Founded next door to sleepy little fish cannery by a stranger surrounded by a host of unique characters.
All the while transitioning organization towards UCC, DevOps Hybrid Clouds. The Usual Suspects {Corp & OSS} appear during this journey
This MTC Studio is on Exchange 2013 and is presented by Dean Suzuki, MTC Unified Communications Architect, and Brent Rush, Office 365 Technical Specialists.
For more information on Exchange 2013, please check out my blog at: http://deansuzuki.net
PODCAST :UCStrategies UC Experts discuss Gartner's new Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications
The podcast is moderated by Marty Parker, who is joined by Experts Dave Michels, Kevin Kieller, Russell Bennett, Michael Finneran, Jon Arnold, Phil Edholm, Don Van Doren, Art Rosenberg, and Steve Leaden.
Microsoft's Office for iPad, iPhone, and Android is a reality. Although Office Mobile has been rumored and reportedly spotted in the wild, Microsoft has remained persistently quiet about its plans for the product. The Verge
has learned through several sources close to Microsoft's plans that the
company will release Office versions for Android and iOS in early 2013.
Full Exclusive: Microsoft Office for iPhone, iPad and Android revealed here:
Who, What , When, Where & why of Openstack OpenStack is an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud computing project started by Rackspace Cloud and NASA in 2010.
Currently more than 150 companies have joined the project among which are AMD, Intel, Canonical, SUSE Linux, Red Hat, Cisco, Dell, HP, IBM and Yahoo!.
It is free open source software released under the terms of the Apache License.
OpenStack integrates code from NASA's Nebula platform as well as Rackspace's Cloud Files platform, and is included and released in both the Ubuntu and Red Hat Linux distributions currently only. 11/7/12 Wikipedia
..and why Cisco, VMware and I are in...
History: openstack building a free massively scalable cloud computing platform.
Microsoft bought Skype last year for $8.5 billion, and Skype's Internet-calling software also included an instant-messaging component. As a first step towards integration, Messenger users can sign in to Skype and bring over their contacts.
Here's what's more interesting to us: Microsoft also has a business-messaging product called Lync. In September, the Lync team announced integration with Skype. Previously, Lync supported Windows Live Messenger.
The combination of email, IM, and voice is known as "unified communications," and Microsoft is really interested in selling servers that handle unified communications. So the news that Microsoft is rationalizing its communications products and leaning heavily on Skype makes sense
We cover new and improved capabilities of Lync 2013 in the core workload, mobile access, scaling, security, manageability, and ease of operations.
This includes architectural underpinnings for these changes and details around the Lync 2013 Server Management, high availability, Lync Online Manageability, Remote PS, LOCP, RBAC, and hybrid management
Been Out for a while but you can find the Lync Preview Here:
o the saccharine rhythm of a Muzak clip, Steve Ballmer crouched into a tackling stance and dashed across a ballroom stage at the Venetian Las Vegas. A 20-foot wall of video screens flashed his name as the 55-year-old Microsoft chief executive bear-hugged Ryan Seacrest, the ubiquitous television and radio host, who had just introduced Ballmer’s keynote speech for the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show.
More than 150,000 techies and executives were swarming the city’s hotels last January in the annual bacchanalia of cutting-edge gizmos and gadgets. Attendees ran from one vendor to the next, snapping up fistfuls of freebies, inhaling flavored oxygen, and rubbing elbows with stars such as LL Cool J and Justin Bieber.
But this night, an air of discomfort filled the Palazzo Ballroom, where Ballmer was about to give the show’s opening presentation, one delivered by Microsoft’s C.E.O. for 14 of the previous 17 years—the first 11 by Bill Gates and the rest by Ballmer. Weeks earlier, the company had declared that this would be its final keynote—and, worse, that it wouldn’t even be back next year as an exhibitor to showcase new innovations. The timing for big news about its products, it said, didn’t match that of the annual high-tech pageant.
Rumors had swirled throughout the day that Ballmer planned to go out in a blaze of glory, offering a peek at a yet-to-be-released stunner from a company whose recent innovations had too often been lackluster or worse. Instead, what emerged was a gonzo spectacle, structured as a confab between Seacrest and Ballmer. Cookie Monster showed up, as did a gospel choir that belted out a bizarre song composed entirely of random tweets shot into cyberspace by who-the-hell-knows....
A trusted industry insider told AppleInsider on Thursday that they expect Apple to launch the sixth-generation iPhone in September following a manufacturing ramp-up earlier in the month.
The source notes Apple's supply chain will be intact for the initial ramp, though availability of select components, like in-cell touch-panels made by Sharp and LG, may be tight due to low yield rates. According to industry checks the two companies will be able to pump out a small number of panels and contribute to Japanese display maker JDI's already-growing stockpile which will stand at over 10 million units before the end of quarter three 2012. Overall, in-cell panel supply should reach between 14 to 18 million units in the third quarter, sufficient for the next-generation iPhone's rollout.
As for the smartphone's metal and glass case, up-chain suppliers suggest only two color ways will be available: black and white. The insider goes on to say the images of purportedly leaked assembled externals are "very likely authentic" and notes the metal top and bottom of the uni-body casing may feature a Gorilla Glass inlay for heat dissipation and cellular reception. The design has never been seen before and may negate the wireless connectivity issues Apple faced with the iPhone 4.
"Lync maybe Microsoft last true on premise application. Go cloud, Go hybrid Go!" KP
Try wither Yammer! Great technology though... 11/10/12
- article begins -
Last October, I posted a concept video showing Microsoft’s view on the future of productivity. The video envisions how mobile devices, social computing, interactive content, cloud computing and natural user interfaces will change the way we get things done at home, at work and at school.
In our personal lives, it’s obvious that social computing has made a huge impact in how we connect with information and each other. Businesses are just starting to take advantage of the benefits of social computing, and I believe it will redefine how we’ll work together in the years ahead.
Today, I am excited to announce that we have entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Yammer, the world’s fastest-growing enterprise social networking service. Yammer provides a free service for employees to join a private social network that’s intuitive and easy to use. It also enables IT departments to easily transition an employee driven initiative into a managed, social-networking solution. If you’re a Yammer user today, you’ll continue to get the same experience you’re used to. I encourage you to see if your company already has a Yammer social network and join....
Was Microsoft's Surface
tablet an act of desperation? Yes, says a report in the New York Times. Microsoft and the PC hardware industry were failing miserably at taking on
Apple's iPad, forcing Redmond's hand, according to the report. How critical was the situation becoming? Some assertions from the article:
Apple's control of key materials: Materials like
high-quality aluminum were purchased in such large quantities that Apple
virtually cornered the market. Because PC makers were not responding to
threats like this, Microsoft feared PC players were falling further and
further behind Apple.
Shortcomings of the Microsoft-Intel business model:
Microsoft and Intel -- so-called "Wintel" -- sucked up much of the
profit, leaving PC makers with limited resources to innovate.
Lack of trust between Microsoft and PC makers: device
makers lost faith in Microsoft. Despite demanding hefty licensing fees,
Microsoft was not delivering the touch capability that was necessary to
be competitive. HP "fumed" at Microsoft's inability to craft decent
touch software sooner. For example, the
Windows 7 touch experience was subpar, hardly measuring up to Apple.
Failed Hewlett-Packard tablets:
HP's Intel-based Windows tablet -- first shown at CES in 2010 --
ultimately suffered from mediocre chips, buggy software, and HP's
decision to use merely "sufficient" components. And HP's strategy of
buying Palm and creating the TouchPad failed.
Facebook needs Opera - to rescue it from dependence on Apple
Analysis Facebook is reported [1] to be interested in buying Scandinavian browser company Opera Software.
The facts are few, the sourcing criminally light, but the story arrives as Opera is also reported [2] to have instituted a hiring freeze that some claim is a harbinger to putting itself up for sale.
Both firms refused to comment on the reports when contacted by The Reg.
Why would Facebook want to own its own browser, especially when Opera has minuscule market share and is better at generating publicity than desktop growth?
Facebook is also interested in buying Face.com and, again, preparing its own phone having poached six iPhone engineers and one from the iPad team at Apple.
A market once thought dead has been on fire in recent years, thanks initially to Mozilla’s Firefox: that led to Google’s Chrome and Microsoft’s conversion to standards with IE9 and IE10. Things are so promising, even Yahoo! is making a play for a stake in browsers, with its Axis [3].
Why have a browser? As far as Microsoft was concerned at least, it was felt if you lost the browser you lost the desktop and MSN business. Microsoft likes to create what it calls “optimized experiences” and on IE today that means things like pinning web pages to the bottom of the Windows 7 screen to help you find them fast.
This sort of thinking comes from the type of company with a market to protect; today’s browser makers don’t have this but are trying to make themselves more relevant and the perceived way of doing that is performance for the end user.
Google launched Chrome despite partnering with Mozilla on Firefox because Firefox was slowing down, turning into big ol' memory hog – although that’s been rectified now. Google added incognito browsing [4], search with sites from the toolbar and tabbed synching [5]. Opera has also sped up browsing, with Turbo that compresses web pages by up to 80 per cent to serve pages to most devices – and a claimed 90 per cent for Apple’s iPhone and iPad - across narrow or spotty networks. Microsoft responded by making IE fast and look more like Chrome.
After awhile all this speed and performance goes unnoticed by the typical web user on the desktop. But this is not the target demographic; the new targets are those using specific apps, like gaming, and those on phones and tablets, which have limited onboard compute and are at the mercy of spotty networks.
That’s why Firefox and Chrome have been focusing on hardware accelerated graphics rendering; to offload traffic from the CPU and prolong battery life.
Hence, we also now have Firefox and Chrome for Android.
One company that doesn’t let you run your browser on the device unless it’s native is the company that’s got the best and most exciting market share: Apple’s insistence on native software has kept Firefox and Chrome off its phones.
The Opera Mini web browser is the exception; it’s permitted because Opera Mini caches web pages using Opera’s global network of servers to render and execute pages rather than this happening on the device. In that respect, Opera Mini is more of a service app so passes Apple’s rules without Opera needing to build one version for Apple’s phones and tablets, and another for everybody else.
Opera Mini isn’t restricted to iOS, though, and Opera claims [6] 168 million users running on Java ME, Android, Windows Mobile, iOS, BlackBerry and Symbian, too. Importantly, they are largely in emerging markets: Opera has struggled in the US and Europe but is strong in growing markets such as Russia, Brazil, Africa and South East Asia.
Forget the zombie apocalypse--the real threat is an imminent Robopocalypse, a robot uprising! We at Epipheo care about your survival. That's why we interviewed Daniel H. Wilson to find out exactly how to survive a robot uprising
Note: I have not included details on the scripts used for the processes in the post. I will update the post shortly with information about those scripts. Back in the days when I spent a lot of time managing MOM 2005
By Fritz Nelson Vice President, Editorial Director InformationWeek Business Technology Network
CEO John Chambers says Cisco will transform, as upstart and established vendors attack its traditional strongholds.
In CEO John Chambers' words, Cisco is trying to reinvent itself, as upstart and established vendors attack its long-dominant market positions. It's fending off data center networking equipment vendors whose commodity products run on merchant silicon. It's up against vendors of disruptive unified communications products that personalize--at lower cost--what Cisco archaically calls telepresence. All the while, Cisco is clinging to a reputation for stability and quality that lingers in corporate IT organizations like last night's rock concert.
Here's the plain truth: That familiar ringing won't go away, and Cisco isn't really reinventing itself. While much has changed in the past few years--heavily virtualized data centers, mobile clients on the network, video to the handset, software-defined networks, grittier competition in its core markets from the likes of Hewlett-Packard and Dell--Cisco continues to do what it has always done, even if it's moving into new markets
But make no mistake: The price pressure is on, and Cisco feels it. "I'm probably even more worried about merchant silicon now than I was five or six years ago," Chambers allowed, "because if someone can set a fast pace in merchant silicon and other people are just focused on software, it's a different game." But Chambers said Cisco's focus on custom ASICS, underpinning a world-class combination of hardware, software, and services, has always served the company and its customers well. Cisco's "gross margins are back to where they were two years ago," he said--specifically, at 62.4% across its product lines. And he noted that HP, whose networking unit has become a major challenger, is "clearly back to where they were two or three years ago" (and he didn't mean in a good way).
One acquisition (albeit in another sector) that Cisco passed on, Chambers said, was Skype. He said he still thinks that was the right decision, as Cisco doesn’t want to compete with its service provider customers. Meantime, Cisco is doing its fair share of saber rattling against Microsoft-Skype. For instance, it has petitioned the European Union to revisit the Microsoft-Skype deal, with an eye toward setting some rules, primarily around embracing open standards for video calling. Cisco's head of emerging business, Marthin De Beer, has said the company is afraid that Microsoft will integrate Skype with Lync exclusively.
Cisco had been hopeful that it could work out a deal with Microsoft, presumably to use video calling standards, but it turns out, Chambers said, that "Microsoft doesn't see [interoperability] as important as I do." He added that when Cisco acquired videoconferencing vendor Tandberg in 2010, Microsoft was one of the loud voices insisting on the same type of video calling interoperability, which Chambers said he agreed to.
One acquisition (albeit in another sector) that Cisco passed on, Chambers said, was Skype. He said he still thinks that was the right decision, as Cisco doesn’t want to compete with its service provider customers. Meantime, Cisco is doing its fair share of saber rattling against Microsoft-Skype. For instance, it has petitioned the European Union to revisit the Microsoft-Skype deal, with an eye toward setting some rules, primarily around embracing open standards for video calling. Cisco's head of emerging business, Marthin De Beer, has said the company is afraid that Microsoft will integrate Skype with Lync exclusively.
Cisco had been hopeful that it could work out a deal with Microsoft, presumably to use video calling standards, but it turns out, Chambers said, that "Microsoft doesn't see [interoperability] as important as I do." He added that when Cisco acquired videoconferencing vendor Tandberg in 2010, Microsoft was one of the loud voices insisting on the same type of video calling interoperability, which Chambers said he agreed to.
MS UCC Productivity Pundits Brent and Michael, plus special guest Brett Austin, show the real world rich integration between Microsoft Lync 2010 and SharePoint 2010, all enabled through the use of a Windows 7 Slate/Tablet device.
Sysprep for Windows Server 2008 and this has turned out to be the most popular article on this site by a long shot, so I figured I'd update it for Windows Server 2008 R2 (and Windows 7). If you never had the need to look at Sysprep in Windows Vista/2008, you'll find that it's nothing like what you're used to on Windows Server 2003, XP, etc.
Even more fun than Angry Birds. Time once again to scour the rumour mills for evidence of when Apple is going to release a new product and what that product is going to be.
One interesting tidbit doing the rounds is that the iPad 3 is due for release in early March.
What’s supporting this idea is that there have been a number of hush hush, high security air shipments from China to the US:
Fresh paperwork uncovered in China points to an early March launch for the long-awaited Apple iPad 3 – and apparently batches are already shipping to the US from assembly plants in the People’s Republic.
The unnamed deliveries on a logistics form revealed by Apple.pro over the weekend are said to be for international cargo flights originating from Chengdu International Airport in China, the closest airport to Foxconn’s iPad-making facility, and bound for Chicago (ORD), New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) airports. { ed: And not SFO, I'd be suspect -1, K.P }
There’s nothing on any of the paperwork that mentions Foxconn or iPads of any number. And depending upon how good your Chinese language skills are you can see the original here. Well, actually, you can see the original there however good or bad your Chinese language skills are.
You’ll not get very far in understanding it without some of those skills though.
The rumour mill, working from all the usual sources, is predicting March 7 for the iPad 3 unveiling.
We’ll know how well that mills grinds though the available information on, oooh, March 8 probably.
Apple iPad3 what kind of Processor, Why two (2) different ones!
Apple may be working on not one, but two chips for its next tablet, according to the latest from the ‘iPad 3’ rumor mill. The Verge reports:
As rumors keep swirling about whether Apple's planning a dual- or quad-core chip for its upcoming iPad 3, new reports suggest the company may actually be working on both.
As we reported last week, the part number scheme used for Apple's A4 and A5 indicate that an A6 chip would likely have the number S5L8950X, and not the S5L8945X reported to be in the next-generation tablet. Well, 9to5Mac reports that the newest beta build of iOS 5.1 actually includes references to the 50X and 45X, supporting the idea that Apple is actually working on two new SoCs.
Why do they need two? 9to5 speculates that Apple might have simply tested two chips before deciding which one to go with, or it could be planning to offer two tiers of processor in its next iPad. Could one of the chips be for the rumored 8-inch iPad? We'll have to wait till March to find out.
The Post’s Hayley Tsukayama provides her take on the latest ‘iPad 3’ rumor:
One of the greatest debates going into Apple’s next iPad launch is whether the tablet will have a dual-core or quad-core processing chip. There have been reports that Apple is planning to unveil its next tablet with a quad-core chip, but there have also been several reports that it will be opting for a revamped dual-core processor.
According to 9 to 5 Mac’s Mark Gurman, the confusion is easy to explain: Apple’s developing two chips ...
The latest report indicates the iPad 3‘s release may indeed be on track for a March 7 unveiling, while another report states the new device’s price could be higher than the current iPad 2.
The site 9to5Mac says purported shipping documents reveal Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn made secretive shipments via cargo planes to three major U.S. cities beginning on February 26. The article’s source is an English translation from a Twitter-like, Chinese website, Sina Weibo.
A number of you have asked for assistance on this. so here it is!
In this video we show you how to install Microsoft Lync 2010. This tutorial shows you the full installation of lync 2010 from prerequisites to complete installation of standard edition.
Stay tuned for part 2 which is edge server setup. ;)
Source : iPad news
"great soon every executive will want Lync on Ipad3 with video conferencing. Like it was a necessity ... :("
iPad 3 Confirmed 2048 x 1536 Retina Display
February 18, 2012 By iPad 3 News 19 Comments
iPad 3 WILL release with Retina Display
From MacRumors
The iPad 3 release date has all but been confirmed by Apple recently. To make it even more certain there are leaks of iPad 3 parts becoming available as the iPad 3 release date comes closer and closer. One of the biggest rumors and discussion points for the iPad 3 release was the display. There were many rumors that made it look like the newest iDevice would not include a improved display. MacRumors has made probably the biggest discovery of the iPad 3 rumor circuit.
MacRumors reports that they were able to obtain an iPad 3 screen from its source. They took this display and examined it under a microscope. This was done to attempt to determine if the display was in fact a high resolution Retina Display. Physically the display of the iPad 3 is the same as the screen currently included in the iPad 2. Apparently to the naked eye they are almost exactly the same.
The differences appear when you look at the display under a microscope. The difference in resolution becomes easily apparent, with the iPad 3 display’s pixels being 1/4 the size of the iPad 2. MacRumors does not mention how they obtained the iPad 3 display nor is their proof that is actually from the iPad 3. They however are an dependable source for pretty much anything Mac releated. They had no way to power the actual display and are relying solely on what was determined via the microscope. As you can see from the images from MacRumor they take a 2×2 section from the iPad 2 and then iPad 3. The iPad 3 has occupied by 16 pixels compared to the 4 pixels of the iPad 2. If true this would mean the iPad 3 is being released with a 2048×1536 resolution display, four times the current iPad 1 and iPad 2 which are 1024×768.
From MacRumors
This is easily the biggest news to come out about the iPad 3. There was the leak of the back plate of the iPad 3 with minimal differences compared to the iPad 2. We however were only able to come up with inferences about what the differences could mean. It appears that MacRumors has sourced a real iPad 3 display and proven that it will in fact be a Retina Display. The iPad 3 is shaping up to be an awesome device and should be released right around the corner.
Now that we know that it the iPad 3 will include a Retina Display at release will you be buying an iPad 3, comment below?
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Read more iPad News: http://www.ipad-3-news.com/02/ipad-3-confirmed-2048-x-1536-retina-display/#ixzz1msFmC6HE
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Are youCurrently plannig on managing an on-premises e-mail system and now are deploying Microsoft Office 365 for enterprises, you need to plan carefully. First, consider your long-term goals: What is a Hybrid Deployment: Full-featured deployment of a cross-premises Exchange messaging solution with Office 365 for enterprises and Exchange Online.
Features include:
•Mail routing between on-premises and cloud-based organizations •Mail routing with a shared domain namespace. For example, both on-premises and cloud-based organizations use the @yankeedoodle.com SMTP domain. •A unified global address list, also called a “shared address book” •Free/busy and calendar sharing between on-premises and cloud-based organizations •Centralized control of mail flow. The on-premises organization can control mail flow for the on-premises and cloud-based organizations. •A single Outlook Web App URL for both the on-premises and cloud-based organizations •The ability to move existing on-premises mailboxes to the cloud-based organization •Centralized mailbox management using the on-premises Exchange Management Console (EMC) •Message tracking, MailTips, and multi-mailbox search between on-premises and cloud-based organizations
Decide on your Options:
•Long-term goal is to maintain mailboxes both in your on-premises organization and in the cloud, you should deploy Exchange in your on-premises organization in what is called a hybrid deployment.A hybrid deployment requires Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.
A full Exchange 2010 organization isn’t required to enable a hybrid deployment. You can install a minimal Exchange 2010 hybrid server in an existing Exchange 2003 or Exchange 2007 organization.
•Long-term goal is to move all mailboxes to the cloud, you must evaluate your current on-premises e-mail infrastructure and select the migration tool and method that works best for your organization.There are several methods to migrate all mailboxes to Office 365 for enterprises. Each method has advantages and disadvantages for administrators and users, and each method has specific requirements and dependencies.
Rumors are rife that Apple may release the all new iPad 3 by the end of March. Apple has scheduled a media event next month on March 29. News leaked by the nearby electronic makers say that many high tech components have been sent to Apple since the last quarter of 2011.
The TSMC- Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has received a really big ‘order’ for 28nm APUs from AMD (Advanced Micro Devices). AMD confirmed this Friday that it will shake hands with TSMC to manufacture 28nm Krishna Wichita accelerated processing unit (APUs) during the initial phase.
Because of the Chinese New Year, the launch of iPad 3 has been postponed till the end of March instead of beginning of March. This long holiday season brought disappointment to the millions of Apple’s fans for delayed date of iPad 3’s release.
The new iPad 3 is slated to be thinner and lighter and it will also have an A6 quad-core processor. March 29 is not far away, very soon, we might see people playing around with the super-power quad-core iPad 3.
CloudOn's Excel and PowerPoint files are using a real, full-fledged Office interface.
Just twelve short hours after the announcement, however, the app was removed from iTunes, presumably based on issues with keeping up with the overwhelming demand.
Earlier today, CloudOn reappeared, and is now availabe for FREE download from the iTunes store, once again. Dig those pointy hats out of the trash, and turn up the stereo again - we got us a party!
Connecting itself to the cloud-based storage system Dropbox (also free), CloudOn lets you open your Office documents and edit them, same as on a regular PC or Mac. Once you’re done, you can save the document back to Dropbox. CloudOn even lets you create Word, Excel and PowerPoint files from scratch.
Of course, there are other apps that let you do this, such as the $16.99 Documents to Go Premium, but CloudOn is the first program to give you this experience for the cost of a breath of air. Wondering how it all works?
IMPORTANT: Microsoft Lync 2010 for iPad requires a Lync Server or Office365/Lync Online account and will not work without it. If you are unsure about your account status, please contact your IT department.
Consultancy firm Directions on Microsoft has outlined expectations for Microsoft's product roadmap in 2012 and beyond.
Excerpts: Helm said that in 2012, we should see Microsoft rolling out System Center 2012, Windows 8 and Windows Server 8 products (see chart). However, Windows Server 8 may arrive later than the client. Helm explained that "we don't think that Windows Server 8 is tied to the client release."
Cloud Expectations Helm described Microsoft's cloud platforms as centering on software and services for running apps in large-scale datacenters, both public and private. Motivations for organizations to move to the cloud include cost, as well as gaining access new hardware and automating processes. On the private cloud side, Microsoft's vision is Windows Server 2008 plus System Center 2012. Helm said that many organizations with private clouds use VMware's hypervisor for virtualization rather than Microsoft Hyper-V hypervisor, but those using VMware products may also rely on Microsoft System Center for management.
System Center 2012 Every product in the System Center 2012 suite will get a major update, but the most important changes will be found in Virtual Machine Manager. The entire System Center 2012 product line will be sold as a single suite when released in 2012.
Currently the products are available at the release candidate stage. Helm said that we might see System Center 2012 released as a final product, "probably by April." It's expected to happen near the time of the Microsoft Management Summit. System Center will gain greater reach into Windows Azure, Helm predicted. He noted that Virtual Machine Manager 2012 already can manage some Windows Azure resources. In addition, some Windows Server capabilities will grow closer to Windows Azure.
Mobile Devices and Windows 8 With the consumerization of IT trend, tablets increasingly are seen as targets for running corporate applications, Helm said. However, to get there, tablets will have to become "good corporate citizens." Windows 7 is Microsoft's current client OS for tablets, but the tablets on the market running it tend to lag in providing good battery lifetimes, Helm said. Microsoft's tablet strategy used to be based on the Window CE OS, which was designed for low- power, touch-enabled cell phone use.
Business Intelligence and SQL Server 2012 Business intelligence (BI) is a catch-all term to describe how a business is doing in terms of sales, internal processes and targeting using its hard data sources. The aim is to make better business decisions, Helm explained. Microsoft delivers its BI capabilities via SQL Server and its PowerPivot family of technologies. SQL Server 2012 is getting a major overhaul in terms of licensing.
Organizations wanting to use PowerPivot previously had to have the Enterprise edition licensing of SQL Server. However, that option is getting replaced. There will be a new BI edition, licensed on a Server Client Access License (CAL) basis, that will replace the Enterprise edition, Helm explained.
Social computing for the enterpise F or instance, he predicted that the next Exchange product release would be designed to handle larger multitenant installations. Exchange has its own product release schedule that is not tied to the Microsoft Office releases.
Helm predicted that the next version of Exchange might be released sometime in 2013. Microsoft is planning to host Hadoop on Windows Azure, enabling big data capabilities. Helm said that Microsoft plans to look at Hadoop-style capabilities more generally for its SQL Server product line. Microsoft is going to rethink its platform in SQL Server given the success of Hadoop, he explained.
With regard to Lync, Microsoft's unified communications product, Helm said there will be a hands-off integration with the Skype voice-over-IP solution, possibly happening sometime in 2013. He said that the integration might start out with just presence and instant messaging at first. Microsoft Forefront, which is a suite of enterprise security solutions, will get new releases sometime in 2013, Helm predicted. Helm replied to a question about the cloud computing market by stating that Amazon's and Microsoft's capabilities are fundamentally converging.
Amazon offers platform-as-a-service storage that is almost identical to Microsoft's hosted storage, he said, adding that "I think you'll gradually see Amazon Web Services and Azure converge in terms of their capabilities." In response to a question on social networking, Helm said that SharePoint's next-generation social computing behavior will be similar to Facebook.
Content management will be integrated more fundamentally into social computing. Social computing integration is already being seen with Windows Phone. He predicted something like the Windows Phone people hub appearing in the Windows 8 client.
Facebook Inc. could file papers for an initial public offering as early as
next week and is currently looking at a deal that would value the social network
between $75 billion to $100 billion, said people familiar with the matter.
Facebook could file IPO paperwork as early as Wednesday
of next week, and Morgan Stanley is close to winning the "lead left" position in
the IPO. Facebook has been valued between $75 and $100 Billion
dollars.
The Internet giant is close to picking Morgan Stanley as the
lead underwriter for its IPO, these people said, giving the investment bank one
of Wall Street's most coveted assignments. It would mark a setback for rival Goldman Sachs Group
Inc.
Facebook could file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission as
early as this coming Wednesday, said one person familiar with the matter. But
that is just one scenario Facebook executives are considering, the person said.
Executives are also considering filing a few weeks later, the person said.
At a valuation between $75 billion and $100 billion, Facebook is looking to
raise as much as $10 billion, said people familiar with the matter. The final
valuation will be determined by a variety of factors, people familiar with the
matter cautioned, such as investor demand for social media, the IPO market and
the health of the European economy.
A $10 billion Facebook offering would rank fourth among U.S. companies,
behind Visa Inc., General Motors Co.
and AT&T Wireless. At a $100 billion valuation, Facebook would be worth
about the same as McDonald's Corp. and
nearly half of Google Inc.
Facebook's IPO has been hotly anticipated as a defining moment for the latest
Web investing boom. The site, which was started by Chief Executive Mark
Zuckerberg in 2004 out of his Harvard University dorm room, has reshaped how
people share information and interact with others on the Web.
In the process, Facebook has spawned new verbs such as "to friend" and a
popular Hollywood movie "The Social Network" that detailed the company's
origins. Overall, Facebook now counts 800 million users, with 500 million users
logging into the site daily.
The IPO will test Mr. Zuckerberg's ability to manage a global company whose
financial performance will be scrutinized every three months by investors.
Facebook also still faces questions about its commitment to its users' privacy,
an issue that had dogged it since its earliest days.
New Web Admin Interface
