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…

MCU in the Cloud

MCU in the Cloud

Article written by Rob West If you’ve got Lync, or another Voice over IP and collaboration solution in your organization, you’ve likely also got another video conferencing solution. Or, let’s say that you only have one, but your clients and partners have another one or two or three. What happens when you want to bridge…

MMS2012 content available

MMS2012 content available

Could not attend MMS2012 in Vegas this year?   Not to worry! Microsoft has posted all of the PowerPoint and videos for free 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:…

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…

Updated IPD from Microsoft

Updated IPD from Microsoft

The Infrastructure Planning and Design (IPD) guides series have been updated to reflect the version upgrades and changes to the Microsoft product line in the past few months. Definitely worth the review: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc196387.aspx As a reminder: The series is a collection of documents that leads the reader through a sequence of core decision points to…

Microsoft Hyper-V

Microsoft Hyper-V

When considering VMware to address the Server Virtualization environment, take a moment to consider another more cost effective alternative: Microsoft Virtual Server. Although Virtual Server does not currently offer VMware features such as VMotion, Site Recovery, Converter, etc. Microsoft is spending a lot of development dollars making sure that the Virtual Server environment is in…

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…

Office 2010  Deployment Kit for App-V

Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V

  Just in case you missed it,  Microsoft released the Microsoft Office 2010 Deployment Kit for App-V   which will is  required for sequencing and deploying Office 2010 client products with Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V). The toolkit must be installed on the App-V sequencing station prior to monitoring the Office 2010 client installation, and on the…

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…

Windows Intune: Cloud Desktop Management

Windows Intune: Cloud Desktop Management

The beta version of Windows Intune 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 Intune delivers cloud-based management and security capabilities that can be administered through a single Web-based console, enabling your…

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,…

Project Management Online Tools
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Project Management Online Tools

One of the most common questions I get asked is what tool to I use to manage projects while working with virtual teams.   The answer I give, is typically, “it depends a lot on the size of the project, and what you want to manage”     Collaboration, Project Management, Project Portfolio Management (PPM), Online Project Management,…

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]

Windows 7 N

Windows 7 N

A qiick post, with something I learned today…. I am not sure if you have noticed or not, but on Technet and the VLSC download site, you will notice a downloaded titled “Windows 7 N” The N version represents a version of Windows 7 that does not have Windows Media Player included and is intended…

[TechCrunch] SPICEWORKS the new Facebook for IT Pros?

[TechCrunch] SPICEWORKS the new Facebook for IT Pros?

via TechCrunch Spiceworks, a startup that develops Web-connected social IT management software, has raised $16 million in Series C funding round led by Institutional Venture Partners with Austin Ventures and Shasta Venturesparticipating. This brings the startup’s total funding to $29 million. Spiceworks develops a desktop software suite that helps a company’s IT staff collaborate with…

[SOA World] is your App Infrastructure based on a the Postal Service’s Model?

[SOA World] is your App Infrastructure based on a the Postal Service’s Model?

Article written by Rob West This is a thought-provoking article from LORI MACVITTIE on SOAWorld Magazine that poses an interesting point-of-view: …the US postal service doesn’t determine whether postage may be due or not until the package arrives at its destination. If the addressee isn’t willing/able to pay that postage due, the package is of course…

Bring back Zero Touch (SoftGrid/App-V)

Bring back Zero Touch (SoftGrid/App-V)

Article by Danny Knox Microsoft – why did you kill the radio star?  The application virtualization product formerly known as SoftGrid prior to Microsoft’s purchase had a fledgling web based self-service application provisioning tool called Zero Touch.  Sure, it sounds like the image deployment methodology from Microsoft called “zero touch” but why kill it?  Re-brand…

New Microsoft Partner Competencies & Requirements

New Microsoft Partner Competencies & Requirements

If you were at any of the Microsoft partner events in the last couple of years,  you would know that  Microsoft has been in the process of revamping the Microsoft Partner Program and its ecosystem.  The changes officially started this past July when they renamed the Microsoft Partner Program to Microsoft Partner Network (MPN), partly…

Cloud-Services vs Virtualization
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Cloud-Services vs Virtualization

As many of you already know, we have been  strong proponent of cloud-based services for a very long time…   The idea of  maintaining an expensive and complex in-house infrastructure to support basic IT services  is steadily shifting away from mainstream business. Adoption of cloud-based services continues to climb steadily. However, a recent  article on the…

Behind the scenes on Cloud Computing

Behind the scenes on Cloud Computing

A very interesting video on the hardware architecture behind cloud computing was posted yesterday on Microsoft’s Channel9 site…  The walk-though is presented by Patrick Yantz, a Cloud Architect with Microsoft’s Data Center Services Team at PDC09. Self contained 40-foot containers (yes the kind you see on the road)  are used to store 1000’s of motherboards and…

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…

BPOS Migration Tools

BPOS Migration Tools

As we have mentioned in the past, many organizations are now moving from on-premises to a hosted solution (cloud computing).   One of the greatest values out there (for what it contains) is Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) —    We expect to have many, many customers to continue to migrate into this platform. With a  set of…

Summer blues…

Summer blues…

Wow – It is hard to believe how fast the summer came and went. As you can probably gather from the frequency of posts, it was a very busy time for all of us at the InfraOps team.  Busy working with clients and getting to know updated technologies.   Lots of activity, including  some much needed…

Microsoft Assessment MAP Toolkit and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Released

Microsoft Assessment MAP Toolkit and Planning Toolkit 4.0 Released

Some of us have been using it already, but just in case you did not know, MAP 4.0 is now officially released. As you would expect,most of the changes are around Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, but there is much more.   Definitelly a good upgrade!   According to the official release, key new features…

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…

Google’s Wave

Google’s Wave

We have typically focused our articles on Microsoft and related technologies. This one will  change that trend a bit, as what we heard and saw is – in our view – significant  announcement from Google. Yesterday, during the keynote on day 2of  the Google I/O Conference  , Google demonstrated (literally) the vision they are heading towards, and they…

The AppCompat Guy

The AppCompat Guy

Article by Rob West As Windows 7 relieves a lot of the pent-up demand for a new OS from Microsoft and unblocks the anti-Vista sentiment that has been one of the major impediments to widespread enterprise adoption of what was (in our opinion) a great OS in its later iterations, we are seeing greater demand…

Cloud Computing – Basics
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Cloud Computing – Basics

Microsoft’ Ron Markezich, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Online,  made available  a basic but interesting video  on his views on cloud computing adoption which he expressed at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium in Boston, MA For one thing, chief information officers are uncertain how to fashion a roadmap that brings “cloud services” into their IT architecture….

Webcast ahead: How Microsoft IT Deploys Application Virtualization

Webcast ahead: How Microsoft IT Deploys Application Virtualization

Upcoming  Webcast: How Microsoft IT Deploys Application Virtualization The MDOP team has announced that on May 26th TechNet will host  a  webcast  to discuss how Microsoft uses App-V 4.5 and ConfigMgr 2007 to deploy and manage applications within their environment.  if it is anything like the one at MMS2009 it should be an interesting one.  Click…

MMS 2009

MMS 2009

One of our esteemed contributors, Jorge Pereira, has the good fortune of being at #MMS09 this year, and has been energized by what he’s heard. He’s probably gearing up for some posts outlining his thoughts on what’s happening in the center of the Microverse.

@InfraOps

@InfraOps

If you’re a twitaholic, and you like our posts, you may want to follow us on Twitter: Tweets by infraops We’re doing more of the short one-off posts there, and expanding the more interesting bits into articles here. Hope you’ll tune in and tweet with us!

MDOP 2009 released

MDOP 2009 released

A new version of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) was realsed early April and includes includes MED-V v1.0, a cummulative update to App-V andupdate to  AIS.    This update  has been a much anticipated primarily because of MED-V which is finally available under the Microsoft name.   The official posting at the MDOP blog…

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…

The InfraOps Blog…

The InfraOps Blog…

Article by Rob West …was reborn this month. We’ve been traveling, speaking and writing so much that we haven’t had enough time to write to this blog. Well, that’s dumb, and has to stop, so I’m personally committing at least 2 hours of my week to doing the bare minimum: hunting down a few cool…

How to Integrate App-V into SCCM without losing the features you care about

How to Integrate App-V into SCCM without losing the features you care about

Article by Rob West Over on the Innovative Technology Weblog, my former colleague Kevin Reejuwijk has posted a great article about one my greatest excitements/disappointments in IT in awhile: the kind of bait n’ switch (IMO) integration of App-V and SCCM. App-V traditionally tells a user-centric story, but when integrated with SCCM, becomes more akin…

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…

Microsoft’s BPOS Offering / Cloud Computing…

Microsoft’s BPOS Offering / Cloud Computing…

Microsoft’s Business productivity Online Services (BPOS) is getting ready to officially launch within a few weeks… They have moved all beta users in to release candidate code and are in high gear recruiting partners, as their strategy is 100% partner attachment for these services…  ( We are hoping this to be the case for many years…

Microsoft Optimized Deskop strategy presentation

Microsoft Optimized Deskop strategy presentation

PDF of a slide deck on Microsoft’s vision for the Optimized Desktop. This sounds very familiar to us old hats. Download details: The Microsoft Optimized Desktop Strategy by Jeff Johnson, Enterprise Technology Specialist, Microsoft Corporation Presentation Deck The Microsoft Optimized Desktop Strategy by Jeff Johnson, Enterprise Technology Specialist, Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft will spend $8B to catch up in cloud computing

Microsoft will spend $8B to catch up in cloud computing

A stunning piece of news that I would have been incredulous to hear if I hadn’t been there when they said it. I think Microsoft is taking some great steps in a thought-leadership position. Sure, they’re buying their way into markets, but that’s what they excel at, and if you’re watching closely, and ignoring the…

App-V Podcast

App-V Podcast

Download details: AppV™ Application Virtualization WWindows Springboard Series: AppV™ Application VirtualizationKarri Alexion-Tiernan, Director in the Windows Client division, unveils the latest version of this technology for virtualizing applications to reduce application-to-application conflicts and improve manageability.

MDOP 2008 R2 RTM

MDOP 2008 R2 RTM

Huzzah! MDOP has been updated! The App-V Blog : MDOP 2008 R2 Releases to Manufacturing! MDOP 2008 R2 Releases to Manufacturing! In case you missed all the fireworks and champagne corks yesterday it was in celebration of Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack 2008 R2 being released to manufacturing. Of course you already know that this version…

App-V 4.5 RTMs

App-V 4.5 RTMs

Well, we missed posting the scoop on this, as we were all at the Microsoft Virtualization Launch yesterday in Bellevue, rocking out to Live and having a grand time. By the time we all got home, none of us were very fit to post, and then today was a work day. The good news is,…

[GreenIT] SMS Companion v3 – Advanced Scheduling and Power Management

[GreenIT] SMS Companion v3 – Advanced Scheduling and Power Management

I always visit SMS SCCM Expert in my rotation of must-check-for-update websites. They really develop some excellent addons and enhancements for my favorite systems management platform. One of their products that I had not really heard too much about struck me today. Let me back up: I’ve been wondering more and more about what part…

4Sysops review on Altiris SVS Professional Streaming System

4Sysops review on Altiris SVS Professional Streaming System

With Symantec’s purchase of AppStream, the application virtualization story is starting to get more complicated. If you’re a long time SoftGrid/App-V fan, you should read this story. It sounds a lot like the old days. As Microsoft’s product begins to retreat back to the machine-centric model, Symantec’s AppStream duplicates some of classic SoftGrid’s best (IMO)…

Updated WAIK documentation

Updated WAIK documentation

Hey Deploymentfolk – Getcher red-hot documentation updates for the WAIK. The following site links to Microsoft downloads, and provides replacement documentation for the RTM version. Download details: Windows AIK User’s Guide and Unattended Setup Reference (Documentation Update 1) The Windows Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) is designed to help Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), system builders,…

Windows 3.11 is dead

Windows 3.11 is dead

Say it ain’t so… SOURCE: John Coyne’s Embedded Blog : It’s the End for 3.11!! It’s the End for 3.11!! for those that were not aware, we recently announced that effective November 1st, 2008, OEM’s will no longer be able to license Windows for Workgroups 3.11 in the embedded channel. Now we all know that…

Getronics North America – Sold

Getronics North America – Sold

We heard today that Compucom has agreed to aquire Getronics’ North American operations including operations in the United States, the operations in Canada and the Global Service Centre in Mexico. You can see the press release from both companies at the following: Compucom: CompuCom Systems Signs Definitive Agreement Getronics:    Getronics enters into strategic partnership…  

Recognition for our work!

Recognition for our work!

We are extremely  pleased and honored that Microsoft has recognized Getronics work and continued support in fiscal year 2008. Specifically for our USA team, we were selected as a finalist in the category of   Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Systems Management (LiveID required) for our Getronics Virtualization Services : Enabling adoption and management of virtualization technologies in enterprise…