The Exchange team posted a lot of new demo videos. Take some time and check some of the videos out at:
http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/preview/evaluation/demos.mspx
Monday, June 26, 2006
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Wish I was there...
Tech-Ed 2006, in Boston. What I would consider the ultimate Microsoft gathering. I was hoping to go this year, but those plans were nixed. I wanted to get some good information on Vista, Longhorn Server, and Exchange 2007. But, I'll just watch some blogs and see what I can glean from them. :)
www.virtualteched.com, if you want to get a taste of what's there.
www.virtualteched.com, if you want to get a taste of what's there.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Excitement for Exchange 2007
I'm still having a hard time saying "Exchange 2007", because "Exchange 12" just seems to roll off the tongue much easier. Oh well, I'll eventually get used to it.
Anyway, after seeing a demo of Exchange 2007 at the local Exchange User Group meeting (http://www.mneug.org), I'm really looking forward to the Beta 2 release of this product, and obviously the release date sometime in 2007. To summarize some of what I'm excited about:
CCR and LCR (clustering technologies) - CCR (Cluster Continuous Replication) is going to be great for distributed environments or DR scenarios. LCR (Local Continuous Relication) looks good, too. :) More on these when I dig up some good information.
OWA - Near-Outlook level functionality. Every release seems to blur the line further between client and web-based e-mail interactivity. Granted, OWA in Exchange 5.5 was, shall we say, primitive, it still allowed remote access to e-mail without getting into the network (ideally).
Unified Messaging - It was awesome to see the Unified Messaging in action. With Speech Server integrated on the back-end, you can now interact with your mailbox on the phone. And, if you check your mail on a kiosk, or a workstation somewhere you don't want everyone within earshot to hear your voicemail, you can send the voicemail message off to any phone number - your cell, a nearby desk phone, whatever. More accessibility = more ways to stay connected! Wait, is that a good thing? ;)
And, if I may do a little advertisement - http://www.msexchangeteam.com - The Exchange team blog. A great resource, to say the least.
Anyway, after seeing a demo of Exchange 2007 at the local Exchange User Group meeting (http://www.mneug.org), I'm really looking forward to the Beta 2 release of this product, and obviously the release date sometime in 2007. To summarize some of what I'm excited about:
CCR and LCR (clustering technologies) - CCR (Cluster Continuous Replication) is going to be great for distributed environments or DR scenarios. LCR (Local Continuous Relication) looks good, too. :) More on these when I dig up some good information.
OWA - Near-Outlook level functionality. Every release seems to blur the line further between client and web-based e-mail interactivity. Granted, OWA in Exchange 5.5 was, shall we say, primitive, it still allowed remote access to e-mail without getting into the network (ideally).
Unified Messaging - It was awesome to see the Unified Messaging in action. With Speech Server integrated on the back-end, you can now interact with your mailbox on the phone. And, if you check your mail on a kiosk, or a workstation somewhere you don't want everyone within earshot to hear your voicemail, you can send the voicemail message off to any phone number - your cell, a nearby desk phone, whatever. More accessibility = more ways to stay connected! Wait, is that a good thing? ;)
And, if I may do a little advertisement - http://www.msexchangeteam.com - The Exchange team blog. A great resource, to say the least.
No media bias = BS
How the media, in the Bush presidency, portrays 75,000 new jobs in a month:
"Job growth faltered in May, with employers boosting payrolls by just 75,000. Yet the nation's unemployment rate dipped to 4.6 percent, the lowest since the summer of 2001."
How the media, in the Clinton presidency, would have portrayed the same numbers:
"75,000 new jobs were created last month! And unemployment dropped to a 5 year low! These are fantastic numbers that showcase that the policies put into motion are working!"
Remember how the media (and Democrats trolling for votes) were absolutely ripping Bush and a perceived "lack of job growth" 3 years ago? That Bush's job creation numbers were the worst since the Great Depression? How much did you hear about the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have been created over the past 6 month? I'll bet very little, unless you had a reason to listen for those numbers. But now that job growth has been sustained over the past 2+ years, 75,000 jobs created in a month is now spun to be a negative. There have been 2.4 million jobs created in the past 12 months, and unemployment has dropped by .5% to 4.6% from 5.1%.
All this serves as proof that the media reports what IT wants to report, not what it should report.
"Job growth faltered in May, with employers boosting payrolls by just 75,000. Yet the nation's unemployment rate dipped to 4.6 percent, the lowest since the summer of 2001."
How the media, in the Clinton presidency, would have portrayed the same numbers:
"75,000 new jobs were created last month! And unemployment dropped to a 5 year low! These are fantastic numbers that showcase that the policies put into motion are working!"
Remember how the media (and Democrats trolling for votes) were absolutely ripping Bush and a perceived "lack of job growth" 3 years ago? That Bush's job creation numbers were the worst since the Great Depression? How much did you hear about the hundreds of thousands of jobs that have been created over the past 6 month? I'll bet very little, unless you had a reason to listen for those numbers. But now that job growth has been sustained over the past 2+ years, 75,000 jobs created in a month is now spun to be a negative. There have been 2.4 million jobs created in the past 12 months, and unemployment has dropped by .5% to 4.6% from 5.1%.
All this serves as proof that the media reports what IT wants to report, not what it should report.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
A new job
Well, I'm at my new job, which started on Monday. I'm excited to be here! My title is Consultant, and I'll be working with clients to provide Microsoft solutions and also trying to get our other offerings in the mix as well (NetApp, EMC, VMWare, et al.). I'm really looking forward to working here - the salespeople seem to know how to sell Microsoft solutions, unlike my previous employer. I've already been asked to help with a few clients, to either help out on the project or to help with configurations.
I'm also looking forward to bringing MOM 2005 (Microsoft Operations Manager) into the mix here. It appears to be the missing piece of their monitoring puzzle - they do high-end monitoring products, and also low-end (like HP Insight Manager). But that middle space isn't covered, and that's where I think MOM 2005 will be a great fit. I'm also looking forward to becoming a VMWare Certified Professional, and learning more about the NetApp product line, EMC, and the rest of our offerings. So I think I am really going to enjoy it here!
Now, I need to get a wireless mouse and a laptop bag, and I'll be set. Well, maybe some additional memory for my laptop and a DVD burner, but I digress.... ;)
I'm also looking forward to bringing MOM 2005 (Microsoft Operations Manager) into the mix here. It appears to be the missing piece of their monitoring puzzle - they do high-end monitoring products, and also low-end (like HP Insight Manager). But that middle space isn't covered, and that's where I think MOM 2005 will be a great fit. I'm also looking forward to becoming a VMWare Certified Professional, and learning more about the NetApp product line, EMC, and the rest of our offerings. So I think I am really going to enjoy it here!
Now, I need to get a wireless mouse and a laptop bag, and I'll be set. Well, maybe some additional memory for my laptop and a DVD burner, but I digress.... ;)
I have succumbed...
to the blog. Help me, please....
Ok, there must be a point to a blog, right? Here's mine - a place to vent, rant, or simply enlighten. Or maybe point out the obvious, or give an opinion. And there's always the occasional stream-of-consciousness typing.
So, I'll have to get used to this blogging thing. You know, formatting, content, etc.
Please feel free to comment. I may reply. I may not. At least I'll know someone's reading. :)
Ok, there must be a point to a blog, right? Here's mine - a place to vent, rant, or simply enlighten. Or maybe point out the obvious, or give an opinion. And there's always the occasional stream-of-consciousness typing.
So, I'll have to get used to this blogging thing. You know, formatting, content, etc.
Please feel free to comment. I may reply. I may not. At least I'll know someone's reading. :)
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