historically, standalone computers and small networks did not require much centralization and management. However, rapid technological advancements, network size growth and the proliferation of the Internet have driven the need for advanced desktop management solutions. The Vision:  “Power and flexibility of a…

A New Vision for Desktop Management – White Paper

A New Vision for Desktop Management – White Paper

A couple of years ago, a couple of colleagues and I created a two-part white paper on Desktop Management  which I  never published here…   Still very relevant so  here you go.. A New Vision for Desktop Management White Paper by Jorge Pereira, Sean Kennedy, Rob West December 2006 Desktop Management has remained largely unchanged over…

Application Virtualization:  Catch the Wave

Application Virtualization: Catch the Wave

In recent years the technology world has increasingly gone “virtual” in a number of areas. First we had virtual local area networks and server-based virtualization. This helped consolidate resources by allowing administrators to increase the density of servers per rack, and decrease the complexity of managing hundreds of servers. This is now a proven and…

Green IT & Infrastructure Optimization: Are they compatable?
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Green IT & Infrastructure Optimization: Are they compatable?

Infrastructure Optimization opens the door for Green Computing with the ability to reduce overall costs via reducing power consumption through virtualization and by making better use of IT resources by more efficiently distributing workload amongst idle system resources rather than introducing additional systems.

Application Virtualization Value Proposition

Application Virtualization Value Proposition

Application Virtualization can benefit  the entire enterprise as follows: Assists IT departments by reducing or eliminating the labor-intensive tasks involved with application lifecycle management. Enables the Business to operate more flexibly and efficiently. Reduces software, hardware, and support costs   Application Virtualization is an advanced technology that contains or “abstracts” applications from the underlying operating…

Citrix + Softricity + Microsoft – Softricity = ?
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Citrix + Softricity + Microsoft – Softricity = ?

In the old days, Softricity was a partner of Citrix. Citrix is a partner of Microsoft. And Softricity was a partner of Microsoft, but is now part of Microsoft. See where this is going? When Softricity was acquired, there was some industry speculation as to what would happen to the great interoperability between SoftGrid and…

Free Webinar: Desktop Management – The Business Value of Application Virtualization

Free Webinar: Desktop Management – The Business Value of Application Virtualization

I thought some of you might be interested in a free event that our team is putting on, centered around the business value of virtualizing applications. For Infrastructure Optimization wonks like myself, this technology is poised to become the centerpiece of many future IO engagements for me and our team. Registration is free, and the webinar is an hour long.

Got your decoder ring? One blogger’s predictions for Virtualization in 2008

Got your decoder ring? One blogger’s predictions for Virtualization in 2008

While I’ve not finished parsing it, Tarry Singh’s article caught my eye. I don’t normally read all of the links that come in through the ITToolbox newsletter, but anything with “virtualization” in the title tends to give me pause. Tarry’s article provides a (rather dense and obviously knowledgeable) collection of predictions for the future of…

A New Vision for Desktop Management – Part 1

A New Vision for Desktop Management – Part 1

By Jorge Pereira and Sean Kennedy, Kennedy Consulting Originally published as a white paper for Kennedy Consulting on December 2006 Desktop management has remained largely unchanged over the past few years. Application provisioning and management (delivery, installation, configuration, auditing, and updates) is at the core of the challenges associated with desktop management. In the past,…

Taming the IM Jungle within the Enterprise

Taming the IM Jungle within the Enterprise

Instant Messaging (IM) has quietly crept in behind the corporate firewall as employees responding to different pressures – personal or business – install popular IM clients to chat with colleagues, partners, and customers and even friends and family. Research shows that over 90% of enterprises have IM within the enterprise and employees are responsible for…