SQL Server® 2008 R2 November CTP Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint® Technologies 2010

You need this to enable SSRS on SQL Server 2008 R2 to work with SharePoint 2010.

Download details: SQL Server® 2008 R2 November CTP Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint® Technologies 2010: "SQL Server® 2008 R2 November CTP Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint® Technologies 2010"

Download details: PHP on Windows Training Kit

"PHP on Windows Training Kit" by Microsoft, available free for download.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=c8498c9b-a85a-4afa-90c0-593d0e4850cb

Office Communications Server Team Blog : Free Instructor-Led Training for end-users: Introduction to Office Communicator

Office Communications Server Team Blog : Free Instructor-Led Training for end-users: Introduction to Office Communicator: "Free Instructor-Led Training for end-users: Introduction to Office Communicator"

Download details: Critical BI Platform Whitepaper

Download details: Critical BI Platform Whitepaper: "Critical Business Intelligence Platform for the Agile Enterprise"

Cisco Space Router (IRIS) Is Orbiting The Earth Now

Cisco has successfully launched it's first IP router in space abroad Intelsat's IS-14 satellite on Nov. 23, 2009. The satellite and the router attests a major milestone in Internet Routing in Space (IRIS) technology.

German government warns against using MS Explorer

From my friend Mike Veltman

I like the statement made by the spokesman of Microsoft Germany, that this was a specific attack by highly motivated people. Somehow I doubt that other hackers abusing Internet explorer are less motivated. Money always motivates very well.

Russian hackers who want to plunder your accounts are also highly motivated people. So saying that this is a special occasion is a joke.There will always be people who exploit the weaknesses of software for own gain. Whatever these gains would be.But those hackers would focus on Firefox when 95% of the users would use that. So its not only a IE problem. But saying that this is special occasion would will make all security people laugh".

Here is the news at BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8463516.stm

Virtualboy @ TechNet Edge

Great resources on anything virtual on Windows 2008 R2, be it RDS or Hyper-V, this is the place: VirtualBoy

Windows 7's 'GodMode'

Understanding Windows 7's 'GodMode' Beyond Binary - CNET News: "Understanding Windows 7's 'GodMode'"

Avaya Lists 10 Communications Trends for 2010

Avaya Lists 10 Communications Trends for 2010: "Avaya Lists 10 Communications Trends for 2010"

Plan, Planning, Baseline and something is better than nothing

A well-prepared plan provides the management team with a means to accomplish project objectives and to direct work and assess project status and is critical to the success of the project. Assessing project status requires a baseline project plan from which cost, schedule, and performance status can be compared and change management corrective actions taken, if required.

A plan is nothing more than our best estimate of how a project will be performed. Plans must be modified as a project progresses. The right thing to do is to develop and baseline the deliverables and assumptions and plan to the best of our ability. Imperfect planning is far better than no planning!

The set of plans required for a project are unique to each project. Use this sequence of plan preparation to ensure inter-plan consistency.

• Baseline the Requirements
• Determine the Technical Approach
  Determine major risks
• Develop the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), Organizational Breakdown Structure (OBS), Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM), and Financial Control Structure
• Identify resource training needs (as part of the project team training plan)
• Identify risks and perform risk assessment and mitigation planning
• Develop the Schedules, Resource Requirements and Cost Estimates
• Update the Resources and Budgets
• Set up the cost management and control approach (as part of the Cost Management & Control Plan)
• Develop the escalation and jeopardy plans
• Define the project status-ing and reporting Approach (as part of the Communications Plan)
• Define project information system and distribution needs (as part of the Project Information System)

To summarize,

Something is better than nothing.
Start with a baseline and update as project progresses. In time, your baseline gets more accurate.

Microsot's FastStart Kit for UC

Did you know about the FastStart Kit from Microsoft on Unified Communications?
This is especially very useful when working on pre-sales with customer, especially in the Architectural Design Sessions (ADS).

Microsoft has developed a number of pre-sales supporting materials with their FastStart kits. This helps the sales/project team to present ADS in light of an individual product capability possessing the most potential for high impact with the client. Some of them are:
Unified Messaging
Security
Voice and Conferencing

These kits provide a great deal of guidance and content that may be heavily leveraged when creating deliverables for an ADS project. Each provides architecture with emphasis on a particular client interest or concern and each contains a comprehensive execution guide, ADS PowerPoint presentation, Discussion Guide, and FAQ document.

Here are some download links:

Unified Communications – Voice and Conferencing FastStart Kit
Unified Communications – Security FastStart Kit
Unified Communications – Unified Messaging FastStart Kit

OCS R2 Enhances Unified Communications - Unified Communications Strategies Views - Unified Communications Strategies - Print View

OCS R2 Enhances Unified Communications - Unified Communications Strategies Views - Unified Communications Strategies - Print View: "OCS R2 Enhances Unified Communications"

Rob Costello : OCS QOE and QMS

Rob Costello : OCS QOE and QMS: "OCS QOE and QMS"

ISA 2006 SP1 Configuration with Exchange 2010

Here is a very precise document on how to configure ISA 2006 SP1 for Exchange 2010

http://msexchangeteam.com/archive/2009/12/17/453625.aspx

Unify Square Introduces Comprehensive Reporting/Billing and Bandwidth Management Product Suite for Enterprise Office Communications Server

Unify Square, a leading services and solutions firm in Unified Communications (UC) and Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS), announced today a software product suite designed to help global enterprises optimize their UC investments by monitoring and driving OCS usage, integrating with billing and chargeback information, and enabling comprehensive bandwidth planning across the enterprise

Read more here .. http://newsblaze.com/story/2009121713282100002.mwir/topstory.html

i am presenting at Microsoft Singapore's Community Technology Update, 19 Dec 09

http://mstechevents.sg/ViewEvent.aspx?eventId=279.

The OFFICIAL Dilbert Widget

Download details: Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2010 (KB976573)

Download details: Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2010 (KB976573): "Update Rollup 1 for Exchange Server 2010 (KB976573)"

Black Screen of Death on Windows 7 official statement

“The reports on the so called “Black Screens” was investigated by Microsoft and found to be inaccurate. The company which issued the report has apologized and made a full retraction. Windows 7 security updates was not the cause of the black screens. There is no fix or update necessary for this, but customers should keep their anti-virus software up-to-date as a preventative measure. So far, Microsoft is not seeing an occurrence of this particular issue in our support channels locally.

Misleading report on Black Screen of Death on Windows 7

I would like to bring your attention to inaccurate stories following a report by a British company claiming that customers who deployed the Windows 7 November Security updates have experienced the so-called “Black Screens” that would render the system unbootable and unusable due to changes in the registry.

Here’s the background for your reference:
Microsoft has found these reports to be inaccurate. Comprehensive investigation has shown that none of the recently released updates are related to the behavior described in the reports. Microsoft’s support organization is also not seeing this as an issue. The claims also do not match any known issues that have been documented in our security bulletins.

On December 1, Prevx, the company which issued the report, posted an apology to Microsoft which stated the following: “Since more specifically narrowing down the cause we have been able to exonerate these patches from being a contributory factor.”

According to Microsoft’s blog post, the real culprit is a piece of malware that clears desktops and produces a black screen on infected PCs; various security vendors have tools for removing this malware. There is no fix or update necessary for this, but customers should keep their anti-virus software up-to-date as a preventative measure.

So far, Microsoft is not seeing a massive occurrence of this particular issue in our support channels. If customers do encounter an issue with a security update, contact our Customer Service and Support group for no-charge assistance at http://support.microsoft.com/security.

The protection and well-being of Microsoft's customers’ PCs through the deployment of Security Updates is the ultimate goal of the Microsoft Security Response Center.

Because of this, Microsoft continually work with their Customer Service and Support teams to keep a close eye for issues that may impact customers’ deployment of security updates.

Consumers can also download Microsoft Security Essentials provided free.