February 05, 2010

Bloggen op de website van De Zaak

Vanaf vandaag ben ik een van de bloggers op de website van ‘De Zaak’. Ik doe hier mijn uiterste best om onderwerpen rond het thema ICT en Online diensten zo goed en hopelijk ook zo leuk mogelijk neer te zetten.

Heb je feedback, suggesties of vragen laat het me aub weten.

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http://www.dezaak.nl/weblogs/peter-de-haas

January 27, 2010

SkyTeam bespaart aanzienlijk met overstap op Microsoft online applicaties

Wortell, een van de Microsoft Online Services partners van het eerste uur is verantwoordelijk voor deze mooie BPOS implementatie. SharePoint Online wordt nu gebruikt door ongeveer 450 medewerkers van de luchtvaartmaatschappijen die binnen SkyTeam in werkgroepen samenwerken.

… SkyTeam, de wereldwijde alliantie van luchtvaartmaatschappijen, heeft gekozen voor de Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). BPOS is door SkyTeam in samenwerking met Wortell geïmplementeerd. Het centrale kantoor van de alliantie op Schiphol werkt al enkele maanden met de onderdelen Exchange Online, Office Communications Online en Live Meeting. Het laatste onderdeel van BPOS, SharePoint Online is nu ook in gebruik genomen. Door deze keuze wordt een kostenbesparing bereikt van ongeveer 50 procent vergeleken met een traditionele omgeving.

SkyTeam heeft negen leden – Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, Aeroflot, Delta Air Lines, China Southern Airlines, Czech Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines en Korean Air – en twee geassocieerde maatschappijen Air Europa en Kenya Airways. Met 13.122 vluchten per dag vervoeren de SkyTeam-leden (www.skyteam.com) jaarlijks 384 miljoen passagiers naar 856 bestemmingen in 169 landen. Het centrale kantoor van de alliantie gebruikt nu de volledige Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite voor de bijna 20 medewerkers die veel mobiel werken. Zij hebben dankzij BPOS altijd en overal, gemakkelijk en snel toegang tot hun bedrijfsgegevens. Aangezien het centrale kantoor in Amsterdam staat, werd in Nederland gezocht naar een Microsoft-partner voor de implementatie van BPOS. Wortell voldeed het beste aan de eisen.

SkyTeam heeft voor BPOS gekozen om het IT-beheer zoveel mogelijk te beperken. Dankzij de overstap op BPOS zijn geen investeringen nodig in de serverinfrastructuur, softwarelicenties en IT-personeel. Bruno Faccini, verantwoordelijk voor IT bij SkyTeam: “Ik denk dat we met de overstap op BPOS ongeveer 50 procent van de kosten besparen, vergeleken met de voorgaande situatie. De bekendheid met de tools - zodat er geen tijd verloren gaat met het leerproces - en de probleemloze integratie met onze IT-omgeving waren voor ons belangrijke redenen om te kiezen voor het online-aanbod van Microsoft.” SkyTeam heeft ook gekeken naar voor de hand liggende alternatieven. Maar de Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite sloot naadloos aan op de systemen die SkyTeam al in gebruik had. Ook kon BPOS in gebruik worden genomen zonder noemenswaardige IT-inspanningen.

Danny Burlage, oprichter en Technisch Directeur van Wortell: "De migratie naar BPOS is relatief simpel. Organisaties die hun hele e-mail infrastructuur migreren zijn doorgaans binnen enkele weken klaar met het complete project, waarbij de technische migratie veelal binnen enkele dagen is gedaan. Met BPOS kunnen we dus in zeer korte tijd een complete zakelijke online omgeving opbouwen, zonder na te hoeven denken over de technische infrastructuur. Het gaat dus voornamelijk om de bedrijfsmatige inrichting van de software, zoals we bij SkyTeam met SharePoint Online hebben gedaan." …

Bron en vervolg van persbericht : MCSonline.nl

Cloud Computing Security Considerations

Microsoft already published a number of papers on security privacy and compliancy in relation to online services and cloud computing. The following paper creates a good overview of all different aspects in using ‘the cloud’ in a secure way :

A high-level discussion of the fundamental challenges and benefits of cloud computing security, plus some of the questions that cloud service providers and organisations using cloud services need to consider when evaluating a new move, or expansion of existing services, to the cloud. This document presumes that the reader is familiar with the core concepts of cloud computing and basic principles of cloud security. It is not the goal of this paper to provide all the answers to the questions of security in the cloud or to provide an exhaustive framework for cloud security.

Source : Microsoft.com

January 23, 2010

Misvatting over Online Diensten in educatie

Eergisteren had ik een aardige “discussie” op twitter met Ernst Fuld (@efuld) van o.a. NGN over Online diensten in de educatie sector. Dit was naar aanleiding van nieuws dat Universitiet van Utrecht GMail aan haar studenten gaat bieden.

Ernst reageerde daarop met :

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Dit triggerde een korte tweet-wisseling :

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Het is namelijk zo dat er geen 25 GB email capaciteit geboden wordt door Google in educatie, maar “slechts” 7.414998 GB . Google laat de capaciteit heel langzaam groeien.

Ernst was van mening dat het toch de standaard 25 GB was, maar de Google Apps voor educatie pagina bevestigt het tegendeel.

Dus bij deze is dat misverstand de wereld uit. Google Apps voor educatie is niet hetzelfde als de standaard omgeving.

 

Even later nam Melle Gloerich (@mgloerich) ook nog even deel aan de discussie :

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1. Kosten voor Google / Microsoft in educatie ?

2. Meer storage voor Google ?

3. BPOS (Microsoft Online Services) voor educatie ?

 

Ik heb Melle belooft daar even wat uitgebreider op te reageren, dus bij deze :


1. Kosten voor Google / Microsoft in educatie ?

Google en Microsoft hebben beiden een gratis oplossing voor educatie instelling. Deze is gratis voor studenten/leerlingen, personeel en alumni.

Een kort overzicht met de highlights van Microsoft Live@EDU:

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2. Meer storage voor Google ?

 

Totaal dus 40GB opslag voor studenten, medewerkers met Microsoft Live@EDU.

Dit is aanzienlijk meer dan Google biedt. In een blogpost van april vorig jaar heb ik ook een evaluatie van Google Apps vs Microsoft Live@EDU

Denk je daarnaast eens in hoeveel educatieinstelling dus zouden kunnen besparen op hun opslagkosten.

Een grote groep instellingen heeft ook al voor Microsoft’s oplossingen in educatie gekozen. Een moie recente referentie is Canisius College uit Nijmegen :

Het Canisius College kiest met Live@edu voor de beste communicatie- en online samenwerkomgeving voor leerlingen en leraren
Het Canisius College was op zoek naar een communicatie- en online samenwerkoplossing voor leraren en leerlingen die goed aansluit bij hun behoeften. Lange tijd had de school een voorkeur voor Google Apps.

 

3. BPOS (Microsoft Online Services) voor educatie

 

Ja, naast Microsoft Live@EDU heeft een instelling ook de keuze om online diensten via Microsoft Online Services af te nemen. Dit is niet gratis, maar er gelden voor educatie instellingen wel speciale tarieven. Voor meer informatie over de prijzen kunnen instellingen terecht bij hun Licentiepartner (SURFdiensten, APSIT en SLB diensten.

Er wordt al veelvuldig gebruik gemaakt van Microsoft Online :

Schools adopting Microsoft Online Services

Universities are beginning to embrace the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite on campus, which is comprised of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online and Office Live Meeting. These products have been traditionally on premise, but are now available in a paid-for, hosted environment in the cloud that Microsoft manages for you that you can buy through partners.  These online services offer streamlined communication, simplified management and business-class security and reliability…and new this quarter, we are increasing the mailbox size five-fold to 25 GB for every user.  Recent customer wins include:

University System of Ohio. The state of Ohio has signed an Education Alliance Agreement with Microsoft that will bring a cloud computing approach to the entire state. Exchange Online is one of many products that will provide significant cost savings, increased productivity and improved performance while minimizing environmental impact.
Hofstra University. Hofstra is moving its faculty and staff to Exchange Online. By using Microsoft’s security, spam filtering and archiving capabilities, the technical staff will be able to concentrate on providing other high-valued academic services to the University.
• Belmont University. Belmont is using Exchange Online to serve approximately 1,400 faculty and staff email accounts. The Exchange Online implementation supports the school’s green initiatives by saving space and energy costs. They anticipate saving about $30,000 a year by not having to hire additional IT staff to support.

Bron: Microsoft Education Blog

Microsoft biedt dus verschillende opties, keuze,  voor educatie instellingen hoe zij hun ICT omgeving willen inrichten. Het onderstaande document geeft inzicht welke afwegingen een instelling kan maken in de keuze voor bijvoorbeeld het email platform :

En hier blijft het niet bij … Coming soon:

  • Office Web Applications (Office in de browser, Safari, FF, IE)
  • SharePoint Online based collaboration (met office Web Apps)  - gratis voor studenten

New collaboration opportunities

We are also announcing new SharePoint Online-based collaboration and productivity services will be available for students as part of the Live@edu next year. These new SharePoint-based services will offer IT departments more flexibility and control to set up and manage their school’s collaboration and productivity tools in a security-enhanced environment…as well as the ability to access and manage permissions to sites, documents and content (pictures, videos) with enterprise-class control.

For students, these new services give them access to similar types of functionality that has made SharePoint the fastest growing server product in Microsoft history. It will enable them to create, edit and securely access content from their school’s site anywhere, whether at home, at the school library or even while on the road for holiday. It will allow them to organize, track and easily share classroom information, interests, expertise and easily find colleagues. By leveraging Office Web Apps that are currently in technical preview, students will have a new online space where they can securely upload, easily share, and collaborate on documents, including in-place editing. We believe this will better prepare them for the workforce through use of functionality and technology used every day in the workplace.

Microsoft’s software plus services model—which spans mission-critical datacenter availability and security, Live@edu, Microsoft Online Services collaboration and communication offerings, and Windows Azure—combines the reach and flexibility of the cloud with the power of on-premises software applications. Today, we see that people want to access information on the PC, in the browser and on a mobile device…and I think this the real value in moving to the cloud…having the flexibility and choice to run your solutions either in the cloud, on premises, or a mix of the two.

Bron: Microsoft Education Blog

Microsoft Online diensten in educatie … now you know …

January 21, 2010

Email market share is getting more confusing by the day

Email market share has been a discussion topic shortly after the solution came to market (ages ago) and it is also a fun topic for many people.

Although “Email in the cloud” was introduced in the mid-90’s, it now has become a hot topic in the whole email market share discussion. This becomes clear when you look at for example a recent article on LotusLive :

…With LotusLive, launched just a year ago, the effort is to allow people to be able to stay in their in-box and bring work tasks, information, and people together, in context. It has 18 million users today compared to just about 1 million each for Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) and Google Premier Apps. …

The conclusion looks straightforward :

  • 18 M users in Lotus Live
  • 1 M in BPOS
  • 1 M in GAPE

The question it raises : What are the various platforms and what functionality is offered, licensed and used. So are we comparing apples to apples ?

A second question it raises : which email platform(s) does the vendor offer. Assuming you can only sell so many different email platforms to 1 company, 1 solution is gaining share while the other is loosing right ?

So 2 interesting tables / charts to build would be :

  1. An overview of email platform(s) offered per vendor
  2. An All-up market share view of total mailboxes per vendor with maybe a consumer / business split.

Request to all of you interested in this topic :

I will make a start with this but would very much appreciate your comments / tweets to public data sources that can help me figure this out.

January 14, 2010

SharePoint Online in the 2010 wave

2010 is an important year for Microsoft Online Services. The “wave 14” platform with all the new Office Servers (Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications) will also be part of the new major release of Microsoft Online Services / BPOS.

Arpan Shah provides a high-level overview of what’s to come with SahrePoint 2010 Online :

… I’m a big fan of SharePoint Online along with over one million other users out there. It’s a reliable, convenient service that allows companies to take advantage of SharePoint without having to host it themselves. It’s software-as-a-service at it’s best. 

SharePoint Online today, based on SharePoint 2007, does a good job providing some of the core SharePoint capabilities. In the second half of this calendar year, SharePoint Online will be updated to SharePoint 2010 at which point it will be even more powerful & provide even greater parity with SharePoint 2010 “On-Premises”. This is largely due to all the investments we’ve made in the 2010 wave around multi-tenancy and extensibility. …

… Fore more information, you can also check out a recent podcast I did on SharePoint Online @ http://www.sharepointpodshow.com/archive/2010/01/13/sharepoint-online-and-sharepoint-2010-ecm-episode-41.aspx

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Continue at Source: SharePoint Online in the 2010 wave

Total Recall Is Coming

I just ordered Jim Gemmel’s and Gordon Bell’s book Total Recall.

Total Recall

I had heard a lot about this project over the last few years and after reading the article below became very curious about the details. The article shows where this can lead …

For the last 10 years, Gordon Bell and Jim Gemmell of Microsoft Research have been scanning and digitising their entire lives: documents, phone calls, files, chat sessions, email, the web pages they read, the TV and radio shows they watched and listened to, where they want, what applications they had open…

Over the next 10 years, you’re going to do the same, Gemmell told the Storage Visions conference at CES 2010.

“What if you could remember literally everything you’ve ever read, everything you’ve ever seen, everything you’ve ever heard – and things that are not usually in human memory like what’s the temperature of the room, what’s the humidity. We’re entering a world where increasingly, if something can be instrumented it will be; there are sensors everywhere. We’re entering a world of total recall.”

“You will record way more of your life than in past history,” Gemmell says, because of three trends. “We’re already wandering around with digital cameras, phones with cameras that record audio and some of them know your location… as time goes by we get the sensed world.

“Storage is becoming so cheap and abundant that it blows our minds. And there’s the software; we have the technology to do something with all those bits. We have the technology to search, to analyse, to visualise the information.” …

Continue at Source : Total Recall Is Coming

Microsoft Presentation on Cloud Computing

New presentation from Microsoft about Cloud Computing

Microsoft enables organizations to embrace the cloud to help increase agility and reduce costs and carbon footprint while having the confidence of enterprise-class service accountability, reliability, and security.

Our platform enables a consistent, connected experience—for developers, who can quickly embrace the cloud with a consistent, cohesive platform/programming model, and for users, who can transition seamlessly from their PC to the Web or mobile phone. And with unmatched breadth and depth, we give organizations the power to choose whatever combination of enterprise-class software and services that works best for their business, plus the flexibility to change that combination whenever their needs change.

Designed for enterprise executives, this fully scripted presentation introduces Microsoft's vision for cloud computing in the enterprise. It includes external perspectives on the increasing interest in cloud computing, an overview of Microsoft's approach, and examples of customer success stories.

Download : here

December 15, 2009

Boek ‘Over Cloud Computing’ is uit

Met gepaste trots mag je dan zeggen … Mijn collega, Rene van Haaster en ik hebben een bijdrage geleverd aan het boek ‘over Cloud Computing’ van uitgeverij TIEM. We hebben hierin een hoofdstuk geschreven over de Software + Services strategie. Het boek bevat ook een hoofdstuk van Danny Burlage van Wortell dat volledig gewijdt is aan Microsoft Online Services / BPOS …

 

Over Cloud Computing

Waarom een taxi kopen, als je alleen vervoer nodig hebt?

Cloud computing. Wat is het en welke mogelijkheden biedt het? Dit boek geeft antwoorden over dit fenomeen. Op heldere wijze ontsluiten achttien experts hun kennis over dit onderwerp. Een kijkje in de techniek wordt afgewisseld met een meer strategische verhandeling, waarna u een concreet stappenplan voor mogelijke toetreding tot de cloud krijgt aangereikt.. Experts tonen aan dat betrouwbare ict ivoor iedereen betaalbaar en bereikbaar is, via cloud computing. Het is niet langer nodig grote investeringen te doen. Want inderdaad: waarom een taxi kopen als je alleen vervoer nodig hebt?

 

192 pagina's

Prijs: € 26,50 euro (incl. 6% btw en excl. verzendkosten)

Bron : Tiem uitgeverij

December 10, 2009

Answers to your technical questions about Microsoft Online Services | BPOS

As with any new product or services, people have a lot of questions. On Microsoft Technet there is a very comprehensive portal about all there is to know about Microsoft Online Services :

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Microsoft Online Services TechCenter

November 25, 2009

CSC Signs Cloud Computing Agreement With UK Royal Mail Group

Very strong BPOS win for CSC. UK’s Royal Mail is moving to Microsoft Online Services with 30.000 users ..

… today announced that it has signed an agreement with the UK's Royal Mail Group to provide cloud computing information technology (IT) services. The new agreement expands the company's current contract signed with Royal Mail Group in 2003 to maintain its desktop computers and manage and develop its servers, mainframes and IT processes.


The new contract is an industry first, with CSC being the first Microsoft partner to lead and win a cloud computing services agreement of this scale. Under terms of the contract, CSC will provide Royal Mail Group's 30,000 employees with access to new IT services using Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), part of Microsoft Online Services. CSC will also provide first line helpdesk support. …

Continue at source : CSC.com

November 18, 2009

Microsoft Cloud Services Vision Becomes Reality With Launch of Windows Azure Platform

Yesterday, NOvember 17th 2009 Microsoft announced the availability of the Windows Azure Platform, another major milestone in the execution of Microsoft cloud services strategy : Software + Services :

… Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the Windows Azure platform at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC). In his opening keynote address, Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft, described Windows Azure and SQL Azure as core elements of the company’s cloud services strategy. The company also announced a set of new Windows Azure features, Windows Server capabilities, and marketplace offerings that will make it easier for developers to build profitable businesses from their Microsoft-based solutions.

“Customers want choice and flexibility in how they develop and deploy applications,” Ozzie said. “We’re moving into an era of solutions that are experienced by users across PCs, phones and the Web, and that are delivered from datacenters we refer to as private clouds and public clouds. Built specifically for this era of cloud computing, Windows Azure and SQL Azure will give developers what they need to build great applications and profitable businesses.”

In his keynote address, Ozzie described the company’s “three screens and a cloud” vision, where software experiences are seamlessly delivered across PCs, phones and TVs, all connected by cloud-based services. Underscoring the IT industry’s shift toward a hybrid approach of online services combined with on-premises software, Ozzie described the programming model for a powerful new generation of applications for both businesses and consumers, enabled by new Microsoft development tools and technologies. He also demonstrated customer and partner commitment to Microsoft’s development platform with Seesmic, WordPress and Cheezburger Network. …

Continue at Source : Microsoft Presspass

Gartner Fellows Interview With Microsoft's Ray Ozzie on Cloud Computing

Gartner recently did an interview with Ray Ozzie on Microsoft’s vision on “cloud-based computing” … Microsoft’s Software + Services vision and execution is comprehensive and well on track …

… Cloud-based computing will create the biggest discontinuity of the IT landscape since the Internet. We sat down with Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft, to discuss his vision for cloud computing, and the impact on enterprise computing and the IT industry.

Overview

Cloud-based computing will fundamentally transform how enterprises procure and consume technology solutions. Vendors such as Microsoft, which rely almost exclusively on revenue from traditional shrink-wrapped software, are threatened by the shift, but must embrace the technological and business model discontinuities. At this critical transition point for Microsoft, and nearly a year after Microsoft publicly disclosed its cloud-computing strategy, Gartner Fellows Neil MacDonald and David Smith met with Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie to talk about how Microsoft and the industry have progressed during the past year, and to look ahead at what's next for cloud computing.

Key Findings

  • Ozzie's (and thus, Microsoft's) vision of cloud computing emphasizes hybrid enterprise/cloud computing, where organizations choose when and where computing takes place locally versus in cloud-based infrastructure, and emphasizes that the on-premises and cloud-based solutions work seamlessly together.
  • As with early encryption issues, Ozzie believes that security and privacy issues will be addressed as the industry matures in a combination of legislative advances, as well as industry cooperation.
  • Ozzie's vision for cloud computing includes system infrastructure, an application platform and finished applications being delivered as a service.
  • Microsoft is investing in its own data centers because it must in order to provide its consumer-based services. It believes it is helping to lead the industry in providing innovations in data center architectures.
  • Ozzie believes the future of cloud computing is in the experience delivered via a browser across multiple devices — mobile, PC and TV-type screens — which is a vision he refers to as "three screens and a cloud."

Continue at Source : Gartner.com

    November 13, 2009

    Eenvoudig je hyves vrienden toevoegen aan Windows Live Messenger en Hotmail

    Grote kans dat je een Hyves profiel hebt. Voeg in één keer al je Hyves vrienden toe aan Windows Live. Zo kun je chatten en mailen met al je Hyves vrienden vanuit Windows Live Messenger en Windows Live Hotmail! Al jouw vrienden overzichtelijk bij elkaar. Met de stappen hieronder voeg je jouw Hyves vrienden zó toe!

    Voeg je
 Hyves vrienden toe aan Windows Live

    Download de Windows Live Toolbar

    Voeg nu je Hyves vrienden toe!

    November 09, 2009

    Microsoft is de nummer 1 op het web

    Naar aanleiding van een recent onderzoek naar de tijd die gebruikers online besteden en met name met welke diensten ze dit doen komt Microsoft als nummer 1 uit de bus :

    Microsoft staat boven Google en Yahoo

    Het gebruik van Windows Live Messenger heeft ervoor gezorgd dat wereldwijd 14,5% van de tijd die online wordt doorgebracht men actief is op sites en programma’s van Microsoft. Volgens comScore verslaan ze daarmee Google, Yahoo en Facebook.

    Bron: Dutch Cowboys

    Microsoft levert populairste online-diensten

    Wereldwijd wordt de meeste tijd op internet besteed aan diensten van Microsoft. De softwareproducent blijft Google en Yahoo voor, zo blijkt uit cijfers van comScore. Met name het chatprogramma Live Messenger zorgt voor veel bezoekuren voor Microsoft.

    Bron: NU.nl

    Microsoft blijkt nummer één op het web

    Bijna 15 procent van alle tijd op het web wordt besteedt aan een van de online-diensten van Microsoft. Vooral Live Messenger trekt veel bezoekuren.

    Bron: WebWereld

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