The UK Higher Education Blog

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guide for Direct Access

2009-11-03T09:18:00Z

The TechNet site has a growing series of Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides for all kinds of areas – virtualisation, Windows Server 2008, SQL Server, Online Services and the Optimised Desktop.

The one that jumped out as me was the IPD Guide for DirectAccess in Windows 7. This is especially useful in colleges, where you have staff who are as likely to need access to your network from home as they are in university (especially if you have a large number of part time staff).

With DirectAccess, your users can have access to your university network without having to use a VPN or Remote Access setup – whenever they have access to the internet from their university laptop, they have access to your network. To get this level of convenience without compromising security means that you need to setup your network carefully, and the IPD guide is designed to help with that.

The Infrastructure Planning and Design series guide for DirectAccess provides actionable guidance for designing a DirectAccess infrastructure. The guide’s easy-to-follow, four-step process gives a straightforward explanation of the infrastructure required for clients to be connected from the Internet to resources on the corporate network, whether or not the organization has begun deploying IPv6.

You can download the Direct Access Guide here

On the same subject, you may find the IPD Guide for Network Access Protection useful too, as it talks you through the ways that you can allow students and staff to connect their own laptops to your network without compromising security. In an environment where students all arrive with their own laptop, it allows you to save money and improve capabilities.

Middlesex University speaks about live@edu

2009-11-02T09:01:54Z

Situated in the North East of London as well as Dubai, Middlesex University provides outstanding service to its 33,000 students. It recently adopted live@edu to help enhance the student experience as well as contain costs by providing seamless services across staff and students.

“Using Live@edu has transformed the relationship between our staff and our students….it’s definitely part of their academic experience here at Middlesex”

Prof. Margaret House, Deputy Vice Chancellor

For more information please watch Paula Vickers (Pro-VC and CIO), her colleagues and students explain why Microsoft’s Software + Services vision is the right fit for an ambitious and successful university.

http://www.microsoft.com/casestudies/resources/Files/4000005155/Middlesex_2500K.wvx

Community consultation - your views on SharePoint in Higher Education

2009-10-27T10:55:44Z

I’m posting this on behalf of the Northumbria University and hope you can help:

IT Directors and Project Managers of many customers have taken part in a survey for this Eduserv/Northumbria University project. The final phase is a wider online community consultation (www.northumbria.ac.uk/sharepoint_study). The aim is to capture the reactions of other HE stakeholders - managers, students, researchers, learning technologists, lecturers, administrators and vendors - to SharePoint to build on the survey. Responses are being sought to three questions about the IMPACT and potential FUTURE USE of SharePoint in HEIs.

The questions and how to contribute are at: http://www.northumbria.ac.uk/sd/academic/ceis/re/isrc/themes/rmarea/eduservsp/SP_HE_cons/ It will only take a few minutes to make your voice heard. The consultation closes on 9 November 2009.

Free SharePoint Event – thanks to Eduserv and Northumbria

2009-10-26T16:36:06Z

Many customers have been invovled in the process so far and this project is moving towards its final phase. Please come along and participate in this event.

FREE EVENT

Time: 11-3.30pm, 25 November 2009

Place: Aeonian Training Centre, Shropshire House, London http://www.aeonian.co.uk/shropshire/findus-sh.htm

· Do you want to learn about how and why HEIs are using SharePoint?

· Do you want to hear from some HEIs about their experience of implementing SharePoint?

· Do you want the opportunity to network and benchmark?

This event provides an opportunity to do so. It is open to all HEI staff – IT/Information Managers, SharePoint project managers, academics, administrators, learning technologists. As well as a summary of the project’s findings there will be four case studies of the use of SharePoint for different purposes in UK HEIs. Speakers include Peter Gilbert (UWE), independent expert Peter Yeadon, Colin Farrow and Diane Montgomery (Glasgow University) and Dr Les Walczowski (University of Kent).

Places are limited; booking is on a first-come basis. To see the programme and register go to http://www.eduserv.org.uk/events/sharepoint-for-he.aspx

Microsoft Azure, get started in the cloud now!

2009-10-15T09:37:05Z

This is principally aimed at students to explore how cloud computing can help clear the fog out of cloud computing. However it is open to other audiences too.

You’re invited to take a Dip into the Windows Azure Platform!
Microsoft invites you to discover more about Cloud computing and how to take advantage of this new approach through our free trial.
We're offering UK students an exclusive FREE trial of Windows Azure to evaluate the Platform and take the first step to Cloud computing. Sign up and be amongst the first to experience the ease with which you can build, deploy and manage applications in the Cloud - see details below

The Dip into Windows Azure Trial has been developed by Microsoft UK and ICS Solutions, a Microsoft Gold partner that helps organisations move from the Fog to the Cloud™. Together we have created a unique offering that provides an online tutorial and sample application to help you get started, plus access to resources that will deepen your Azure knowledge. Through the free trial you'll gain:

An early adopter experience of Azure prior to its commercial launch
Hassle free registration and streamlined account access
Your own private and secure area of the cloud
Access to a suite of readiness resources to deepen your Azure knowledge, including a unique application tutorial
Ability to build your own sample applications and deploy them to Azure
Information about future events to gain a deeper understanding of Azure

The trial has been developed to allow you to take a skinny dip or a deeper dive into the Azure Platform based on your level of interest and expertise, meaning you don't have to be an experienced developer to participate. If you are keen to start testing the Azure Platform for free before it becomes commercially available, take advantage of this limited trial offer and sign up today.

Sign-up Details:

When you sign up as a Student, please use the following referral code: ADEUK01

Further information:

Imagine Cup 2010 – time to get your students competing

2009-10-15T08:54:24Z

One of the most successful student engagement events Microsoft runs is the Imagine Cup. In fact, I don’t believe that there is a student technology competition larger than this and it attracts the smartest students from across the globe to solve some of the biggest challenges facing society. The competition gives students an opportunity to translate learning from the classroom to solving real world problems and develop necessary employability/entrepreneurship skills as they progress.

My colleagues Ed and Andy write far more eloquently and comprehensively than me so please take a look at their posts and I look forward to learning about your university’s successes in this year’s competition and as they progress to the global competition in Warsaw in July 2010.

Ed Dunhill

Andy Sithers

Enterprise Search – from Microsoft

2009-10-14T11:51:00Z

We’ve all witnessed performing a search and getting something like 1,034,461 results back in 0.16 seconds with lots of blue and green lines on the screen. However, no matter how many and how quick, can we really say we’re getting the right answer back with the minimum time spent? Take this concept into a University and who could disagree that the search requirements of a Professor of Bio Informatics are different to those of a first year under grad? Yet how many universities provide the same context-free service to all users? I heard someone say at the ALT conference this year, “One size does not fit all – one size fits none”. Each university has a great deal of information about its citizens so why not use this to provide more context to search for learners. educators, researchers and administrators.

As more universities deploy SharePoint, and in particular with the Enterprise CAL, there is a service already sitting in their data centre that can deliver much more. We’ll see more of this in the coming months in the UK but initially there is this webcast being held on Tuesday 27 October:

You are invited to a briefing on Microsoft’s Enterprise Search Roadmap. Taking place on Tuesday, 27th October, this webcast briefing will provide valuable insight into Microsoft’s next release of Enterprise Search software. The session will address key topics including:

Why Enterprise Search matters

Microsoft’s vision for Enterprise Search

The impact on the business manager and technologist

The Enterprise Search product roadmap

The Internet Business product roadmap will be outlined and a summary given of the Business Productivity product announcements made at the SharePoint Conference. The briefing will include details on forthcoming products, answering crucial questions such as:

What is the future of FAST ESP?

Which solutions will Microsoft offer for Internet Business?

How are they different from FAST ESP?

What are the upgrade options?

What platforms will be supported in the future?

The Microsoft Enterprise Search Roadmap briefing is offered live at two separate times to accommodate various time zones and busy schedules. The presenters will cover the same topics at each session, so please attend the one that best fits your schedule. Attendance will be limited, so do register as soon as possible. To reserve your place, click the appropriate time:

(by my calculation this is 4:00 PM in the UK - [Dominic Watts]) - Click here to calculate your local time

Friday webcasts for the public sector

2009-10-12T14:44:12Z

Microsoft is broadcasting a number of webcasts over the next month with information to help the public sector increase efficiencies, get more from organisational performance management and identity and access management. For details and how to register see below:

Enable the mobile organisation with Microsoft Unified Communications

Friday October 16 12:00-12:45 - Invitation Code: B9AE93

Event Overview

All public sector organisations are seeking to reduce costs of travel and communication and improve collaboration between departments and agencies.

Microsoft Unified Communications brings together email, calendars, voicemail, presence, VoIP, audio, video and web conferencing into one integrated communication solution. Customers are already realising reductions in travel costs of up to 40% and communications savings of between 10-40%.

This session provides an overview and demonstration of Microsoft Unified Communications and information on public sector customers who are already enjoying the productivity and cost-saving benefits of unified communications with Microsoft.

Improving performance management using Microsoft Business Intelligence

Friday October 30 12:00-12:45 - Invitation Code: D9E021

Event Overview

Accountability and business insight are vital for any public sector organisation to operate efficiently and improve the effectiveness of delivering public services.

Microsoft Business Intelligence and Performance Management solutions provide a range of tools for gathering, analysing and reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs). Better intelligence can deliver business insight and more effective decision-making for public sector organisations.

This session provides an overview and demonstration of Microsoft solutions for Business Intelligence and Performance Management and examines solutions being implemented by public sector customers to improve their strategic insight and public service delivery effectiveness.

Identity and Access Management solutions for the Public Sector

Friday November 13 12:00-12:45 - Invitation Code: 62B6E3

Event Overview

The National Information Assurance Strategy (NIAS) aims to improve the overall ability of the Public Sector to manage data and access to Government systems more securely. Technology is only one part of an effective information assurance strategy - employee awareness and security processes are essential to comprehensive information security.

Microsoft Identity and Access Management solutions enhance an organisation’s current security infrastructure to enable secure access by remote and mobile employees and trusted third-parties to sensitive data and applications.

This session provides an overview and demonstration of Microsoft solutions for Identity and Access Management and examines solutions for remote access to corporate systems by remotely based workers.

What features are in which version of Windows 7?

2009-10-11T18:50:00Z

I’m sure this list is out on the web somewhere, but just in case you’ve not seen it in this easy-to-read format before, below is my list of the features of each version of Windows 7. I think this will help you to work out which one is right for your school:

Windows 7 Home Premium is the retail version. It doesn’t allow network login (called Domain Join), so it’s unsuitable for university-based computers, and unlikely to be useful for student laptops owned by you, unless you don’t plan to manage them or connect them up to your network except via the web. It is also unable to run XP Mode, which might be useful for some of your older software.
And it’s probably the one on laptops your staff/students buy themselves.
Windows 7 Professional is the minimum version you’ll need in university as it has network domain join and XP Mode.
Windows 7 Enterprise is the right version if you believe that you should be encrypting any laptops used by staff, because it comes with BitLocker and BitLocker To Go. And in addition it also adds AppLocker – which you may want on all of your devices too.
Windows 7 Ultimate is in the table below for completeness, but you are only likely to get this version if you buy it in a retail store with it pre-installed (which is an expensive way to get the functionality in Enterprise or Professional edition)

See below the table for my “How to Buy Windows 7” guide

What features are in which version of Windows 7?

Features	Home Premium	Professional	Enterprise	Ultimate
32-Bit and 64-Bit Versions	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Create and Join a Home Group	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tablet PC Functionality	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multiple Monitor Support	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Document Libraries	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Fast User Switching	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Search	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Mobility Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Aero, Taskbar, & Jump Lists	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Live Thumbnail Previews	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Multi-Touch	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Premium Games Included	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows Media Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Create & Play DVDs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Device Stage	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Action Center	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Encrypting File System	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Location Aware Printing	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Remote Desktop Host	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Domain Join & Group Policy Controls	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Windows XP Mode	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
AppLocker	No	No	Yes	Yes
BitLocker & BitLocker to Go	No	No	Yes	Yes
BranchCache	No	No	Yes	Yes
DirectAccess	No	No	Yes	Yes
Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications (SUA)	No	No	Yes	Yes
Enterprise Search Scopes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Multilingual User Interface Language Packs (MUI)	No	No	Yes	Yes
Licence Rights for 4 Windows Virtual Machines	No	No	Yes	Yes
Virtual Hard Disk Booting	No	No	Yes	Yes
Volume Activation	No	No	Yes	No
Licence Rights for Network Booting of Windows	No	No	Yes	No

How to buy Windows 7 for your university

So now you’ve worked out which version you want, you may want to know the best way to buy the right version!

Existing computers

For any existing computers running any version of Windows XP or Windows Vista, you are probably already covered for the upgrades to Windows 7 Enterprise on your Campus Agreement. If you don’t have a Campus Agreement, or you need to buy some extras for staff laptops, you can buy a Windows 7 upgrade on a Select licence. If it’s basic Select, the upgrade is to Windows 7 Professional, with the Software Assurance option, you’ll get Windows 7 Enterprise.

New computers

For Professional edition, you can either buy a new PC with it pre-installed, or buy a PC with Windows 7 Home Premium, and then add an upgrade (again, if you have a Campus Agreement this upgrade will already be included in it for you).
For Enterprise edition, the best way is to buy a new PC with Windows 7 Home Premium, and then upgrade via your Campus Agreement , or with the Select licence plus Software Assurance (which gives you the right to keep upgrading, and adds the Enterprise features)

Here’s some links to find out more about Campus Agreement, Select Licences and Software Assurance.

Your existing Microsoft partner will be able to give you a quote. I’ve just checked on the Pugh site*, and they quote £43 for a Select Windows 7 Professional upgrade.

* Pugh is one of our partners, but there are plenty of others. You can find them all on our website

The Saïd Business School website in SharePoint

2009-10-08T18:41:39Z

When Dominic wrote about the Brighstarr “How to build rich and interactive websites for education” event being held on 4th November, it was in advance of the new Saïd Business School website actually going live. Which meant he couldn’t point to what had been done.

Now however, you can visit the website, on the University of Oxford domain, at http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/Pages/default.aspx. I’m really impressed with the way that they have managed to squeeze so much content in, with very easy navigation.

It’s definitely worth a visit if you are thinking of pepping up your own website. And perhaps putting time aside to visit the event in London, to meet the minds behind it.

Special Student Deals on Office and Windows

2009-10-05T23:31:51Z

You know what it’s like – you have a brilliant plan, and then something gets in the way. And this term, we’d hatched a brilliant plan to launch our Ultimate Steal offer on the International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Which is why we went with a nice Piratey theme for the launch. Oh, how we were going to laugh – with plenty of piratey jokes, piratey blog posts and other such sea-shanty-silliness. (We’d done our homework on the UK Yarr site, international talklikeapirate.com and the facebook group)

But ‘twas all blown to smithereens when ITLAP day was a Saturday. “Shiver me timbers!” said the crew of the vessel HMS Office, “We can’t be launching a campaign on the high seas on a Saturday.” And no amount of treasure could change their course. And so it quietly slipped out of port on the 17th September instead, and sailed into the wide blue yonder.

But it did at least get going – and we launched the Ultimate Steal offer of Office Ultimate 2007 for £38.95 - only available to students and staff with a .ac.uk email address. And this year, it will stay available permanently, not as a short-term offer

But what was even better is that our friends on HMS Windows also set sail on a Windows 7 offer for staff and students, with a special price of £29.99 until the end of December.

You can get both offers on our website at www.ultimatesteal.co.uk

ps if you want to tell your staff and students about it, there’s a sample email here, and there are some less piratical graphics on this SkyDrive link.

Seminar invitation: How to Build Rich and Interactive Websites for Education and Research

2009-10-05T13:20:00Z

The University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School recently asked Microsoft Partner Brightstarr to create a website that would help it promote its courses and research.
The Business School wanted a rich and engaging website that would capture people’s imagination and make it easier to communicate with stakeholders.
By building the site in Microsoft Office SharePoint 2007, not only does the Business School get a functionally rich internet site, the powerful collaboration and document management features in SharePoint support the complex information needs of administration and research workers.

Joined by speakers from the Saïd Business School, Playgroup and from Microsoft, Brightstarr is holding a seminar on 4 November 2009 to demonstrate how you can use SharePoint to build a great looking and functionally rich content managed website that will help you connect with students and staff, and support the work of research teams.

It should prove an interesting and informative session. Brightstarr has lots of great experience, ideas and demos to share with you. You can find out more and register at:

http://www.brightstarr.com/Successstories/Pages/Events.aspx

Business Intelligence – seminar

2009-09-23T12:53:48Z

Microsoft partner, Blueprint, is hosting a seminar on Microsoft Business Intelligence on Tuesday 6 October.The Agenda is:

Deploying successful BI Projects: Blueprint's approach, and project delivery strategy for a successful BI project.
An Introduction to the Microsoft BI Stack: Overview of Microsoft's approach to BI. Along with a product demonstration of SSIS, Reporting Services & Report Builder, Excel, Performance Point Services and SharePoint.
Introduction to SharePoint & BI: See how SharePoint can improve collaborative working and information sharing- extending the traditional notion of BI into everyday tasks.
Microsoft BI Roadmap: A unique opportunity to hear from Microsoft and learn about future products and services.

Blueprint will already be known to many in Higher Education and will be spending much of this briefing focusing on the sector.

To register and for more information please follow this link.

http://bpms.co.uk/events/MicrosoftBI_October2009.aspx

Exchange 2010 review

2009-09-14T23:11:00Z

I came across a review of Exchange 2010 on my travels today and thought it worth sharing. Not least because there are already dozens of UK institutions using Exchange 2010 as part of their student email service where it is hosted by Microsoft in the Cloud as part of live@edu. Also, I’ve been working with a Russell Group university over the summer on a deployment of Exchange 2010 for its staff, hosted on premise in its own data centre ready for the start of this academic year. I can’t ‘out’ them yet but I’m really looking forward to this becoming a public story.

BTW, Here’s the review:

http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/software/2249318/review-microsoft-exchange

How fast can Windows 7 go?

2009-09-04T11:14:00Z

Earlier in the week PC Pro ran an article stating that Windows 7 is “already used on 1% of PCs”. This was lifted from some Internet metrics measured by NetApplications. It’s easy to do – each time you visit a website, your browser tells the website what version it is, and what operating system it is running on.

Given the buzz this summer about Windows 7, I thought I’d have a quick look at the stats for this blog. And the answer has truly surprised me. (Or at least it did once I’d learned from Wikipedia that Windows 7 reports itself as Windows NT 6.1)

What this table shows is the last 1,000 visitors to the blog – and 1 in 6 are running Windows 7!

Now I reckon that this is partly because the readers are more technical, and there’s been quite a buzz about Windows 7 – and lots of early deployments in education. Given that there have already been half a dozen schools who’ve told me they’ve rolled out Windows 7 to all their desktops, and plenty of experiments in universities, perhaps Windows 7 is going to overtake even Windows 95 in it’s speed of adoption.

I was genuinely surprised at what I saw. Are you?