MSDN Malaysia blog

What is IT Pro Momentum and how can you join this Microsoft program?

Need some help to test/pilot the latest Microsoft infrastructure technologies?

IT Pro Momentum is a Microsoft Early Adopter Program for IT Professionals who bet on the newest technologies to drive business value for their companies and advance their career.

Through IT Pro Momentum, you will be able to:

• Discover and evaluate the newest MS technologies

• Pilot and deploy MS beta products

• Access MS Beta Product Support

• Connect with an international community of IT Pros through Momentum forums

• Share your experience adopting a new technology with the IT Pro community worldwide

Here are some program benefits offered to Momentum participants (free of charge for one year):

• Technical Content & Online Trainings

• Support for Beta Products (via e-mail)

• TechNet+ Direct Subscription
• Early Adopter Forums

• Through your local MS contact, you can share your experience with the IT Pro community worldwide (blogs, events, user groups, etc.)

These are the technologies supported by IT Pro Momentum in 2008-2009:

• Client Infrastructure: Vista SP1, IE8, Windows 7 (2009), Windows Mobile 7 (2009)

• Server Infrastructure: Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008, Windows Server 7 (2009)

• Virtualization: Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager

• Web Infrastructure: IIS7, Sharepoint on the Web

• Collaboration & Connectivity: Office Communication Server 14 (2009), Exchange 14 (2009)

• HPC: Windows HPC Server 2008

If you are interested in piloting one or more of these technologies just send a message to v-arizad  at  microsoft.com

We will be happy to work with you to determine the best way possible to support your early adoption efforts!

Thanks,

Check out these cool early adoption experiences from other Momentum customers:

blogs.msdn.com/malaysia/archive/2009/04/27/the-need-for-hyper-v-speed.aspx

blogs.msdn.com/malaysia/archive/2009/04/27/small-town-big-technology.aspx

Small Town Big Technology

Moving Forward With Windows 7

A regular hobbyist would collect stamps, game card, bottle caps, but Shukri, Ministry of Education Computer Tech Support, has been collecting Windows 7 build (leak and officials) since 2008. He has all the builds, from #6519 up until build #7000.

The sheer enthusiasm has been driven by the much awaited (and promised) enhancement of Windows 7, compared to its predecessor, Windows Vista.

Shukri is based in Parit Seri, Muar,Johor. He is currently attached to Sri Jamil Primary School. Under his care are – 30 desktops, 12 laptops, 1 server and over 150 users.

Due to hardware (and cost) constraints, the school is still running legacy Microsoft OS, Windows XP and server 2003. As a non-urban school, budget for total refresh are hard to come by, according to Shukri.

“We make good with what we have, improvising and pushing hardware optimization to the edge”.

Windows 7 – air of life to old hardware

One aspect that Shukri is esthetic about Windows 7 is its ability to run in XP-spec workstation specs not high enough for Vista (or even XP) but runs Windows so smoothly.

While Vista might require up to 4 gig of RAM to run without sacrificing the glossy Aero, Windows 7 runs on a mere 1 gig. Given 2 gig of RAM, it runs like horde of charging bull.

Old hardware at the school that has been due for destruction can now be revived and used for the benefit of the students. The economic climate has force many planned upgrade for rural schools to be slashed up to 75%, and being able to re-use Windows 7 on low spec machines is like water to a thirsty man in the desert, timely!

Bigger,Better,Badder

Windows 7 has incorporated many of Shukri’s wish list, that he did not see or experience in Windows Vista. Among them are - Super bar, jumplist and ability to boot VHD. Windows 7 enhancement are more than mere cosmetic upgrades, its versatility improvement has now made it able to boot HD to test multiple OS.

AppLocker

This feature enables Shukri to lock the machines to only use application that has been signed or authorized. It enhances security by preventing un-signed software to be run on the school’s network.

Pirated software and malware will be blocked by enabling this feature. He has already heard the grumbles of teachers and students alike when he enabled this feature on their workstations.

BitLocker

Although Sri Jamil is not an enterprise or a government agency which has many top secret data lying around, Bitlocker is still necessary to ensure the security of the schools workstation, especially the teachers laptop.

Teachers are provided with laptop and also portable harddrive. Bitlocker can now protect the harddisk and also mobile data storage, an enhance from Vista’s Bitlocker which only provide encryption for hard disk.

IE8

IE8 came bundled with Windows 7. One major milestone that IE8 has over IE kin, is IE8’s compliance with ACID Test, the internationally recognized web browser standard. Therefore, the long winded argument of IE not being ACID Test compliant is now over.

Singular tab process reduces browser crash tremendously. MS has got it right this time with having individual process to run on individual tab. The ‘sandboxing’ also isolates and prevents malware attacks, as browser run scripts no longer ‘spill over’ to the entire system.

With the above also comes color tab browsing, each content of the individual browser is highlighted in the colored tabs. This way, users are no longer confused of the tab content and are not hassled into opening each tab to find out what they were browsing.

The school also runs a public-internet-lab, member of the community in Parit Sri in Muar can use the internet facilities for free. To ensure privacy, Shukri has configured the IE browser to run ‘In Private Browsing’ mode. This ensures, users post browsing cache files are not stored or viewed by the next users. Also, reduces his workload by having to manually ensure all cache and temp files have been ‘flush’.

IT Pro Momentum - Extending Technology Adoption To Rural Areas

The school that Shukri works in has only limited budget for all other expenses, and investment for Information Technology Infrastructure does not rank high on the list.

However, the need to always be on the cutting edge of Microsoft's Technology is very close to Shukri's heart. Before he knew the existence of IT Pro Momentum, he often read

TAP or even Early Adoption Program (EAP) on Microsoft's Enterprise customer's system admin blogs with envy. All the cool technology adoption experience, but none for rural arear 

system admins.   But with IT Pro Momentum, Shukri is able to be the l33t (elite) group of System Admin's to join Microsoft inner circle of Beta testers and experience the technology

and abundance of support materials provided in IT Pro Momentum's portal. In his own words - 'Before this (ITProMomentum), I thought Microsoft only catered for big city corporate

customers only, but community programs like this will help me personally to enhance my skills, and provide me with the skills to ensure my school is not left behind".

The Need For (Hyper-V) Speed!

Heart & Soul

Information System Department or ISD is the heart for Maxis Communications, Malaysia’s premier ISP and Telco.

This organization serves roughly 3,500 internal (not including 600 contract staff) users 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Add those numbers up, and you have a savvy and demanding user based, who ideationally supports Maxis’s customers, as whole.

Timing and Speed is everything says the Lau Sheng Lin, Assistant Principle Engineer (WinTel). In the business that moves in the ‘speed of light’, every nano-second can mean either Maxis customers stays loyal, or chooses the next available Telco/ISP.

Proud Caretakers

At the moment, Maxis ISD team is the proud caretakers of Windows Servers, Linux Server and HP SuperDome.  Under their care, there’s 3,500 client workstation and 600 servers.

These server range houses Maxis Communications critical apps for it to serve internal and external customers.

Under Lau’s personal care are 17 VM Ware ESX Servers and over 100 plus VM clients. However, only un-critical apps go into the VM clients.

The VM range are also part of Maxis Communications entire Business Continuity Process (BCP)/Disaster Recovery Process (DRP).

The Itch to Switch

Lau of all people is familiar with the ol’ saying ‘If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it’. He has been with Maxis Communications ISD since 2001 and this is his 9^th year ensuring all servers are up and running.

The VM ESX is working just fine, but he says they could do better. Managing VM clients more efficiently, faster and cost of virtualization infrastructure are on his betterment with Virtualization Wish-List.

 Lau got his first glimpse at what Microsoft Hyper-V could offer while he was attending Dennis's session at TechEd 08’ here in Malaysia.

He then got enrolled into the ‘IT Pro Momentum Program’ and tested Windows Server 2008 Hyper V. Lau was attracted to the robustness and seamless integration of Hyper-V as compared to what he was already running.

Tasting the Difference

Speed is the key factor for Lau’s likeness towards Hyper-V since ISD’s operations runs on how fast it could support its internal and external customers.

Fetching the virtual clients takes less time. All of the clients can be managed, regardless of the OS (ISD also tested RedHat Server in Hyper-V) with SCVMM, its snappy.

As price wise, of all the features and benefits, MS Hyper-V wins all hands-down. The pricing is straight forward compared to VM Ware ESX. VM Ware monitors only client’s health, whereas MOM can be used to monitor both Hyper-V and its clients. Integration and speed at its best!

The last factor is hardware support. With Intel latest V-chip server, Hyper-V seems to integrate seamless with the hardware. Less configuration and hick-ups and because of that, top grade performance. Hyper-V is able to max out the true performance of the hardware.

Final Words

 Lau would highly recommend IT Pro’s to join IT Pro Momentum and test out Hyper-V. These are his reasons:

1) Latest technology. Fully utilize the V power of CPU. AMD and Intel have it on the hardware. Hardware and software integration. Hardware-ready environment.

2) More integration with current monitoring MOM/SCVMM without . No need to pay more to 3rd party cost.

3) Abundance resources and support.

TechDays Virtual Event - Defy All Challenges

What an Exciting Year 2008

Year after year we’ve had tremendous response from IT Professionals and Software Developers in Malaysia and we want to THANK YOU for your support in making it an amazing journey for us all in 2008!

What have we been up to in the last 12 months? Here’s a quick peek into the variety of equipping and educating, engaging and enhancing and the entertaining programs we’ve put together just for you!

Equipping and Educating

Events, seminars, hands-on labs, trainings and informal “geek chats”... these are just some of the ways Microsoft believes it can partner with Developers to build state-of-the art software solutions, and with IT professionals to develop more architected, customized and connected IT infrastructure environments.

Heroes Happen Here Launch: 8 April 2008, Kuala Lumpur

The amazing launch of Windows Server 2008, Visual Studio 2008 and SQL Server 2008 was one of Microsoft Malaysia’s largest ever, with 2,614 IT Professionals and Software Developers present – of which some 50% participated in the Amazing Heroes Race Challenge. We had 23 launch partners including HP, Dell, Intel, Sun Microsystems, Symantec, and more!

Plus, the Hands-on Lab was fully occupied throughout the day with 162 participants gaining a deeper understanding on:

Windows Server 2008 - Presentation Virtualization

Windows Server 2008 - Introducing Microsoft Assessment and Planning 1.0 for Windows Server 2008 and Server Virtualization

isual Studio 2008 - ASP.NET AJAX, New Designer Features and Script Debugging

Tech•Ed SEA 2008: 11 – 14 August 2008, Kuala Lumpur

WHOA! Microsoft’s annual premier technical education event, which showcased latest tools and technologies and techniques to architect, plan, deploy, manage and secure an enterprise platform continued to win the hearts and minds of IT Professionals and Software Developers. This year marked a record number of 2,800 participants!

Across the 4 days, delegates got to choose from 7 tracks with more than 120 sessions. There were interesting side events, including Innovative Geeks: Nurturing Entrepreneurship & Leadership for Women In Technology, Entrepreneurship Forum, Netbash and B2B Meetings. Plus, exciting activities such as the Tech•Ed Speaker Idol Competition, Geeks Face-Off, Hunt the Fugitive, Tech•Ed Bingo, Crazy Word Mix and Boss in the House.

TechNet MSDN Technology Summit: 15 January 2009, Kuala Lumpur

After a three-year hiatus, this popular session was brought back on request by many industry pundits. We had a jam-packed keynote and ten sessions run across three tracks covering the latest in Microsoft technologies, including a special sneak preview of Windows 7. Over 1,000 conference delegates, partners and media were also treated to exciting giveaways include free copies of the Windows 7 Beta DVD and the Clustering for Dummies – WINSERVER 2008 books. No surprise, TechNet MSDN drew strong positive notes from participants…

Start.NET workshops

September 2007 – February 2009, Kuala Lumpur
Held throughout the year, these one or two-day workshops, offered a quick and affordable way for Software Developers to deepen their technical competencies with Microsoft’s newest technologies. To date, more than 5,000 developers across Malaysia have undergone these workshops.

Adopting an Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Strategy with Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) Seminar 18 November 2008, Kuala Lumpur
115 Business Decision Makers, Technical Decision Makers, Software Developers, Development Leads, Project Managers, Architects attended a full day seminar on how Visual Studio Team System helps in Code Analysis, Code Coverage, Black Box Testing, Load Testing and Team Build. Also, how Team Foundation Server simplifies source code version control, work item tracking and real time application reporting.

SQL Reporting Services Hands-On Lab 16 June 2008, Kuala Lumpur
This one-day hands-on lab was held at iTrain (a Microsoft CPLS), providing an Overview of SQL Server 2008 and a Technical Preview on SQL Server Out-of-the-Box Business Intelligence Tools – Reporting Services, Analysis Services and Integration Services. Some 80 Database Administrators, IT Managers and Database Developers from SMEs attended the event, with highly positive feedback, including….

SQL Server Data Management Hands-on Lab 4 September 2008, Kuala Lumpur
This one-day hands-on lab provided participants with a first-hand experience on the performance, security, manageability, and scalability of on SQL Server Data Management. 43 IT Professionals and Software Developers from the SME sector attended the HOL and got an Overview of SQL Server 2008, a Technical Preview on SQL Server 2008 - The Mission-Critical Platform and an Introduction to Data Protection Manager.

Engaging and Enhancing

Microsoft continues to engage industry and government partners such as the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Human Resources Development Council (HRDC) amongst others, towards raising the profile of, and recognizing the huge contribution local IT Professionals and Software Developers make towards the Malaysian software economy.
We’ve specifically taken strides in growing local start-up companies through these programs…

BizSpark Program Launch: 6 November 2008, Kuala Lumpur

With the pressing need for more Malaysian-bred “tech-superstars”, Microsoft launched a program targeted at startup companies. 11 network partners signed the agreement with Microsoft in the presence of more than 40 media representatives, which subsequently generated 20 news articles about the program.

Network2Innovate: 16 December 2008, Kuala Lumpur

This demo extravaganza saw 54 attendees from 40 companies, most of whom are Innovation Day and Start.NET participants, present. It is geared at paving the way for a deluge of innovative thoughts while providing an opportunity for participants to conduct “business networking”, and have “geek-chats” with other like-minded individuals.

Innovation Days: August 2008 – February 2009, Kuala Lumpur

This one-day event, held monthly, provides previews to emerging technologies and trends, resources, and business strategies for technoprenueurs to keep competitive in the marketplace. To date, more than 180 CTOs, Software Architects, Software Developers and Technopreneurs have attended these workshops.

more activities here

Windows Live Translator

I just got Windows Live Translator to translate the copy in TechNet MSDN Technology Summit ad. Translation was done within few seconds which is quite impressive. 

translated copy in full:

“所有马来西亚 IT 专业人员及软件开发人员的大新闻!
您并不认为是即将在不久的将来最后是在这里 ！ 是第一个见证所以自定义的主题演讲演示 – 您 ’ll 认为只为您作出。

来加入我们，如我们与所有 IT 专业人员和软件开发人员分享在端到端平台解决方案中的此惊人突破吧 ！

在 ’s 为您什么？
• 绝大多数 Windows 7 的预览
• 确保您的应用程序和操作系统均 Windows 7 准备
• 凉快的领先 Server 技术的演示
• 到与同行和 Microsoft 的专家网络的机会。
突破演示
• “ 未来的是此 ” 主题演讲
• 软件加服务： 下一代应用程序蓝图
• 提供最好的预测分析
令人兴奋的疑团礼品有待!
只需打印出 http://technet.Microsoft.com/Windows 在该事件获取疑团礼品主要页。 急起直追通过! 先，先到先得。
日期: 15 一月 2009年
时间: 8.30 下午上午六时
票券地点 (Venue)： KL 会议中心
                           吉隆坡举行城市中心 50088 吉隆坡。

若要为该事件注册，登录到 www.microsoft.com/malaysia/events/technetmsdn
急起直追! 有限的议席可用。 \endnhere\sectlinegrid \sectdefaultcl\sftnbj ！”

The translator does a pretty neat job with single word translation.

However, when array of words put together in sentences, everything sounds kinda funny. For those of you who don’t read Chinese, let me give you an example..  “cool demo” is picked up and interpreted as “cold demo” *like how a refrigerator guy would do his product demo*

Well, I would say purpose is served as I still get the overall idea that there’s an event with some operating system presentation.. some server technique… networking.. experts ..breakthrough.. some gifts.. and URL to get more information.. so yeah I’m getting some idea of what the copy is about.

It sure comes in handy when you are in your hotel room in some foreign country, surfing for interesting local restaurants. At least, you know what you are about to put in your mouth :)

TechNet MSDN Technology Summit returns

Register now, I promise you it’s gonna be fun! :)

coming soon….

Ladies and gentlemen, after a three year hiatus ……… TechNet MSDN Technology Summit is back in Kuala Lumpur!

Stay tuned for more event details

Malaysian videos on TechNet Edge

Yasmin Mahmood, GM of Microsoft Malaysia, was one of the women in the panel at the women in IT at TechED SEA 2008 (hence the intro clips).  She gives us some insights into her leadership experience, the culture there, and Women in IT. She talks about the challenges she has faced in becoming the GM of Microsoft in Malaysia and in the IT industry.

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Malaysia-women-in-IT-Yasmin-Mahmood-interview/

Tyson Dowd tells us about the job economy in Malaysia and gives some examples and tips on how to start your own IT business in Malaysia.  Tyson Dowd looks after the Malaysian software economy doing training, early adoption programs, and events like TechEd SEA.

He talks about the type of companies there are in Malaysia (multinationals, big local companies, small/medium businesses), Cyberjaya Tech Park, and datacenter consolidation.

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Start-an-IT-business-in-Malaysia/

Earlier this year, Maria Green met with LB Tee in Malaysia to talk about a recent success story he had with one of his customers.
The customer, Morison ASQ, had an urgent need to get some broken functionality restored in their environment, and Tee suggested they use Microsoft virtualization to get systems deployed rapidly.
As you'll see in the interview, the project was very successful, and was completed in under 3 weeks, with most uses unaware that their servers were now virtual.

http://edge.technet.com/Media/Virtualization-in-Malaysia/

There are many more interesting videos about technologies, trends and people in the TechNet Edge site. click on!

All Things Windows Client

If you have not checked out this site, you should now!

This is a site designed to provide you with a one-stop shop for all things Windows XP, Windows Vista and discussion around Windows 7!

Do check it out and tell us what you think :)

League of Extraordinary Developers Challenge 2008

Celcom is inviting all mobile developers and technology enthusiast to attend program briefing for The League of Extraordinary Developers Challenge 2008 (LED Challenge) which will take place on Monday to Thursday (22^nd to 25^th September 2008) afternoon. Just pick one of the four sessions that fits your schedule best.

During the briefing, you will learn about everything you need to know on the LED Challenge as well as how you can leverage on Celcom’s Mobility Solutions Platform (MSP) and Cradle’s entrepreneurship funding in this contest. Folks from Microsoft and Cradle Funds will be there to share with you how you can make the most out of the contest, realize your true potential, and be an entrepreneur!

To register for the event, please RSVP your contact details and the date that you choose to attend to this email (developerleague@celcom.com.my).

Start.NET is back... for more!

Back by popular demand................. ladies and gentlemen, we present you *drum rolling* Start.NET, with mooooooore exciting topics!

For new line up of topics and syllabus and class schedule and other information, go to www.microsoft.com/malaysia/dotnet

Microsoft's NAC comes out on top

New IT Heroes in Malaysia

Microsoft Malaysia just recently announces some acknowledgements to a group of special “heroes”. They are the people who made a lot of contribution in terms of sharing their technical knowledge to everyone in the community. Most likely you will see them volunteering as a speaker, forming user groups and contributing in forums.

What does it take to become an "IT Hero"?

1. Willingness to share their knowledge
2. A passion for technology
3. A big heart
4. Lots and lots of sacrifice

Let’s congratulate these special people for their contribution and sacrifice they made to benefit the community. Check out who they are here.

Thomas Cheah - the Speaker Idol winner

"The experience in Speaker Idol competition at TechEd SEA 2008 was great. It reminds me of those debating competitions that I participated when I was in high school. Presentation skills are something that will go a long way in your career. Most people have no problems giving presentation, but not many can see how well they are presenting. Speaker Idol is a good testing ground for this. With the 10 minutes time limit, it requires you to focus on giving the most captivate presentation that is within the attention spans of most audiences. Most people tend to be long winded and afraid to miss out every single detail in the presentation. This risks losing the audience attention before the core message is presented. Some of the tips that I would like to share are:

1. Make your presentation simple and logical. Presentation with smooth flow of thoughts is more important than thoroughness and details, as you don't really know which details are interesting or boring to the audience. Specific details can be addressed during the questions and answers session. Keep reinforcing the core message throughout the presentation.

2. Break your audience guessing machine. In order to capture your audience attention, you must present something that seems obvious to them, but then  end up something unexpected. There is a caveat in this, the key is you must establish the obviousness beforehand, or otherwise the audience will get confused and irritated before you show them the unexpected outcome.

3. Speak in a concrete manner. We are so used to these jargons and knowledge and take granted for it without realizing what is like for those people without. Try to give concrete examples during presentation that relate to your message. If you can find a powerful metaphor, that's even better.

4. Touch the emotion of your audience. This is not an easy feat, but if you can bring out the emotion of your audience, you had given an impactful presentation. The easiest way is telling some real world stories that are related to your presentation.

5. Finally, some of the standard presentation tips are: Engaged the audience by looking at the them and not your slide; Do not stand still, but trying to pay attention to different audience. (So that they don't get jealous. :P ) Do not make your slides too wordy as the audience will be busy reading it instead of focusing on you. (Prepare presentation notes if you afraid of forgetting important points.); Do not read your presentation slides; Use animation and sounds sparingly and appropriately or otherwise it will cause more annoyance."

Speaker Idol Day 1 judges - (L) Dennis Chung, Tony Krynen, Hoong Fai Lai, Steve Riley (R)

Speaker Idol Day 2 judges - (L) Walter Wong, Darien Nagle, Loke Uei Tan (R)

Speaker Idol Final judges - (L) Hoong Fai Lai, Daniel van Soest, Steve Riley (R)

Thomas in action

the captivated crowd

Thomas being interviewed by TechNet Edge

More about Thomas

"I am the CTO of Objective World Sdn. Bhd. We are an MSC Status Company located in Microsoft Innovation Center (Cyberjaya) that specializes in R&D and commercialization of software that manages and visualizes information over the complete building lifecycle in the construction industry. As a young company, we have a diverse responsibilities range from software development and project management, to product and marketing strategy planning, as well as involving in the commercialization process.

I enjoy my job very much. Developing great software has been my hobby since I was little, and I have great passion of doing it. To me, I often say software technologies is the representation of knowledge economy, as it is the key driver that transforms intangible knowledge of various domains into tangible and practical applications that lever up business capabilities. We should be proud as programmers of these contributions to many industries. On the other hand, working in Objective World is fun. As a small but dynamic company, it provides me plenty of opportunities to gain exposure from the technical and commercial side of software business to harness my capabilities further."