WVC127PAL: Windows 7 Return on Investment for Small and Midsize Business Customers
Presented by: Ivan Meljac
Webcast Date: 6/24/2010
Webcast Start Time: 9:00 AM (Pacific)
PLC Registration Link for Partners
Level: 100
Partner Audience: Partner Business Decision Maker, Partner Marketing, Partner Sales, Partner Training, Partner Developer, Partner IT Professional
Hear from IDC about the results of their research on the business value of Windows 7 Professional for small and midsize business customers. Since the launch of the Windows 7 operating system, IDC has spoken with hundreds of small and midsize businesses around the world to learn about their experience with deploying the new operating system and the business benefits Windows 7 has brought to their companies. Results show an average return on investment of 318% and an 8 month payback period, although results vary depending on company size, geography, and deployment method.
MGT80PAL: Implementing SCE 2010
Presented by: Prajyot Saran
Webcast Start Time: 10:00 AM (Pacific)
Level: 200
Partner Audience: Partner Business Decision Maker, Partner Marketing, Partner Sales, Partner Training
This session will provide the sales positioning of System Center Essentials 2010, as well as demonstrate setup of the SCE 2010 server and initial configuration of the software updates, agent monitoring, and reporting functionality. This is a recommended pre-requisite for selling SCE 2010.
Topics Include:
-Installation
-Configuration
-Administration
-Reporting
-Notification
MGT81PAL: How to Manage Servers in Midsized Businesses
Presented by: Birojit Nath; Vikas Madan
Webcast Date: 6/29/2010
Whether those servers are physical or virtual, midsized businesses need similar capabilities as enterprise management but in an easy-to-use, unified toolset. System Center Essentials (SCE) 2010 brings together monitoring, deployment and virtual management technologies from the System Center enterprise products into a single console that is designed for midsized businesses with 50-500 PCs and up to 50 servers. In this session, we will look at monitoring those physical and virtual servers for health, deploying new servers and even migrating older physical servers to virtual for easier management.
Managing Datacenter (MOSS /Exchange)
-Importing Management Packs
-Overrides
-Managing Virtual Machines Using SCE 2010
-Distributed Applications
-Synthetic Transactions.
MGT88PAL: Understanding How Citrix Extends the Microsoft System Center Desktop Management Solution
Presented by: Sean Donahue
Webcast Start Time: 12:00 PM (Pacific)
This session will guide the attendees through the new integration features that are being developed by Citrix on top of multiple System Center products including the XenApp Connector for Configuration Manager that allows the System Center Admin to deliver and manage applications to the XenApp farm. Barry will also demonstrate the integration work of XenApp delivering App-V packages through Receiver and Self Service provisioning with Dazzle.
WNS169PAL: Past, Present, and Future of Windows-Based NAS: A Growing Market for Highly Available Solutions
Presented by: Joel Garcia; Scott M. Johnson
Webcast Date: 6/30/2010
Webcast Start Time: 8:00 AM (Pacific)
In this session we outline the current and future Network Attached Storage (NAS) solutions. We will demonstrate the flexibility of the iSCSI Software Target and the new 2-cluster setup OOBE. Review the new Windows Storage Server 2008 R2 editions, from the new ‘Essentials’ SKU to the highly-available Enterprise SKU.
APU07PAL: How to Speed Up Your Sale With a SQL Server Consolidation QuickStart
Presented by: Diwakar Rajagopal
Partner Audience: Partner Business Decision Maker, Partner Marketing, Partner Sales, Partner IT Professional
Over the last several years, organizations have begun using increasing numbers of applications to manage business processes, provide new services, and gain insights into business performance. Consequently, the number of application servers and data storage servers that are required to support those applications has grown significantly increasing the cost of deployment and Maintenance. QuickStarts are packaged 2-day technical engagements based on best practices derived from the Microsoft field. They aim to provide customers with an immersion experience into the technology while keeping the engagement short and precise. Attend this session to learn more about how to deliver a 2-day SQL Server Consolidation QuickStart to your customers and speed up your sale. It is designed to provide the customers with a solid understanding of the technical value of SQL Server 2008 in a consolidation scenario. The engagement covers Consolidation best practices and tools. It also helps customers understand the state of their existing SQL Server deployment better.
APU08PAL: How to Speed Up Your Sale With a SQL Server Migration QuickStart
Webcast Date: 7/6/2010
APU09PAL: SQL Server for Mission Critical MOSS Implementation QuickStart
Webcast Date: 7/8/2010
It is widely known that SharePoint adoption grows exponentially across an organization – quickly gaining momentum and taking root as a critical part of an organization’s ecosystem. Help Customers choose the right Edition of SQL Server 2008 To help protect data, ensure availability, and keep costs down through the QuickStart. QuickStarts are packaged 2-day technical engagements based on best practices derived from the Microsoft field. They aim to provide customers with an immersion experience into the technology while keeping the engagement short and precise. Attend this session to learn how to position the right edition of SQL server for Mission Critical MOSS Implementations.
APU10PAL: SQL Server High Availability QuickStart
Webcast Date: 7/13/2010
Today we live in a 24x7 economy. Customers are worldwide and business never stops. To support this many systems need to be continuously available. Any downtime has a direct result on revenue and, perhaps more importantly, reputation. High availability is required because systems fail and need maintenance. Hardware, software, and infrastructure failures are inevitable and companies need a strategy to mitigate the effects of these failures. The SQL Server High Availability QuickStart is targeted at customers who have many applications running on SQL Server and want to improve the availability of their environment while reducing the total cost of ownership. It is a structured two day engagement that is based on the best practices from Microsoft Field.
We’re pleased to announce that there is now an updated version of the Live@edu Implementation Guide! Ben and James have made improvements to the guide to reflect the current version of the product and associated management agent. Please download a copy to share with colleagues, customers, and partners.
It is available on SkyDrive – so go to http://cid-f8bffb959c87fc8a.office.live.com/browse.aspx/Live@edu%20Documentation and download a copy.
For reference also check out the Live@edu web site and blog at:
http://blogs.msdn.com/ukliveatedu
http://microsoft.com/liveatedu
June 2010
PARTNER READINESS & TRAINING NEWSLETTER
Cloud Services | Desktop Optimisation | Datacenter Optimisation | Business Productivity | Application Platform | Sales & Licensing
Dear Partner
Please find below the latest Training and Skills development content for Microsoft Partners. This newsletter is split by Category area and shortcuts are available in the above menu. Product shortcuts are available to the right.
These courses have been carefully selected to provide you with the best training relating to that particular product. If you cannot find the particular course you want please go to Microsoft Learning where our Learning Partners offer a wealth of other courses. Any other training requests please contact your Microsoft representative.
Partner Skills Development Team, Microsoft UK
Quick Links:
Microsoft Online Services (BPOS)
Windows Intune
Windows Azure
Partner Hosting
Desktop Optimisation & Windows 7
Desktop Virtualisation
Server Virtualisation
System Center
Windows Server 2008 R2
Security
SharePoint 2010
Office 2010
Exchange 2010
Unified Comms
SQL Server 2008
Visual Studio
Cloud Services – Courses and New Training
Microsoft Online Services (BPOS) Modular Bootcamp:
Day 1 & 2 - Migration and Onboarding Deep Dive – Full, please register your interest for future dates
This two day instructor led course focuses on how to migrate from an existing customer e-mail and directory to the Business Productivity Online Suite. This course provides students with the knowledge and skills to identify key technical issues and challenges faced when migrating a customer to Microsoft Online. Subsidised for Microsoft Partners £50 per delegate
NOTE: Please bring own LAPTOP Click Here to Register
Day 3 & 4 - Implementing and Customizing SharePoint Online – Reading 1st July
This two-day instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to build and develop SharePoint Online intranet portals and collaboration sites. The course focuses on building a well organised SharePoint Online site collection and explores the customization options made available using SharePoint Designer. Subsidised for Microsoft Partners £50 per delegate.
Online Sales & Marketing Training
Microsoft Online Services - Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) Overview 1hr
BPOS - what is it and how do partners make money from it? 1hr
Business Productivity with Microsoft Online Services
Learn how you can provide your customers with cost-effective IT Solutions with Microsoft Online Services 1hr
Learn about early Partner success with Microsoft Online Services and their impact on the Partners business 1hr
Build a Microsoft Online Services Practice 1hr
Microsoft Online Services Customer Portal: Trialing Ordering and Upgrading 1hr
Microsoft Online Services Licensing and Pricing 1hr
Microsoft Online Services Operations and Security 1hr
Microsoft Online Services Admin Center 1hr
Online Tech L100-200 Training
The Future of Cloud Computing with Business Productivity Online Standard Suite 1hr
Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) Administration and Deployment 1 day
Migration and Co-Existence for Microsoft Online Services 1hr
SharePoint Online Application Capabilities 1hr
Exchange Online Application Capabilities 1hr
Site Planning and Preparation for Deploying BPOS 1hr
Online Tech L300-400 Training
Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) Migration and Onboarding Deep Dive 2days
BPOS Internet Mail Migration 1hr
Planning and Deployment for Single Sign on Client 1hr
Solution Accelerators for Microsoft Online Services featuring MOF Companion Guide MAP Toolkit and IPD Guides 1hr
BPOS Key Resources:
Microsoft Cloud
What is the BPOS Suite? Video
Microsoft Online Services (BPOS) Video Demo
Microsoft Online Services
Partner Programme – Online Services
Quickstart for Microsoft Online Services
Online Services Tech Center
Microsoft Solution Accelerators
BPOS Learning Path
Microsoft Online Services Resource Centre
Jump-start your software-plus-services practice by visiting the QuickStart for Online Services Resource Centre to access: Webcasts, Marketing materials, Labs, Case studies, News, Blogs and forums. Click Here
Accelerate Your Migration to Microsoft Online Services
If you are considering cloud-based services and want to determine what it takes to migrate to Microsoft Online Services including Exchange Online, the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit can give you the answers you need in just an hour or so. The MAP Toolkit helps you survey your messaging needs and generates a Microsoft Online Services proposal based on your specific set of business PCs. Free Download Here
Licensing Microsoft Online Services
Learn how to licence the Microsoft Online Services to help your customers incorporate the software-plus-services model into their businesses. And help you generate predictable, recurring revenue; earn advisor fees; expand your base; and serve new segments. Click Here
Windows Intune is a new solution that brings together cloud services for PC management and malware protection, an upgrade subscription to Windows 7 Enterprise and the Microsoft Desktop Optimisation Pack (MDOP). Leverage the power of Windows Intune to grow your business and provide greater value to your customers - all at a lower cost to you.
Windows Intune Home Page
Windows Intune on MPN
Windows Intune Overview Video
Windows Intune: PC Management with Cloud Services and Windows 7 – Recorded Webinar
Microsoft recently announced Windows Intune™, a new solution that brings together cloud services for PC management and malware protection, a Windows® 7 upgrade subscription, and the Microsoft® Desktop Optimization Pack. Leverage the power of Windows cloud services and Windows 7 to grow your business while providing greater value to your customers at a lower cost to you. Why should you take advantage of Windows Intune? > Amplify your revenue: Leverage greater PC insight to realize new service opportunities. > Simplify your operations: Efficiently manage and secure customer PCs virtually anywhere with cloud services > Satisfy your customers: Reduce PC issues and give your customers the best Windows experience with Windows 7 Enterprise Click Here
Windows Intune Key Resources:
Webcast: What is Azure?
What exactly is the Azure Services Platform and what does it allow me to do? This session covers the basics including architecture and function, as well as new opportunities the platform provides. Learn too how customers are thinking about cloud computing and how you can join the conversation. Recent updates to the service will also be covered. Click Here
The Microsoft Azure Self-paced Interactive Learning Course – NEW!
The “Microsoft Azure Self-paced Learning Course” is a free, interactive, self-paced, technical training course covering the Microsoft Azure platform – Windows Azure, SQL Azure and the Azure AppFabric. The course takes place over a six week period from May 10th – June 18th 2010, with weekly coursework assignments. During the course you will work from your own home or workplace, and get involved via interactive Live Meetings session, watch on-line videos, work through hands-on labs and research and complete weekly coursework assignments.
More Info & Register Here
Windows Azure Platform Training Kit
The Azure Services Training Kit includes a comprehensive set of technical content including hands-on labs, presentations, and demos that are designed to help you learn how to use the Windows Azure platform including: Windows Azure, SQL Azure and .NET Services. The November release includes new and updated labs in addition to information about Microsoft Codename “Dallas”.
Click Here
Windows Azure Platform - Business Model for Partners 1hr
Windows Azure Platform – Value for Partners 1hr
Windows Azure Platform – TCO Tool
Windows Azure Business Decision Maker Deck
SQL Azure Partner Opportunity Presentation
Windows Azure platform AppFabric Business Decision Maker Briefing Deck
The Partner Story for Azure 1hr
Azure DriveTime for Partners
Azure PAL sessions
Partner Licensing/Pricing Discussion Guide
Partner Licensing/Pricing Deck
Online Tech Training
The Windows Azure Platform Training Kit
Windows Azure Platform Training Course
What Is Windows Azure? (Channel 9 Video)
Lap around the Windows Azure Platform 1hr
Windows Azure: Present and Future
SQL Azure Database: Present and Future
Lessons Learned: Migrating Applications to the Windows Azure Platform 1hr
Windows Azure Technical Decision Maker Deck
Windows Azure platform AppFabric Technical Decision Maker Briefing Deck
SQL Azure Partner Technical Datasheet
Azure Drive Times
Azure Key Resources:
What is the Windows Azure Platform? Video
Windows Azure Platform Website
Azure Partner Hub
Azure Facebook Page
Windows Azure Software Development Kit
Azure Services Partner Playbook Now Available
Windows Azure Learning Paths
Explore Azure Services:
SQL Azure
.NET Services
Azure Videos:
Getting Started with SQL Azure
Hands on with SQL Azure (CTP 2)
David Chappell in conversation about Windows Azure and the cloud
Early adopter programme for Microsoft Solutions Partners- Windows Azure Platform
Created just for independent software vendors, Front Runner is a program that helps get your applications compatible with the latest Microsoft technologies. And you’ll receive support from us as you develop, test, and market those applications to your customers. Find out more HERE
ISV Innovation for Developers – This 5 part web series covers various topics for Developers, from fundamentals to specifics. Topics include Fundamentals, Developing Applications, .NET Services, SQL Data Services and Live Framework Services. Click Here
Partner-Hosted Services
Build Managed Services with the Dynamic Data Center Toolkit for Hosting Providers
Your customers are looking for agile infrastructure delivered from secure, highly available data centers so they can quickly respond to rapid business fluctuations. You can address this need by extending your hosting portfolio with high-value, high-margin services, such as managed hosting, on demand virtualized servers, clustering, and network services. With the Dynamic Data Center Toolkit for Hosting Providers, you can deliver these services, built on Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 Hyper-V™ and Microsoft System Center. The toolkit contains guidance to help you establish appropriate service level agreements (SLAs) and create portals that your customers can use to directly provision, manage, and monitor their infrastructure. Click Here
Implementing and Managing Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V & SCVMM (4 Day) – London 22nd June, 6th July
This course combines the syllabus of Microsoft courses 6422 and 6331 providing delegates with the knowledge to take Exams 70-652 and 70-403 which can lead to the new Server Virtualisation Competency. £400 per delegate Click Here to Register
Microsoft Virtualization Architecture - Defining and Designing a Virtualization Platform Strategy – Manchester 28th June
This 300-level, two-day, instructor-led course provides students with the knowledge and skills to configure and manage a virtual environment using Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2. Topics such as Clustering, High Availability, Storage and Network Infrastructure Implementation, PRO and Self-Service will be covered in depth in this course. £200 per delegate Click Here to Register
Dynamic Datacenter Online Training:
System Center Operations Manager
SMSE Bootcamp Labcast
System Center Ops Manager TechNet Webcasts
Operations Manager 2007 R2 - Technical Skills Upgrade Plan
System Center Ops Manager V-Labs
Building Management Packs with the Authoring Console
Extending Operations Manager 2007 to Monitoring SAP on SQL
Installing Operations Manager 2007
Monitoring Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Exchange 2007
System Center Operations Manager 2007 Authoring Management Packs – Introduction (ITPro)
System Center Operations Manager 2007 Management Pack Authoring – Advanced (ITPro)
System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 - Advanced
System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2 - Introduction
Understanding the Operations Manager 2007 SDK
System Center Configuration Manager
System Center Client Management Bootcamp Course Labcast
System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Certification Prep Course Labcast
Exam Prep 70-401 Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuring
System Center Config Manager V-Labs
Deploying System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007
Implementing Branch Distribution Points in System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007
Implementing Desired Configuration Management in System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007
Implementing Maintenance Windows for Software Distribution in System Center Configuration
Introduction to System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007
Managing Custom Application Updates using Systems Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007
Managing Microsoft Updates with System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007
Upgrading SMS 2003 SP2 to System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007
Upgrading System Center Configuration Manager 2007 to Service Pack 1
Understanding How Microsoft Virtualization Compares to VMware
Microsoft Server Virtualization: Architecture Labcast
Architecting Hyper-V & VMM Labcast
TechNet Webcast: Automating Virtual Infrastructure Management with PRO Tips in System Center (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Maximizing Hyper-V iSCSI Performance with Microsoft and Intel (Level 200)
Disaster Recovery by Stretching Hyper-V Clusters Across Sites
Networking and Managing Hyper-V: Deployment Considerations
Virtualization Scenarios for Microsoft Business Critical Applications
Microsoft Site Recovery: Managing Mission Critical Infrastructure with HP Storage and Citrix Essentials for Hyper-V
Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2: Technical Overview (Part 1)
Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2: Advanced Tips and Tricks (Part 2)
Performance and Resource Optimization for Virtual Machine Manager and Hyper-V
Hosted Services Key Resources:
The Microsoft Hosting Community
Software + Services Partner Page
Services Provider Licence Agreement (SPLA)
Virtualisation Key Resources:
Virtualisation Partner Academy Live Session
Virtualisation TechNet Page
Matt McSpirit - Virtual Boy TV
Virtualisation Learning Manager (TechNet)
Virtualisation Learning Path
Microsoft Learning
Systems Management Key Resources
System Center TechNet Page
System Center Learning Manager (TechNet)
System Center Web Based Training
Microsoft System Center Sales and Deployment Resources
VMware Compete Resources:
Virtualization community page
Virtualization Planet blog
VMware Compare Case Studies site
Desktop Optimisation
Value of the Windows Optimized Desktop
This 30 minute, self-paced course introduces the value proposition for the Microsoft Windows Optimized Desktop. After completing this course, you will be able to describe the top 3-5 customer pains that are addressed by desktop optimization and explain the three value propositions of the Windows Optimized Desktop Click Here
Academy Live: Building an MDOP Practice
Join this session to get an overview of the technologies involved in the MDOP suite. You can learn about best practices for successful delivery of a proof of concept for Application Virtualisation, which is a core element of MDOP. Review the business case for MDOP and get real-world advice from two of the most-experienced field leaders in selling and deploying MDOP solutions. Click Here
Desktop Solutions: Sales
Discover new sales opportunities with System Center enterprise desktop management solutions, which streamline the connection of any authorised user to any application. Get familiar with key capabilities, licensing options and deployment options. Click Here
Desktop Optimisation Online Training:
Windows 7
Labcast: Deploying Windows 7 - Technical Deep Dive into Deployment Tools and Scenarios
Online: Business Value of Selling and Implementing Windows 7 and Internet Explorer 8
Online: Academy Live: Windows 7 - Application Compatibility
Online: Course 10166: Windows 7 Essentials I
Online: Course 10167: Windows 7 Essentials II
TechNet: Windows 7 TechNet V-Labs
MDOP
Online Tutorial: Value of the Windows Optimized Desktop 30mins
Labcast: Managing Enterprise Desktops Using the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (1.5hr)
TechNet: Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP)
Online: Application Optimization: Opportunities for Improving Application Management as Part of a Windows 7 Deployment
Online: Windows 7 and MDOP
Labcast: System Center Client Management Bootcamp Course (Labcast)
Labcast: System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Certification Prep Course
Exam Preparation 70-401: Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuring
Desktop Platform Competency:
Requirements and information
Exams & Preparation Guide:
Exam 70-680: TS: Windows 7, Configuring
Exam 70-656 TS: Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack, Configuring
Exam 70-401: TS: Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuring
Windows 7 Key Resources:
Windows 7 Partner Portal
Windows 7 Partner Online Readiness Kit
Windows 7 – TechNet Springboard Series
Partner Learning Centre (PLC) New Technical & Sales Training Released
Windows 7 Learning Path for Solutions Partners
Windows 7 Learning Paths for ISVs
Windows 7 Learning Path for Resellers
Windows 7 Learning Path for Disti
Microsoft Deployment Partner Services Portal
Find out about driving deployment and increasing your profit margins! Click Here
Desktop Deployment Planning Services
Get detailed information about becoming a DDPS partner. Click Here
Desktop Virtualisation: Implementing a VDI Infrastructure with Microsoft & Citrix V4 – Wokingham 29th June
Join us for this 2 Day VDI Instructor led course with supporting Hands on Labs. £400 Click Here to register
Positioning and Selling Microsoft VDI – Academy Live On Demand
Any discussion around the future of the desktop includes a discussion on virtualization. Usually, customers want to start the conversation with VDI, before they discuss other desktop virtualization topics. Click Here
Microsoft’s Desktop Virtualization: How To Present To Your Customers – Academy Live On Demand
Companies today face many challenges in response to evolving end user needs, economic uncertainty, and compliance requirements. With Microsoft Virtualization your customers can address these challenges via the essential capabilities that Microsoft delivers. Click Here
Desktop Virtualisation Online Training:
Online: TechNet Virtual Lab: Implementing Citrix XenDesktop 4 on Hyper-V R2
Online: TechNet APP-V v-labs
Online Tutorial: Deploying and Managing Windows 7
Online: Proving App-V Cost Saving to Prepare for Windows 7 Deployments
Online: Positioning and Selling Microsoft VDI
Online: Microsoft’s Desktop Virtualization: How To Present To Your Customers 1hr
Desktop Virtualisation Solutions Competency:
Desktop Virtualisation Key Resources:
VDA Licensing Guide
V-Alliance Home Page Click Here
Citrix & Microsoft Click Here
Datacenter Optimisation – Courses and Training
Server Virtualisation Competency Fast Track
Desktop Optimisation: Implementing a VDI Infrastructure with Microsoft & Citrix V4 – Wokingham 29th June
Virtualisation in a Nutshell
Microsoft Sales Specialist - Virtualisation
Learning Path: BDM, Sales & Marketing, Tech Presales
Microsoft Sales University Infrastructure
Selling to the TDM
An Overview of Microsoft Server Virtualization
Virtualisation Sales Training
Licensing Server-Based Products in Virtual Environments
Saving Customers Money with Microsoft's Infrastructure
TechNet Webcast: Best Practices for Architectural Design of SAP on Hyper-V (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Virtualization Best Practices for SharePoint (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Thrive Live! IT Professional Virtualization Tour (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Thrive Live Chat! Virtualization (Level 200)
TechNet Webcast: Smart Environments – How Local Processing Matters in Green (Level 100)
TechNet Webcast: Green Enterprise: System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 and Intel vPro/AMT Technologies (Level 200)
New Courses
Virtualization 360: Microsoft Virtualization Strategy, Products, and Solutions for the New Economy
Using the System Center Suite to Automate the Deployment of Hyper-V Hosts and Guests
Understanding How Microsoft Virtualization Compares to Vmware
Understanding the real TCO of VDI
Planning and Deploying Microsoft VDI with Management Technologies
Virtualisation Solutions Competency:
Server Virtualisation Exams & Preparation Guide:
Exam 70-652: Windows Server Virtualization, Configuring
Exam 70-403: System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008, Configuring
Selling School
Selling School training courses are designed for sales and licensing staff to give relevant knowledge and appropriate sales strategies around the Microsoft capabilities. Microsoft Virtualisation and Management
Systems Management
Managing Windows, Sharepoint and Exchange Server with Server Management Suite Enterprise (SMSE)
The SMSE Labcast is a dynamic set of actual customer scenarios which walk you through a series of “Real World” data center management situations including disaster recovery, and optimizing Windows, SharePoint and Exchange Server in the Data Center. Click Here
Opalis Readiness:
Opalis Overview – On Demand
Microsoft recently acquired Opalis Software, a leader in IT process automation software. In order to better prepare you on identifying opportunities and selling Opalis to your customers, we invite you join us for this foundational sales training. Click Here
- The Opalis value proposition
- How to position datacenter automation within existing accounts
- Using automation as a competitive differentiator
- How to identify selling opportunities
- How to sell more System Center Suite Licenses.
Opalis Videos
System Center Operations Manager to BMC Remedy Integration Pack Demo Here
Writing Opalis Workflows and Utilizing the Databus Here
Installing and Configuring Opalis Components Here
Opalis Solution and Component Overview Here
Opalis Resources
Microsoft has acquired Opalis Software, a Toronto-based private company that is a leader in IT process automation software.
Resources and info here
Microsoft Sales University for Infrastructure
Datacenter Management (Microsoft Sales University)
Lowering Cost of Ownership in the Datacenter with System Center
Microsoft Core Infrastructure Practice Builder
System Center Data Protection Manager
System Center Service Manager
Efficient and Effective Service Management: How to Sell Service Manager – Sales Level 100
System Center Pricing and Licensing Update
System Center Essentials
System Center Essentials 2010 Overview
TechNet V-Labs for Data Protection Manager
TechNet Webcasts for Data Protection Manager
System Center Service Manager Overview
Technical Introduction to System Center Essentials 2010
How to manage servers in midsized businesses , SCE 2010
Implementing System Center Essentials 2010
Integrated Virtual and Physical IT Management for Midsize Businesses
Managing Windows Clients in a Midsize Business
Get Ready for Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2010 RC
Using Service Manager to Enhance the Capabilities of System Center Solutions
What's New with System Center Essentials 2010?
Systems Management Solutions Specialisation:
Requirements and Resources
System Center Exams & Preparation Guide
Exam 70-400 TS: Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007, Configuring
Exam 70-401 TS: Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007, Configuring
System Center Essentials Webinars
Essentials Learning Path
Working on a project for a small or medium-size business? Microsoft System Center Essentials can meet your customer's needs. Find the learning path for sales professionals and gain resources to sell and deploy the right System Center solutions for this growing market. Click Here
Windows Server 2008 R2 Sales and Marketing Content
Windows Server 2008 R2: Overall Value and Sales Opportunities
This 60-minute, self-paced intermediate online course explains how to articulate the overall value of Windows Server® 2008 R2. It covers the value of Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as the value of the Microsoft® platform. The course includes information on the customer and partner value around Windows Server 2008 R2 and how to have effective discussions focused on how Windows Server solutions provide important benefits that meet the customer/partner needs.
Windows Server 2008 R2 PALs (Sales)
Selling Windows Server R2 and Server Virtualization Course for Disti's (To Disti SMSNP & OEM)
Selling Windows Server R2 Course for Breadth and System Builder Partners
Windows Server 2008 R2 Intermediate: Licensing, Pricing, and Packaging
Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical 100-200 Content
Windows Server 2008 R2 Online Tutorials including: Click Here
WNS115AAL: What's New in Active Directory for Windows Server 2008 R2
WNS116AAL: Windows Server 2008 R2 -- Better Together with Windows 7
WNS133PAL: Selling Business Value of Windows Server 2008 R2
WNS69QH: Windows Server 2008 R2, A Survey of Developer-Oriented Features
WVC35AL: Windows 7 BranchCache – Next Generation Branch Office Optimizations
Windows Server R2 Feature PALs (tech)
OEM PreInstallation Kit (OPK) Seminar
OEM PreInstallation Kit (OPK) Tutorial
Virtual Partner Days
Active Directory Administration with AD PowerShell (Level 200) - April 27th at 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Windows Server 2008 R2 - Remote Desktop Services Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) (Level 200) - April 28th at 9:45 AM – 11:15 AM
What’s new in Windows Server 2008 R2 File Server (Level 200) - April 29th at 9:45 AM – 11:15 AM
Windows Server 2008 R2 Technical 300-400 Content
JumpStart Readiness Clinics – Updating Your Skills to Windows Server 2008 & Windows Server 2008 R2
This course provides an overview of the benefits, technical details, and implementation of the improved or new technologies, features and tools that are included in WS08 and WS08 R2. This course discusses new and enhanced options for virtualisation, security, remote management, integration with the Web, scalability and reliability. Click Here
R2 TechNet V-Labs and Webcasts
Planning & Deploying Windows Server 2008 R2 (PAL Series) #1 #2 #3
Server Platform Specialisation:
Server Platform Competency
Windows Server 2008 Exams & Preparation Guide:
Exam 70-648: TS: Upgrading Your MCSA on Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2008
Windows Server Key Resources:
Windows Server 2008 R2 – PLC Saved Search
Windows Server 2008 – PLC Online Technical Courses
Windows Server 2008 Hands-On Labs
Windows Server 2008 TechNet Page
Identity & Security
New TechNet Virtual Labs: Secure Messaging and Collaboration
The virtual lab and on-demand webcast series provide a closer look at a variety of ways in which Microsoft provides a more secure messaging and collaboration through a family of products that help protect information and control access. Click Here
Forefront Client and Server
Business Ready Security Solution Series #1: Secure Endpoint
Business Ready Security Solution Series #2: Identity and Access Management
Business Ready Security Solution Series #3: Secure Messaging
Business Ready Security Solution Series #4: Help Customers Securely Collaborate with Partners and Employees
Business Ready Security Solution Series# 5: Help Customers Find and Protect Their Data!
Microsoft Forefront codename “Stirling” – An Integrated Security Suite (Level 200)
Forefront code name “Stirling” - The next generation of Forefront Security for Exchange Server (Level 200)
Microsoft Forefront code name “Stirling” - The next generation of Forefront Security for SharePoint (Level 200)
Microsoft Forefront codename “Stirling” – Forefront Client Security 2.0 Release Update (Level 200)
Identity and Access
Overview of Microsoft Edge Secure Access Technologies (Level 200)
Closing the Network Backdoor: Using Forefront Threat Management Gateway Beta 2 (Level 200)
Identity Lifecycle Manager 2 (Part 1):Empowering Users with Self-Service Identity Management Solutions (Level 200)
Forefront Code Name "Stirling" Technical Overview (Level 300)
Identity Lifecycle Manager "2" (Part 2 of 3): Expressing and Enforcing Business Policy (Level 300)
Identity Lifecycle Manager "2" (Part 3 of 3): Extensibility and Provisioning with ILM "2" (Level 300)
Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway - Hands on with Beta 2! (Level 300)
Security Solutions Learning Paths
Microsoft Forefront Identity and Access Management
Microsoft Forefront Information Protection
Microsoft Forefront Secure Collaboration
Microsoft Forefront Secure Endpoint
Microsoft Forefront Secure Messaging
Security Solutions Competency:
New Competency Launching Mid 2010
Infrastructure Security
Identity & Secure Access
Security Solutions Competency
Identity & Security Key Resources
Identity and Security Partner Showcase Landing Page
Business Productivity - Courses and New Training
Portals & Collaboration – “Get Ready for SharePoint 2010”
Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010: Introduction, Capabilities and Business Value Overview – Reading 23rd June
This training day is intended to introduce partners to the end user capabilities of SharePoint and the potential value to customers. At the end of the session, attendees should have a clear understanding of the range of out-of-the-box features of SharePoint, the key differences between 2010 and 2007, and the main differences of the various licensing options. The course will be suitable for business decision makers who are looking into building a SharePoint practices, technical staff new to the product who want a high-level overview, and specialist sales personnel who need to know detail around the functionality.
Click Here to Register
SharePoint 2010 Developer Bootcamp – London 26th July
Thorough education is key to working with SharePoint 2010 productively. This Combined Knowledge (MVP) course guides you through essential 2010 elements, from pre‐requisites to system integration, giving you the skills to work confidently and leverage full value from new technology. This course is being subsidised for Microsoft Partners £500. Click Here to Register
SharePoint 2010 Admin Bootcamp – London 5th July
Step-by-step understanding is key to successfully implementing and deploying SharePoint 2010. This 15-module course will guide you through each critical stage, giving you exactly the skills you need to leverage full value from the latest SharePoint technology. This course is being subsidised for Microsoft Partners £600. Click Here to Register
Deploying and Managing Microsoft Project Server 2010 - 21st June 2010
The goal of this five-day instructor-led course is to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively plan, deploy and manage Microsoft Project Server 2010. £1500 per person Click Here for more details
SharePoint 2010 Productivity End User Training – Newly Available!**
The SharePoint 2010 end user productivity training courses are now available. Each course includes several video lessons, a brief quiz (not scored), and a printable Quick Reference Card. Additional training materials are available at Browse all SharePoint Server 2010 end user training and short How-To type videos at Browse all SharePoint Server 2010 end user videos. We also provide Basic Tasks in SharePoint Server 2010 to help end user learn SharePoint 2010 quickly and don’t forget the familiar Getting Started with SharePoint Server 2010, and What’s New in Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. All other SharePoint 2010 help and how-to can be found at the SharePoint Server Help site.
Selling SharePoint 2010 in the Enterprise
SP2010 - Overview - video from SP conference in October
Business Productivity Infrastructure - University
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SharePoint 2010 DEMO Script
SharePoint Capacity Planning and Upgrade for the Next Version (2010)
SDPS: Futures and the New Upgrade To SharePoint 2010 Scenario
SharePoint 2010 Developer Training Course
FAST Search: Connectors and Using the BDC
FAST Search: Configuring Search UIs
FAST Search: Deployment and Scalability
Fast Search: People Search
SharePoint 2010 Advanced Training (Ignite) for IT Professionals
SDPS-SharePoint 2010 Upgrade Deep Dive
SharePoint 2010 Ignite Developer On Demand
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Unified Communication
Labcast: Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2 Ignite
This course provides an introduction to Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007 R2, including how you can use OCS 2007 R2 for real-time interactions between users, and how you can unite OCS 2007 R2 with Microsoft Exchange Server as part of Microsoft Unified Communications. Click Here
Exchange 2010 & OCS 2007 Online Training:
Enhanced Communication and Collaboration Campaign in-a-box
UC Cost Saving campaign BOM
Exchange 2010 Upgrade Campaign BOM
Exchange 2010 Demo Showcase
E2010 Deployment and Migration
Mobility in Exchange 2010
Exchange 2010 Outlook Web Access
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Transitioning from Exchange Server 2007 to Exchange Server 2010
Exchange Server 2010 (Beta) HA and Storage Scenarios Virtual Lab
Configuring Exchange Server 2010 Unified Messaging Virtual Lab
Exchange Server 2010 (Beta) Setup and Deployment Virtual Lab
E2010 Learning Snack (Beta)
Collection 6899: Exploring Features of Exchange Server 2010
Exchange 2010 Voice Mail enabled by UM
Exchange 2010 Archiving and Retention
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Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Technical Preparation Session Materials
Learn more about how Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 database software can help you and your customers develop a wide range of offerings. By viewing these technical learning and readiness sessions—delivered by program managers from the SQL Server team—architects, implementers, and technical presales consultants can learn to build better solutions that leverage SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Parallel Data Warehouse. Click Here
· Managed Self-Service Business Intelligence
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SQL132PAL: What’s New in SQL Server 2008 R2 -
Data Platform and Business Intelligence use Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 R2, one of the fastest-growing Microsoft® products. This session will provide an introductory overview of SQL Server 2008 R2. Learn how your customers can benefit from the innovations and improvements with PowerPivot, Application and Multi-server Management, Master Data Management, and Complex Event Processing as well as several other key capabilities included in the upcoming release to help customers Enable Managed Self Service Business Intelligence, Improve IT & Developer Efficiency, and Scale with Confidence on a Trusted Platform Click Here
Learning the new All-up Business Intelligence and SQL 2008 R2 Demos - Webinar
See what's coming from the new all-up BI and the new SQL 2008 R2 demos. Watch and learn how you can demo the new features to your customer. Find out how you can download and install the demos for yourself and the associated trainign resources to be demo ready. Click Here
Application Platform University Curriculum
APU Series: Data Warehousing
APU Series: The Microsoft BI platform and solution strategy.
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Introduction to Self-Service Analysis and Reporting in SQL Server 2008
Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server Master Data Services
BI: PowerPivot Hands-on Lab
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Visual Studio 2010
Visual Studio 2010 & .NET Framework 4.0 – London 24th June
This instructor led training course will show developers how to take advantage of the new features being released in Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0. £200 per delegate
Visual Studio 2010 Online Training:
Visual Studio 2010 Introduction
Visual Studio 2010: Overall Value and Sales Opportunities
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Fundamentals of Application Lifecycle Management
A Lap Around Microsoft Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server 2010
MSdev.com: New Features in Visual Studio 2010
MSdev.com: ASP.NET AJAX 4.0
MSdev.com: Introduction to .NET 4.0
MSDN Webcast: geekSpeak: Architecture Tools in Visual Studio 2010
New Features in .NET Framework 4.0 and VS 2010
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Introduction to .NET 4.0 - This course provides an overview of new features including the Managed Extension Framework (MEF) threading and design by contract.
ASP.NET AJAX 4.0 - This course provides an introduction to ASP .NET AJAX 4.0 focusing on the new client-side controls and templating capabilities including the dataview control.
New Features in Visual Studio 2010 - This course demonstrates some of the new features in the Visual Studio IDE including the new start page, the code editor, the XML schema editor, and new tools for web development and deployment.
Sales & Licensing – Courses and New Training
Microsoft Sales University for Infrastructure now released!
Sales Training: Learn about great ways to sell core infrastructure solutions based on Windows Server®, Virtualization, Microsoft® System Center and Microsoft® Forefront™ products.
Resources: Be prepared for sales meetings with existing customer presentations, white papers, case studies, and ROI calculators.
Community: View detailed feedback on our courses and resources, including ratings, opinions, selling tips, and more. Then participate in our discussion forum where you can get answers to your questions, share what you know, and connect with Microsoft employees.
Licensing’s Cool Event – MLSS Lite - Various Dates and Locations
This half day course is great for new starters in the industry of for people that need a little revision on both the most popular Microsoft Products as well as how Microsoft Licensing works. These two modules form part of the Microsoft Licensing Accreditations and at the end of this course you will have the opportunity to sit the assessments to gain this accreditation. Click here to Register
Advanced Licensing’s Cool Event – Selling to Small and Medium Businesses - Various Dates and Locations
This half day course is aimed at people who have already completed the MLSS Lite. This half day event will cover Volume Licensing for Small and Medium Businesses and eliminate all of the myths around complexity of Microsoft Licensing. These two modules form part of the Microsoft Licensing Accreditations and at the end of this course you will have the opportunity to sit the assessments to gain this accreditation. Click here to Register
Advanced Licensing’s Cool Event – Selling to Large Organisations - Various Dates and Locations
This half day course is aimed at people who have already completed the MLSS Lite. This half day event will cover Volume Licensing for Large Organisations and eliminate all of the myths around complexity of Microsoft Licensing. These two modules form part of the Microsoft Licensing Accreditations and at the end of this course you will have the opportunity to sit the assessments to gain this accreditation. Click here to Register
Intensive Licensing’s Cool Event – Selling to Small and Medium Businesses - Various Dates and Locations
This full day course is aimed at people who would like to complete their MLSS Lite with the Microsoft Product Fundamentals and Microsoft Licensing Fundamentals modules as well as two of the modules that make up the MLSS that cover Volume Licensing to Small and Medium Businesses. All of these modules form part of the Microsoft Licensing Accreditations and at the end of this course you will have the opportunity to sit the MLSS Lite assessments to gain this accreditation. Click here to Register
Selling School training courses are designed for sales and licensing staff to give relevant knowledge and appropriate sales strategies around the Microsoft capabilities. Microsoft Virtualisation and Management | Microsoft SharePoint
Save Energy, Save Carbon; Save the Environment
Taking place on the 10 February at 14:00 (GMT), this Live Meeting, as part of the Live Series, will help you to position how can we help customers meet their sustainability targets using our technology. This strategic sell provides new motives for customers to consider the full Microsoft technology platform. At Microsoft, we are committed to software and technology innovations that help people and organisations around the world improve the environment. Our goal is to reduce the impact of our operations and products and to drive responsible environmental practise. Click Here to register
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Microsoft Office Competition, UK Final
Last Friday, in a record breaking and nerve-tingling Microsoft Office Competition Grand Final, two student’s stars shone the brightest.
For the first time, the newly crowned UK Champions both achieved 100% in each of their exams. With Nathaniel Fox getting top marks in the Microsoft Office Specialist Excel exam and Sam Wills repeating the achievement in the Word exam. Remarkably, both students came from the same school – Hayle Community School – a fantastic showing from the School and Microsoft IT Academy from Cornwall.
Up next for the UK champions is the EMEA Final in Madrid on June 28th. Where they face stiff competition from entrants from Russia, Greece and Italy to name buy a few of the competing nations. If successful in Madrid the World Final in Salt Lake City, UTAH beckons this August.
Over 100,000 students compete each year from over 70 different countries so getting to UTAH is a massive challenge for our Champs.
Link to photos - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Microsoft-IT-Academy-UK/220931430134
“The Microsoft competition was a great experience and achievement as the school won four out of six prizes’ said Sam, while Nathaniel added “‘We couldn’t believe that we’d won and are now UK Champions. I can’t wait for the final in Madrid, what an experience that will be!’
Headteacher Chris Jackman is also delighted by the achievements of her students. ‘The school is very proud of our young people’s achievements at the competition and to be UK Champions is wonderful” she said. “We wish Nathaniel and Megan lots of luck as they represent the UK at the European final in Madrid later this month’.
Kevin Ryan, Marketing Manager with Prodigy Learning, who manage the competition in the UK, said “The scores were astonishing and the bar has certainly been raised for future competitors”. Vitally both Sam and Nathaniel kept their nerves in check and delivered on the day. This calmness under pressure should stand them in good stead for Madrid. I wish them both the best of luck and we might just see our first European Champion and who knows from there!”
Brand New Feature Package on Cloud Security TechNet is kicking off the new "TechNet On" feature series with an in-depth look at securing and deploying applications in the cloud. You'll find new articles and videos in three tracks, including a background track on the Windows Azure platform, a security track with best practices on enterprise-class security for the cloud, and a strategy track for understanding your options and getting started. Read TechNet program manager Mitch Ratcliffe's blog for more on the new TechNet On approach to content.
TechNet Simulcast: Forefront Virtual Event June 23 - 24, 2010 Register for the two-day Forefront virtual event to hear from and ask questions directly of the product team as we teach you about the product and deliver technical demonstrations on all Forefront products (FEP, FIM, TMG, UAG, FPSP, FPE, FOPE) and on Active Directory Rights Management Services + Exchange.
TechNet Radio: Growing Opportunities for Data in the Cloud In this episode, Kevin Kline, Technical Strategy Manager for SQL Server at Quest Software, identifies numerous areas for entrepreneurs to take advantage of government and other data in the cloud to create new product offerings based on Microsoft Windows Azure. Kline also discusses integration of on-premise data with data in the cloud and raises important and surprising points about legal and compliance issues with data.
Reminder: End of Support for Windows XP SP2, Windows 2000 Server and Professional on July 13, 2010 Support (including new security updates) ends July 13, 2010 for Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), Windows 2000 Server and Professional. Migration to the latest OS or installation of the current service pack is recommended.
Webcast: Collaboration Using Office, SharePoint Server 2010, and AD FS 2.0 (Level 200) June 18, 2010, 1:00 P.M. Pacific Time In this webcast, we help you understand how to collaborate across boundaries using Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010, and Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) 2.0.
Video: What's Next for Managing Datacenters and the Cloud In this 18-minute video on TechNet Edge, Senior Product Manager with System Center Anant Sundaram explains some of our thinking around improving data center management and managing cloud environments.
Video: What's New with Configuration Manager R3 and vNext Jeff Wettlaufer was busy getting ready for keynote demos at MMS, but he took time to talk with TechNet Edge's Adam Bomb about some of the Configuration Manager announcements at MMS, as well as talk a little about the event.
Windows 7 End User Adoption Resources Webcast July 7, 2010, 9:30 A.M. Pacific Time Join us on July 7 in this informational webcast to learn how you can take advantage of the wide array of resources to help support your organization's deployment and adoption of Windows 7.
Microsoft SDL Threat Modelling Tool Boosts Security Now you can easily identify and analyze security threats to your software even when you are still in the design phase. The Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) Threat Modelling Tool finds potential issues early - when they are easier and less costly to resolve.
I came across this great blog post by Ian Molster on virtualisation and how to make sense of all the options. Ian has got some great content if you have virtualisation opportunities: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ianm/
Desktop virtualisation is a hot topic right now. It seems wherever I go and whatever I read about the desktop and where it’s headed, virtualisation is something that people want to talk about. Often these conversations are about VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) but in part that seems to be because VDI is such a buzzword at the moment, and people want to know more about it.
One of the problems if you’re new to the topic is getting to grips with the concepts and technologies. Because it’s hot there is no shortage of information but in some ways that’s part of the problem: there’s too much information and most of it seems to assume that you already know a whole lot about the subject and tends to dive right in to a level of detail that, as a newcomer, you really don’t need. I think people want the big picture but are finding instead a jumble of jigsaw pieces.
So here’s my attempt to put the jigsaw together. It’s not perfect by any means, and I’ve glossed over a few things and perhaps oversimplified in parts, but hopefully this article will give you enough of the essence of the subject that you can go elsewhere to fill in the detail.
Where to start? How about the familiar place everyone can relate to: A copy of Windows installed on a PC on your desktop. Now, let me start by saying there’s nothing wrong with this picture - it’s served us well for many years and is likely to continue to do so for many more. But the emergence of fairly cheap high bandwidth, coupled with fast processors, abundant memory and relatively cheap disc storage has given rise to some new models that give you additional options that might not have been viable a few years ago.
Let’s remember the good things about the local copy of Windows on a desktop PC: Rich user interface, lots of peripherals that you can plug in to enhance your interaction with the PC, portable and available wherever you are, able to take advantage of a network connection when there is one, but able to work perfectly well when there isn’t, ultimate flexibility and customisability, and so on. Of course, there’s a dark side too: Operating system, applications, data and user interface are tightly bound together making it difficult to make changes to one without affecting the others. For example, application conflicts, potential difficulties in deploying applications and updates, etc
Enter virtualisation. In its simplest terms, virtualisation allows you to move some elements that are usually locally installed on the PC to a server running somewhere else (the term usually applied is “a remote server”, although it could be in the same location or the other side of the world, or even in some cases on the same PC in a virtual bubble – but more on that later) in order to provide more flexibility, reduce costs and help make management easier.
We’re going to look at the following ways in which this can be done. Don’t worry about what these mean just yet, we’ll spend some time drilling into each of them:
Application virtualisation (App-V)
Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)
Session Virtualisation (probably better known by its old name of Terminal Services)
Virtual copy of an operating system running on your local PC (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualisation or MED-V, and XP Mode on Windows 7)
There are various other flavours and variants that I’m not going to go into here, but the above scenarios should give you a reasonable grounding into the options available. So let’s take them on one at a time:
Application Virtualisation, or App-V
What is it?
If you buy an application today, maybe a packaged application like Microsoft Office, you normally stick a DVD into your drive and install it on your machine. If you work for a big company it may be installed over the network instead but the end result is the same: a copy of Office is installed on your PC. An alternative is to use App-V, which works as follows: The application (eg Microsoft Office in our example) is packaged up on a server in a way that can be squirted down the network and, instead of being installed on the local PC, is instead run on the PC in a local “bubble” that is completely isolated from the client operating system but contains everything that the application needs in order to run – drivers and dlls and registry entries etc. From the user’s point of view the application appears to run exactly as if it were locally installed, however they won’t find it in the list of programs installed via the control panel. All of the application code is being streamed from the server and executed on the local PC in its virtual bubble. It will do so intelligently, only streaming down the parts you need as you use them and, once it has streamed it, it is cached on the PC so that it doesn’t have to stream it every time you use it. It also means you can use the application while you’re offline.
It’s worth bearing in mind that App-V can be used on virtual desktops as well as traditional “rich” desktops. More on this later.
What’s the advantage?
There are a number of advantages to streaming the application in this way instead of installing it locally:
It resolves conflicts between applications because they are completely isolated from each other. So for example you could run Office 2003 and Office 2007 on the same machine
Deployment is simplified
It’s easy to keep applications up to date, simply update the server copy and the new version will stream down when it’s next used
Improves business continuity – if your machine dies, you can log onto a new machine and all of your applications will be streamed to it without having to go through a series of installs
No reboots required after installs
It’s easier to keep track of which users have which applications, which could help with licencing. Instead of installing a whole ton of applications for every user on the off-chance they may need them, they only get the applications they actually need to use
What are the disadvantages?
There aren’t many, and on the whole they are massively outweighed by the advantages:
Not all applications can be made to operate in an App-V environment
Increased server resource
Requires a client runtime (app-v client)
Some delay when the application is run for the first time as it is streamed over the network. The problem is worse for bigger applications obviously
Simply put, VDI is running your client operating system (eg Windows 7) on a server instead of on your local PC. The server then presents the user interface over the network to a local PC, and captures keyboard strokes and mouse moves, sending them back over the wire to the server. From the end user’s point of view it can be made to appear very much as if Windows is installed on their local PC whereas actually there is nothing installed locally. A few things worth bearing in mind about VDI:
While you’re logged into your desktop session you will be the only one using it. That may seem a strange thing to say (after all, who else would be using it?) but it will become clearer when we talk about Session Virtualisation – but more on this later
When you log off there is a choice about what happens: Either any changes you make (application installed, settings amended, files created or amended, etc) are retained and are still there when you log in next time; Or all of your changes are lost and the desktop refreshes back to its original pristine state. You might wonder why you’d need the second of these options, and in fact it might seem a bit weird. After all, you're probably used to your desktop or laptop with a locally-installed operating system, and you'd be pretty upset if every time you logged off you lost all of your work and were presented with a clean-install of Windows 7 next time you logged on. The reason is more about the capacity of the server, and the ability of your IT department to keep better control of your desktop than for your benefit. Let me explain: Imagine you have 100 users all having a VDI desktop which is stored on a server. Each of these desktops will have Windows 7 installed, and probably a number of applications, and some files and data like your Word documents, spreadsheets, etc. How much disk space will these need? Maybe 50GB per user? So for 100 users than means you need 100 x 50GB = 5TB of server disk space. And every user you add gobbles up another 50GB. So how can you address this problem? Actually there are a number of ways but let me just focus on one for now: If you maintain just one "gold" image that has Windows 7 and some critical applications, you only need 1 x 50GB of space. Now you can present this to every user that logs on each time rather than an image that is individual to them. What about their personal settings and files they may have stored? You can achieve this with so-called "roaming profiles" that remember your settings and switch them on accordingly as you log in (so you get your own wallpaper for example), and folder redirection means that files you think you're saving to your Windows 7 image are actually redirected to a server store. All of which means that you appear to have an individual copy of Windows 7 that retains your settings and data, but is actually just a gold image that everyone uses.
As mentioned above, because you’re the only person using the desktop you can reboot it whenever you like. In fact, you can have “admin” access
You will need to have a reasonably good internet access to use your desktop because, obviously, it’s stored somewhere else and will only be available over a network
There are a number of advantages to VDI:
Manageability and control: Because your entire desktop is stored in the datacentre, the IT department is able to keep tabs on it much more easily, applying patches and fixes, installing and upgrading applications, backing up, etc
Along similar lines, there are security advantages: As your desktop never actually leaves the datacentre there is far less risk of losing confidential information
Business continuity: Fancy way of saying that if your laptop or desktop is stolen or breaks you can just use another way and get exactly the same desktop. In other words, you’re not tied to a specific device
Deployment: If you need to upgrade to a new operating system it’s a pretty simple process for your IT department to simply provision an upgrade for you as it’s all under their control. They can keep your applications and data and move you, say, from Windows XP to Windows 7 pretty easily
Access to multiple desktops: If you need to use multiple desktops then VDI is a real boon. This is the case in high security situations such as police forces: They often need two desktops, one for ultra-secure network access and one for general use. With VDI it’s simple to just provision two separate desktops that they can switch between
You may be able to reduce your power consumption by using lower power PCs on each physical desktop
Multi device usage: You can get access to your desktop from a wide range of devices eg your work PC, your home PC, a "thin client" device - even some smart phones
There are some disadvantages to be aware of:
As mentioned above you need a good network connection to use your desktop. If you’re offline then your desktop will not be accessible. This is fine if you’re sat at a desk in an office with high speed network access, but probably not if you’re travelling
The user experience may not be quite as good as you have been used to. Rich graphical applications like CAD or high-def videos might not work as well. Technologies like Citrix’s HDX or Microsoft’s upcoming RemoteFX will help with this, but ultimately you’re somewhat reliant on the network bandwidth available to you
Some peripherals may not work, eg web cams or unified comms. Again, as the technology matures these issues are being dealt with but if you are reliant or peripherals you will need to make sure they still work ok via VDI
Obviously your server architecture will need to be able to cope with the increased processor, memory and storage requirements. For example, if every VDI desktop requires 2MB of RAM and 50GB of disk space, then you may need 200MB of RAM and 5000GB of disk space for every 100 desktops you provision. Now, as explained above you can help address this by having a gold image with roaming profiles and folder redirection, but there are other technologies that help to reduce this load: Citrix’s provisioning server allows cloning, whereby a master image is stored once and only differences for each desktop are stored separately (after all, the bulk of the operating system files will be identical for every desktop); Some SANs can do similar things eg remove the need to store duplicate data; And memory overcommit allows you to stretch the RAM using the same concept as airlines overbooking flights: they do so on the basis that not everyone will show up. In this case, you can allocate RAM to virtual desktops that is actually more in total than the capacity of the server on the basis that not all virtual desktops will be using their maximum RAM allocation at the same time
Pretty obviously there may be implications on your network bandwidth requirements. This is an important consideration that you can't afford to overlook - if you start using VDI for a large number of users you need to ensure the network is up to it. And remember that there may be some considerable peaks eg between 9am and 9.15am when everyone gets to their desk and fires up their virtual desktop
Power consumption in the datacentre will increase. You may be able to offset this somewhat by automatically “powering off” virtual desktops that aren’t being used (eg at night)
Disk I/O: Multiple users accessing multiple virtual images on a server equates to spiralling disk IOs. This can be a complex area and is affected by a number of factors but it's worth factoring into your decision making process when considering VDI
Session Virtualisation (aka Terminal Services)
Session Virtualisation has been around a while and at first glance it might appear similar to VDI. Like VDI it involves accessing a desktop on a server rather than having the operating installed on a local PC. There are two big differences however:
Session Virtualisation connects you to a server operating system like Windows Server 2008 R2 (remember VDI connects you to a client operating system like Windows 7). The server operating system can be mocked up to look very much like Windows 7 but under the covers it's actually quite different. In fact, some applications simply won't run in this server environment which is one of the drawbacks of session virtualisation that we discuss below
Other people, potentially a lot of other people, are likely to be logged into and using the same desktop as you at the same time you're using it. Remember Windows Server is a multi-user operating system designed to have multiple people accessing it. This whole concept of a number of people accessing the desktop at the same time has advantages as well as disadvantages which we'll cover below
Session virtualisation shares pretty much all of the advantages listed under the VDI section. The big additional advantage session virtualisation has over VDI is cost - because people are sharing the same desktop you can generally pack far more users onto a server with session virtualisation vs VDI (referred to as a higher "user density") which in turn means lower costs - less servers, less resources, etc.
At this point you might be wondering why people need VDI at all - if session virtualisation has the same advantages as VDI but with lower costs, then why not use session virtualisation for everything? Cue the disadvantages:
Actually all of the VDI disadvantages (apart from ROI) pretty much apply to session virtualisation as well. Some of these are less of an issue eg server architecture and disk IO, but on the whole it's a similar picture. But there are some additional drawbacks to session virtualisation that don't apply to VDI:
As you're running your desktop on a server operating system that, frankly, hasn't been designed to be used as a client desktop, you may find some problems. For example, some applications simply won't work on the server. With VDI, because you're running a copy of Windows 7, you're far less likely to have problems on this kind
As multiple people are potentially using the desktop at the same time as you, you can't have admin access. And of course you can't reboot the session. And there will be some limits on configuration changes and applications that are installed. So generally session virtualisation works best if you have groups of users that have very similar needs in terms of applications and desktop configuration. If you're developing software for example, then you'll almost certainly want to be going the VDI route if you need to virtualise the desktop, not session virtualisation
Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualisation (MED-V)
If you've used Virtual PC before then you'll understand MED-V pretty quickly. If you haven't, here's what MED-V does: It allows you to run a virtualised operating system on top of another operating system. For example, you could have Windows 7 installed on your PC and, via MED-V, have a copy of Windows XP running "on top of" Windows 7. How does this work? It uses an application (called a hypervisor, specifically a "type 2" hypervisor but don't get hung up about it) that simulates, in software, a physical PC. This means you can install Windows XP onto this "virtual" PC just as if it was a real PC. As far as XP knows it's being installed onto a real PC but actually it's being fooled - the software is simulating a PC and XP can't tell the difference. Well actually it can, but let's not get side-tracked. Once you have XP installed onto this virtual PC you can use it pretty much as normal, installing applications and creating files etc. Why would you want to do this? Mainly so that you can continue to run legacy applications that only work on XP and don't, for example, work correctly on Windows 7. So you can continue using Windows 7 for your usual work and dip into the virtual copy of XP to run those applications that can't run on Windows 7.
MED-V makes the whole experience pretty seamless too. For example, an application installed on your virtual copy of XP can appear in the Windows 7 start menu, or you can create desktop shortcuts to it. When you launch it, it actually launches and runs on the virtual copy of XP rather than on Windows 7 but this can be made pretty much transparent to the user. Actually you can decide how obvious you want to make it that the application is running on the virtual machine eg by using Windows XP-style borders.
It also works really well for Internet Explorer: If you have an application or web site that only works on IE6 for example, then MED-V can allow you to configure IE8 on Windows 7 so that when you visit a URL that requires IE6 it automatically launches the virtual copy of XP and loads up the web page on IE6 within the virtual machine (again, you can make this pretty transparent to the user if you want to). When they move off the site back to one that works with IE8 it will automatically switch you back to IE8.
MED-V, as the name suggests, is primarily for enterprise customers who need to manage large numbers of desktops and keep them updated. Therefore as you'd expect it allows remote management and patching, updating etc to ensure that the virtual PC is as up-to-date and secure as the physical PCs.
As mentioned above, the main advantage is around application compatibility:
MED-V allows you to run older applications that might not work on modern operating systems, which can make it easier for you to migrate to Windows 7 for example
You can run multiple operating systems at the same time. This could be useful if you need to test whether an application works on Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 for example - in this case you'd have virtual machines running XP and Vista
As mentioned above, it can be particularly useful if you have applications that require IE6
MED-V doesn't require a network connection, unlike VDI or session virtualisation, so you can use if offline with no problem
The main issues with MED-V are related to the fact that you need enough resource on your PC to run two operating systems:
Running another operating system on top of the one you have installed on your machine means you need a reasonable amount of RAM and processing power (and disc space of course)
You may need a licence for the other operating system
You will still need to patch and maintain the virtualised operating system, although as mentioned this is made easier in MED-V than with other similar products
MED-V is not suited for heavily graphical applications like games, and you might have trouble with some peripherals
Windows 7 XP Mode
If you've understood MED-V, then XP Mode is going to be simple: Essentially XP Mode on Windows 7 is like a trimmed down version of MED-V, here are the main differences:
It's free if you have a valid Windows 7 license
You get a free copy of Windows XP built into the virtual machine
It doesn't have the remote management and patching capabilities of MED-V
Other than that it does a very similar job. Generally XP Mode is aimed at home users or very small businesses, and MED-V is aimed at larger businesses.
The main advantage is the same as with MED-V: It allows you to run older legacy applications on XP while still using Windows 7.
In the main these are similar to MED-V's disadvantages:
You will still need to patch and maintain the virtualised operating system, and XP Mode doesn't have MED-V's remote patching etc capabilities
Like MED-V, XP Mode is not suited for heavily graphical applications like games, and you might have trouble with some peripherals
What else do you need to know?
As you can tell, there's quite a lot to desktop virtualisation and to be honest we've only scraped the surface here. However, let me leave you with a few other titbits to consider:
While we've described how App-V can be used to stream applications to your "normal" (ie non-virtualised) desktop, you should be aware that it's perfectly possible and actually quite desirable to use App-V with VDI and session virtualisation. So instead of installing Microsoft Office on every VDI desktop, you can use App-V to stream Office applications to your VDI desktops when they're required. That means that most of the App-V benefits accrue to your VDI implementation
Most organisations will want to mix and match these capabilities. Some users might need VDI, some session virtualisation, almost everyone will benefit from App-V, etc. Which means typically a first step will be to segment your users to figure out who gets what. For example, if your workforce is mostly mobile and out on the road then VDI or session virtualisation might not be a good solution given they need a reasonably good internet connection for you to access your desktop
XP Mode isn't included with the standard Windows 7 install, but you can download it from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx
App-V and MED-V are a part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization pack, known as MDOP
Session virtualisation and VDI are available via Microsoft's VDI Suites
If you're using VDI, whether via Microsoft's products or anyone else's, you will need a special licence for your virtual copy of Windows known as Virtual Desktop Access, or VDA. This allows you to access your remote desktop from any machine and gives you rights to run up to four different VDI desktops. Note that session virtualisation is licenced differently, via RDS CALs. Read more about licencing from this document.
Next Steps
Let me close with a few web resources if you want to learn more:
Microsoft's desktop virtualisation site: http://www.microsoft.com/virtualization/en/us/products-desktop.aspx
Microsoft and Citrix's joint website: http://www.microsoftandcitrix.com/
Free ebook, "Desktop Virtualization for Dummies": http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/54ef6966#/54ef6966/1
Desktop virtualisation overview video: http://www.microsoft.com/showcase/en/us/details/c8007a99-ed47-4d82-acb2-83bbed05bd48
Last Friday, we had a fantastic day at the office, when we hosted the “Fun, Free Friday for Schools”. Just over 100 schools attended, and we had an absolutely packed agenda, as we demonstrated lots of the free Microsoft software available for schools to use.
All of the links to the various downloads we mentioned during the day are below. During the day we asked people to share ideas of how they would use the software to enhance their curriculum teaching, but we didn’t get the chance to write them all down – so if you attended the day, we’d appreciate it enormously if you’d add a comment to the blog to say how you hope to use one or more of the resources you saw on the day.
Bing Maps is so much more than just maps and directions. Bing Maps delivers a truly immersive experience that connects people to the world and a growing number of useful and valuable applications. Whether you want to find and view photosynths, see Twitter feeds, explore environmental projects or just explore the world; Bing Maps is a great resource for educators and students to enrich their learning experience.
Photosynth is a tool that takes your photos, mashes them together and recreates a 3-D scene out of them that anyone can view and move around.
Community Clips is a free download from Office Labs that allows you record activity from your computer screen, narrate that activity and save it as a video file. This makes it ideal for recording simple instructional videos and to record student computer activity for assessment purposes. You can download the Community Clips screen recorder at - http://www.officelabs.com/projects/communityclips/Pages/Default.aspx
Community Clips is a free download from Office Labs that allows you record activity from your computer screen, narrate that activity and save it as a video file. This makes it ideal for recording simple instructional videos and to record student computer activity for assessment purposes.
You can download the Community Clips screen recorder at - http://www.officelabs.com/projects/communityclips/Pages/Default.aspx
Worldwide Telescope is a free download that enables you to access a huge collection of stunning images of the universe from the Hubble Space Telescope and many other space and earth observatories . These can be used to engage students, and to support teaching and learning in Maths and Science. It is a great tool to encourage students in research and project based learning around the planets, the solar system and the stars and to give them an appreciation of the scale, complexity and beauty of the universe. Worldwide Telescope can be downloaded from http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx
Worldwide Telescope is a free download that enables you to access a huge collection of stunning images of the universe from the Hubble Space Telescope and many other space and earth observatories . These can be used to engage students, and to support teaching and learning in Maths and Science. It is a great tool to encourage students in research and project based learning around the planets, the solar system and the stars and to give them an appreciation of the scale, complexity and beauty of the universe.
Worldwide Telescope can be downloaded from http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/Home.aspx
Pivot is a visual way of presenting and analysing data, from Microsoft Live Labs. It’s very difficult to describe in words, so perhaps the best way to see what it can do is to watch this video from the TED Conference 2010 You can download Pivot from the GetPivot website, and use it straight away with the Pivot Collection – or if you’re technical, you can create your own Pivot collection, either in Excel or from a data source. (I used the Pivot Collection Tool for Excel for the SIMS example)
Pivot is a visual way of presenting and analysing data, from Microsoft Live Labs. It’s very difficult to describe in words, so perhaps the best way to see what it can do is to watch this video from the TED Conference 2010
You can download Pivot from the GetPivot website, and use it straight away with the Pivot Collection – or if you’re technical, you can create your own Pivot collection, either in Excel or from a data source. (I used the Pivot Collection Tool for Excel for the SIMS example)
DeepZoom allows students to create image compositions that can be viewed at different resolutions. Photos can be embedded within one another making it an ideal resource to develop thinking skills and digital storytelling. A great example of the use of DeepZoom technology can be found at the Hard Rock Café - http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/. (You will need the Silverlight plug in to view this) To make your own Deep Zoom compositions, download a free copy of DeepZoom Composer You can find a series of tutorials about how to use DeepZoom Composer on the UK Teachers Blog
DeepZoom allows students to create image compositions that can be viewed at different resolutions. Photos can be embedded within one another making it an ideal resource to develop thinking skills and digital storytelling.
A great example of the use of DeepZoom technology can be found at the Hard Rock Café - http://memorabilia.hardrock.com/. (You will need the Silverlight plug in to view this)
To make your own Deep Zoom compositions, download a free copy of DeepZoom Composer
You can find a series of tutorials about how to use DeepZoom Composer on the UK Teachers Blog
Outsource your email and collaboration solution using this free offering – give all of your staff and students a 10GB Exchange mailbox, 25GB storage and collaboration space, access to the office web app – oh – and it works on almost any platform and in almost any browser, too. http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu
Outsource your email and collaboration solution using this free offering – give all of your staff and students a 10GB Exchange mailbox, 25GB storage and collaboration space, access to the office web app – oh – and it works on almost any platform and in almost any browser, too.
http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu
SkyDrive is 25GB of online storage that you can access from any PC to store your files and either keep them private, share them with friends or make them public. It’s at http://skydrive.live.com Windows Live Sync is about to get an update to keep your PCs and web storage in sync. Giving you 2GB of web storage space and the ability to sync content between multiple PCs, Live Sync is a great way to tool to keep you files and photos up to date. Unfortunately it is still in beta but will be part of the updated Windows Live Essentials – keep an eye out at http://get.live.com
SkyDrive is 25GB of online storage that you can access from any PC to store your files and either keep them private, share them with friends or make them public. It’s at http://skydrive.live.com
Windows Live Sync is about to get an update to keep your PCs and web storage in sync. Giving you 2GB of web storage space and the ability to sync content between multiple PCs, Live Sync is a great way to tool to keep you files and photos up to date. Unfortunately it is still in beta but will be part of the updated Windows Live Essentials – keep an eye out at http://get.live.com
The Office Web Apps have just launched this week. They’re at http://office.live.com and they provide free, lightweight editing of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote documents through the browser.
More than just instant chat! Live messenger can be a great way of engaging your students in a more exciting and innovative way of learning. It’ll help save money with free simple video conferencing, and to take the pressure away from email - file sharing becomes instant. You can download it as part of Windows Live Essentials
Ever been stuck with a bit of text or a website that’s in a language you don’t speak? Needed to get something across to a teacher across the seas? Or wanted to have an IM conversation that wasn’t limited by language barriers? Bing Translator bridges the gap between languages, so whether you’re chatting to someone or reading an article, you’re covered. http://www.bing.com/translate
Ever been stuck with a bit of text or a website that’s in a language you don’t speak? Needed to get something across to a teacher across the seas? Or wanted to have an IM conversation that wasn’t limited by language barriers? Bing Translator bridges the gap between languages, so whether you’re chatting to someone or reading an article, you’re covered.
http://www.bing.com/translate
Live Writer is a programme that allows you to write blog posts offline, and then upload them onto your blog (and it works with all kinds of different blog platforms, like WordPress, Blogger, Community Server, SharePoint, Live Spaces, and lots of others). You can find out a little more about it in my “I love Live Writer” blog post, and download it free with Windows Live Essentials.
Organise and find your photos really fast by date, descriptive tags or people tags. Richard demonstrated how you can make your photos look better by tweaking exposure, colour or detail. And then it allows you to share your photos easily by publishing to various online services such as SkyDrive or flickr.You can download the current version as part of Windows Live Essentials
Import your existing photos and digital videos and create great looking movies which can be burned to dvd or published to online services such as SkyDrive or YouTube.Add impact to your movies with stunning visual effects and soundtracks. Create an animated movie by displaying lots of still images at speeds of up to 33 frames per second.You can download the current version as part of Windows Live Essentials
Singing in the shower is so last year – get your students creative juices flowing across the entire curriculum using Songsmith - a quick & easy way of creating songs, raps, rhymes and tunes out of whatever comes into your head. Although normally you’d pay for SongSmith, it’s free to education in the UK via the Partners in Learning Network
If you spend a lot of time searching for worksheets with practice problems to give your students, then you'll like Maths Worksheet Generator. You can easily create your own in just a few seconds with the Math Worksheet Generator. This is a tool that generates multiple maths problems based on a sample problem you provide, and then creates a worksheet that you can distribute. By analysing the initial problem you provide, or one of the built-in samples, the generator determines the structure of the expression and provides similar problems. And it tacks on an answer sheet too.You can download it from EducationLabs.
Photostory 3 allows your pupils and students to create videos from still images. They can add narration, music and special effects. It is ideal resource to use in all areas of the curriculum. Photostory can be downloaded for free at - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx . You will also find this resource on Digital Storytelling in the classroom useful. - http://www.microsoft.com/education/teachers/guides/digital_storytelling.aspx
Photostory 3 allows your pupils and students to create videos from still images. They can add narration, music and special effects. It is ideal resource to use in all areas of the curriculum.
Photostory can be downloaded for free at - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx . You will also find this resource on Digital Storytelling in the classroom useful. - http://www.microsoft.com/education/teachers/guides/digital_storytelling.aspx
If you’re using Moodle, you don’t have to miss out on some great free tools – using our Office for Moodle plugin you can open from and save directly to a Moodle site, and with the Moodle Plugin for Live@edu, you can get your recent mail and calendar items right within your Moodle learning environment. http://www.educationlabs.com
If you’re using Moodle, you don’t have to miss out on some great free tools – using our Office for Moodle plugin you can open from and save directly to a Moodle site, and with the Moodle Plugin for Live@edu, you can get your recent mail and calendar items right within your Moodle learning environment.
http://www.educationlabs.com
Autocollage allows you to take a group of photos and turn them into exciting collages with the click of a button, which can then be printed or emailed.Autocollage also interacts with Windows Live Photo Gallery for a seamless connection to your extisting photo libraries. It's a great time saver, for example when you've got photos from a school trip, or you need to get students to create a mood board. There's a video demo on the Microsoft Research site. Although AutoCollage is normally sold as a product, if you're in UK Education (teachers or students) you can download it free from the Partners in Learning website.
Kodu is a visual programming language for creating games designed to be accessible for children and an ideal way to ignite an interest in computer science whilst teaching other skills such as cooperation, logic and creativity. www.fuse.microsoft.com/kodu
Kodu is a visual programming language for creating games designed to be accessible for children and an ideal way to ignite an interest in computer science whilst teaching other skills such as cooperation, logic and creativity.
www.fuse.microsoft.com/kodu
DreamSpark is a programme designed to give all students access to Microsoft tools and training materials at no cost. www.dreamspark.com
DreamSpark is a programme designed to give all students access to Microsoft tools and training materials at no cost.
www.dreamspark.com
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/schools/curriculum-resources/digital-literacy-curriculum.aspx This is the home page for the English version of the Digital Literacy Curriculum – which is available in 34 languages – including Welsh! It’s a lovely set of curriculum resources with an interactive interface which allows people to study at their own pace and in ways that suit their own learning style! It’s available online and it’s also FREE !! The goal of the Digital Literacy Curriculum is to teach basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computers in everyday life. Modules cover Computer Basics; Desktop Applications; the Web; Safety and Security; and Digital Lifestyles. Once you have completed all five modules, you are ready to take an Entry Level 3 qualification with OCR or City and Guilds and you have the foundations for a journey to higher level skills which could provide a real boost to your employability.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/education/schools/curriculum-resources/digital-literacy-curriculum.aspx
This is the home page for the English version of the Digital Literacy Curriculum – which is available in 34 languages – including Welsh! It’s a lovely set of curriculum resources with an interactive interface which allows people to study at their own pace and in ways that suit their own learning style! It’s available online and it’s also FREE !! The goal of the Digital Literacy Curriculum is to teach basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computers in everyday life. Modules cover Computer Basics; Desktop Applications; the Web; Safety and Security; and Digital Lifestyles. Once you have completed all five modules, you are ready to take an Entry Level 3 qualification with OCR or City and Guilds and you have the foundations for a journey to higher level skills which could provide a real boost to your employability.
The new prototype Office Ribbon Hero is designed to test the effectiveness, feasibility and appeal of delivering Office training in a game-like setting. The heart of Ribbon Hero is a set of challenges that users play right in the Office applications. These challenges expose users to features that they might not be aware of and which can help users get their work done faster. In addition, Ribbon Hero awards points for using both basic features, such as, Bold and Italic, and for using the features introduced in the challenges. Ribbon Hero does some analysis of the person’s usage patterns to prioritise the order in which it presents challenges. And then to add the competitive element, Ribbon Hero integrates with Facebook so you can share your success (or in my case, failures) with your friends. You can read a little more, and download Office Ribbon Hero, from my earlier blog post.
The new prototype Office Ribbon Hero is designed to test the effectiveness, feasibility and appeal of delivering Office training in a game-like setting. The heart of Ribbon Hero is a set of challenges that users play right in the Office applications. These challenges expose users to features that they might not be aware of and which can help users get their work done faster.
In addition, Ribbon Hero awards points for using both basic features, such as, Bold and Italic, and for using the features introduced in the challenges. Ribbon Hero does some analysis of the person’s usage patterns to prioritise the order in which it presents challenges. And then to add the competitive element, Ribbon Hero integrates with Facebook so you can share your success (or in my case, failures) with your friends.
You can read a little more, and download Office Ribbon Hero, from my earlier blog post.
Want to keep your students' attention? Try a little Mischief. Mouse Mischief is a tool that Microsoft makes available free of charge, and that allows teachers to work with Microsoft Office PowerPoint to make interactive presentations. Mouse Mischief integrates with Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, enabling teachers to insert questions, polls and drawing activity slides into their lessons. Students can actively participate in these lessons by using their own mice to click, circle, cross out or draw answers on the screen. You can download Mouse Mischief, and see a demo video, on the UK website
Want to keep your students' attention? Try a little Mischief. Mouse Mischief is a tool that Microsoft makes available free of charge, and that allows teachers to work with Microsoft Office PowerPoint to make interactive presentations. Mouse Mischief integrates with Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 and Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007, enabling teachers to insert questions, polls and drawing activity slides into their lessons. Students can actively participate in these lessons by using their own mice to click, circle, cross out or draw answers on the screen.
You can download Mouse Mischief, and see a demo video, on the UK website
Create online personlised revision materials for your students and pupils. These flashcards can contain images and audio, making them an ideal resource for language and special educational needs teaching. The Flashcards give feedback on how well students and pupils are doing, allowing them to identify the areas they need to improve. Go to EducationLabs to find out more and to create your own Flashcards.
With Internet Explorer 8, Accelerators reduce the time it takes to do simple tasks, such as find an address, translate a word, or perform other routine tasks online? Until now it was likely a series of cutting and pasting information from one webpage to another. Now there's a better way. The new Accelerators in Internet Explorer 8 help you quickly perform your everyday browsing tasks without navigating to other websites to get things done. You can find out about, and download Accelerators here
pptPlex is a free add-in for PowerPoint that makes it simple to present non-linear content and interact with your slides more dynamically – it’s a very different way to present.
XNA is a games development platform for Windows OS, Phone and Xbox 360. It is an ideal way to engage your most enthusiastic students and teach them some core programming skills applicable to all Microsoft platforms.
http://creators.xna.com
Innovids are a series of instructional videos created by teachers for teachers as part of the UK Partners in Learning Network programme. Using community clips and Moviemaker, teachers have recorded how they use a range of Microsoft applications in the classroom. These include Office 2007, as well as applications such as AutoCollage and Bing. Each video shows not only how to use the software , but a context in which to use it effectively to support learning across the curriculum. You can access and download these Innovids from the UK Partners in Learning Network - http://uk.partnersinlearningnetwork.com or the UK Partners in Learning YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/innovativeteach
Innovids are a series of instructional videos created by teachers for teachers as part of the UK Partners in Learning Network programme. Using community clips and Moviemaker, teachers have recorded how they use a range of Microsoft applications in the classroom. These include Office 2007, as well as applications such as AutoCollage and Bing. Each video shows not only how to use the software , but a context in which to use it effectively to support learning across the curriculum.
You can access and download these Innovids from the UK Partners in Learning Network - http://uk.partnersinlearningnetwork.com or the UK Partners in Learning YouTube Channel - http://www.youtube.com/innovativeteach
This a global community of teacher who value innovative uses of ICT that improve and support learning. By joining the UK Partners In Learning Network, you can: Create or join communities & discussions Find lesson plans and activities, as well as share your own resources Download free software such AutoCollage and Songsmith Collaborate with like-minded colleagues, to develop best practice in your own classroom and community Our UK Teachers Blog supports this Network, with all the latest developments, ideas and news that we think can help and support teachers. UK Teachers Blog - UK Partners in Learning Network - http://uk.partnersinlearningnetwork.com
This a global community of teacher who value innovative uses of ICT that improve and support learning. By joining the UK Partners In Learning Network, you can:
Our UK Teachers Blog supports this Network, with all the latest developments, ideas and news that we think can help and support teachers.
UK Teachers Blog -
UK Partners in Learning Network - http://uk.partnersinlearningnetwork.com
Alex Pearce and Richard Willis are running a Learning Gateway Conference on July 14. Here’s what you need to know …..
Learning Gateway Conference 2010
If you are in education and using SharePoint then the <http://www.learninggatewayconference.com/> Learning Gateway Conference is the must attend event of the year. Run by Alex Pearce (MVP) and myself it follows on from the highly successful first Learning Gateway Conference last year. This year will be even bigger and better! We have added a whole new track which is dedicated to leading SharePoint schools telling us their stories of how they have implemented their Learning Gateways, what has worked for them and what pitfalls to avoid.
With the recent release of SharePoint 2010, it is an exciting time in the SharePoint world and the educational pricing makes it a great product for use in schools, colleges and local authorities. However, in addition to covering some of the fantastic new features in SharePoint 2010, we will still have lots of content for SharePoint 2007. So whether you have already moved to SharePoint 2010, are planning to upgrade over the summer or don’t currently have any plans to change, there will be lots of great information you can take away and use in your Gateway.
With both technical and user oriented sessions there is something for everybody – network managers, technicians, users, Learning Gateway managers or members of senior leadership teams. In addition the conference will be relevant and useful whether you are an experienced SharePoint user, just starting out or just considering SharePoint. With 3 concurrent tracks running throughout the day it would be worth considering having more than one attendee!
In addition to the content it will of course be a great networking event with the opportunity to meet others in the same situation as you and discuss what you are doing. At only £150 for the day it’s an unrivalled professional development opportunity providing information you will be able to put in practice straight away.
The venue is Church House, Westminster in Central London so is easy to get to from almost anywhere.
For more information visit the <http://www.learninggatewayconference.com/>
conference web site and <http://learninggatewayconference.salamandersoft.co.uk/register.html>
register today. To whet your appetite here is a list of the sessions:
We hope to see you there on the 14th!
WNS213PAL: Virtual Server Performance Degradation: “What the Frag is Going Wrong!?”
Presented by: Stephen Deming; Michael Materie
Webcast Date: 6/10/2010
Webcast Start Time: 9:30 AM (Pacific)
Partner Audience: Partner IT Professional
In the world of server virtualization, there are many factors for partners to consider when tuning for optimal performance; have you ever considered data fragmentation? When examining modern virtualization deployments, we see the trend of increasing virtual machine image density on the storage volumes. Whether it’s server consolidation, dynamic allocation, or Live Migration; fragmentation is occurring. And what about inside those virtual machine images? Is the guest OS still managing fragmentation? Join Diskeeper Corporation, Microsoft, and industry experts for a thorough discussion of fragmentation in your virtual server farm, architecture & configuration considerations, and tools to help address the challenges.
BRD43PAL: Microsoft Customer Opportunity Insights Tool - Helping you get more from your customer base
Presented by: Stephen Deming
Webcast Date: 6/15/2010
Partner Audience: Partners
Want help uncovering new sales opportunities in your customer base? The Microsoft Customer Opportunity Insights Tool is a simple-to-use Access database that identifies product upgrade and cross-sell opportunities in your accounts. The Insights Tool is designed to give you the information you need to help your customers uncover new ways to optimize their IT investments, reduce costs, and enhance productivity. At the same time, it highlights ways for you to extract revenue opportunities and improve sales. Since launching in March of 2009, the tool has helped U.S. VARs generate millions in incremental revenue.
This training session will teach you how to generate incremental revenue utilizing the Insights Tool. It will demonstrate how to uncover opportunities in the tool and act upon them using targeted Microsoft Ready-to-Go Marketing campaigns as well as sales incentives. The training will be taught in-context, with Windows Server 2008 R2 upgrade and Business Productivity Online Suite cross-sell examples.
Please join us to learn how to better-monetize your customer base!
MGT77PAL: Technical Introduction to System Center Data Protection Manager 2010
Presented by: Rahul Jacob
System Center Data Protection Manager 2010, now is in Beta, and will be released in April, 2010. DPM 2010 provides new backup and recovery capabilities at a low cost. Because of the significant new capabilities in DPM, it is highly important that the field, partners and customers are aware of the various solutions and opportunities we have with DPM 2010. This session will help you get started with easy setup and configuration.
MOS24PAL: Let Microsoft Online Services Make You a Star!
Presented by: Lauren Delgado
Webcast Date: 6/16/2010
Partner Audience: Partner Business Decision Maker
Join us for our monthly webcast where we provide an overview of Microsoft Online Services and discuss partner program opportunities. Microsoft Online Services are enterprise-class software delivered as subscription services, hosted by Microsoft and offered by partners like you to generate predictable, recurring revenue. Help customers increase their efficiency with the messaging and collaboration solutions in the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite. Sell Microsoft Online Services to earn advisor fees, expand your base, and serve new segments. Join each month for important updates and a chance to win an X-Box 360 Pro Console System and Rock Band 2 Kit. Questions? Contact usmosg@microsoft.com.
APU05PAL: Application Platform University: How to Speed up your Sale with a Reporting and Analysis QuickStart
Webcast Date: 6/17/2010
While the market for Reporting & Analysis consolidates, customers are spoilt for choice and are increasingly asking for more hands-on engagements to get a feel for the reporting tools. QuickStarts are packaged 2-day technical engagements based on best practices derived from the Microsoft field. They aim to provide customers with an immersion experience into the technology while keeping the engagement short and precise. Attend this session to learn more about how to deliver a 2-day Reporting & Analysis QuickStart and speed up your sale. This session will cover best practices, and step-by-step guidance for delivering a high impact Reporting & Analytics immersion experience to customers.
WVC125PAL: Windows 7 Best Practices from Microsoft IT
Presented by: Jeremy Chapman; Robert Van Winkle; Allison Meinhardt
Partner Audience: Partner Business Decision Maker, Partner Marketing, Partner Sales, Partner IT Professional. Partner Training, Partner Developer
Have your customers been asking you “How did Microsoft deploy Windows 7”? Help them overcome their deployment blockers by learning from Microsoft IT’s inside story. This webcast will review the approach of first focusing on user scenarios and how that drove the focus on user satisfaction and significant reductions in deployment costs. Included in this session are lessons learned from Vista, Bitlocker deployment, line of business application compatibility and how your customer can leverage some of these best practices and remove the cost barrier to deploying Windows 7.
MGT78PAL: Application Workloads and DPM - Better together
Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) is designed for IT generalists and uses wizards and workflows to help ensure that you can protect your Exchange, SQL and SharePoint data without any advanced degree of storage and backup knowledge. This session will help small and medium business IT administrators plan backups, recoveries and plan for further Disaster Recoveries. The solutions will enable you to take advantage of Exchange 2010 and DPM 2010.
VEN48PAL: AdminStudio & AOK: End-to-End Application Readiness for the Fastest Way to Move Applications to Windows 7 and App-V
Presented by: Sean Donahue; Chris Meier
Webcast Date: 6/21/2010
Chris Maher of Flexera Software will discuss how you can automate and standardize key phases of a migration project to ensure a fast and successful application deployment. Maher will overview the Flexera Software Application Readiness solution an end-to-end process for Windows 7 and App-V™ application migration projects, demo AdminStudio and AOK, and discuss how a continuous application readiness process creates a repeatable and reliable standard for the next migration project. Highlights of the overview include how to:
· Drive down the cost and complexity of preparing for a Windows 7 deployment
· Speed conversion of MSI packages to App-V and other virtualized formats
· Shift from reactive to proactive application management
· Better understand your application estate
· Make sure your applications are ready to move when you are
· Reduce manual migration to save time and resources
APU06PAL: Application Platform University: How to Speed up your Sale with a Data Warehousing QuickStart
Webcast Date: 6/22/2010
Due to the complexity of Data Warehousing projects, customers are increasingly asking for assessment-focused onsite engagements to chalk out a Data Warehousing roadmap. QuickStarts are packaged 2-day technical engagements based on best practices derived from the Microsoft field. They aim to provide customers with an immersion experience into the technology while keeping the engagement short and precise. Attend this session to learn more about how to deliver a 2-day Data Warehousing QuickStart and speed up your sale. This session will cover best practices, and step-by-step guidance for conducting a through Data Warehousing assessment and delivering a solid roadmap to customers.
MGT79PAL: Technical Introduction to System Center Essentials 2010
Presented by: Ashok Kumar G
SCE 2010 RC is now available, so it is important that the Microsoft field and our partners who focus on midsized businesses with between 50-500 PCs learn about the value of this new offering for physical and virtualization management. This session will help you get started with easy setup and configuration. Come see it first, and get ready when your customers ask you about it. Topics include:
SCE 2010 Overview
Architecture
Demo
Market challenges
Solution
Licensing
SQL146PAL: Plan SQL Server 2008 R2 infrastructure with the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0
Presented by: Lisha He; David Rodrigue
Are your customers are looking for tools to plan and optimize their database resources and investments? Would you like insight into real life scenarios for streamlined SQL Server 2008 R2 migration planning? Join us for this Academy Live webcast and see how the Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit 5.0 can help you optimize your SQL Server infrastructure and accelerate migration planning to SQL Server 2008 R2. A MAP 5.0 demo will be featured to show you how to inventory your infrastructure for discovery of SQL Server databases and engine instances—information you can use to optimize hardware and database resources, reduce administrative costs and streamline software licensing needs--all essentials for cost effective IT planning and operations.
Objectives: 1. Use the MAP toolkit to discover and assess your SQL Server environments. 2. Interpret MAP toolkit’s proposals and reports, and leverage this information for migration and consolidation options of databases and instances 3. Get insight into real life scenarios for deploying SQL Server 2008 R2.
DYN59PAL: Customer Care Accelerator for Dynamics CRM CTI Overview
Presented by: Ming Chao; Matthew Barbour; Jayme Pechan; Karen Smith
Webcast Date: 6/23/2010
Level: 200/300
Join this 200/300-level session to learn more about the CTI framework for the Customer Care Accelerator (CCA) for Dynamics CRM. This session will provide a brief recap of CCA before it quickly jumps into an overview of CTI functionality and components for the Customer Care Accelerator for Dynamics CRM. You will hear from experts on how to start thinking about and planning for a CTI project as well as see a showcase example of how Microsoft Services used the CTI framework with Avaya in a real-life customer scenario.
This session is the final segment of a "Four-Part” partner academy live series on the Customer Care Accelerator for Dynamics CRM. The complete series includes: (1) Level 100 CCA overview; (2) Level 200/300 CCA core elements; and (3) Level 400 How to use CCA and the User Interface Integration (UII) SDK to build out other customer care and business scenarios. To access these sessions, please go to: https://academymobile.microsoft.com/Pages/PodcastSearchResults.aspx?k=ccad&s=Webcast. Partners can access the series via the Partner Learning Center.
Kodu is a new visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone. The visual nature of the language allows for rapid design iteration using only an Xbox game controller for input (mouse/keyboard input is also supported). Try Kodu now:
http://fuse.microsoft.com/kodu.html
Kodu is a new visual programming language made specifically for creating games. It is designed to be accessible for children and enjoyable for anyone. The programming environment runs on the Xbox, allowing rapid design iteration using only a game controller for input.
Kodu for the PC incorporates several features that have been requested by schools in our early access program:
The programming environment also runs on the Xbox, allowing rapid design iteration using only a game controller for input. Kodu Game Lab can be found in the Xbox Marketplace in the Indie Games channel. Click here to find out more.
The core of the Kodu project is the programming user interface. The language is simple and entirely icon-based. Programs are composed of pages, which are broken down into rules, which are further divided into conditions and actions. Conditions are evaluated simultaneously.
The Kodu language is designed specifically for game development and provides specialized primitives derived from gaming scenarios. Programs are expressed in physical terms, using concepts like vision, hearing, and time to control character behaviour. While not as general-purpose as classical programming languages, Kodu can express advanced game design concepts in a simple, direct, and intuitive manner.