Archive for December, 2009

Microsoft Planning Exchange Server 2007 SP3 Next Year

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

Microsoft plans to update Exchange Server 2007 by issuing a new service pack late next year, enabling the mail server to run on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Last month, Microsoft announced support for Exchange 2007 on Windows Server 2008 R2, pleasing many customers who had complained about an earlier Microsoft decision not to provide it. In a follow-up announcement issued last week, Microsoft’s Exchange team explained that enabling such support will require lots of coding changes to Exchange 2007.

“Our vehicle for adding this support [for Windows Server 2008 R2] will be via a third service pack for Exchange 2007 in the second half of calendar year 2010,” the team stated in a blog.

Microsoft is also enhancing support options for Exchange Server 2003 SP2 on Windows Server 2008 R2, according to the blog.

“Exchange 2003 SP2 will now be supported against writeable Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory servers,” the blog noted. ”Additionally, with the general availability of Exchange Server 2010, and [for] those looking to standardize on Windows Server 2008 R2, we have enhanced the supportability of forest and domain functional levels up to Windows Server 2008 R2. This change is effective immediately on Exchange 2003 SP2.”

Microsoft issued an “Exchange Server Supportability Matrix” document in August showing operating system support for its mail server products. However, the document hasn’t yet been updated to reflect the changes promised above. Microsoft plans to include additional support details for Exchange Server 2010 in the next version of the document.

Exchange 2010 is currently available, having been released as a final product in November.

IT pros may be happy about the additional support for Exchange 2007, but they still face complex installation and migration scenarios. For instance, simply upgrading the operating system to Windows Server 2008 R2 underneath Exchange 2007 isn’t supported. Enabling that capability “is outside the scope and complexity of what we can do in a post-release product update,” the blog explained. However, the Exchange team will consider adding such a capability in “future versions of the product.”

Currently, Exchange 2007 is supported on the .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 platform, which can be enabled if users upgraded from.NET Framework 2.0, the blog explained.

Courtsey:  http://redmondmag.com/articles/2009/12/03/microsoft-planning-exchange-2007-sp3-in-2010.aspx

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Posted in Microsoft Exchange Online | 6 Comments »

Capabilities of SharePoint Server 2010

Friday, December 18th, 2009

Microsoft SharePoint is composed of a number of products forming different components and offering different functionality. Based on Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, SharePoint offers a fully functional portal post installation and hosted SharePoint application.

Many organizations have benefited from installing it. It gives a proper basic structure to build a single workspace. Server options include news, topic areas, catalogs, private websites, websites creation, and tools for searching or viewing information, employees, and work groups. SharePoint server can serve up to 1,000,000 end users, who are registered in Active Directory, all at the same time. It also has a capacity of 250 pages per second. The high performance and scalability have prompted many organizations to opt for SharePoint web application services.

Capabilities of SharePoint Server

Collaboration, Enterprise Portal Solutions, Enterprise Search, Enterprise Content Management, Business Process and Forms, Business Intelligence and Licensed for Internet/Extranet

SharePoint 2010 Sites delivers a single infrastructure to provide portal and collaboration capabilities across internet, intranet and extranet. Bring all users together to share information, and knowledgebase across organizations.

SharePoint 2010 Search gives users the ability to find the people, content, and information they need by combining an integrated, with enterprise search technology.

SharePoint 2010 Communities empowers organization to work with people in ways that are most effective for them. Allow employees to collaborate in groups, share knowledge and ideas, connect with colleagues, and find information and experts without difficulty.

SharePoint 2010 Insights enables users to access and act together with information across unstructured and structured data sources. Empower users to discover the right people and expertise to make better and more accurate business decisions.

SharePoint 2010 Content enables users to participate in a governed, compliant content management lifecycle. SharePoint Content makes it possible to skillfully balance user experience with organization policy and business process.

SharePoint Foundation 2010 is made for small business organizations or departments looking for a low-cost entry-level or pilot solution for secure, Web-based portal. Organization can use SharePoint Foundation to coordinate schedules, share, organize documents, and participate in discussions through team workspaces, blogs, wikis, and knowledgebase on the platform that is the underlying infrastructure for SharePoint Server.

SharePoint Designer 2010 is the tool of choice for the rapid development of SharePoint applications. With the help of SharePoint Designer, advanced users and developers can quickly create SharePoint solutions. Expert users can compose no-code solutions that encompass a variety of common scenarios, from collaborative sites and web publishing to line-of-business data integration, business intelligence solutions, and HR workflows. These great solutions leverage the building blocks available in SharePoint in an easy-to-use environment. Additionally, developers can use SharePoint Designer 2010 to get a rapid start on SharePoint development projects.

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Posted in Microsoft SharePoint Development Services | 2 Comments »

SharePoint 2010 is The Business Collaboration Platform

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Microsoft SharePoint is becoming ubiquitous. If it isn’t in your organization yet, it most likely will be soon. There are several beneficial reasons for this from an infrastructure and architecture standpoint.

SharePoint 2010 is The Business Collaboration Platform for the Enterprise & the Web that enables you to connect & empower people through an integrated and rich set of features that can be deployed as Intranet, Extranet or Internet-facing solutions.

Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2010 helps you cut costs with a unified infrastructure while allowing you to rapidly respond to your business needs which can help improve organizational effectiveness by providing comprehensive enterprise search and content management, accelerating shared business processes, and facilitating information-sharing across boundaries for better business insight, whether deployed on-premise or as hosted services,

You can quickly create and manage SharePoint sites that support specific content publishing, enterprise portal solution, records management, or BI needs. You can also conduct effective searches for people and documents; participate in forms-driven business processes; and access and analyze large business data.

From a business perspective, SharePoint 2010 solves the need for a centralized solution that can be used in conjunction with existing software and applications.  By leveraging the BCS, SharePoint 2010 can natively connect to existing sources of information.  With the Multi-tenancy feature, organizations have more control with hosted environments (from the hosting side of things as well as the client side).

As an administrator, this release has made drastic improvements toward a solution that is not only manageable, but one that is easy to maintain.  The integration with Windows PowerShell allows for more administrative control, a more efficient command line, and improves productivity.  The new s makes it easier to locate and configure settings for your environment.  SharePoint 2010 has incorporated more performance controls, logging and reporting options, as well as a much desired improvement on the native disaster-recovery options.  The revamped service applications feature ensures greater flexibility with regards to the shared services being used within the environment.

On the Developer Front, whether the challenge that you are trying to solve is a simple one-off application with a few data tables or the front end for an enterprise solution that drives the organization, SharePoint 2010 and the Office 2010 clients provide the tools you need to manage your data, support your users, and connect the processes. As a developer using SharePoint you are not tied to tediously building interactive edit screens, buried in building architecture, or stymied by building security. Building on the benefits of the SharePoint platform allows you to get more done.

For More information click here to contact SharePoint Development Experts

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Posted in Microsoft SharePoint Development Services | 1 Comment »

Webinar: Scale Your Technology Needs On Demand

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Please join us for the Microsoft-led webinar Scale Your Technology Needs On Demand,

Date       Tuesday, December 16th, 2009
Time:      11:00AM – 12:00PM PST

where you can learn about:

* How a Microsoft software-plus-services solution can rapidly scale on demand to connect the right people.
* Building highly secure team and project intranet sites with Microsoft SharePoint Online
* The benefits of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite.

Scale Your Technology Needs On Demand is brought to you at no charge by Microsoft and ISHIR. Space is limited at this exclusive event, so be sure to register today.

Suggested attendees:
• VP, Director or Manager of IT
• Business Decision Maker
• Technology Decision Maker
• Anyone who is interested in the latest technology

Don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity – register today!
http://www.ishir.com/webinar-scale-your-technology-needs-on-demand.htm

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Posted in Technology Webinars | No Comments »

Webinar: Reduce Your Operational Expenses

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Interested in saving IT costs? If so, please join us for the Microsoft-led webinar Reduce Your Operational Expenses,

Date       Tuesday, December 15th, 2009
Time:      11:00AM – 12:00PM PST

Here you can learn about:

* Reducing the cost of in-person meetings and training sessions with an immersive Web and video conferencing solution from Microsoft
* How your company can communicate more effectively by integrating unified communications technologies with existing telephony infrastructure
* The ease of use in products such as Office Communicator, OCS R2, Live Meeting and Exchange Server 2010.

Reduce Your Operational Expenses is brought to you at no charge by Microsoft and ISHIR. Space is limited at this exclusive event, so be sure to register today.

Suggested attendees:
• VP, Director or Manager of IT
• Business Decision Maker
• Technology Decision Maker
• Anyone who is interested in the latest technology

Don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity – register today!

http://www.ishir.com/webinar-reduce-your-operational-expenses.htm

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Posted in Technology Webinars | No Comments »

Webinar: Leveraging New Ways to Work

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Interested in the hearing about the latest developments in Unified Communications? If so, please join us for the Microsoft-led webinar Leveraging New Ways to Work

Date       Thursday, December 10th, 2009
Time:      11:00AM – 12:00PM PST

Here you can learn about:
* How to save money by controlling IT costs, improve efficiency and increase revenue streams through innovation.
* Enabling a highly flexible, reliable, and innovative work environment by taking advantage of your existing technology investment.
* How SharePoint Server, Communications Server 2007 R2, Exchange Server 2010 and the 2007 Microsoft Office system let employees collaborate and communicate anywhere and anytime.

Leveraging New Ways to Work is brought to you at no charge by Microsoft and ISHIR. Space is limited at this exclusive event, so be sure to register today.

Suggested attendees:
• VP, Director or Manager of IT
• Business Decision Maker
• Technology Decision Maker
• Anyone who is interested in the latest technology

Don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity – register today! @ http://www.ishir.com/webinar-leveraging-new-ways-to-work.htm

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Posted in Technology Webinars | No Comments »

Webinar: Security and Reliability in the Cloud

Wednesday, December 9th, 2009

Interested in learning more about the security and reliability of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite and Microsoft cloud computing? If so, please join us for the Microsoft-led webinar, Security and Reliability in the Cloud – A Microsoft Online Services Perspective,

Date     Wednesday, December 9th, 2009
Time:      11:00AM – 12:00PM PST

where enterprise customers can learn about:

* Our geo-redundant data center infrastructure, which can enable you to safely migrate business-critical communications and collaboration capabilities to the cloud.
* Microsoft’s 24×7 support infrastructure and financially backed 99.9% uptime service level agreement.

Security and Reliability in the Cloud – A Microsoft Online Services Perspective is brought to you at no charge by Microsoft and ISHIR. Space is limited at this exclusive event, so be sure to register today.

Suggested attendees:

• VP, Director or Manager of IT
• Business Decision Maker
• Technology Decision Maker
• Anyone who is interested in the latest technology

Don’t miss out on this exclusive opportunity –  register today !!
http://www.ishir.com/webinar-security-and-reliability-in-the-cloud.htm

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Posted in Technology Webinars | No Comments »

Microsoft unveils Windows Azure platform

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

Microsoft has announced the availability of Windows Azure platform and has also unveiled a set of new Windows Azure features, Windows Server capabilities, marketplace offerings and Pinpoint, an online marketplace for its partners to market and sell their applications.

The company introduced a new information service codenamed ‘Dallas’, available through Pinpoint and built on the Windows Azure platform that enables developers and users to access commercial and reference datasets and content on any platform.

Microsoft is also offering Windows Server AppFabric Beta 1, a set of integrated, application services that enable developers to deploy and manage applications spanning both server and cloud.

According to Microsoft, the AppFabric technology combines hosting and caching technologies with the Windows Azure platform AppFabric Service Bus and AppFabric Access Control. Together, these technologies offer a set of application services to enhance both Windows Server and Windows Azure with a common foundation for running .NET applications.

The company also plans to offer Windows Server virtual machine support on Windows Azure, to enable customers to support virtualised infrastructure across the continuum of on-premises and cloud computing, and the release to manufacturing of Windows Identity Foundation, to help developers provide simplified user access to both cloud and on-premises applications with open, identity-based claims.

In addition, it has also released ASP.NET MVC2 beta, a free supported framework that enables developers to build standards-based web applications through asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX) integration.

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Posted in Microsoft Windows Azure | No Comments »