Event: From The Desktop to the Cloud: Let’s Manage, Monitor and Deploy
Join us at the Guinness Store House on February 24th at 09:30 for a full day of action packed sessions covering everything from the desktop to The Cloud, and maybe even a pint of Guinness afterwards.
We have our a fantastic range of speakers ranging from MVPs to Microsoft Staff and leading industry specialists to deliver our sessions ensuring a truly unique experience. During this day, you will have the choice of attending sessions of your choice, covering topics such as Windows 7/Office 2010 deployment, management using System Center, and cloud computing for the IT pro (no developer content – we promise!).
You can register here. Please only register if you seriously intend to go; Spaces are limited and we want to make sure as many can attend as possible.
We will be running 3 separate subject tracks as follows:
Track 1: The Cloud
The sessions in this track introduce the IT pro to new ways of using cloud computing to provide IT based services to the users in their organisation.
Session 1: CRM Online
Session Description: Take a deep dive into CRM Online and show how you can integrate it with on-premise systems and existing cloud technologies. We will also a look at integration with XRM.
Speakers: Mark Gullick, Microsoft / James Finnegan, Microsoft
Session 2: Office 365
Session Description: Learn about Office 365, understand the offering and the features it provides, and how to plan and coexist with existing infrastructures.
Speaker: John McCabe, Microsoft
Session 3: Azure
Session Description: We will take a look at Azure from an IT Pro perspective and how you can leverage it, and plan to migrate systems and applications to The Cloud.
Speakers: Wilbour Craddock, Microsoft / Josh Holmes, Microsoft
Session 4: Intune
Session Description: This will be a detailed look at Intune, showing how you can build an MSP practice using Microsoft’s latest edition to the online services portfolio.
Speaker: Wilbour Craddock, Microsoft
Track 2: Windows 7/Office 2010 Deployment
The Windows 7 track will teach the attendee about the essential technologies for performing a successful deployment of Windows 7 and Office 2010.
Session 1: Microsoft Assessment & Planning Toolkit For Windows 7 and Office 2010
Session Description: The first step of any deployment is planning, and you need information to create an accurate plan. The Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP) allows you to assess you existing desktop infrastructure. Armed with this information you can identify which hardware needs to be replaced, which needs to be upgraded, and which applications and drivers will require further administrative or engineering effort. This session will teach you how to use MAP to assess your infrastructure and produce the necessary reports.
Speaker: Aidan Finn (MVP – Virtual Machine), System Dynamics
Aidan Finn is the infrastructure team leader with System Dynamics, an Irish consulting company based in Dublin. Systems Dynamics provides expertise in IT infrastructure, business intelligence, and enterprise software development. Aidan is a former System Center Configuration Manager Most Valuable Professional (MVP), and is currently one of 60 Virtual Machine MVPs in the world. Aidan is the co-author of Mastering Windows Server 2008 R2 (Sybex, 2009) and Mastering Windows 7 Deployment (Sybex, 2011), and is the lead author of Mastering Hyper-V Deployment (Sybex, 2010).
Session 2: Application Compatibility Toolkit
Session Description: Have you got legacy applications or are responsible for a migration project to Windows 7? We will take a detailed look at how the Application compatibility toolkit can help mitigate and fix applications to run successfully on Windows 7.
Speaker: Sebastian Siminovich Blok, Microsoft
Session 3: Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2010, Update 1
Session Description: The Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) is Microsoft’s free solution for providing advanced operating system image deployment for desktops and servers. This light touch solution allows the usage of task sequences to perform many tasks in a fire-and-forget manner. This means you can do more than just install an image; you can capture and restore user states, configure encryption, apply the latest patches, install software, and provide plug-and-play drivers … and do pretty much anything that can be scripted. This session will walk you through the set-up and usage of MDT to deploy and configure Windows 7.
Speaker: Aidan Finn (MVP – Virtual Machine), System Dynamics
Aidan Finn is the infrastructure team leader with System Dynamics, an Irish consulting company based in Dublin. Systems Dynamics provides expertise in IT infrastructure, business intelligence, and enterprise software development. Aidan is a former System Center Configuration Manager Most Valuable Professional (MVP), and is currently one of 60 Virtual Machine MVPs in the world. Aidan is the co-author of Mastering Windows Server 2008 R2 (Sybex, 2009) and Mastering Windows 7 Deployment (Sybex, 2011), and is the lead author of Mastering Hyper-V Deployment (Sybex, 2010).
Session 4: Office 2010 Deployment
Session Description: It is likely that you will want to deploy Office 2010 if you are upgrading to Windows 7. This session will show you the various methods that you can employ, from network-based administrative installations to App-V.
Speaker: Gerry Forde, Lakeland Dairies
Track 3: Systems Management
In this track you will see how Microsoft System Center products can be used together to automate many complex and time consuming operational tasks.
Session 1: System Center Ops Manager/Configuration Manager/ Service Manager
Session Description: The session will dive into the integration of OpsMgr, ConfigMgr and Service Manager to see how you can drive processes and track events.
Speaker: Paul Keely (MVP – System Center Operations Manager)
Session 2: System Center Virtual Machine Manager/ Operations Manager & Performance Resource Optimization (PRO)
Session Description: Learn more about Dynamic IT by seeing dynamic load balancing of virtual machines on Hyper-V with SCVMM & OpsMgr using PRO managements packs.
Speaker: Kevin Greene / Steve Blanche
Session 3: Opalis
Session Description: In this session we will explore the latest addition to the System Center family, Opalis, an extremely powerful orchestration engine for all type of operating systems and services.
Speaker: Aneko, Microsoft
Session 4: Private Cloud & Dynamic Datacenter
Session Description: Explore the private cloud from a relief scenario, and the experiences that were encountered on the journey to the private cloud.
Speaker: Damian Flynn (MVP – Virtual Machine), Lionbridge
Points Mean Prizes!
Microsoft has contributed an Xbox 360 & Kinnect pacakge as a prize on the day. Details of entry will be available to attendees on the day.
Social Media
The Twitter tag for the day is #ugfeb24
Event Sponsors
The following companies have kindly sponsored this event and we thank them for their contributions. They will be on site on the day so please have a chat with them:
Windows User Group Ireland, September 10th 2010
The Windows User Group is back with a day-long event featuring updates on the latest in Microsoft IT infrastructure. Join us on Friday, September 10th in the Microsoft Auditorium in Leopardstown to hear expert speakers talking about Windows Server, virtualization, Exchange, unified messaging, and System Center for the small/medium enterprise. This day will give you valuable information that will educate you on what benefits new technologies from Microsoft will bring to your business.
The agenda is
|
Start |
Finish |
Session |
Speaker |
|
08:45 |
09:15 |
Registration |
|
|
09:15 |
10:45 |
Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX |
Aidan Finn (MVP), System Dynamics |
|
10:45 |
11:00 |
Break |
|
|
11:00 |
12:30 |
Service Pack 1 for Exchange 2010 |
Nathan Winters (MVP), Grey Convergence |
|
12:30 |
13:15 |
Lunch |
|
|
13:15 |
14:45 |
Communications Server 14 |
John McCabe (MVP), CDSoft Limited |
|
14:45 |
15:00 |
Break |
|
|
15:00 |
16:30 |
System Center Essentials 2010: Enterprise Management for the SME Customer |
Wilbour Craddock, Microsoft |
You can register and attend the event for free.
Date: Friday, September 10th, 2010
Location: EPDC-2, South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18
Registration: 08:45 to 09:15 with a strict start time of 09:15
The detailed agenda and speakers’ bios are as follows:
Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2: Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX (90 Minutes – 09:15 until 10:45)
Speaker: Aidan Finn (MVP: Virtual Machine), Infrastructure Team Lead with System Dynamics
Webcast: LiveMeeting
Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 is around the corner. It introduces some new features that will be of huge interest to anyone that is interested in Hyper-V or Remote Desktop Services (including Citrix software). Memory is often the main constraint in virtual machine to host density. Dynamic IT provides a new mechanism for configuring virtual machines with a variable amount of memory. Aidan will discuss what over commitment is and how it is bad. He’ll then introduces you to the mechanics behind Dynamic Memory and show it in action. Aidan will also introduce you to RemoteFX. This is a new solution to provide high quality graphics, such as 1080p video, to Remote Desktop clients. This will be used in Remote Desktop Services and compatible Citrix solutions.
About Aidan Finn:
Aidan is the Infrastructure Team Lead with System Dynamics, a consulting services company located in Dublin that provides IT infrastructure and business intelligence expertise. He has been working in IT since 1996 and has specialised in working with Microsoft infrastructure solutions including Server, desktop, System Center and virtualisation. Aidan is an MCSE and a Microsoft Valuable Professional with an expertise in virtualization. Aidan co-wrote Mastering Windows Server 2008 R2 (Sybex), is the lead author of Mastering Hyper-V Deployment (Sybex), and is contributing to Mastering Windows 7 Deployment (Sybex). You can find his blog at http://www.aidanfinn.com.
Service Pack 1 for Exchange 2010 (90 Minutes – 11:00 until 12:30)
Speaker: Nathan Winters (MVP: Exchange), Unified Communications Lead with Grey Convergence
Webcast: LiveMeeting
Exchange 2010 SP1 was announced at TechEd US 2010 and contains some exciting enhancements to Exchange 2010. This session will first set the context for these new features and then walk you through what is now possible:
· Reminder of the Exchange 2010 core tenets
· An update on where Microsoft is with Exchange Online
· Introduction to the Feature Enhancements of Exchange 2010 SP1 such as:
· The New Exchange Control Panel Management UI
· Improved High Availability and Disaster Recovery functionality
· Improved Outlook Web App UI and Performance
· Better Mobile Device Experience
· New Information Protection and Control
Ø Personal Archive Enhancements
Ø Retention Policy Management Enhancements
Ø Multi-Mailbox Search Enhancements
· Demo
· Questions & Answers
About Nathan Winters:
Nathan Winters is the unified communications lead at Grey Convergence, a specialist Microsoft partner for unified communications and collaboration. Nathan has been working in IT for eight years and specializes in unified communications with a focus on Microsoft Exchange and Office Communications Server. Nathan has consulted at numerous Fortune 100 companies across a variety of vertical markets.
In 2006, Nathan founded the Microsoft Messaging and Mobility User Group UK, which holds regular meetings in the UK to discuss topics related to Exchange. In 2007, Nathan was named an MVP (Exchange Server) for his work with MMMUG and his regular contributions to the Mark Minasi Forum, and he has received the same honour each year since.
Nathan’s articles have been published on leading websites and magazines, including Windows IT Pro Magazine, MSExchange.org, Simple-Talk.com, Microsoft (TechNet Industry Insiders), and the MMMUG website.
You can contact Nathan at nathan@clarinathan.co.uk or through his blog at http://www.nathanwinters.co.uk
Communications Server 14 (90 Minutes – 13:15 until 14:45)
Speaker: John McCabe (MVP: Unified Communications), Technical Consultant with CDSoft
Webcast: LiveMeeting
Communications Server 2010 (Wave 14) is Microsoft’s Next Generation Unified Communications Platform. It brings many new features including a completely new UI. John will bring you through the main features and some of the new supported scenarios available in this platform and discuss how you can even use it now to replace your PBX! This really will be a serious contender for businesses of all sizes.
About John McCabe:
John currently works as a Technical Consultant for CDSoft Limited providing solutions to the Irish Market Place across multiple industries. John has over 12 years in the IT Industry ranging different disciplines from security, networks and of course Microsoft Infrastructure. John has attained MCITP/MCTS/MCP in various tracks as well as a multiple other professional certifications. John was awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award in October 2009 for extensive community work and promoting the Microsoft Product Group.
System Center Essentials 2010: Enterprise Management for the SME Customer (90 Minutes – 15:00 until 16:30)
Speaker: Wilbour Craddock, Partner Technical Specialist, Microsoft
Webcast: LiveMeeting
The aim of this session is to provide a technical overview of the key capabilities of SCE 2010, and how it provides an integrated management solution for SMB customers, from hardware right through to the virtual OS’s running on Hyper-V and applications/services in these VM’s. Attendees will gain valuable information around differentiating SCE with the other System Center technologies, which form part of the Server Management Suites, from both a technical, and pricing perspective. We’ll also cover DPM 2010; part of the new SCE Plus SKU, and how it provides a centralized, powerful SMB-friendly application protection and DR solution, protecting both virtualized servers, application workloads, and desktop data.
To help attendees understand the solutions better, we’ll be constructing a customer scenario to provide a complete solution that can be adapted for specific customer and partner engagements. This solution will include both licensing, and pricing information, to give a better idea of the overall solution cost, and ROI. We’ll focus on delivering a demo of this scenario, concentrating particularly on the virtualization management, PRO functionality, hardware integration, and overall management of the environment.
About Wilbour Craddock:
Wilbour is a former Windows Server MVP and Canadian User Group lead now working for Microsoft Ireland in the Partner Team and frequent speaker on the TechNet Ireland tours. Wilbour’s background is not that dissimilar from most IT Professionals, having started on a help desk and progressed through system administration to leadership roles in government organizations serving as a solutions architect overseeing development and deployment teams and helping set long-term IT strategies. He blogs with the TechNet Ireland team on the IEITPro blog.
Windows User Group Event: Windows 7 Application Compatibility
One of the challenges of migrating to a new desktop operating system is getting those legacy applications to work. This can seem so daunting that many organisations choose not to take advantage of new technology solutions to resolve business issues because the perceived cost and time requirements to get those applications working is too much.
Good news! Migrating to Windows 7 is a whole lot easier thanks to the solutions provided by Microsoft. These vary from technology built into the operating system, a free suite of tools provided by Microsoft and tools that are included in the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP).
The available solutions were briefly talked about and demonstrated at the community launch events for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
In this session Vikas Sahni is going to walk you through using some of the solution available from Microsoft to get your legacy applications working on Windows 7. The agenda includes:
Session I – The Changes
- Windows 7 Goals
- Operating System Version – Compatibility Tab, Shims and Layers
- UAC changes
- IE changes
- Depreciated Apps – Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker
Session II – The Tools
- Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.5
- LUA Tools and Solutions
- Sysinternals Tools
- IE Compatibility Test Tool
The Speaker
Vikas Sahni will be presenting this session. He is the CEO of Softedge Systems. Vikas is a software expert and has a history as a technical trainer.
Softedge Systems, the first European Microsoft IP Venture Partner, is a Dublin based software company. We focus on providing unique solutions for our clients and help distinguish them from their competition. We also develop and market software products that are differentiated by their ease of use. Softedge with its R&D and project management teams in Ireland and coding team in India is able to offer high quality, cost-effective software development for third parties.
Webcast
Please DO NOT REGISTER if you are going to join the webcast.
You can join the web cast by:
1) Installing the free Live Meeting Client
2) Clicking on this link
Where and When
Microsoft Ireland Building 1, South County Business Park, Leopardstown, Dublin 18, Ireland
February 5th. Welcome at 09:30am, starting at 10:00am sharp.
Registration
Please DO NOT REGISTER if you are going to join the webcast.
You can register here.
Join The Windows User Group
You do not need to join the Irish Windows User Group to attend this event. However, the free membership will mean that you’ll be alerted about future event.
Event: Windows 7 Application Compatibility
One of the challenges of migrating to a new desktop operating system is getting those legacy applications to work. This can seem so daunting that many organisations choose not to take advantage of new technology solutions to resolve business issues because the perceived cost and time requirements to get those applications working is too much.
Good news! Migrating to Windows 7 is a whole lot easier thanks to the solutions provided by Microsoft. These vary from technology built into the operating system, a free suite of tools provided by Microsoft and tools that are included in the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP).
The available solutions were briefly talked about and demonstrated at the community launch events for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2.
In this session Vikas Sahni is going to walk you through using some of the solution available from Microsoft to get your legacy applications working on Windows 7. The agenda includes:
Session I – The Changes
- Windows 7 Goals
- Operating System Version – Compatibility Tab, Shims and Layers
- UAC changes
- IE changes
- Depreciated Apps – Windows Mail, Windows Movie Maker
Session II – The Tools
- Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) 5.5
- LUA Tools and Solutions
- Sysinternals Tools
- IE Compatibility Test Tool
The Speaker
Vikas Sahni will be presenting this session. He is the CEO of Softedge Systems. Vikas is a software expert and has a history as a technical trainer.
Softedge Systems, the first European Microsoft IP Venture Partner, is a Dublin based software company. We focus on providing unique solutions for our clients and help distinguish them from their competition. We also develop and market software products that are differentiated by their ease of use. Softedge with its R&D and project management teams in Ireland and coding team in India is able to offer high quality, cost-effective software development for third parties.
Webcast
Please DO NOT REGISTER if you are going to join the webcast.
You can join the web cast by:
1) Installing the free Live Meeting Client
2) Clicking on this link
Registration
Please DO NOT REGISTER if you are going to join the webcast.
You can register here.
Join The Windows User Group
You do not need to join the Irish Windows User Group to attend this event. However, the free membership will mean that you’ll be alerted about future event.
Webcast Recording: Deploying Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
The speaker at today’s event, Aidan Finn, has posted a webcast recording and his slide deck.
Event: Deploying Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2
Here’s the details of the latest Irish Windows User Group event:
IT Pro’s the world over were asked what they wanted to learn about first when it came to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The overwhelming majority of respondents wanted to learn more about planning, application compatibility and OS deployment. This session will focus on the tools to deploy the newest generation of Windows using tools like the Windows Automated Installation Kit, Windows Deployment Services and the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit.
There will be a small bit of PowerPoint to explain the concepts but much like the recent community launch events, the focus of this session will be on demonstrations. You will see and learn how to do everything from scratch. The launch events allowed us time to show the results – we want to show you how to get there by yourself.
The speaker will be Aidan Finn, Systems and Infrastructure Manager at C Infinity, leader of the Irish Windows User Group, Microsoft Springboard STEP member and virtualisation MVP.
The topics covered by this session are:
- Planning a deployment
- Using the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkits
- Application Compatibility: Application Compatibility Toolkit, MED-V and XP Mode
- Using Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK) to create an unattended installation
- Setting up and using Windows Deployment Services to capture and deploy an image
- Installing and configuring Microsoft Deployment Toolkit to capture and deploy an image
Where and When?
The event will be on December 4th at Microsoft Building 1 (EDC) in Leopardstown. Zoom out on the map and browse a bit to the south east.
Registration is at 09:00 GMT. The event will start at 09:30 and will end at 12:00.
In Person Registration
To attend in person you must register for this event to attend due to the security requirements at the Microsoft buildings.
PLEASE DO NOT REGISTER IF YOU ARE NOT PHYSICALLY ATTENDING THE EVENT.
Webcast
PLEASE DO NOT REGISTER IF YOU ARE NOT PHYSICALLY ATTENDING THE EVENT.
We will be performing a simultaneous live webcast of the event. Please download and install the LiveMeeting Client in advance. The web client will not support audio. The event will be available at this link when registration starts.
About The Speaker
Aidan Finn has been working in IT since 1996. He has worked as a consultant and administrator for the likes of Amdahl DMR, Fujitsu, Barclays and Hypo Real Estate Bank International where he dealt with large and complex IT infrastructures. More recently Aidan has been working in the server hosting and outsourcing industry in Ireland where he has focused on server management, including a large VMware VI3 deployment. Currently he is working for C Infinity, an outsourcing services company in Ireland, where he is the Systems and Infrastructure Manager. Here he has been working with Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center as part of an advanced server deployment and management infrastructure. Aidan is the leader of the Windows User Group in Ireland. Aidan is also a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) on virtualisation and is an active blogger. Recently, Aidan was selected to be a member of the Microsoft Springboard STEP program to help promote Windows 7 and Windows Server 20008 R2 in the community. This will include working at the Springboard stand at TechEd EMEA in Berlin in November 2009. When Aidan isn’t at work he’s out and about with camera in hand trying to be a photographer.
Windows User Group Event Recording: W2008 R2 Active Directory
The event that was presented by Microsoft Ireland’s Wilbour Craddock on Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory was recorded. It’s available to stream now – just click ahead to the 9:15 mark for the start of the sound.
