Microsoft Online Services - Enterprise Network Services Overview #BPOS

This document describes the Microsoft® Online Services networking infrastructure components and security features that support delivery of all Online Services for the enterprise that use the Internet for transport. These include all of the offerings that are part of Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (Exchange Online, Office Live Meeting, etc), Dynamics, CRM Online, and many others. The document is intended for network engineers and system integrators who work with Microsoft Online Services customers. (Dedicated offerings are covered in a separate downloadable document, Microsoft Online Dedicated Service Descriptions and Service Level Agreements).

The components and features that are described include:

• Enterprise network architecture for Microsoft Online Services
• Microsoft’s Internet connectivity
• Network security Microsoft is constantly investing in new technologies, expansion, and innovation of its network infrastructure.

This document is updated regularly to reflect changes that are deployed to the network to support Microsoft Online Services.

Download @ source : Microsoft Online Services - Enterprise Network Services Overview

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

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 :

Dit triggerde een korte tweet-wisseling :

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 :

 

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.

• Google Apps voor Educatie
• Microsoft Live@EDU

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

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 :

Key Considerations For Exchange Email Deployments In Academic Environments

View more documents from dehaaspeter.

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 …

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.

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

Continue at Source: SharePoint Online in the 2010 wave

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

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

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

Parool : Thuiswerk moet mkb'ers uit de file lokken

Project Digitale Mobiliteit gaat van start in regio Amsterdam. Microsoft Online Services / BPOS maakt hier een belangrijk onderdeel van uit …

… Honderd Amsterdamse kleine ondernemingen gaan op proef hun personeel een half jaar vanuit huis laten werken. Met subsidie van de overheid krijgen de werknemers thuis snel internet en vergadersoftware.

Wanneer het experiment slaagt, krijgt het navolging in de rest van het land, aldus Kees Verhoeven, directeur van MKB Amsterdam.

De proef, in 36 gemeenten rond Amsterdam, moet uitwijzen of thuiswerken een oplossing tegen de files is. Uit onderzoek is gebleken dat veel kleine ondernemers vooroordelen tegen thuiswerken hebben. Zo denken zij dat de investeringen hiervoor in hardware en software hoog zijn en weinig opleveren.
Volgens de organisatoren van de proef, MKB Nederland en adviesbureau Boer & Croon, bedragen de kosten voor thuiswerksoftware slechts 13 euro per maand per werknemer. Voor dat geld wordt de thuiswerker voorzien van Microsoft-programma's voor e-mail, videovergaderen, tekstverwerken en een agenda. …

Bron: Parool.nl

Meer informatie over digitale mobiliteit :

www.digitalemobiliteit.nl

www.microsoft.nl/digitalemobiliteit

InformationWeek: Microsoft Offers Free SaaS To Salesforce, Oracle Customers

Microsoft is making a big push in Online Services this week, also Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online increases the competition …

… The offer for six free months of Dynamics CRM Online came a day after Microsoft dropped prices for cloud versions of Exchange and SharePoint.

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT), which has increased its focus on cloud computing in recent weeks, is now making a big push for its customer-relationship management software-as-a-service. Microsoft announced Tuesday that it's offering six months of free service to customers that switch from Salesforce.com or Oracle CRM On Demand to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.

At the same time, Microsoft eliminated the two-tier pricing and feature structure of Dynamics CRM Online. When it introduced the SaaS in April 2008, it offered a base version with 5 GB of storage for $44 per user per month, and a more feature-rich version with 20 GB of storage for $59 a month. Now it just offers a single version, for $44 a month and 5 GB of storage, which includes 200 custom entities and 200 workflows. …

 

…By comparison, Salesforce.com offers a professional version of CRM for $65 a month, and an enterprise version (its most popular) for $125 a month. Oracle CRM On Demand starts at $70 a month. ..

 

Source : InformationWeek

Microsoft Online Solutions for Education - Live@EDU and BPOS - growing ver fast

The Microsoft Live@EDU team gives a great overview of the current status of Live@EDU … ten of millions of users worldwide and due to great free of charge services such as Outlook Live it is growing very fast at this moment.

Live@edu adoption continues to grow

We continue to gain huge traction with Microsoft Live@edu, our hosted email, communications and collaboration solution for students. In the past four months more than 5,000 schools have enrolled with Live@edu, joining the thousands of other institutions in more than 100 countries already providing Live@edu to tens of millions of students worldwide. Our growth in universities and colleges includes recent wins at the University of Washington and the University of Missouri, as well as:

• Seton Hall. The university chose Live@edu over Google Apps for Education to provide email and collaboration features for its 10,000 students and is currently rolling it out to 70,000 alumni. Read their case study here.
• University of Cincinnati (UC). UC has an extensive 55,000 Live@edu deployment, including user identity management and password synchronization with ILM, a single sign-on portal and more. Students can launch any of the Live@edu applications directly from their Blackboard home page and synchronize with their class schedules.
• Ohio University. Ohio is almost done activating more than 140,000 Live@edu accounts for current students and alumni. While the school is looking to reduce costs and improve communications with alumni, students cite the modern web interface, increased mailbox capacity and powerful search capabilities as top features.
• Colorado Community College System (CCCS). CCCS is comprised of 13 colleges, serving more than 115,000 students annually, and assigns all students Live@edu email accounts to use as a primary point of contact and to ensure timely communications.

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.

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.

Source : Microsoft Education Insights

 

Get started with Live@edu today

http://www.microsoft.com/liveatedu/free-hosted-student-email.aspx

Inside one of the world's largest data centers

Microsoft is very serious about the online services business, very large obviously datacenters play a very important role.

The article also includes some nice pictures

 

CNET gets a tour of Microsoft's 700,000-square-foot Chicago facility--a data center the company says just might be the biggest on the planet.

On the outside, Microsoft's massive new data center resembles the other buildings in the industrial area.

Even the inside of the building doesn't look like that much. The ground floor looks like a large indoor parking lot filled with a few parked trailers.

It's what's inside those trailers, though, that is the key to Microsoft's cloud-computing efforts. Each of the shipping containers in the Chicago data center houses anywhere from 1,800 to 2,500 servers, each of which can be serving up e-mail, managing instant messages, or running applications for Microsoft's soon-to-be-launched cloud-based operating system--Windows Azure.

Upstairs, Microsoft has four traditional raised floor server rooms, each roughly 12,000 square feet and consuming, on average, 3 megawatts of power. It's all part of a data center that will eventually occupy 700,000 square feet, making it one of the world's largest.

"I think, I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think this could be the largest data center in the world," said Arne Josefsberg, general manager of infrastructure services for Microsoft's data center operations.

Even with only half the site ready for computers, the center has 30 megawatts of capacity--many times that found in a typical facility.

On a hot day, Microsoft would rely on 7.5 miles worth of chilled water piping to keep things cool, but general manager Kevin Timmons smiled as he walked in for the facility's grand opening in late September. It was around 55 degrees outside. …

Continue at source

Source : Inside one of the world's largest data centers

Organisaties over op Microsoft online-applicaties

Vandaag heeft Microsoft een aantal belangrijke aankondigen gedaan met betrekking tot Microsoft Online Services en specifiek de Business Productivity Online Suite. Een paar highlights :

• De prijs van de BPOS Suite wordt verlaagd van €12,78 naar € 8,52 per gebruiker per maand.
• De prijs van Exchange Online gehalveerd en kost vanaf nu € 4,26.
• De standaard mailboxgrootte verhoogd van 5GB naar 25GB

Schiphol, 3 november 2009 – De Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) - software voor communiceren en samenwerken, aangeboden als dienst – komt later deze week in meer landen beschikbaar en krijgt vanaf nu elk kwartaal nieuwe functies. Verder heeft Microsoft de prijzen van de online suite en een aantal onderdelen ervan verlaagd. De Business Productivity Online Suite maakt deel uit van de Microsoft Online Services.

De afgelopen maanden hebben honderden organisaties gekozen voor de Business Productivity Online Suite. Dat zijn onder meer McDonald’s, Aon Corporation, Hallmark Cards, het Zweedse Rode Kruis en in Nederland NOC*NSF, Helvoet, RET, RWG (Maasvlakte 2) en SkyTeam Alliance. Zij hebben voor BPOS gekozen vanwege de uitgebreide mogelijkheden, de flexibiliteit en de waarde die deze oplossingen bieden - online, binnen het bedrijf of een combinatie van beide. In een jaar tijd biedt Microsoft nu in 36 landen BPOS aan, met in totaal meer dan een miljoen gebruikers.

Sinds de beschikbaarheid van BPOS in Nederland (april 2009) hebben zich inmiddels 172 partners als BPOS-reseller aangemeld. Zij kunnen klanten helpen om de Microsoft onlinediensten snel in gebruik te nemen. Partner TamTam vergaarde wereldwijd faam met de implementatie bij annatommie. Partners ITSP en Wortell wonnen zelfs internationale Microsoft awards voor hun projecten, waaronder Procore. Diverse nieuwe partners, zoals Sparked en Worktivity, richten zich specifiek met Microsoft onlinediensten op het kleinzakelijke segment.

SkyTeam Alliance
SkyTeam is de wereldwijde alliantie van luchtvaartmaatschappijen met negen leden – Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, Aeroflot, Delta Air Lines, China Southern Airlines, Czech Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines en Korean Air – plus twee geassocieerde maatschappijen Air Europa en Kenya Airways. Deze organisatie heeft gekozen voor het gebruik van de volledige Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite voor bijna 450 medewerkers. Dit zijn voornamelijk medewerkers die veel mobiel werken en die dankzij BPOS altijd en overal, makkelijk en snel toegang hebben tot hun bedrijfsgegevens. BPOS is bij SkyTeam geïmplementeerd door Wortell, de eerste Microsoft partner in Nederland die BPOS bij klanten heeft geïmplementeerd.

Bruno Faccini, verantwoordelijk voor IT bij SkyTeam: “SkyTeam heeft voor BPOS gekozen omdat we het IT-beheer willen minimaliseren. We hoeven nu niet te investeren in serverinfrastructuur, softwarelicenties en IT-personeel. Hiermee denken we ongeveer 30 procent van de kosten te besparen, ten opzichte van een traditionele omgeving. 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. Momenteel gebruiken we al Exchange Online, Office Communications Online en Live Meeting. Volgende week gaat SharePoint Online wereldwijd live met een training bij KLM.”

Nieuwe prijzen
Vanwege de snelle acceptatie door klanten, de wereldwijde schaal en de verbeterde efficiency dankzij software zoals Exchange 2010, verlaagt Microsoft de prijzen van de Business Productivity Online Suite en ook van Exchange Online, SharePoint Online en Office Communications Online. Na deze verlaging bedraagt de prijs van BPOS € 8,52 per gebruiker per maand. De onderdelen kunnen ook afzonderlijk worden afgenomen, Exchange Online bijvoorbeeld voor € 4,26. Klanten kunnen kiezen uit een reeks oplossingen met Microsoft Online Services, van Deskless Worker voor incidentele gebruikers tot de volledige BPOS voor kenniswerkers. Meer informatie over beschikbaarheid en de prijzen is te vinden op www.microsoft.nl/online.

Nieuwe mogelijkheden
Elk kwartaal komt Microsoft met nieuwe mogelijkheden voor Microsoft Online Services. Dit kwartaal betreft deze update een mailbox van 5 GB naar 25GB voor elke gebruiker en nieuwe scriptingmogelijkheden voor het beheer. …

Bron : Microsoft Nederland persberichten

Channel 9 Interview with David Thompson About Microft Online Services - BPOS

 

Dave Thompson, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Online Services, kicks off the Microsoft Online Services Executive Video Series on MSDN's Channel 9. Dave began building the Microsoft Online Services team about three years ago and delivered the first version of the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) in November of 2008.

Watch the interview to hear Dave's thoughts on building and running software services. He talks about the challenges encountered while building BPOS v1, and what’s on the top of his mind while working with his team to provide the best possible customer and partner experience in future versions of Microsoft Online Services.

Post your comments to the video or to this blog post and Dave will respond in a future video.

The Microsoft Online Services Team

Source : Channel 9 Interview with David Thompson

Digitale Mobiliteit – Een ondernemer aan het woord

Tijd en plaats onafhankelijk werken is geen loze kreet, maar echt een goede mogelijkheid waarin technologie de rol speelt waarvoor het is ontwikkeld

Marjan Hoffman, eigenaar van HBNK reclamebureau in Zaandam vertelt over haar ervaringen met Digitale Mobliteit. Marjan neemt deel aan de pilot van MKB Amsterdam en Boer & Croon, waarbij zij gratis gebruik maakt van software en ondersteuning om thuiswerken binnen haar bedrijf te proberen en ervaren.

HBNK maakt kennis met Digitale Mobiliteit from digitale mobiliteit on Vimeo.

Digitale Mobiliteit staat voor een nieuwe manier van werken als vervanging voor fysieke verplaatsing.

MKB Nederland lanceert in 2009 een project om kenniswerkende mkb ondernemingen eenvoudig kennis te laten maken met flexibel werken (bijv. thuiswerken). In de pilot kunnen ondernemers en hun medewerkers gedurende 6 maanden kosteloos de voordelen van flexibel werken ervaren.

De pilot is bedoeld voor ondernemingen die de stap willen maken om met digitale oplossingen de fysieke verplaatsingen te verminderen of zelfs voorkomen en zo helpen de fileproblematiek te verminderen.

 

 

Bron : www.digitalemobiliteit.nl

Microsoft Online Services / BPOS Case studies

As the BPOS business is really taking off, a lot of clients and partners ask us for reference cases during the sales cycle.

When you go the the Microsoft Case studies website you can find all them under the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite solution.

Here’s the right query : Business Productivity Online Standard Suite.

It includes both clients and partner reference cases.

We have a few good Dutch references in the pipeline … stay tuned.

Online Diensten : Liever Microsoft dan Google ?

Sytse van der Schaaf van IT Executive heeft een goed artikel over Cloud Computing geschreven. Zoals ik in het interview heb aangegeven is het echt geen hype meer, maar een snel groeiende tak binnen Microsoft.

Microsoft biedt met Business Productivity Online Services een concrete oplossing voor kleine en grote bedrijven. Hieronder een frament uit het artikel van IT Exeutive over Cloud Computing:

Liever microsoft dan Google?

"Ik zie om me heen veel concrete interesse in cloud computing", stelt Peter de Haas, online strategy manager bij Microsoft Nederland. Hij ziet er tal van bedrijven al voor kiezen. “Neem GlaxoSmithKline die zijn 90 duizend Exchange-postbussen nu in een online variant afneemt. Coca Cola Enterprises, Nokia en in Nederland Philips kozen ook op grote schaal voor afname van Microsoft-software uit de cloud. Dat zijn serieuze stappen.”

Volgens De Haas begint bij bedrijven het besef door te dringen dat zij e-mail en andere communicatievormen niet per se zelf in de lucht hoeven te houden, maar beter af zijn als ze deze functionaliteit als dienst afnemen. Kostenbesparing, flexibilisering en reductie van de complexiteit in de infrastructuur zelf, maar vooral ook de eenvoudige kostentoerekening zijn de voornaamste motieven.
Microsoft heeft zelf grote verwachtingen van de Business Productivity Online Suite, die het concern eind april in 19 landen waaronder Nederland uitbracht. Het concern houdt er rekening mee dat over drie tot vijf jaar 50 miljoen van de in totaal 120 miljoen postbussen die nu lokaal draaien dan in de Bpos-cloudvorm afgenomen zullen worden. De genoemde voorbeelden zijn overigens stuk voor stuk bedrijven die voorheen op grote schaal met Lotus Notes-software van IBM werkten.

"Waarom deze bedrijven nu juist voor Microsoft hebben gekozen en niet voor Google waar ze bij de Apps-dienst soortgelijke functionaliteit en meer hadden kunnen afnemen, moet je niet aan mij vragen, maar aan deze bedrijven zelf”, zegt Eran Feigenbaum, security expert van Google.
“Ik ben in ieder geval blij dat Microsoft zoveel succes heeft met zijn nieuwe Bpos-dienst; het laat namelijk zien dat dit aanbodmodel echt door gaat breken.”

 

Lees het gehele artikel op de website van IT Executive : Cloud computing voorbij de hype

CRN Interview with Eron Kelly on Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS)

Microsoft’s Hosted Services Come Into Focus

Eron Kelly, senior director of Microsoft’s Business Online Services group, says partners are getting in tune with the advantages of selling hosted Exchange and SharePoint to their customers.

New Data Centre in Dublin :Microsoft Expands Cloud Computing Capabilities & Services in Europe

Microsoft’s new Dublin Data Centre to support demand for online services for business and consumers :

… Microsoft today announced the opening of its first ‘mega data centre’ in Europe to meet continued growth in demand for its Online, Live and Cloud services. The $500 million total investment is part of Microsoft’s long-term commitment in the region, and is a major step in realising Microsoft’s Software plus Services strategy.

Commenting at the official opening event An Taoiseach, Brian Cowen T.D. said: “As we all know, Microsoft is a dynamic company, driven by innovation. It is exactly the kind of company that we want in Ireland as we seek to renew our economy – and a model of the kind of company that we would like to grow in Ireland ourselves. We envisage a high-value, export-led, economy with companies creating the products and services of tomorrow providing high quality employment for our people.

The data centre has been officially recognised by the European Commission’s Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign as a “best practice” in environmental sustainability design through its innovative design which has made it 50% more energy efficient than traditional data centres built three years ago. The data centre increases hardware utilisation, reduces use of resources like water and electricity and reduces waste material.

The data centre is the next evolutionary step in Microsoft’s commitment to thoughtfully building its cloud computing capacity and network infrastructure throughout the region to meet the demand generated from its Online, Live Services and Cloud Services, such as Bing, Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite, Windows Live, and the Azure Services Platform. …

Continue at source : Microsoft EMEA Press Centre

New book : Cloud Security And Privacy

Lockergnome posted a reference to a very interesting (upcoming) book : Cloud Security & Privacy. 

Reason for highlighting this book or rather the topic discussed in this book (I haven’t read the book yet) is that this is one of the topics talk about the must but understand the least about. This goes for IT architects, security Officers and also many vendors selling the stuff.

Ofcourse Vendors like Microsoft, Amazon, Salesforce, etc have specialists on these topics and the services that come out of the factory meet the required standards; that isn’t the issue. The issue is where the services meet the customers. Where is the data ?, how do you authenticate ?, Are we still compliant with the security guidelines in our industry ? and many more questions like these.

From the brief overview of the topics addressed in this book I understand that it “forces” the people who should take care of Information Security in any company to consider ‘the cloud’ in that context. The cloud is here and it is not blowing over .. how does that impact your information security ?

…

Ideal for IT staffers, information security and privacy practitioners, business managers, service providers, and investors alike, offers you sound advice from three well-known authorities in the tech security world. You’ll learn detailed information on cloud computing security that-until now-has been sorely lacking.

• Review the current state of data security and storage in the cloud, including confidentiality, integrity, and availability
• Learn about the identity and access management (IAM) practice for authentication, authorization, and auditing of the users accessing cloud services
• Discover which security management frameworks and standards are relevant for the cloud
• Understand the privacy aspects you need to consider in the cloud, including how they compare with traditional computing models
• Learn the importance of audit and compliance functions within the cloud, and the various standards and frameworks to consider
• Examine security delivered as a service-a different facet of cloud security …

Source: Cloud Security And Privacy

Why Microsoft isn't afraid of Google or cloud computing – Interview with Steven Elop

InfoWorld published an Interview with Microsoft Business Division president Stephen Elop on Office2010, Office Web Applications and Microsoft Online Services. Although the title of the article may trigger other perceptions it’s clear that Microsoft is executing on a strategy, software + services, which is much broader than bringing Office to the web …

… Microsoft's Business Division oversees one of its most successful products, the Office productivity suite, as well as the company's lucrative server and enterprise software businesses. However, like the rest of the company, the division has not been immune to the pressure of the recession, and revenue fell 13 percent in the quarter ending in June.

Business Division president Stephen Elop, however, said in an interview with the IDG News Service that he's confident the unit can overcome the pressures that face the business. These include not only the economy but also competition in the productivity and collaboration software market from Web-based applications from Google and others. To answer this challenge, Microsoft is set to offer Web-based versions of its Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote software as part of the Office 2010 launch early next year.

Those applications are part of Microsoft's general transition to "software plus services" with its Business Productivity Online Suite -- which includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Live Meeting, and Office Communications Online -- a product and transition Elop's division also oversees. …

Continue at Source: Why Microsoft isn't afraid of Google or cloud computing

IBM, Microsoft Back Zend Open Cloud API

While cloudcomputing is at the peak of the hypecycle, a question many people ask is “which cloud should I choose ?” what they mean in most cases is that they’re afraid of being locked in a certain platform based on the fact that some of the interfaces are not standard simply because not all standards exist ..

Well today a big step towards standard is being set by some of the cloud vendors in this field. I am very glad to see Microsoft being there from the start ..

Zend Technologies' Simple API project provides a common API set from which developers may call application services.

A group of prominent cloud vendors has banded together behind an open source project that promises to make application services available across clouds. Zend Technologies, the supplier of the PHP scripting language, launched the Simple API project Tuesday, and IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) were among the first vendors to sign on.

"We're very excited to participate. This is a very important effort," said Vijay Rajagopalan, principal architect for Microsoft's interoperability strategy team, in an interview. Microsoft will supply the project with a PHP software development kit for its Azure cloud, which is due to become operative in the second half of November.

Simple API will seek to counteract the tendency of each cloud to have some proprietary parts, making it difficult for an application to work with services in more than one cloud at a time.

The Simple API is intended to provide a common API set from which developers may call application services, regardless of which cloud they reside in. Files generated by an application running in one cloud could be stored on Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN)'s S3, Rackspace's Cloud Files, Nirvanix Storage Delivery Network, or Microsoft's Azure Windows blobs. Rackspace and Nirvanix are also members of the project.

Source: IBM, Microsoft Back Zend Open Cloud API

Microsoft Online Services : (US) Government Requirements for a Secure Cloud

The US government has presented their vision for cloud computing. Ron Markezich, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Online Services, comments on the U.S federal government’s new cloud-based computing vision and initiatives. He highlights the importance of secrity and privacy and how Microsoft sets the highest standards for this, not only for governments but all online users …

… This week, U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra unveiled the federal government’s vision for cloud computing, beginning with Apps.gov, an online marketplace that will enable federal agencies to find and purchase cloud-based IT services. This is a smart move by the government to streamline procurement for new cloud-based solutions and lower costs.  In response, industry vendors are announcing future “dedicated” cloud services designed to meet the government’s security and privacy standards.

While other companies are just now developing – or announcing – their secure cloud strategies, Microsoft has built security and privacy into our offerings from the start. Available since 2006, Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (a part of Microsoft Online Services) “dedicated” cloud environment has been deployed and in use by a variety of businesses and government organizations with intense security and privacy requirements – such as GlaxoSmithKline and the City of Carlsbad, Calif.

The story doesn’t end there – not even close. We continue to make our customer’s security and privacy a top priority. Here is how…Microsoft’s facilities and operational infrastructure are ISO27001 certified today. The Microsoft Online Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), operated under the same program, is aggressively pursuing ISO certification to be achieved by end 2009. In addition to meeting this International Standard, we anticipate that the Business Productivity Online Suite will achieve FISMA Accreditation in Q1 2010.  We understand that all organizations – not just government entities on a dedicated cloud – want a high level of validated security and privacy, so these accreditations will exist for the services we provide all of our customers….

Continue at source : Microsoft Online Services Blog

My presentation for the Dutch Datacenter & Hosting Summit 2009

Yesterday I gave a presentation at the DDHS 2009. The room was fully packed so there was lot’s of interest in Microsoft Online strategy.

There were some issues with the network connections at the event so presenters who fully relied on their online presentation solution could not present. My tip is to always have you presentations available for offline use.

I was also glad to see the competition was using Microsoft PowerPoint for their offline use instead of Gears …

 

Here’s the presentation (go to slideshare for download)

DDHS 2009 Microsoft Heads In The Cloud Feet On The Ground Peter de Haas 15 9 2009 Final

View more presentations from dehaaspeter.

Whitepaper : Guidance for Microsoft Online Services Multinational Customers

A lot of Multinational organizations look at Microsoft Online Services as their next move to further standardize and optimize their infrastructure for Communication and Collaboration. This paper can be very useful in the orientation and planning phase of the service as it describes the effect of datacenter locations and effects like latency (delays) in the network, etc ..

This paper provides the tools and guidance around using Microsoft Online Services from multiple locations worldwide, both during an evaluation stage and after purchase, when Microsoft Online Services are introduced for the first time to the multinational company’s branch offices in different regions. This white paper describes the following topics:

• How Microsoft Online Services data centers are selected for multinational companies, including some initial considerations for multinational customers during services sign-up in the Microsoft Online Services Customer Portal.
• A Web application that customers can use to evaluate network connectivity to Microsoft Online Services data centers from their offices worldwide.
• How to use the results from the Web application to understand end-user experiences with Microsoft Online Services. This is demonstrated through a fictitious multinational company scenario.
• Recommendations on how to improve end-user experiences with Microsoft Online Services.
• Checklist of recommendations for a multinational company to evaluate Microsoft Online Services.
• Limitations of segregating multinational companies by geographic region to use Microsoft Online Services.

Downloadpage : Microsoft.com

Microsoft presentatie op de DDHS 2009

Volgende week dinsdag, 15 september is de Dutch Datacenter & Hosting Summit 2009 :

… Cloud computing - Achter de wolken schijnt de zon

De derde editie van de Dutch Datacenter & Hosting Summit komt er aan. Op dinsdag 15 september 2009 is de Taets Art Gallery aan het Amsterdam-Noordzee Kanaal het bijzondere onderkomen voor deze conferentie. Bezoekers van het congres worden ingewijd in de wereld van cloud computing en de rol die het binnen datacenters, hosting providers in de interne IT-infrastructuur kan krijgen en is daardoor onmisbaar voor iedereen die direct of indirect betrokken is bij de gecentraliseerde ICT-infrastructuur van organisaties …

Ik zal zelf een presentatie over Microsoft visie en positie in cloud computing geven, met name ook gericht op de goede resultaten die Microsoft en vooral haar partners tot op heden al hebben geboekt :

Heads in the cloud feet on the ground

Cloud Computing en SaaS, een revolutie of business as usual ? Cloud Computing bevindt zich op de piek van de hypecycle (Gartner). Het geeft aan dat een meerderheid het ziet als een zeer belangrijk ontwikkeling voor ICT en business. Welke invloed heeft deze ontwikkeling op bestaande ICT infrastructuren en het ecosysteem aan bedrijven en diensten daaromheen ? Microsoft deelt haar visie, de ontwikkelingen en ervaringen dusver.

Ga naar de site voor het complete programma

Microsoft Online Services : Informatie om BPOS partner te worden

Mijn collega Jaap Hummel heeft alle stappen voor Microsoft partners om BPOS partner te worden en hoe zij alle relevante informatie zo goed mogelijk kunnen organiseren.

1. Je moet je eerst aanmelden als Microsoft registered partner via https://partner.microsoft.com/netherlands/program/managemembership/reenrollment.

2. Om in aanmerking te komen voor de partner fee dient je je  te registreren als BPOS reseller en een online examen te doen.

3.  Voor het goed kunnen implementeren adviseren wij een partner de 1-daagse technische workshop bij Qwise te volgen. 

4. Op  de Nederlandse bpos partner website www.microsoft.nl/bpos vind je handige Nederlandse presentaties, links naar online trainingen en een nederlandstalige infosheet die je in je klantgesprekken kunt gebruiken. Kijk ook eens naar de Nederlandse referentiecases en ontdek de overeenkomsten met je eigen klantsituaties.

5. Het Microsoft Online Services Resource Center bevat webcasts, presentaties, product experts en updates, exclusief voor partners (engelstalig)

6. www.microsoft.nl/online is de Nederlandse, algemene website voor klanten met  informatie over de diensten, de prijzen en de mogelijkheid direct een trial account aan te vragen.

7. Je kunt als BPOS reseller ook namens de klant een account aanmaken (hetzij trial, hetzij aankoop) via de Microsoft Online Partner Sales Portal; daarmee bespaar je hen enkele handelingen en kun je instellen dat jij hun partner of record wordt

8. BPOS resellers hebben recht op 1 gratis trial account; je vraagt middels een service request een verlenging van 1 jaar van je trial account aan , waarbij je je Partner ID, Live ID,  en gewenst aantal Seats vermeld. Deze account is puur voor demo doeleinden  bedoeld. Wanneer je geïnteresseerd bent in Seats voor eigen gebruik; BPOS resellers hebben recht op een aantal gratis seats voor eigen gebruik (max. 250). De procedure hiervoor is: “ A partners is required to sign up for a Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite trial using a Windows Live ID associated with an MSPP partner organization . During the sign-up process, they must enter the promo code “Partner”. After partner organization association has been confirmed, the trial will be extended to include up to 250 seats for one year.”

9. Met de Partner Commerce Dashboard heb je in 1 oogopslag alle informatie over de Online Services die jouw klanten gebruiken.

Five lessons from Microsoft on cloud security

The article gives some good recognition to Microsoft for its solutions “in the cloud” over 300 Products and Services delivered securely and reliably

While Google, Amazon, and Salesforce.com have gotten the most attention as cloud service providers, Microsoft -- with its 300 products and services delivered from its datacenters -- has a large cloud bank all its own.

In May, the company released a paper on its approach to cloud services and how the company plans to secure those services. The paper -- penned by Microsoft's Global Foundation Services, the group responsible for overseeing the company's software-as-a-service infrastructure -- spells out the current dangers for online services, including a growing interdependence between customers and the companies that serve them and more sophisticated attacks on Internet services.

Microsoft argues that its approach to security, which it carved out with its Trustworthy Computing Initiative in 2002, works as well for online services, with some modification.

"If I take the traditional security principles, that hasn't changed in terms of discipline and approach," said Charlie McNerney, general manager for business and risk management at Microsoft's GFS. "What has expanded is the amount of controls we have applied."

In recent interviews, McNerney and other cloud providers shared their thoughts on Microsoft's approach to securing cloud services and the data centers that power such services.

1. Discuss risk with customers

2. Pay attention to compliance

3. Better standards needed

4. Privacy and security are not so different

5. Don't generalize on cloud security

 

Continue at source for the details on the 5 topics discussed :

Five lessons from Microsoft on cloud security

Microsoft Exchange Online Standard – August update

The service description for Exchange Online Standard, part of Microsoft Online Services has been updated :

Microsoft® Exchange Online is a hosted enterprise messaging solution based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Exchange Online helps give your business the e-mail security it demands, your employees the e-mail access want, and your IT staff the operational efficiency it needs. The service uses the knowledge of Microsoft products, best practices developed with customers and partners, and our global infrastructure to deliver a world-class, mission-critical service.

Exchange Online services include advanced e-mail features as well as calendaring, contact, and task management capabilities. Exchange Online also provides built-in spam control and virus scanning to reduce common security risks that are associated with e-mail files.

This white paper is intended for company decision-makers and describes the services and features that are included with the Standard offering of Exchange Online.

Download at Source: Microsoft.com

Microsoft Launches Office Web Apps and Office 2010 in Limited Beta

Today Microsoft officially announced The next phase of Office Web Applications. Very good to have this in to the hands (browsers) of beta testers out there.

Today at its Wordwide Partner Conference in New Orleans, Microsoft announced that the Microsoft Office suite has reached the 'technical preview' milestone, and that starting today the company will open up the Office beta program to a larger number of users. While a new version of Office is obviously big news for a lot of users, the really interesting part of the announcement is that Microsoft is also releasing more details about the Office Web applications - which are lightweight, browser-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote (Microsoft's note-taking tool). Beta testers can expect invites for the Office Web applications to go out in August ….

…

Enterprise: Office Web Behind the Firewall

For enterprises, Microsoft will offer two solutions. One will be hosted as part of Microsoft's Online Services. Another version, however, will be available for companies to host on their own servers on top of SharePoint. For enterprises, especially those that have long felt that cloud computing wasn't for them, this self-hosted version of the browser-based Office suite is going to be a very attractive solution, especially considering that all of Microsoft's 90 million Office annuity customers will get access to this version as a regular part of the updates that come with these volume licenses.

As Numoto told us, Microsoft believes that this will allow the company to differentiate itself from other companies that offer office solutions in the cloud. While Takeshi was careful not to mention any competitors by name, it is obvious that this is aimed at Google (and perhaps less so, startups like Zoho and ThinkFree).

Clearly, this release will be a major deal for consumers and enterprises. A free version of the browser-based Office application that easily syncs with the desktop version and allows collaboration between users on both systems is going to be a big deal.

What About the Desktop?

The desktop apps obviously also got a make-over. But compared to the shift to Office 2007, the current release features only minor cosmetic updates from what we have seen so far. The integration of the web apps looks like the most exciting addition, as well as the ribbon interface becoming standard across all the applications. Also, Microsoft is putting a lot of emphasis on real-time collaboration, and different users can now edit documents simultaneously. Alhough Numote emphasized that all edits can be reversed.

See What's New in Microsoft Word 2010

Numoto also stressed the Office team focused on improving some of the most often used features. As an example, he told us that cut and paste is obviously one of the most popular features in Office, but that Microsoft found that after pasting something into a document, the key that was used the most often afterward was 'delete.' In order to improve the cut and paste process, Office will now feature a 'cut and paste preview,' similar to the feature that Office 2007 already offers for changing styles and fonts, for example.

Outlook aficionados will also be happy to hear that the email client will now feature an option to 'ignore' unwanted threads.

While the Technical Preview, which was announced today, will only be available for a limited number of users, the beta program will be open to everybody. Microsoft expects to ship the final version of Office 2010 in the first half of 2010.

So far, we haven't had a chance to actually test-drive the desktop or web apps ourselves, but you can expect an in-depth review from us once we get access to the beta. …

Source: Microsoft Launches Office Web Apps and Office 2010 in Limited Beta

Microsoft Exchange Online Standard Whitepaper – July update

The July update of Microsoft Online Services included the support of Outlook 2003. This paper contains the latest information on Exchange Online Standard.

Microsoft® Exchange Online is a hosted enterprise messaging solution based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Exchange Online helps give your business the e-mail security it demands, your employees the e-mail access want, and your IT staff the operational efficiency it needs. The service uses the knowledge of Microsoft products, best practices developed with customers and partners, and our global infrastructure to deliver a world-class, mission-critical service.

Exchange Online services include advanced e-mail features as well as calendaring, contact, and task management capabilities. Exchange Online also provides built-in spam control and virus scanning to reduce common security risks that are associated with e-mail files.

This white paper is intended for company decision-makers and describes the services and features that are included with the Standard offering of Exchange Online.

Source: Microsoft Exchange Online Standard

Migrate from Exchange Public Folders to Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite

Many organisations use Public Folders in Microsoft Exchange.  This paper discusses the most common public folder scenarios and how they are represented in Business Productivity Online Standard Suite services. It also provides the information you need to decide whether Microsoft Online Services is a good match for you based on your current public folder usage.

Exchange public folders are widely used in on-premises Exchange environment. However, Exchange Online does not support customer usage scenarios of public folders. If you or your customers are using Exchange public folders, there are special considerations for moving customers to Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite. This document outlines these considerations for field representatives, discusses the most common public folder scenarios and how they are represented in Business Productivity Online Standard Suite services. It also provides the information you need to decide whether Microsoft Online Services is a good match for you based on your current public folder usage.

Source and download: Migrate from Exchange Public Folders to Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite

Forrester : Case Study: Learning From GlaxoSmithKline's Cloud-Based Email Decision Process

GlaxoSmithKline already in January announced they plan tp save up to 30% on their Communication and Collaboration infrastructure costs by moving from Lotus Notes/Domino to Microsoft Online Services.

Forrester created a research paper on this that provides more background. Very interesting read for this still on Lotus Notes :

Executive Summary

GlaxoSmithKline is moving approximately 90,000 email users to Microsoft's Exchange Online, a cloud-delivered service. To make the decision, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) went through a rigorous internal discovery process to calculate costs, find dependencies, and analyze its workforce. The result is that GSK is able to optimize its messaging and collaboration platform to meet the full range of its end users' requirements — while saving on its ongoing costs. To make your own cloud-based opportunity, learn from GSK's experience and: 1) analyze your workforce needs; 2) tier your workforce to optimize costs; and 3) calculate your own fully loaded costs.

Continue at source : Forrester.com

The Microsoft Online Services Diagnostics and Logging (MOSDAL) support toolkit

Yet another new acronym MOSDAL. But certainly one that can come in handy when you’re having issues with Microsoft Online Services :

The KB artcle explains it all and includes the download link to the tool as well ..

The MOSDAL support toolkit performs network diagnostics and collects system configuration, network configuration, and logging information for service-based products. The logs that the tool generates provide data that helps technical support professionals troubleshoot configuration, network, installation, and other service-related issues. MOSDAL collects log files, registry keys, and configuration settings that would otherwise require time-consuming and labor-intensive collection by using separate tools.
This article contains the following information about the MOSDAL support toolkit:

• Download location
• System requirements
• Installation use instructions
• Toolkit functionality

Source: Michttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/960625rosoft.com

Microsoft opens 'mega data centre' in Dublin

Yet another milestone in Microsoft’s rollout of Online Strategy. Microsoft will open a new data centre in Dublin tomorrow, the first one of its size outside the US, for its cloud computing and online services.

Microsoft is set to open its first “mega data centre” outside of the US in Dublin tomorrow to help support its Online Live and Cloud services.

The project was slowed down earlier this year due to financial constraints in the company, but recovery throughout the year has lead to the summer opening of this 303,000 square foot building.

It was announced by Arne Josefsberg, general manager of Infrastructure Services for the Global Foundation Services at Microsoft, via a blog.

He said: “We take great pride in the innovations [the data centres] deliver to move the data centre industry forward and to extend Microsoft’s online services to customers globally. As the company’s Software-plus-Services strategy progresses, these data centres will play a key supporting role.”

Josefsberg also said: “The facility makes extensive use of outside air economisation to cool the facility year round, resulting in greater power efficiency with a resultant reduction in carbon footprint.”

Later in July, the company will also be launching another mega data centre in Chicago.

Source: Microsoft opens 'mega data centre' in Dublin

Microsoft Online Services Migration Tools (32|64 bit)

The migrations tool to migrate Microsoft Exchange mailboxes onto Microsoft Online Services has been updated :

Use the Microsoft Online Services Migration Tools to forward copies of your Exchange Server mail to your Exchange Online mailboxes. You can also use the Migration Tools to copy content from your Exchange Server, POP3, or IMAP4 e-mail server mailboxes to your Exchange Online mailboxes. This product intended for use with Microsoft Online Services only.

Source: Migration Tools (32 bit) / Migration Tools (64 bit)

Radicati: EMEA Hosted Email Market projected to grow to 564M mailboxes by 2013

Impressive growth ahead in the coming years for Hosted Email in Emea :

… The Radicati Group, Inc.'s latest study, "EMEA Hosted Email Market, 2009-2013," provides an in-depth look at all segments of the European Hosted Email market, including: ISP/Webmail email, Hosted Business Email, and Managed Business Email.

According to the study, the installed base of hosted email mailboxes in EMEA is expected to grow from 398 M mailboxes in 2009, to 564M mailboxes by 2013. Growth is driven by increased broadband Internet availability across the region, lower prices and better bundling of premium services. Businesses, throughout EMEA, are also taking renewed interest in hosted business email solutions as a way to reduce costs in a tight economy. This is reinforced by the increased availability of low-cost, full-featured messaging and collaboration suites from Microsoft, Google and others.

The study provides an analysis of leading EMEA market players: 1&1/GMX, Arcor, Arsys, BT, Cobweb, Colt, Free, Global SP, Jazztel, Jet Multimedia, Mamut ASA/Active 24, Orange Business Services, Register.it, T-Home/T-Systems, Telecom Italia, Versatel, and others. …

Source: Radicati.com

New BPOS Whitepaper: Microsoft Online Services Business Value

This paper discusses how Microsoft® Online Services, subscription-based online communication and collaboration services, can free information technology resources and bring value to your business.

… Microsoft® Online Services provide businesses with subscription-based Microsoft-hosted online services that offer access to rich communication, collaboration, and productivity applications from anywhere. This hosted solution helps organizations reduce the costs of managing and maintaining business systems, which frees information technology resources and enables staff to focus on initiatives that can deliver competitive advantage to the business. This paper discusses the value that Online Services can bring to your business. …

Source and download: Microsoft Online Services Business Value

Frontier Technology and Binary Tree Collaborate to Offer Weekend Express Migrations to Microsoft Online to the European Market

Now also available in Europe: Weekend Express Migrations; migrating from Lotus Notes / Domino to Microsoft Online Services in a very fast way…

… Now European Organizations that are Running Lotus Notes Can Migrate Up To 5,000 Users to Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS Standard) In as Little as One Weekend

NEWARK, N.J., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Binary Tree announced today a collaborative partnership with Frontier Technology in the United Kingdom to offer Binary Tree's Weekend Express migration offering to the European market. Hosted at Frontier Technology's data center based in the UK, Weekend Express migrations will enable organizations in Europe that are running Lotus Notes to migrate up to 5,000 users to Microsoft Exchange Online and the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS Standard) in as little as one weekend.

"Our Weekend Express has been met with overwhelming demand," stated Steven Pivnik, Co-CEO at Binary Tree. "Establishing a partnership with a trusted and experienced provider of enterprise messaging solutions like Frontier Technology will help make this offer available to more customers in Europe."

Frontier Technology's Weekend Express data center team will perform a pre-weekend initial briefing, a pre-weekend environmental audit and the migration itself all the while guiding customers through every step of Binary Tree's proven, best-practices methodology for migrations from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange Online. Considering Frontier Technology's extensive knowledge of Symantec's Enterprise Vault offering, Frontier Technology will also provide customers with the option of archiving the portion of their mail store they elect not to migrate to Microsoft Exchange Online.

"We are very excited about collaborating with Binary Tree," stated Edwin Wong, Managing Director at Frontier Technology. "The Weekend Express offering is a perfect addition to our capabilities and will help our Lotus Notes customer base take advantage of Microsoft's Cloud Computing Offering." …

Source: PRNewswire.com

Security Features in Microsoft Online Services

New document on the security features of Microsoft Online Services:

… This white paper describes how the Microsoft concern for security, as defined in the Trustworthy Computing initiative, has driven key features in the design, deployment, and operation of the Microsoft Online Services environment.
The Business Productivity Online Suite is a set of subscription-based enterprise software services hosted by Microsoft and sold with partners. The services operate within a complete ecosystem of features and capabilities designed to meet and in many cases to exceed the security and availability goals that you have for your business applications. …

Download : Microsoft.com

Radicati : Hosted UC market $5 Billion by 2013

Hosting / Online Services are certainly an accelerator for Unified Communications; According to Radicati Group the revenue size will double in the the coming 4 years ..

.. The latest study by The Radicati Group, Inc., "Hosted Unified Communications Market, 2009-2013," provides an in-depth analysis including installed base and revenue market share by vendor, four-year forecasts, and breakouts by region and business size.

The Hosted Unified Communications market is comprised of services that offer integrated voice, messaging, collaboration, and presence capabilities that can be easily accessed and managed through a single interface. This study looks at two key market segments: Hosted UC Providers, and Telecom UC Providers.

The study provides an analysis of a broad range of Hosted UC Providers, including: Apptix, AT&T, CallTower, Cypress Communications, Hutchinson 3G, Intelliverse, Intermedia, LightEdge Solutions, Microsoft, NTT DoCoMo, Onebox, Orange SA, Skype Technologies, Sprint Nextel Corporation, Telus, USA.NET, Verizon Communications, Vodafone and others.

The Hosted UC market is showing strong growth with revenues expected to reach $2.3 billion in 2009, and growing to nearly $5 billion by 2013. …

Source : http://www.radicati.com

Microsoft Live@EDU vernieuwd

De Microsoft Live@EDU diensten, gratis email en diensten voor communicatie en samenwerken voor de educatie sector, hebben een nieuw thuis.

De informatie over en het inschrijven voor Microsoft Live@EDU is overozchtelijker en gemakkelijker geworden :

 

Meer informatie : Microsoft Live@EDU

Mobility Solutions for Microsoft Online Services (BPOS)

Access Microsoft Online Services, Exchange Online and SharePoint Online with your smartphone; almost any smartphone that is, including the BlackBerry.

For “pushmail” (email, calendar, contacts, tasks) with Exchange Online there’s a great overview of the different vendors supporting Exchange Active Sync (including Nokia, Apple and SamSung)

… In an increasingly mobile world, more employees need seamless access to more types of communications and collaboration information—including e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, and shared content—from virtually anywhere, at any time. Microsoft Online Services includes two services which can be accessed through mobile phones: Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online. Both Exchange Online and SharePoint Online can be accessed through a variety of devices: Windows Mobile 6.0+ devices, Exchange ActiveSync devices, and RIM BlackBerry devices.

See solutions for each device type:

• Windows Mobile devices
• Exchange ActiveSync devices
• RIM BlackBerry devices

For detailed information on solutions for each device type, download the Mobility Solutions Description (Word). …

Source: Microsoft Online Services

Projectgroep ‘Digitale Mobiliteit’ op bezoek bij Microsoft Nederland .. BPOS valt in de smaak

Gisteren was de projectgroep ‘Digitale Mobiliteit’ op bezoek bij Microsoft Nederland. Dit project, onder leiding van Boer & Croon in opdracht van Ministerie van V&W / Taskforce Mobility en MKB Nederland, is recent van start gegaan met een kick-off dag die Boer & Croon organiseerde.

Een tiental MKB bedrijven uit de regio Amsterdam maken deel uit van het project. Zij zullen de pilotgebruikers zijn in dit project en gaan ondervinden hoe zij aspecten van ‘het nieuwe werken’ kunnen toepassen om hun ‘digitale mobiliteit’ te optimaliseren.

De sessie bij Microsoft was gericht de visie op het nieuwe werken en als voorbeeld hoe wij daar binnen Microsoft mee omgaan en ook een aantal korte demonstraties door Rene van Dormolen gericht op hoe oplossingen van Microsoft de digitale mobiliteit kan ondersteunen.

Microsoft heeft haar medewerking aan dit project toegezegd. Ondermeer door de inzet van Microsoft Online Services kunnen MKB ondernemening snel en slagvaardig van start …

AT5 heeft vandaag een kort verslag van het bezoek uitgezonden in de regio Amsterdam:

MKB Nederland start thuiswerkpilot in regio Amsterdam from digitale mobiliteit on Vimeo.

Meer informatie over het project Digitale Mobiliteit : http://digitalemobiliteit.ning.com/

Identity & Access Management in the cloud: Geneva Whitepapers and Datasheet

"Geneva" Claims Based Access Platform
"Geneva" helps simplify access to applications and other systems with an open and interoperable claims-based model.
For developers: "Geneva" helps simplify user access for developers by externalizing access logic from applications via claims, and reducing development effort with pre-built security logic and integrated .NET tools.
For IT professionals: "Geneva" helps IT efficiently deploy and manage new applications by reducing custom implementation work, consolidating access management in the hands of IT, helping establish a consistent security model, and facilitating seamless collaboration between organizations with automated federation tools.
For information workers and consumers: Users can benefit from help navigating logins, managing different personas, and controlling how personal information is shared.

• "Geneva" includes built-in interoperability via open industry standards and claims, and implements the industry Identity Metasystem vision for open and interoperable identity.
• "Geneva" includes three components for enabling claims-based access. Beta 1 of the following components are now available for public evaluation:
• "Geneva" Framework for building .NET applications that use claims to make user access decisions
• "Geneva" Server security token service (STS) for issuing and transforming claims, enabling federations, and managing user access
• Windows CardSpace "Geneva" for helping users navigate access decisions and for developers to build customer authentication experiences for users

Go to the download page for downloading the papers : Microsoft.com

2 new Microsoft BPOS Documents

2 new documents have come available this week providing more detail on the differences between SharePoint Online and Sharepoint On premise.

The second document is an updated version of the Trial Guide, describing the registration and setup of the BPOS trial :

 

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides for SharePoint Online

Considering an online solution for your organization’s collaboration services? The SharePoint Online—Evaluating Software-plus-Services guide provides a clear comparison of SharePoint collaboration technologies across on-premises, standard hosting, and dedicated hosting scenarios. Join the beta program today and give us your feedback.  (Live ID login and registration required)

Download IPD Guide for SharePoint Online

 

Trial Guide for Microsoft Online Services is Published

A new Trial Guide for Microsoft Online Services has been published and is available from the Microsoft Download Center.

If you are considering the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft Online Services and want to start a 30-day trial of the services, the Trial Guide will help you get started with the trial and work through several common administrative and end-user tasks. The guide provides step-by-step instructions for several scenarios, including:

· Setting up a 30-day trial account in the Microsoft Online Customer Portal (MOCP)

· Basic account administration

· SharePoint Online administration

· Setting up the end user experience

· Converting a trial account to a paid subscription

Source: Microsoft Online Services Team Blog

InfoWorld: Groeiende interesse MKB in managed services

InfoWord publiceerde vorige week een artikel dat de groeiende interesse van MKB bedrijven in Managed Services of wel diensten aangeeft. Dit naar aanleiding van een onderzoek van MarketCap.

Zoals het artikel al aangeeft is Microsoft een van de bedrijven die hier actief op inspeelt met ondermeer door partner gehoste oplossingen en online diensten rechtsreeks van Microsoft.

.. en wellicht heel aantrekkelijk voor de snelle beslissers, Mirosoft geeft nu tot 25% korting aan bedrijven die de BPOS Suite voor eind juni 2009 aanschaffen ! 

… Bedrijven zullen in 2009 het meest investeren in volledig beheerde netwerk- en platformdiensten, zo voorspelt onderzoeksbureau MarketCap. Met name het midden- en kleinbedrijf zal dit jaar massaal kiezen voor managed services, zoals software-as-a-service.

Volgens MarketCap, dat eind 2008 de investeringsintenties bij bedrijven en instellingen onderzocht, zijn managed services in 2008 en 2009 de meest genoemde IT-investering. Zo zou eenderde van de kleinere bedrijven het werkplekbeheer nu al aan externe mensen overlaten.

Betere service
Kleinere en middelgrote ondernemingen met een beperkte IT-capaciteit zijn bijzonder ontvankelijk voor volledig beheerde diensten, constateert MarketCap. Kim van Brugge van distributeur Portland Europe ziet deze ontwikkeling terug in de praktijk. "Veel IT dienstverlenende bedrijven in de Benelux zijn nu juist op zoek naar een goede managed service oplossing waarmee zij klanten niet alleen een kwalitatief betere service kunnen verlenen, maar ook tegen een aantrekkelijker kostenplaatje."

Softwareleveranciers met veel klanten in het MKB, zoals Microsoft, Symantec, Trend Micro en IASO, spelen al in op deze trend en ontwikkelden specifieke managed services voor deze doelgroep. In de Benelux gaat het om een omvangrijk marktsegment: zo zijn er in deze regio alleen al 50.000 bedrijven met 20-100 medewerkers. Bedrijven zouden ook vanwege de huidige economische situatie sneller kiezen voor managed services, aldus MarketCap. Diensten zoals software-as-a-service zijn in trek, omdat de eindgebruiker vooraf geen investeringen hoeft te doen. …

Bron: Groeiende interesse MKB in managed services

DMTF to Develop Standards for Managing a Cloud Computing Environment

 

Hopefully a cloud initiatve that does work. Interoperability is a key component in Cloud Computing. Glad to see Microsoft is one of the active participants.

Open Cloud Standards Incubator Created to Address Management Interoperability for Cloud Systems

… The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), the organization bringing the IT industry together to collaborate on systems management standards development, validation, promotion and adoption, today announced that it has formed a group dedicated to addressing the need for open management standards for cloud computing. The "Open Cloud Standards Incubator" will work to develop a set of informational specifications for cloud resource management.

As virtualization technology continues to be more rapidly adopted, it is emerging as a common enabling foundation for delivering software solutions into IT environments along with the potential to lower IT costs and improve operational efficiencies. While deploying virtualization technologies it is also critical to have comprehensive management capabilities associated with the implementation. Along with the adoption of virtualization, more and more enterprise IT customers are looking at the cloud computing paradigm to better deliver services to their customers.

No specific standards currently exist for enabling interoperability between private clouds within enterprises and hosted or public cloud providers. DMTF's Open Cloud Standards Incubator will focus on addressing these issues by developing cloud resource management protocols, packaging formats and security mechanisms to facilitate interoperability.

"Cloud computing will have a major impact on IT management," said Winston Bumpus, DMTF president. "With the DMTF's track record for leading the industry in the development of proven standards for management interoperability, along with its extensive network of Alliance Partners, this Open Cloud Standards Incubator provides an ideal setting for initiating work on specifications to enable interoperable cloud management."

The work of the Open Cloud Standards Incubator will focus on ways to facilitate operations between private clouds within enterprises and other private, public, or hybrid clouds by improving the interoperability between platforms through open cloud resource management standards. The group also aims to develop specifications to enable cloud service portability and provide management consistency across cloud and enterprise platforms.

The Open Cloud Standards Incubator was formed as part of the DMTF Standards Incubation process, which enables like-minded DMTF members to work together and produce informational specifications that can later be fast-tracked through the standards development process. The incubation process is designed to foster and expedite open, collaborative, exploratory technical work that complements the DMTF mission to lead the development, adoption and promotion of interoperable management initiatives and standards.

The current incubator leadership board consists of AMD, Cisco, Citrix, EMC, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Novell, Red Hat, Savvis, Sun Microsystems, and VMware. Please click here for more information, or to learn more about participating. …

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