The day to day ramblings of an IT Professional and Community Leader
February 13, 2013 Leave a comment
On the day that Microsoft released the Surface Pro I sat down with Alex Davies from Tom’s Hardware (www.tomshardware.com) and gave him a little tour of the device. He recorded it and that recording went live on Monday. Check it out and let me know what you think! –MDG
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Microsoft-Surface-Pro-Hands-on-Demo,21030.html
February 11, 2013 Leave a comment
For most of the months of October through December, while I was on tour talking about Windows 8, the new Office 2013 & Office 365, and Windows Server 2012 the most common question I heard was not about any of these products… it was something like ‘So where’s your Surface? Why don’t you have a Surface? When will you have a Surface?’ It was grinding… not because I didn’t want one… I did, and badly. However I knew that if I bought myself a Surface with Windows RT in November my wife would never let me go back in February to buy myself a Surface with Windows Pro. So I waited… patiently.
Of course, as a Virtual Evangelist for Microsoft Canada there was speculation that they would give me one… but that didn’t happen. In December I watched with envy as all of my friends and colleagues got theirs – every Microsoft employee got one, but alas, I am a contractor so I didn’t.
Earlier at the beginning of summer I had promised my son that he could have one when they came out, and so in November I asked him if he wanted the RT version, or if he wanted to wait for the Pro version. Of course he opted for the RT version, and so he got one as a late middle-school graduation present. I took my wife with me to buy his device, and she was so enamoured with it that we bought two that day – hers being an early Christmas present. Still and all, I could look, but unless they needed technical support I could not touch.
And then a few weeks ago the general availability date was announced: February 9th.
I called my main contact at the Microsoft Store in Yorkdale Mall (Toronto) and confirmed that they would be going on sale on that day. I asked if he could put one aside for me, and his response was ‘yes… but I can only hold it until the end of the day on the 9th so make sure you come that day!’ I was willing to do him one better… since the shipment was obviously arriving well in advance of that day, why not simply let me come pick it up a few days early and we’ll keep it between us? ‘Not a chance… not even one minute before the 9th!’ (And of course no, they were not planning a midnight event, so I would have to wait until morning!)
Then I had an idea. ‘Friend, what if I were to come in early the morning of February 9th, buy the very first Surface sold in Canada, and record it for my blog in the store before you even open?’ He thought that was not only doable, but was a great idea. I put it in my calendar, and remembered to confirm with him on the 8th to make sure he hadn’t forgotten me… which I feel bad about because he never would!
Mother Nature decided to test Mitch…
February 8th, for those of you who were not paying attention, recorded the largest single-day snowfall in southern Ontario in nearly a decade. Everyone on every media from Television to Twitter was saying that if you didn’t have to go out… don’t. The road crews would be out in full force, but it would likely take them throughout the weekend to clear the minor arteries and possibly into next week for crescents, circles, and such (in one of which I happen to live). Knowing that I needed to drive out the following morning I bribed my teenaged son to shovel the driveway in the early evening. He did enough to make sure that I would be able to get my car out.
Of course, what are the chances that the tiny little circle, an off-shoot of a crescent off a tertiary road in Oakville, was going to be ploughed in time? Fortunately Mayor Rob Burton follows me on Twitter and knew that I was planning to head out this morning, and made sure that our little ‘Griffith Place’ was cleared. Okay, he did no such thing, but HUGE kudos to the road crews of Oakville, Ontario that cleared the street late last night!
At 6:15 on Saturday morning I headed out; I brushed 35 centimetres of heavy snow off my car and headed out, all the while listening to the reports on the radio of accidents along the way (I witnessed three of them and passed seven others on the 403 and 401). I was not to be stopped! I drove the treacherous highways ‘low and slow’ as I was taught for these conditions, and as I will teach my son next year. It took me nearly an hour to get there and park, but I did so safely.
Almost there…
I was surprised that I got to the store at 7:15am, and there were already people waiting in both lines (one line for people with the ‘golden ticket’ and one for people without)! I got my gear set up in the ‘theatre’ area. I set up my video camera on my tripod, only to realize that the battery was dead. No problem, I had plenty of time to go, so I plugged it in and let it charge. I set up my Surface with Windows RT (ironic that after all that waiting a colleague at Microsoft actually did get me one!) and several of the available accessories on the table where I would shoot. All I needed now was the Surface Pro…
At 8:15 Friend brought out two devices – one for me, and one for another VIP customer named Mike who already has a Surface with Windows RT, but really wanted the Pro and was glad to be getting it this morning before he heads off to Europe. Friend ran my credit card through, and once the POS system told him the sale was approved he e-mailed me my invoice and I was off to the races.
The following videos were filmed in the Microsoft Store Theatre in Yorkdale Mall, Toronto. I want to thank Alison (the store manager), Friend (who knows who he is, and Emily (who is the Community Development Specialist, and therefor in charge of the theatre area and all of the presentations and parties held there. They were filmed on February 9th, 2013 between 8:30 and 9:00 in the morning. The only edits that were done to the video were for the sake of time and flow. All opinions, mistakes, errors, and omissions are mine and mine alone, and I have made no effort to alter the video to hide them.
January 29, 2013 5 Comments
Ok, so maybe it is not my first article on Microsoft Surface, but it is the first article that I am writing from one. A friend here was kind enough to loan me one for a few weeks, and even though my EliteBook is within arm’s reach I decided to spend my morning on this device exclusively… to get used to it and all.
The keyboard was the first challenge that I anticipated… the flat, waterproof keys reminded me at a glance of the chicklet keyboard of the Atari 400. How wrong I was… although the keyboard does take some getting used to, it is really quite friendly and easy to use. The missing function keys also struck me as a worry… I use the F-keys pretty regularly, and it did not take long for me to notice their absence. I expect that I am in the minority on this point though… IT Pros and Devs will miss them, but the vast majority of end users will likely not even notice that they are missing**. The responsiveness is another thing worried me (I noticed it as I was writing this paragraph). I seemed to be typing faster than the keyboard could send the keys to the screen. That however turned out to be not a problem with the Surface, but rather with the app that I am using to write.
**Edit Feb. 1: The top row of keys is indeed the function keys, but on the keyboard I have the numbers are not printed. As with many keyboards, you need to press the Fn key to shift to the Function, so Alt-Fn-Play is the same as Alt-F4.
Theresa Garvis, my lovely wife and very capable business manager, has been using her Surface since the end of October, and she has been loving it. When I discussed my concerns with the keyboard she assured me that she used the keyboard… but the truth is that she gets along without it just as easily. ‘I have used the on-screen keyboard without any problems, and it works great for me. The only reason I use the external keyboard is because it is there, and have never had any problem when I left it at home.’
The Surface RT does not have nearly the kind of horsepower that I need for my day to day computer use. However I am not your average computer user, and I expect that with 2 GB of RAM, a 1.3GHz NVIDEA TEGRA 3 Quad-Core CPU, and 32 GB of storage (a chunk of which is used for the OS) most end-users will be happy with it. My son Aaron started high school this year, and was eager to swap out his EliteBook for the Surface. He found that the only thing that he couldn’t do with his Surface was a school app that requires Flash Player… and I have not yet looked into a solution for this. In the meantime he is happy using one of the home computers for his French homework, and the rest of the time he sequesters himself in his room with his Surface.
The Surface is not intended to be a desktop/laptop replacement, but it could very well be that for many people. But what about the rest of us who absolutely need more power? What about those of us who need legacy apps? I personally immediately felt the missing link in the Office chain – no Outlook. In fact, this is a complaint I have heard from quite a number of people who have gone out and bought Surfaces… what do I do without my Outlook??
Outlook is not the only app that people are missing on the Surface (or, more accurately, on Windows RT) but it is a big one. Most of the functionality of Outlook that I use is actually available in Microsoft Mail, Calendar, and Contacts (all of which come standard with Windows RT). However let’s be honest… if you are used to Outlook there really isn’t a viable alternative.
So what do we do? On the one hand we have a really powerful tablet that runs Windows 8, and on the other we have a device that isn’t quite powerful enough for us. But what if we could harness the power of our desktop from the Surface? What if we could use all of our apps and resources of the great but heavy desktop that is always connected directly from Windows RT? Wouldn’t that be great?
We can… and in my next article I will show you how you can do it too, using a few simple tricks and some free tools.
Oh and by the way, I wrote this entire article using the free WordPress app that I downloaded from the Windows Store, using the regular keyboard!
January 2, 2013 2 Comments
I keep telling people that the best way to activate your servers and desktops is to have a Key Management Server (KMS) in your environment. However not everyone has volume license keys, and when an IT Pro (or Dev) builds a lot of lab environments using their TechNet, MSDN, or MAPS licenses that is not an option.
If you hate typing and retyping product keys, here’s a trick that will make your life a little easier:
1) Navigate to the Subscriber Downloads page on your TechNet Plus, MSDN, or other site and find the operating system that you are looking for, then click Product Keys next to the desired product.
2) Once you have the key available (you may have to click Get a Key first) click on the clipboard icon next to that key. (you may have to allow Internet Explorer to access your clipboard).
3) Now bring up the Hyper-V Virtual Machine Connection for your virtual machine and begin installing the OS. When you get to the screen where you would have to type in the product key, select the Clipboard option in the menu and click Type clipboard text.
You should see the product key being typed into the appropriate location.
I use this technique whenever I have lab environments to build, but it would work just as well for copying any text from your desktop (or server) into your Hyper-V virtual machine. It is simple and effective… just like Hyper-V!
December 19, 2012 7 Comments
This article was originally published in June, 2012. Due to the relevance and current interest in certifications I decided to republish. -MDG
When I found out that Microsoft Learning was (again!) revamping the certification stack, I thought to myself that after all these years it might be time to stop chasing certifications. After all, when they created the MCTS/MCITP model I had to essentially start from scratch, and if they were doing that again it might not be worth the effort.
Let me clarify that statement… Certifications are extremely valuable and necessary to an IT Pro, but at a certain point you have proven yourself… I have by now passed over 35 Microsoft exams, and expect that by now people know that I am established.
I stated in an article earlier this month that certifications are not for our current job, they are for your next job. Unfortunately, as a contract worker, I am always working for my next job. That means that I always have to maintain my certifications current, or at least I cannot let them get stale… Once I became an MCITP: Enterprise Admin on Server 2008 I might have gotten away with not taking my exams for Windows Server 2012… but because the new generation revolves around solutions rather than products I expected I would need at least my MCSE: Private Cloud… then people looking at my credentials would know I knew at least Windows Server 2008 R2 and System Center 2012.
I like the way the new certification ‘pyramid’ is designed. The ‘junior certification’ is the Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate, which is product-focused.
As I stated earlier, the requirements for an MCSA: Windows Sever 2008 are the same requirements you previously needed for the legacy MCITP: Server Administrator. It is three exams, and you are certified. I assume that when Windows Server 2012 comes out there will be a new MCSA for that platform, and I have no early insight into what that will look like, nor how many exams will be required.
My point is this though. Now that the junior certification is now three exams deep, it is going to be harder for people to claim the title. When I first got certified any exam you took earned you the title Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). I knew people who passed one exam, and coasted on that certification for years. Heck, I was one of them for about a year… at least the first exam that I took was for Windows 2000 Professional, and not a sales-related exam, which gave you the same MCP title.
That problem was supposed to be resolved in the next generation, the MCTS/MCITP era. At the beginning there was talk that not every exam would earn you that MCTS certification, and I believe that on the dev side there were a couple of those. However on the IT Pro side there was never an exam that did not give you a cert… so when I passed three exams to get my MCITP: Virtualization Administrator cred, I had three certs, including two MCTS and the one MCITP.
I was asked this morning by Veronica Sopher of Microsoft Learning what I thought of the 70-246 exam, and my first response was it was ugly. However that was my way of saying that it was tough, and that it tested your knowledge of a lot of different products in a relatively small number of questions. In truth I am glad that it was as tough as it was (now that I have passed) because it means that Microsoft is trying to make earning your senior certifications more difficult, which means that you will really need to know your stuff. A step in the right direction, no doubt!
As for the Master level – the Microsoft Certified Solutions Master – I assume this is still going to be out of my grasp, until I decide to take a job running the infrastructure for a major international company. I like what I do, so I don’t know that is in the cards. However If you are an MCSM (equivalent to the former Microsoft Certified Master / MCM) then you are certainly recognized as a very top expert in the technology.
If the MCSM is anything like the old MCM then you not only have to know the technology, you then have to spend several weeks in Redmond on the Microsoft Campus learning from the product team, and then have to pass a series of exams and boards. There is a reason they are called Masters… it is not for the faint of heart!
I appreciate Microsoft Learning’s revamped certification plan. It makes it harder to ‘just get by’ and easier to distinguish IT pros by the exams they have passed. I think it’s a step in the right direction, and look forward to seeing what other MCSE tracks will be revealed as the next generation of Windows operating systems launch later this year!
December 18, 2012 Leave a comment
This article was originally published to The Canadian IT Pro Connection.Boy has it been an exciting year… Microsoft’s busiest release year ever! On the IT Pro side we have System Center 2012 (a single product now, but truly seven distinct products for managing your environment!), Windows Server 2012, Windows 8… we have Windows Azure (which for the first time is really beginning to show true relevance to the IT Pro and not just the devs), and of course the new Office (both on-prem with Office 2013, and in the cloud with Office 365). There is of course Windows Phone 8, Windows Intune, and the list goes on.
With all of these new versions out many IT Pros will be looking to update their certifications to remain current, while many more will be looking for their first certs. For the first time in six years Microsoft Learning has completely changed the way you will be looking at certifications going forward. If you are like me (and so many others) and do want to get certified in the latest and greatest, then you will need to know what is out there, and how certifications have changed with the newest product cycles.
Solutions-based Certifications
In the last few years Microsoft Learning focused on what they referred to as task-based certifications (MCTS) and job-based certifications (MCITP). However IT Pros started to see more and more components in learning and exams that were not actually in the product – so for example an exam on Windows Server might have included a question on the Security Compliance Manager (SCM) and System Center. Although it made sense to the SMEs writing the questions, the unprepared found themselves facing questions that they couldn’t answer, and a resounding chorus of ‘we didn’t realize we would be tested on that!’ was to be heard across the blogosphere.
This year the new certifications have been revamped to be solutions-based. That means you are not focusing on a role or a product, but rather on the solution as a whole, which will very often include technologies not included in the product, but that are complimentary to it. Microsoft’s Solution Accelerators are a good example of this. The Solution Accelerators are a series of free tools available from Microsoft and include the Security Compliance Manager, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, the Microsoft Virtual Machine Conversion toolkit, and others that are free downloads and may not be required knowledge to everyone, but every IT Pro should know about them because they really do come in handy.
Additionally you are going to see a strong interdependence between Windows Server 2012, System Center 2012, and Windows 8. After all very few companies have only one of these, and in fact in any organization of a certain size or larger it would be rare to not find all three.
Of course it is also likely you are going to see questions that ask about previous versions of all of these technologies. ‘Your company has 25 servers running Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition and 5000 desktops running Windows Vista Business Edition…’ sorts of questions will not be uncommon. This will make some of us scour our archived memory banks for the differences between editions, and may seem unfair to IT Pros who are new to the industry. Remember that every certification exam and course lists recommended prerequisites for candidates, and 2-3 years of experience is not an uncommon one. To that I remind you that you do not need a perfect score to pass the exams… do your best!
What was old is new again
In 2005 Microsoft announced the retirement of the MCSE and MCSA certifications, to be replaced by the MCTS/MCITP certs. During a recent keynote delivered by a guest speaker from Redmond I heard him say that this was actually Canada’s fault, and unfortunately he is partly right. The Quebec Order of Engineers won their lawsuit regarding the usage of the word engineer in the cert. While it may have made their lives better, it complicated the certification landscape for a lot of IT Pros and hiring managers who never quite got used to the new model.
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In April, 2012 Microsoft Learning announced that things were changing again… we would again be able to earn our MCSA and MCSE certs, but they would now stand for Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate and Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert. In fact they thought it was a good enough idea that although they were intended as next-generation certs, they would be ported backward one generation… if you were/are an MCITP: Server Administrator or MCITP: Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server 2008 you immediately became an MCSA: Windows Server 2008. You were also immediately only two exams away from earning your MCSE: Private Cloud certification.
Microsoft Learning bills the MCSA certification as ‘the foundation for your professional career.’ I agree with this because it is the basic cert on the operating system, and from there you can jump into the next stage (there are several MCSE programs available, all of which require the base MCSA to achieve).
Of course now that Windows Server 2012 has been released, so too has the new certifications. If you want to earn your MCSA: Windows Server 2012 credentials then you are only three exams away:
| Exam # | Title | Aligned course |
| 70-410 | Installing and Configuring Windows Server 2012 | 20410 |
| 70-411 | Administering Windows Server 2012 | 20411 |
| 70-412 | Configuring Advanced Windows Server 2012 Services | 20412 |
Instead of taking all three of these exams, you could choose to upgrade any of the following certifications with a single upgrade exam:
MCSA: Windows Server 2008
MCITP: Virtualization Administrator on Windows Server 2008 R2
MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010
MCITP: Lync Server Administrator 2010
MCITP: SharePoint Administrator 2010
MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator on Windows 7
The upgrade exam is called Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012, and is exam number 70-417.
Microsoft Learning calls the MCSE certification ‘the globally recognized standard for IT professionals.’ It demonstrates that you know more than just the basics, but that you are an expert in the technologies required to provide a complete solution for your environment.
The first IT Pro MCSE cert announced focused on virtualization and the System Center 2012 product. Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert: Private Cloud launched first because System Center 2012 was released earlier in the year, and the Private Cloud cert could use either Server 2012 or Server 2008 certs as its baseline. If you already have a qualifying MCSA certification (such as the one outlined above, or the MCSA: Windows Server 2008) then you would only require two more exams to complete your MCSE:
| Exam # | Title | Aligned course |
| 70-246 | Monitoring and Operating a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 | 10750 |
| 70-247 | Configuring and Deploying a Private Cloud with System Center 2012 | 10751 |
| 70-6591 | TS Windows Server 2008: Server Virtualization | 10215A |
1This exam can be taken instead of exam 70-247 until January 31, 2013 to count towards the Private Cloud certification.
The next new-generation MCSE cert for the IT Pro is theMCSE: Server Infrastructure. Like the first one the basis for this cert is the MCSA. Unlike the Private Cloud cert, the MCSA must be in Windows Server 2012. The required additional exams are:
| Exam # | Title | Aligned course |
| 70-413 | Designing and Implementing a Server Infrastructure | 20413 |
| 70-414 | Implementing an Advanced Server Infrastructure | 20414 |
Are you starting to worry that your current Server 2008 certs aren’t helping you toward your goal? Never fear… the following certifications are upgradeable by taking three exams:
MCITP: Virtualization Administrator on Windows Server 2008 R2
MCITP: Enterprise Messaging Administrator 2010
MCITP: Lync Server Administrator 2010
MCITP: SharePoint Administrator 2010
MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator on Windows 7
Which exams? I’m glad you asked. The upgrading IT Pro needs to take:
| Exam # | Title | Aligned course |
| 70-413 | Designing and Implementing a Server Infrastructure | 20413 |
| 70-414 | Implementing an Advanced Server Infrastructure | 20414 |
| 70-417 | Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012 | 20417 |
In other words, you will be upgrading your pre-existing cert to MCSA: Windows Server 2012, and then taking the remaining exams required for the MCSE.
The third MCSE that will be of interest to IT Pros is the MCSE: Desktop Infrastructurecert. As with the others it requires the candidate to earn the MCSA: Windows Server 2012, and then take the following exams:
| Exam # | Title | Aligned course |
| 70-415 | Implementing a Desktop Infrastructure | 20415 |
| 70-416 | Implementing Desktop Application Environments | 20416 |
If you previously held the MCITP: Enterprise Desktop Administrator 7 then you can upgrade by taking the following exams:
| Exam # | Title | Aligned course |
| 70-415 | Implementing a Desktop Infrastructure | 20415 |
| 70-416 | Implementing Desktop Application Environments | 20416 |
| 70-417 | Upgrading Your Skills to MCSA Windows Server 2012 | 20417 |
There are actually five other MCSE paths, which are:
MCSE: Messaging
MCSE: Data Platform
MCSE: Business Intelligence
MCSE: Communication
MCSE: SharePoint
That I do not discuss these is not a judgment, simply they are outside of my wheelhouse as it were… If you would like more information about any of these, visit Microsoft Learning’s MCSE landing page.
The Unfinished Pyramid
You will notice that the MCSA and MCSE pyramids that we use are progressive… the MCSA has one level finished, the MCSE has two levels finished. That is because there is another level of certifications above these, which is now called the Microsoft Certified Solutions Master. This is the highest certification that Microsoft Learning offers, and only a few individuals will qualify. It is a real commitment but if you think you are ready for it, I would love to point you in the right direction. Personally I am happy with my MCSE: PC and don’t expect I will ever be a Master.
At present there are four MCSM tracks:
MCSM: SharePoint
MCSM: Data Platform
MCSM: Communication
MCSM: Messaging
It should be noted that of these only the MCSM: Data Platform is currently available; the others will be made available in 2013.
Also at the very top of the pyramid there is one more level – the Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA). There are currently four MCA certifications:
MCA: Microsoft Exchange Server
MCA: Microsoft SharePoint Server
MCA: Microsoft SQL Server
MCA: Windows Server: Directory
Achieving the MCA requires a lot more than just exams. It is a long and grueling process which in the end will likely leave you drained, but with the highest certification that Microsoft offers.
I should tell you that these last two senior certs are not for most people. They are only for the very top professionals with in-depth experience designing and delivering IT solutions for enterprise customers, and even then only for those who possess the technical and leadership skills that truly differentiate them from their peers.
Keep it up!
Several years ago Microsoft Learning tried to retire older MCSEs – Windows NT and such. They were unsuccessful because had they done so they would have breached the terms of the original certification. In other words, because they never told candidates in advance that they would retire them, they couldn’t retire them. It is not uncommon for me to hear from someone who is an MCSE, but they haven’t taken an exam since the 1990s. In fact the logo for MCSE on Windows NT is the same logo as for MCSE on Windows Server 2003, and those MCSEs will be allowed to use that logo forever.
In 2006 they made it a little easier to differentiate. Not only would certifications be by technology (MCITP: Enterprise Administrator on Windows Server 2008) but they would, in theory, be retired with support for that technology. So an MCITP on Windows Vista would not be able to use the cert past a certain date. Unfortunately I found that people did not refer to their entire cert, they would simply say that ‘I am an MCITP!’ In other words, without some clarifying it was pretty difficult to determine what technology they really knew. Additionally it is not uncommon for some pros to have several MCITP certs, making it quite difficult to list on a business card or e-mail signature.
Now Microsoft Learning has really made an improvement to this issue. The new MCSE certifications will require that you show continued understanding of the latest versions of the technology area by taking a recertification exam every three years. While there was some talk of this with the MCITP program it did not come to fruition. Today however this recertification requirement is clearly outlined on the MCSE pages.
While recertifying may seem like a bother for some, as we discussed earlier it is something we choose to do every three years to remain current anyways. For those of us who do want to always remain current it is nice to know that we don’t have to start from scratch with every new product cycle. For those for whom remaining current is not as important they will always be able to say ‘I was an MCSE, but I let my certs lapse.’ It shows that they do know the technology, just not necessarily the most current version, This should be sufficient for a lot of people who often tell me ‘my clients don’t need the latest, and are not going to upgrade every three years!’
What About Small Biz?
I spent several years specializing in SMBs. The first time I took a certification exam I remember coming out of it upset about questions that started ‘You are the administrator for a company with 500 server…’ No I am not! At the time I couldn’t even fathom what that would be like. So when Microsoft Learning started writing exams for SBS I was glad not because I wanted to limit myself (I didn’t, and am glad of that today) but because I knew that there are lots of IT Pros out there who do work exclusively on smaller networks.
I do not know what will become of SMB-focused certifications now that Windows Small Business Server 2011 is to be the last SBS release. I do not have any insight into whether there will be exams around Windows Server Essentials, but could envision a cert around the tying of that product with Windows 8 and Office 365. I have not been asked, but it would make sense. However I have heard from a lot of SMB IT Pros that certifications are not as important to them and their clients as we feel they are in the enterprise, and I accept that; the needs of the larger do not necessarily align with the needs of the smaller. However only time will tell if Microsoft Learning will address this market.
So in the end, should I get certified?
I have long been of the opinion that certifications are key for any IT Professional who is serious about his or her profession. It shows that they have the respect for their profession to be willing to prove not that they know how to do it, but to do IT right. Certifications are not for IT hobbyists, or people who dabble. They are for the professionals who earn their living in IT, and who wish to differentiate themselves from other candidates for jobs, contracts, or promotions.
Whether you have been working in IT for years, or are fresh out of school and looking to embark on a career in IT, there are likely scores if not hundreds of candidates who will be competing with you for every job. Why not take this opportunity to distinguish yourself? No matter how much some people will denigrate their relevance, I have spoken to many hiring managers who have confirmed for me time and again that they are a key indicator of a candidate’s suitability to technical positions.
November 20, 2012 Leave a comment
The Microsoft Store in Toronto’s Yorkdale Mall is the hottest address for technology in the Greater Toronto Area. People have been coming from all over to see what’s new, ranging from Windows 8 laptops, all-in-ones, Windows Phone 8 devices, and especially the new Microsoft Surface tablet, the hottest device on the market today.
Of course the store is a retail outlet, and as such is designed around the consumer. To get a machine with the Microsoft Signature experience there is no other place to go.
So where do you go if you are a business owner, a consultant, a reseller who wants to buy these exclusive optimized devices for your company or customers? Simple… ask for Caden!
Caden Forbes is the Business Development Specialist for the Microsoft Store in Toronto, and as such it is his job to connect with and sell into businesses. He is, in essence, the B2B rep for the store. That means that if you want to buy Surfaces, Windows Phones, or anything else for your business Caden is the man to see… and you can tell in the first seconds of your conversation that he loves his job, is great at it, and is easy to do business with.
It is often hard to find a man who knows his stuff, can communicate his message effectively, and is easy to deal with. He almost always has a smile on his face and in his heart. He has years of experience as a consultant that make him singularly suited as the best man for the job.
The entire staff at the Microsoft Store is second to none… they have been chosen well, trained thoroughly, and without a doubt work better as a team than any retail group I have ever met. Like every great team they all serve their role; Caden may look like a linebacker but when you speak to him you will soon realize that he Is the business-to-business running back; when a member of the team realizes that a customer is asking business-related questions they will hand off to Caden, and Caden runs with it. I expect him to win whatever the retail equivalent of the Heisman Trophy this year because he is absolutely one of the most effective players on the field.
If you haven’t been there already you should go down to the store and speak to one of the Product Advisors and, if you are a business owner, make sure they hand you off to Caden.
November 16, 2012 1 Comment
If you are in or around the Greater Toronto Area this week-end then there is no better place to be than the Microsoft Store in Yorkdale Mall.
The first international store and the largest in the chain, the opening of Microsoft’s newest retail store can only be descried as a huge success, with literally hundreds of people lined up hours in advance to get their first glimpse of the retail marvel.
Microsoft Canada president Max Long was joined by Tami Reller, Corporate Vice President and CFO of Microsoft’s Windows Division were on hand to open the store with a crowd of 700 onlookers. They did not only welcome the crowd and talk about the store, they also announced that Microsoft Canada was making a new donation of $1.500,000 to local charities – presented by store manager Alison Evans.
When the curtain dropped the entire staff was leading the cheers, and then lined up to form a passageway into the store where they high-fived the first visitors. By the time this VIP got in the door (in the first minute) the store was already bustling with activity, a level that has hardly abated at all thus far.
I spoke to a lot of people lined up and they were all here for different reasons – deals on new hardware, Xbox and laptops and accessories… but the two things that drew the most people were the Microsoft Surface and the new Windows Phone 8 devices.
While the Surface has been available since the launch of Windows 8 on October 26th, the only place you were able to see it in Toronto was at the pop-up retail kiosk in the Eaton Centre. Now that the full retail store is open there are dozens of Surfaces everywhere, as well as Sony, Acer, Asus, Dell Samsung devices ranging in size from 9" ultrabooks and tablets to 27" all-in-one machines.
The greatest thing about the store in my opinion is that the display machines are all available for visitors to try out — as I write this article from a handy Sony Vaio T, complete with multi-touch sreen and reasonably priced at $899. They are all internet-connected, and nobody is telling visitors not to touch, try, and in the Xbox corner play. It is a great hands-on experience, and the store associates are as welcoming and helpful as I have ever seen.
In the Windows Phone corner there are representatives not only from a couple of the local carriers but also from the manufacturers as well. Although the platform released October 26th, this is the first time I have even seen the devices outside the Microsoft offices.
Everywhere you look people of all ages and knowledge levels are asking questions, learning, and trying out great devices. Of course every PC is running Windows 8, so it is a great opportunity for people to get their first glimpse of Microsoft’s flagship product, barely three weeks old.
In the back of the store there is an area called the theatre where during the regular hours people can play on the Xbox connected to an incredible 103" touch screen. This afternoon (and tomorrow and Sunday) the Microsoft MVPs are taking over – we will be presenting sessions every hour on topic including Windows 8, Office 2013, Office 365, Xbox, and of course Windows Phone 8. I have several sessions over the course of the week-end, but am more interested to sit in and listen to what my fellow enthusiasts have to say (I usually know what I am going to say so I am seldom surprised).
It is definitely the place to be this week-end. Even though the initial ‘line up and wait’ is over, the store has been consistently hopping since it opened, with no signs of slowing down. I spoke with several members of the management team who are all pleased by the turnout. Alison Evans, the store manager, told me she is ‘ecstatic about the turnout.’
To make things even hotter, there will be an exclusive concert with the band Train tomorrow evening, and store staff are handing out wristband passes to the lucky few; and this afternoon The Great One – Number 99 himself – Wayne Gretzky will be in the store, and people will be lined up to meet him, get autographs, and get the chance to play Kinect games with him!
So if you haven’t come down yet what is stopping you? Trust me, you will not be disappointed… your only regret will be if you do NOT come down!
October 9, 2012 1 Comment
This month I will be speaking at the SMB Nation Fall Conference. My main presentation will be on what IT will look like for small- and mid-sized businesses in what I call the ‘Post-SBS Era.’ I will be discussing Private Cloud, System Center, Virtualization, Office 365, Azure, and Windows Intune.
I have also been asked to lead a panel of Microsoft MVPs. Topic: Open. I can pick a topic, or I can simply open the floor to questions. I briefly considered calling the panel ‘Whaddya mean you do it for FREE?!’ but thought better of it… however it would be fitting because MVPs do not get paid for what they do… at least not for what they do in order to be an MVP.
I have invited four other MVPs to join me on stage; until I get confirmation from all of them I will not reveal who they are. However I tried to select people with different experiences as MVPs. It should be an interesting time.
Over the past few days that I have been thinking about this panel I have given some thought to what it means to me. Last week I was recognized for the seventh time (Microsoft MVPs are awarded for a period of one year, and my award date is October 1st). I guess by now I can be considered a ‘veteran MVP,’ but I know that there are so many MVPs who have been around much longer than I have been.
In 2005 or 2006 there was an MVP Roadshow that came to Montreal; Jeff Middleton and the gang came up and after their day-long event, they agreed to do a user group event for us in the evening. Somebody in the audience asked Jeff ‘What is expected of you as MVPs?’ I expected Jeff to start talking about speaking to user groups, answering questions in the forums and newsgroups, and whatever else. He surprised me when he answered (not a direct quote) ‘Nothing. The MVP Award is strictly for past contributions. It is not a contract, and you are not actually expected to do anything further.’
It was an interesting answer, and on the surface an honest and accurate one. It does not, however, account for the fact that if MVPs want to continue being MVPs then there are certain expectations of us. Depending on several factors I think those expectations are not the same for all of us, but that is another topic altogether.
In November 2004 I had a conversation with a young Harp Girn who was at the time a vendor with Microsoft Canada. He had, earlier in the evening, gotten me to volunteer to start a user group in Montreal for IT Professionals. He made it clear to me that although he and his team would help, there wouldn’t be any direct, tangible benefits. ‘I can’t make any promises, but a lot of user group leaders get recognized as Microsoft MVPs.’ I am not sure, but it may have been the first time I had ever heard the term. He was right – 23 months later I did get the award.
It has been an incredible six years… My life, my career, my outlook have changed so much in that time, and who knew – a lot of that change can be traced back to the MVP Award. Most of that indirectly of course, but a lot of the opportunities that I have been afforded over the past several years have been because I was an MVP. Microsoft Canada has done a lot for me, and oftentimes it was because of a conversation started with the phrase ‘…do you know of any MVPs who could do this for us?’ Many of the certifications I hold (especially the Charter certs) are because Microsoft Learning sent out invites to write beta exams to… you guessed it – MVPs.
Shortly after I received the award for the first time a consulting firm asked me to do some work with them – it started as training roadshows but eventually evolved into courseware creation. When they asked me what I knew about server virtualization I replied honestly that I knew nothing about it. They had me learn, and that would eventually evolve into several career-changing moments, not the least of which was the opportunity to write Microsoft’s original courseware (e-learning) for Hyper-V. That led to roadshows of course, and a company that heard about me because of the roadshow asked if I would be interested in learning VMware and then consulting and teaching it for them in Canada (and eventually internationally). The original consulting firm that got the ball rolling on this told me point-blank that they would not have considered me had I not been a Microsoft MVP.
When the Partner team at Microsoft Canada decided to create a program called the Virtual Partner Technology Advisors, they looked for MVPs who were strong on virtualization. That led to dozens of contracts over the course of several years, as well as the opportunity to present myself as one of the foremost VMware-compete guys in the country.
And of course, when the DPE Team at Microsoft Canada started discussing a new position called ‘Virtual Technical Evangelist’ they again looked for MVPs.
Someone asked me earlier today what I would do if I wasn’t doing what I do. It’s a tough question and frankly I cannot fathom an answer. I guess I need more time, but I’ll come up with something, I promise. The question got me thinking (and not for the first time) where I would be today if I had not put my hand up to volunteer to create a local user group in Montreal, which in turn led to my eventual nomination as a Microsoft MVP. The consequences of that single action are impossible to quantify, but let’s start with a quick list:
Wow… that is a simple list that took me all of five minutes to compile, but each point is easy to make the case for. I honestly believe that had I not been awarded the Microsoft MVP way back then my life would have gone in a very different direction. I cannot fathom what it would look like today… but it isn’t a stretch to guess that broader minds bring broader opportunities, and I would not be doing as well were I still living in Montreal servicing small business IT shops.
So while Microsoft uses the MVP Program as a thank-you for its community leaders, I expect a lot of us owe Microsoft a big thank-you back for the opportunities that have come about from our award.
October 4, 2012 Leave a comment
Hard Disk Spindle (Photo credit: Fr3d.org)
Okay, I am asking for a show of hands: How many of you remember 100MB hard drives? 80? 40? While I remember smaller, my first hard drive was a 20 Megabyte Seagate drive. Note that I didn’t say Gigabytes…
Way back then the term Terabyte might have been coined already as a very theoretical term, but in the mid-80s most of us did not even have hard drives – we were happy enough if we had dual floppy drives to run our programs AND store our data. We never thought that we could ever fill a gigabyte of storage, but were happier with hard drives than with floppies because they were less fragile (especially with so many magnets about).
Now of course we are in a much more enlightened age, where most of us need hundreds of gigabytes, if not more. With storage requirements growing exponentially, the 2TB drives that we used to think were beyond the needs of all but the largest companies are now available for consumers, and corporations are needing to put several of those massive drives into SAN arrays to support the ever-growing database servers.
As our enterprise requirements grow, so must the technologies that we rely on. That is why we were so proud to announce the new VHDX file format, Microsoft’s next generation virtual hard drive files that has by far the largest capacity of any virtualization technology on the market – a whopping 64 Terabytes.
Since Microsoft made this announcement a few months ago several IT Pros have asked me ‘Why on earth would I ever need a single drive to be that big?’ A fair question, that reminds me of the old quote from Bill Gates who said that none of us would ever need more than 640KB of RAM in our computers. The truth is big data is becoming the rule and not the exception.
Now let’s be clear… it may be a long time before you need 64TB on a single volume. However rather than questioning the limit, let’s look at the previous limit – 2TB. Most of us likely won’t need 64TB any time soon; however over the last couple of years I have come across several companies who did not think they could virtualize their database servers because of 2.2TB databases.
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Earlier this week I got an e-mail from a customer asking for help with a virtual to physical migration. Knowing who he reached out to, this was an obvious cry for help.
‘Mitch we have our database running on a virtual machine, and it is running great, but we are about to outgrow our 2TB limitation on the drive, and we have to migrate onto physical storage. We simply don’t have any other choice.’
As a Technical Evangelist my job is to win hearts and minds, as well as educate people about new technologies (as well as new ways to use the existing technologies that they have already invested in). So when I read this request I had several alternate solutions for them that would allow them to maintain their virtual machine while they burst through that 2TB ‘limit’.
With all of these options available to us, the sky truly is the limit for our virtualization environments… Whether you opt for a VHDX file, Storage Pool, Software- or Hardware-SAN, Hyper-V on Windows Server 2012 has you covered. And if none of these are quite right for you, then migrating your servers into an Azure VM in the cloud offers yet more options for the dynamic environment, without the capital expenses required for on-premises solutions.
Knowing all of this, there really is no longer any reason to do a V2P migration, although of course there are tools that can do that. There is also no longer a good reason to invest in third-party virtualization platforms that limit your virtual hard disks to 2TB.
Adaptable storage the way you want it… just one more reason to pick Windows Server 2012!
September 21, 2012 1 Comment
I wasn’t able to get to TechEd in Australia this year (or ever… sigh!). However the folks from Channel 9 were, and they have a lot of the sessions available on their site. I hope to find the time to sit through most of them over the next couple of weeks, but there are two or three that I know I will be making time for sooner! -M
What’s New in WS2012: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/WSV311
What’s New in Active Directory in Windows Server 2012: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/WSV312
WS2012 Dynamic Access Control Overview and Tips: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/WSV334
Kick Starting your Migration to Windows Server 2012 http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/WSV331
WS2012 File and Storage Services Management: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/WSV325
Enabling Disaster Recovery using Hyper-V Replica: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/VIR321
WS2012 Server Manager for Remote and Multi-Server Management: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/WSV317
Windows Runtime (WinRT) Deep Dive: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/DEV317
WS2012 File System Enhancements: ReFS and Storage Spaces: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/WSV316
What’s New in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, Part 1: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/VIR312
What’s New in Windows Server 2012 Hyper-V, Part 2: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/VIR315
WS2012 Hyper-V Live Migration and Live Storage Migration: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/VIR314
The Faces of WS2012: Bare Metal, Server Core, Minimal Server Interface… http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/WSV314
Hyper-V Performance, Scale & Architecture Changes: http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/VIR413
September 21, 2012 Leave a comment
NOTE: I did not write this article; in fact, it is copied word for word from an e-mail I received from Scorpion Software. However it is a solution I do believe in. I am not selling for Scorpion Software, nor do I receive any benefit from their sales, nor are the links herein set to track you back to me. I am friends with the owner of the company and a couple of their developers, but have not been asked to post this (nor have I been promised any remuneration for doing so). –Mitch
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