October, 2007

We've made a few changes to the Ultimate Steal website (Office 2007 Ultimate for students, for £38.95), all of which are good news. Here's what we've done:

Added the Backup DVD option to the ordering options
To be honest, we have been trying to put this here ever since launch, but some technical glitches stopped us. It's now there, so students can order media at the same time as ordering the licence. This is handy if they don't want to use the download service, or they want a backup.

Added email verification BEFORE entering the purchasing process

We've been getting hundreds of students who have incorrectly entered their email address during the purchase process, which means they haven't received their licence key after purchase. It's tricky for us to resolve these individual problems quickly, and also inconvenient for students. So now, before you get to the online shop process, you have to provide your student email address (ending in .ac.uk) and then get an email confirmation and website login. This way, if you put in the incorrect email address, you won't get your website login - you'll have to go back and enter it again correctly.

Even more reasons to tell your students about the Ultimate Steal

We've been doing a lot of work with students recently, and from that I've learnt quite a bit about their ICT habits. Two years ago universities reported that three-quarters of students turn up with their own PC, with some reporting that 99% of students do. Judging on the research panels we've held recently, that number appears to be pretty much 100% across the board now. And the mix has shifted towards laptops, although not completely.

But the bizarre thing is how they are used. You a Fresher arriving at uni. You've got a laptop. What do you do with it? Well, it appears that you leave it in your room, and just carry your data around on a memory stick. Again, that's what virtually every student told us they did.

So what happens if you lose your memory stick? Or it suddenly packs up (as my favourite one did this week, losing an important spreadsheet I hadn't copied elsewhere). Well, the data goes with it.

In this world of web-enabled everything, there's got to be another way. That's where SkyDrive comes in. It's part of the Windows Live @ Edu mail service, or UK students can just sign up separately for it. It gives you a 500MB password-protect storage space on the internet, where you can store files, and if you want share them (I use it for most of the downloads I want to make available on this blog) you can just pop them onto the public folder in your SkyDrive. Or you can make it available only to specific people.

It's the equivalent of giving all of your students a 500MB memory stick, and backing it up for them every minute of the day.

Of course, it's not something that every student might want. But when you start to put together some of the new online services, you can see how they can be put together in a way that enhances service delivery to students:

• Hosted web-based email with a 5GB mailbox, with Windows Live @ Edu
• with mail forwarding, so that students can automatically forward their .ac.uk email address to their "every day" email address
• 500MB file storage with Windows Live SkyDrive
• Live Spaces for blogs, social networking and other places for students to publish, share and talk.
• And next? Well, Office Live Workspaces take the SkyDrive idea into a context specifically for Office users (due for launch in 2008), so that you can save your Word, Excel and PowerPoint files directly from within the software

What's the biggest risk to your IT system security? Probably your users! For all of the efforts that you make, it only takes one user to do something really dumb inappropriate, and suddenly you're back to firefighting.

And how many times have you had to remind your users about some of the things in this list?

1. Work with your IT department
2. Use strong passwords
3. Don't enable the Save Password Option
4. Use network file shares instead of local file shares
5. Lock your computer when you leave your desk
6. Use password protection on your screensaver
7. Encrypt files containing confidential or business critical files
8. Don't open questionable e-mails
9. Encrypt e-mail messages when appropriate
10. Use the Junk E-mail Filter in Outlook

At the start of the new term, you might want to remind all of your users about these rules again. We recently covered this list, with further advice and actions, in our At Work newsletter, so if it adds power to your message, then send them this link, or find another way to put the page in front of them (how about redirecting their home page for a week until they get the message!). And this list is also (mostly) applicable for home users too, and with increased connectivity between home and your university systems, the more you can encourage good practice on any computer, the better protected you are.

Okay, this doesn't happen every day (thank goodness), but let's suppose that you've got an important message, for all of your students, and which is time critical. It may represent part of your contingency planning, or it may be that there are certain key notices which you really want to reach all students now - that may be different for you, but what about something like the publication of the exam timetable? If you had to, could you get a message out? Onto the device in your students' pockets?

Universities and students can opt in to be able to distribute/receive alerts directly to their mobile phone, via text messages. These can be sporting or club venue announcements, notifications to pay fees or retrieve exam results, changes to lecture or tutorial times, as well as other time-critical news.  Purdue University in the States, are just in the process of enabling a system, for their contingency planning.

There are a number of ways of achieving this, but if you are using the Windows Live @ Edu system, then you can use the Live Alerts - students can elect to receive alerts via Instant Messenger, their university email address, on their mobile phone, or via another email address (such as their Hotmail address).  Oh, and if there's a cost (like SMS messages) the receiver pays - not you!

There's more on Windows Live @ Edu here, and more on Live Alerts here

If you have developers within your university, busily coding applications and systems for your intranet, then you may want to let them know about the free MSDN events coming up over the next few months. They're aimed at mainstream development engineers, and given that many universities have teams developing internal applications, with a big emphasis now on web applications, it looked like many of the following events might be of interest.

The links contain all the information on the agenda, and presenters. The "SharePoint for Developers" event will probably be of most interest, as there are quite a few universities rolling our wider deployments of SharePoint to support collaboration and workflow around the campus. I'm tempted to go to the Silverlight one, as I've seen so many wow applications built in it, but I rather suspect it would go whoosh over my head!

October:

MSDN: Demand Good Service
Date: 25 October 2007
Location: Reading

November:

MSDN: Developing on the Windows Live Platform
Date: 06 November 2007
Location: TVP

MSDN: Building Dynamic Web Applications with Microsoft Silverlight
Date: 08 November 2007
Location: London

MSDN: SharePoint for Developers
Date: 20 November 2007
Location: Edinburgh

MSDN: SharePoint for Developers
Date: 21 November 2007
Location: Edinburgh

MSDN: SQL Server 2008
Date: 22 November 2007
Location: Bradford

MSDN: An Introduction to the Microsoft Web Platform (and how do it for zip, nada, zero cost to you)
Date: 27 November 2007
Location: Reading

MSDN: Web, Web, Web: Visual Studio 2008, ASP.NET 3.5 and Silverlight
Date: 28 November 2007
Location: Birmingham

MSDN: What's new in Smart Client Development
Date: 29 November 2007
Location: Bristol

December:

MSDN: SQL Server 2008
Date: 04 December 2007
Location: Reading

MSDN: What's new in Visual Studio 2008 and .Net Fx 3.5 for the Web Developer
Date: 06 December 2007
Location: London

Find out about all MSDN events

Like last week's posting, on 10 ways to work more securely, was a handy way of reminding your staff about common sense steps that they can take to keep their own personal PCs secure, as well as contributing to the organisation security you're managing. Well, here's another list in a similar vein, that you may want to promote to them in a similar way. This may be especially important if you have staff using laptop computers for surfing the web at home and while out and about, and then bringing them into university and connecting to your infrastructure - either devices they own, or yours. If they've got student or confidential data on the laptop, you want to ensure that data is as secure as possible - and the simple act of connecting to the free wireless connection at their local McDonalds could compromise it. So here's the top 7 tips:

• Choose more secure connections
  (And if they're at home using a wireless broadband router, have you mandated that they must use a security key and encryption at home?)
• Make sure your firewall is activated
• Monitor you access points
• Disable file and print sharing
• Make your folders private
• Encrypt your files
• Consider completely removing sensitive data from your notebook PCs
  This may seem extreme, but consider the consequences of an unintended data security breach

The full article, with tips on how to enable some of these things, is on our At Work newsletter pages. Perhaps you could use the link to the Microsoft website to encourage your colleagues to follow good practice when it comes to laptop security.

A colleague has just told me about the free Software Asset Management events that Phoenix & Microsoft are running together, coming up in the next couple of weeks.

• Reading - Friday 19 October
• Edinburgh - Wednesday 24 October
• London - Tuesday 30 October
• Manchester - Friday 2 November

They may be of particular relevance if you are responsible for licensing in your university, or if you are looking for a way to expand your IT management capabilities. With the release of the new international Software Asset Management standard (ISO/IEC 19770-1), there are a set of standard ways of managing software, and tools available to help with this. As users start exerting more control over their computers, and can start to compromise your best-laid plans by downloading/installing software, you may want to consider how you respond.

We ran a smaller workshop last year, with IT managers from colleges and schools, and I was surprised to see the length of the "To Do" lists that the delegates wrote for themselves, and the way that they were going to use SAM techniques to wake up their senior managers to the need for them to be given more control to deliver more structured IT management practices.

The events start at 10am, and finish at 1:30pm

You can register for these free events on the Phoenix website

TechNet is pleased to announce the second series of technical events

“TechNet on the Road”

We will again be stepping away from PPT and concentrating on a demo-packed full day. We will be visiting 5 locations (Reading, London, Manchester, Newcastle and Falkirk)

There are 3 separate sessions:
1) Beyond SharePoint – a look at Microsoft Office Performance Point 2007 and Enterprise Search
2) Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services and System Center
3) SQL Server 2008

The Dates

22 November 2007, London: SQL Server 2008 Pervasive Insights

27 November 2007, Falkirk: Beyond SharePoint: Advanced Solutions in Business Intelligence and Enterprise Search

27 November 2007, Falkirk: How to take online backups of running applications via System Center Data Protection Manager AND how to provide secure remote access to applications via Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services

27 November 2007, Falkirk: SQL Server 2008 Pervasive Insights

29 November 2007, Manchester: Beyond SharePoint: Advanced Solutions in Business Intelligence and Enterprise Search

29th November 2007, Manchester: How to take online backups of running applications via System Center Data Protection Manager AND how to provide secure remote access to applications via Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services

29 November 2007, Manchester: SQL Server 2008 Pervasive Insights

4 December 2007, Newcastle: Beyond SharePoint: Advanced Solutions in Business Intelligence and Enterprise Search

4 December 2007, Newcastle: How to take online backups of running applications via System Center Data Protection Manager AND how to provide secure remote access to applications via Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services

4 December 2007, Newcastle: SQL Server 2008 Pervasive Insights

5 December 2007, London: Beyond SharePoint: Advanced Solutions in Business Intelligence and Enterprise Search

5 December 2007, London: How to take online backups of running applications via System Center Data Protection Manager AND how to provide secure remote access to applications via Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services

7 December 2007, Reading: Beyond SharePoint: Advanced Solutions in Business Intelligence and Enterprise Search

7 December 2007, Reading: How to take online backups of running applications via System Center Data Protection Manager AND how to provide secure remote access to applications via Windows Server 2008 Terminal Services

Licensing

Again back by popular demand! Jackie Elleker scored some of the best presenter scores with these events previously! Attend this course to understand Microsoft Licensing and how best to apply it in your company to fit in with your business needs. This session is aimed at IT professionals who wish to gain a better understanding of Microsoft’s software licensing. The briefing assumes no previous or in-depth technical licensing experience.

21^st November, Reading

Register Now!

Over the next few months, we are going to running a series of briefings on specific aspects of ICT in education, relating to some of our newer technologies and their use in education. They are all running as Live Meetings, where you are able to watch the PowerPoint presentation on your screen, and hear the presenter talking through your phone.

• The upside is that you can join in during a normal day, without having to drive a hundred miles to get to a venue somewhere else in the country.
• The downside is that you don't get coffee and biscuits at the beginning of the meeting - unless you make it yourself!

You don't need to register in advance for these - simply login on the day (give yourself 5 minutes to download and install the free Live Meeting software at the beginning)

Education Infrastructure Optimisation

How mature is your IT Infrastructure? This session introduces Microsoft’s Infrastructure Optimisation (IO) initiative in Education. Get an overview of the tools and methodologies available to help you measure your IT infrastructure maturity, and produce a roadmap towards a dynamic IT environment. The IO model is based on a model from Gartner, and has been used successfully globally in the commercial world by businesses to help them to analyse the next steps in their IT infrastructure development.

Click here to put this into your Outlook Calendar, with the joining instructions

Attendee URL: https://www112.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/join?id=EDUIO&role=attend

The URL above will let you access the presentation. To hear the presenter call 0118 909 2000 and use participant code: 9395559

Presented by Nick Umney, an Account Technical Specialist in the UK Education Team

Windows Vista in Education

This session will explore new features in Windows Vista for teachers and Learners that make Windows Vista a tool for learning. We will also look at the new features for system administrators to create and to protect the virtual campus.

Click here to put this into your Outlook Calendar, with the joining instructions

Attendee URL: https://www112.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/join?id=SQH3DD&role=attend

The URL above will let you access the presentation. To hear the presenter call 0118 909 2000 and use participant code: 9395559

Presented by Steven Audis, a Microsoft Education Technology Adviser in the UK Team

Microsoft Office 2007 in Education

Get an overview of the latest Office system from Microsoft, which provides the ultimate arsenal of productivity tools for your students, educators, administrators, and support staff. From word processing to classroom presentations and animated Web design, the Microsoft Office system delivers a powerful and easy-to-use experience. Introducing Learning Essentials 2.0.

Click here to put this into your Outlook Calendar, with the joining instructions

Attendee URL: https://www112.livemeeting.com/cc/microsoft/join?id=GMBMJ6&role=attend

The URL above will let you access the presentation. To hear the presenter call 0118 909 2000 and use participant code: 9395559

Presented by Steven Audis, a Microsoft Education Technology Adviser in the UK Team

I received information from Viglen on a new training course that they are running, which is designed to demystify your options for activating Windows Vista volume licence keys. It will help you make the right decisions now, so that as more products (for example Windows Server 2008) come along using the same methods, you'll have a structured and effective mechanism in place. This course is relevant to all colleges and universities using any of our volume licence schemes, such as Campus Agreement or Select. Here's the detail on the courses:

MICROSOFT VOLUME ACTIVATION 2.0 TECHNOLOGY TRAINING COURSE FROM VIGLEN LTD

Do you know about Volume Activation Technology 2.0?

Volume Activation 2.0 (VA 2.0) features enhanced Volume Licence Key (VLK) protection:

• Centralised VLK management and protection
• Lower probability of keys leaking
• Reduced risk of needing to re-key entire organisation

Do you understand the implications of Volume Activation Technology 2.0?

Beginning with Windows Vista, there will be two types of Volume Licence Keys: Multiple Activation Keys and Key Management Service.  Windows Vista must be deployed using this technology.  Windows Server  will also be deployed using the same mechanism.

Do you know your MAK from your KMS?

The Multiple Activation Key (MAK) activates either individual computers or a group of computers by connecting directly to Microsoft servers over the Internet or by telephone. Your organisation can host the Key Management Service (KMS) internally to automatically activate computers running Windows Vista.

How does this affect you?

When you choose to deploy Windows Vista or subsequent operating systems (for both server & desktop), you will be required to use Volume Activation Technology 2.0.

What can Viglen do to help you?

As one of the top tier licensing resellers in the UK as well as an OEM, we are well placed to understand the product deployment needs of our customers.  We also understand the implications of this type of technology when it comes to large scale roll-outs of important applications such as desktop and server operating systems.

Therefore we have designed a “bespoke” TECHNICAL training course to help customers understand how this technology works. 

Contact servicesdivision@viglen.co.uk for further information and course dates or call us on 01727 201890