The Cloud and why it important to you the IT professional

A private cloud delivers fundamentally new capabilities that represent a generational paradigm shift in computing.

By pooling resources across the datacenter and the enterprise and offering an elastic and usage-based self-service model, a private cloud solution simplifies deployment, maintenance, and cost, while increasing agility and power.

And this paradigm shift in computing means a paradigm shift in the skills IT professionals will need to configure, deploy, monitor, and operate private cloud solutions of today—and tomorrow. The increased capacity and capability of Private Cloud solutions means that IT Professionals and Developers will need to have a new and broader set of skills.

These means there are opportunities for you to learn and deliver solution to your customers and companies today !

Microsoft Learning is addressing this need for new skills by ensuring it offers training and certifications that enable IT Pros and Developers to develop and validate their skill sets across this new range of skills with a focus on specific technology solutions. One example of this effort is the recently announced private cloud certification.

Available as a Beta release in April, the certification starts with the foundation of current Windows Server 2008 exams, and adds two new System Center 2012 exams, currently in beta.
Get started today by heading over to the Microsoft Private Cloud Certification Overview page. That’s where you can prepare and practice for the certification, sign up for our upcoming Private Cloud Jump Start course, and get a head start on your private cloud certification by starting your MCITP Server Administrator certification.

The traditional datacenter model is changing rapidly—and Microsoft Certification continues to change with it, to help you keep your skills relevant in the new world of the private cloud.

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server Free e-book

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012, by Ross Mistry and Stacia Misner

SQL 2012

Introducing Microsoft SQL Server 2012 includes 10 chapters:

PART I DATABASE ADMINISTRATION (by Ross Mistry)

1. SQL Server 2012 Editions and Engine Enhancements

2. High-Availability and Disaster-Recovery Enhancements

3. Performance and Scalability

4. Security Enhancements

5. Programmability and Beyond-Relational Enhancements

PART II BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE DEVELOPMENT (by Stacia Misner)

6. Integration Services

7. Data Quality Services

8. Master Data Services

9. Analysis Services and PowerPivot

10. Reporting Services

To download this e-book click HERE Expect these files to be available by March 23.

 

Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2003 time to Upgrade

 

Windows XP SP3 and Office 2003

Support Ends April 8, 2014

So what can you do now? If you are a home user or have a small business here is some simple steps to follow.

1st look at you business applications and se if they will run on Windows 7 or Vista. If the app works on Vista should work on windows 7.

Then look at your hardware is there driver(s)  for Windows 7. Your can use the Windows upgrade advisor to learn about your computer and understand what hardware and software will be issues.

When you use the upgrade advisor do your self a favor and connect ALL you devices to the computer 1st then run the advisor..

If your hardware is good to go and you have your software original disk, then BACKUP you computer and verify it a good copy. As when you install Windows 7 you will be formatting your hard drive and will loose all your data, a idea I tell user to do is to buy a new hard drive and put the new operating system on that, that way you can test and verify that the hardware and all your device work. Then if you buy Windows 7 Profession or higher you can use XP more for application that will only work in XP and not on windows 7 …

If the Hardware is old  and you do not want to buy a new computer, and your computer can run Windows 7 switching out the hard drive is a good idea anyway as that is the the one of the 2 items that fail in an old computer. Power supply being the second.

For more information click here

For business users you should look a

Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) to accelerate and automate deployments of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows Server 2008, and Microsoft Office products.

For more information click here

 

 

Windows 8 Information

Today the Springboard site went live with content about windows 8 !!!!!

This is the go to site for Information about windows 8. The site has content  about the following subjects

To learn more  go http://technet.microsoft.com/windows/windows-8.

Essential Downloads

 

Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit

The Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP) Toolkit is an agentless, automated, multi-product planning and assessment tool for quicker and easier desktop and server migrations. MAP provides detailed readiness assessment reports and executive proposals with extensive hardware and software information, and actionable recommendations to help organizations accelerate their IT infrastructure planning process, and gather more detail on assets that reside within their current environment. MAP also provides private and public cloud planning assessments, and server utilization data for Hyper-V server virtualization planning; identifying server placements, and performing virtualization candidate assessments, including ROI analysis for server consolidation with Hyper-V. Other significant new features in MAP 6.5 include the discovery of active Windows devices, Software Usage Tracking for Forefront Endpoint Protection (FEP), and the discovery of Oracle instances on Itanium-based servers with HP-UX to assist in the planning of migration to SQL Server. Learn more.
MAP is one of the tools provided by the Microsoft Solution Accelerators team. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, and Security Compliance Manager provide tested guidance and automated tools to help organizations plan, securely deploy, and manage new Microsoft technologies—easier, faster, and at less cost. All are freely available, and fully-supported by Microsoft. Learn more.
For home users and users with a few computers to migrate, use the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to understand the readiness of your computer for Windows 7.
The MAP Toolkit includes the following components:

  • Microsoft_Assessment_and_Planning_Toolkit_Setup.exe. Installation package containing the tool, release notes, Getting Started Guide and toolkit help (chm file).
  • readme_en.htm. Available as a separate download. Provides information to read before installing the MAP Toolkit, including installation prerequisites and known issues.
  • Getting_Started_Guide.en.doc. Provides information about toolkit installation, environment preparation, and assessment scenarios supported by toolkit wizards and the UI.
  • MAP_Training_Kit.zip. Available as a separate download. Contains sample databases and training materials.
  • MAP_Sample_Documents.zip. Available as a separate download. Contains sample reports and proposals.

To learn more go here.

This is a Microsoft article copied and posted here.

Join the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Beta 2

Join the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 Beta 2
New features and enhancements make large-scale desktop and server deployments smoother than ever. For System Center Configuration Manager customers, MDT 2012 Beta 2 provides an improved, extensible wizard and designer for customizing deployment questions. Existing MDT users will find more reliability and flexibility with the many small enhancements and bug fixes, and a smooth and simple upgrade process.

 

To find out more click here

 

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Windows XP End of Support: April 8, 2014

On April 8, 2014, security patches and hotfixes for all versions of Windows XP will no longer be available. This means that, after this date, PCs running Windows XP will be vulnerable to security threats. In addition, many third party software providers are not planning to extend support for their applications running on Windows XP, which translates to even more complexity, risk, and ultimately, added management cost for your IT department if you are still managing Windows XP environments. Explore your options with this blog post from the Springboard Series and download the Windows XP End Of Support Countdown Gadget to help remind you about this important milestone.

Cross post from Microsoft

Microsoft Certified Career Conference

Microsoft Certified Career Conference

Day 1, March 14, 2012
Start 6:00AM – End 6:00PM Pacific Time
(What time is that in my time zone?)
Day 2, March 15, 2012
Start 6:00AM – End 6:00PM Pacific Time
(What time is that in my time zone?)

This event is free of charge!

CONFERENCE SESSIONS include:

Microsoft Official Courses
Technical sessions for IT professionals, developers, and Office power users, excerpted from Microsoft Official courses, delivered by Microsoft Certified Trainers.
Super Cert Me!
Ready for your certification exam? Find out in these exam preparation sessions.
Career Essentials
Learn how to find and land the right job. Sessions include interviewing skills, resume writing, and more.
People and Technology
Discover how cloud computing, unified communications, and other new technologies can change the way your team works
Opportunity Knocks
New technologies bring new business opportunities. Explore what’s coming next and learn how to get in on the ground floor.
The 60 Minute Rock Star
Learn Office tips and tricks to boost your productivity and impress your colleagues.
A Day in the Life
Thinking about a new role in IT? Real IT professionals, developers and managers tell you what their jobs are really like.

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