Monthly Archives: May 2012

Session Summary – Desktop to Cloud Office 365 and Windows Intune deployment session

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While the session focused on the larger issue of IT folk capitalising on their existing skill sets to streamline cloud deployments, the technologies at the heart of the discussion were Windows Intune as the application and update delivery platform, and the Office 365 Professional Plus installable components as the bits being delivered.

The new Windows Intune user portal was highlighted for application deployment, with a real time download and installation kick off of Office Pro Plus which only took a few sessions due to the caching infrastructure I tend to promote during deployments.

Special thanks to those who attended, the room was at capacity, and there were plenty of great questions asked, many of them focused on some of the alternative solutions for getting PCs up to date with a minimum of fuss. Just to reiterate, the reasons why I like the Intune and TMG caching combination are as follows…

  • Not limited to the updates that Microsoft pushes via WU/MU/WSUS and derivative solutions, which means that additional MS hotfixes can be deployed easily.
  • Other applications can be installed, such as Office Pro Plus, the Office 365 sign in assistant, and Lync.
  • A single tool can be used for initial reporting of application inventory and required updates, and that tool is then used to deploy the required software, and provide ongoing reporting of what is currently running
  • I am biased

Once again, for those of you who attended, I extend my sincere thanks, it was great to be back out in front of an audience after a six month absence.

Catch intunedin.net at the Desktop to Cloud event on May 19, Sydney

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I will be delivering a session on optimising Office 365 and Windows Intune deployments at the following event, my first public activity in a while, so forgive any rustiness…

Details

Date: Saturday, 19th of May 2012 Location: North Ryde RSL Club, 33 Magdala Rd, North Ryde NSW. 2113. Time: 8.30am – 5.30pm (doors open at 7.30am) Cost: $44 inc GST ($22 in GST prior to 5th May with promo code EARLYBIRD) Registration: http://desktoptocloud.eventbrite.com/

Download Full Agenda

Learn what the ‘cloud’ really means for you and your business. You’ll find answers to question like: What is the ‘cloud’? What can it do for my business? In the sessions you’ll hear from the many experts who will be present but you’ll also get the opportunity to network with them throughout the day. This event is all about giving you the most current information about the latest in desktop, mobile and cloud technologies. Sessions are designed to cater to all levels from beginners to IT Professional, business owner to the tech savvy. Beyond the sessions you’ll be able to rub shoulders with industry experts and others businesses to learn how to make the cloud really work for you.

This event is designed to provide attendees with the latest information about desktop and cloud based solutions. It is open to everyone interested in technology and will be conducted in two tracks:

A. Consumer

Focus on technologies such as Windows 8, the desktop and mobile experience as well as cloud options such as Windows Live, Skydrive, and more.

B. IT Professional

Focus on the technical details around Office 365, private cloud, corporate cloud based solutions and more.

Each track will have a number of sessions throughout the day and attendees are free to attend sessions they wish during their time.

 

Entry includes:

- Entry to all sessions – Refreshments including morning and afternoon tea as well as lunch – WiFi Internet access – On site parking – Prize draws and giveaways

New Virtualization certification articles posted on Australian Microsoft Partner Blog

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As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been writing a series of articles for the Microsoft Australia Partner Team on certification strategies.

The latest one on Virtualization is now live, and it’s full of information that’s useful whether you are building out an internal test environment for virtualization projects, or preparing for the related Microsoft exams. The build and test environment here at Intunedin is currently running on top of Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2, with some System Center Operations Manager 2007 and System Center Configuration Manager 2007 thrown in for good measure. The better equipped you are to be able to build out new images and test scenarios in an automated fashion, the more productive you will be.

New video posted – Windows Intune April 2012 Pre-Release Client Install and End User Portal

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This video gives a short introduction to the client installation process, and includes some hints and tips for a smoother and faster client install procedure, and also gives a first glimpse at the self service portal for users where they can assign the device to their account, as well as choose which applications to install.

Client Install and Self Service Portal

What’s been happening at intunedin.net?

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The last week has been a busy week here, with yours truly wirting a series of articles for the Microsoft Partner Blog, which you can see here and here, and several more queued up for publication.

This motivated me to get around to sitting the three MCP Exams required to achieve the MCITP: Virtualization Administrator on Windows Server 2008 R2 certification, which is the next article that should appear on the MS site.

Later this week intunedin will be back to it’s normal focus, with a whole bunch of new content on the beta, but first there’s a Metallica, MachineHead and Gojira concert that needs to be attended.