10.09.2010 00:55:39

Mark

Microsoft released the first global beta of CRM 2011 today, thus partially completing the full integration of Office 2010, and SharePoint 2010.  As SharePoint 2010 deployments continue to grow, I could see a significant need for integrating the latest version of CRM into it - the improved analytics and integrated messaging makes it very attractive alternative.

The following is a highlight of some of the features:

crm | Microsoft

09.08.2010 22:22:46

Mark

I recently downloaded this app for the Android – it’s my first experience with a social-media GPS/Navigation offering.  Prior apps like Foursquare, etc are built more around the “check-in” concept in addition to posting updates similar to tweets.  WAZE on the other hand is a navigation program – free, with social updating built in.  Much of the controls seem rudimentary – but it seems promising.  Crowd-sourcing is evident with the traffic updates - which can be updated as they happen.  Check out the guided tour for more information.

04.08.2010 06:09:14

Mark

We recently became a JaSig affiliate.  What does this mean for us?  We'll spend more effort supporting additional Open Source applications.  One interesting solution is Bedework - an enterprise calendaring system - we'll post more about this soon.

community source | jasig

23.11.2009 23:54:37

Tony DiSanza

Microsoft released several products to beta test last week. This promises to be an evolution of Office, although it seems like current 2.0 technology integration isn't intuitive. I've only been using the apps for a day, initial impressions is that there needs more work to be done – otherwise, why upgrade from 2007 which is adequate?

Microsoft Outlook is another example where additional progress needs to be made – for example with contacts, you'll need to create custom contact fields for – facebook account, linkedin account, etc. – for now, this isn't delivered with Outlook, but it can be developed for each service provider.

We haven't installed SharePoint 2010 yet, I'm looking forward to office integration with it and will post more later.

To publish this post to a blog, you'll need to register the account first – once you find the place in Word, by selecting the "File tab", share, then publish as a blog post

After this, it's straightforward similar to Windows Live Writer – for "other blogs", I've chosen to publish to a blog that supports metaweblog api

Once it's registered, Word has a ribbon more suited to a blog post rather than a word document with the ability to manage your accounts (thus registering a second blog account is easy); publishing the post; as well as categories.

I was able to post this fine; albeit without tags. More blogging will test the "insert" ribbon which I hope I will be able to add further components like video/etc.

The products show promise so far.

19.11.2009 01:39:36

Tony DiSanza

Innovativ Consulting Partners, a leading open source consultant and service provider for online solutions, has announced new trial alternatives for institutions interested in evaluating Kuali Rice, yet do not have the technological infrastructure to initially install it.

Innovativ is offering two alternatives to the institution:

1. A fully-functional virtual image of Kuali Rice 1.0.1 which can be downloaded and installed at the institution – with no need for install/configuration; and

2. A cloud-based environment of a fully-functional configuration of Kuali Rice 1.0.1

“These alternatives provide the institution that would like to evaluate Kuali Rice without re-deploying or making a hardware investment. – Tony DiSanza – Managing Director, Innovativ Consulting Partners.

We would ask you to submit a request for download and one of our team will arrange the download with you. 

11.11.2009 21:10:00

Tony DiSanza

I recently published the following article at edu1world.org if you’re employed in the education industry, access to all areas of edu1world is complementary.  There have been recent discussions about a separate higher-ed only CIO forum (which edu1world.org maintains) as well as a way for CIOs to see historical, threaded conversations – which also is available there.

Kuali Rice 1.0.1 was recently released - it was a significant release because it is tightly integrated with Kuali Financials whereas Kuali Rice 1.0 is standalone.  Eric & team did an excellent job.

From Eric Westfall: Kuali Rice Project Manager
As of yesterday evening, the Kuali Rice 1.0.1 Release was made available for download from the website.  Additionally, a new version of the documentation has also been published..
Many thanks to everyone that contributed to this release!  It was really more then just a simple patch with many pieces critical for KFS 3.0.  We resolved nearly 200 development jira issues as well as 40 documentation jira issues during a very short development cycle.
The KFS 3.0 release is the culmination of 4 years of hard work by countless individuals.  Kuali Rice has been an important piece of the puzzle throughout and you should all be proud that you have contribute greatly to it’s success.  Great work everyone!
Thank you,
Eric

Kuali | Education | community source | Open Source | kuali rice

10.11.2009 22:46:59

Tony DiSanza

Last week, many vendors exhibited products at Educause.�� One thing I noticed was the ability to tap into attendees’ thoughts by viewing twitter streams� which provides some trending content.

Four topics mentioned frequently – either as a supplement to Kuali / Open Source Solutions – or to integrate with the Education enterprise were : Constituent Relationship Management, Business Intelligence, Data Management / Identity Management (authentication vs.. authoritative sources of data).

Two products that demonstrated by Oracle seem to meet several of the queries very well:Oracle Constituent Relationship Management : Datasheet higher-education-constituent-hub-data-sheet.pdf� and Oracle Master Data Management

.� For the institution with Oracle / PeopleSoft deployed, these are significant, integrated solutions.� Two other solutions meeting the Constituent requirements – Black Baud's Enterprise CRM (BBEC)� which is a newly released product; and Microsoft’s Constituent Relationship Management� - the upgrade for this product should be forthcoming with the near term release of Server 2008 R2, and SharePoint 2010.

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What makes the Oracle solution intriguing is with incorporation of MDM, you don’t have to build interfacing systems to maintain/curate the “Golden Record” for an individual.� As schools/colleges desire to recruit the best students, maintain relationships with their alumni, use of social computing and CRM processes become more important.

Constituent Relationship Management is the first step – managing the content; but better analysis is also critical.� The Kuali foundation recognizes this and is starting to put together an working group for Open Source BI for education.�Barry Walsh is leading this effort.

Oracle’s solution plays very well into their integrated, enterprise-looking solution for the campus – the Higher Education Constituent Hub (see datasheet attached)�

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In the upcoming few weeks, we’ll be announcing several webinars for the Oracle products – contact us if you’re interested in understanding more about it.

mdm | master data management | constituent relationship management | crm | Oracle | Kuali | Microsoft | ERP | Open Source | Education | peoplesoft

06.11.2009 05:17:23

Tony DiSanza

Paul Cheney had a good post on this:

An ancient proverb states that a "cord of three strands is not easily broken." By way of analogy, I hypothesize that the more individual connections to a person, the stronger your overall relationship with that person.

In constructing my social graph (i.e., my network of connections), I build relationships at three sites: LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. In some cases, I have connections with people on all three networks.

The connectivity usually begins on one network and gradually extends to two or three networks, and sometimes more, as we get to know each other. It seems logical and natural to continue the relationship cycle, building to sites where we both have a presence.

My focus is on creating threefold connections to individuals. It's not enough that you have a presence on each site, but that you leverage your presence to connect with others who also have a presence on those sites. Social media is about being social. Each platform offers distinct advantages, but you need all three to build the strongest connection.

If the "cord of three strands" philosophy is true, what are the top-three social networks for business? Based on my experience, I recommend LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

1. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is your business suit. It is not very conversational in its orientation, but people expect you to have a profile there. The network lends a degree of professional credibility—and requires the least amount of upkeep.

According to its Web site, LinkedIn is an interconnected network of more than 35 million business professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. It is designed to be a place where you can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals with whom you need to work to accomplish your goals.

For a long time, I thought of LinkedIn solely as a place to find jobs or employees. My profile there was complete and detailed, but it was nothing more than an online resume. I kept it updated, thinking that one day a prospective employer might come along and offer me that dream job.

However, I have come to realize that LinkedIn is much more than just a place to hunt for a job. It's a social network that offers you the opportunity to connect with others in your field, find vendors and consultants, develop your business, and generate leads.

2. Facebook

If LinkedIn is your business suit, then Facebook is your business-casual attire in that it allows more of a 360-degree view of you by combining both your professional and your personal sides. Facebook is a more conversational platform than LinkedIn.

A little over four years ago, I was visiting my son in college. At the time, he was a junior in college. He showed me some photos he had taken and posted online to a site called Facebook. I had heard of the site, but I really had no  idea what it was other than a social network for college students. (Back then, you couldn't register on Facebook unless you had a .edu email address.)

I queried him about the site. I was interested in its unique features, such as the now infamous Wall, photo galleries, and status messages. I thought to myself how nice it would be if Facebook were available to users other than the college crowd. Not long after, in the fall of 2006, Facebook's young CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, did precisely that, opening the platform to anyone over the age of 13.

Since then, the average age of Facebook users has become progressively older. In February 2009, one of the fastest-growing demographic segments in the network was females age 55 and older.

However, the number of Facebook users in all age/gender demographic groups is growing, with use among women growing faster than among men in nearly all age groups. Among all users, those age 26-30 form the fastest-growing age group; 45% of Facebook's US audience is now age 26 or older.

With more than 300 million users worldwide and over five million new users joining every week, Facebook is the largest social network on the planet. Those numbers are strong evidence that social media is in the mainstream and businesses need to pay attention and consider establishing a presence there.

3. Twitter

If LinkedIn is your business suit and Facebook is your business-casual attire, Twitter is your business social-networking cocktail hour: You go there to casually and informally interact with potentially thousands of others.

Whereas LinkedIn tends to be a more latent form of engagement, interaction on Twitter is (or can be) in real time. It's the most informal of the three networks and allows for the greatest degree of conversation.

Conclusion

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that participation in the three big social networks—LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter—is an absolute must for just about every business.

Paul Chaney is "The Social Media Handyman" and the author of The Digital Handshake: Seven Proven Strategies to Grow Your Business Using Social Media (www.thedigitalhandshake.com). Reach him via pchaney@gmail.com.

This is a good start – but then, what’s next?  how can you sued these to better affect your mission?

1. Broadcast messages – see my earlier post.

2. Integration with CRM – facebook allows you to download contact information – which may provide you updated contact infromation

3. Inbound marketing – driving visitors to your campaign – an event/a site/etc.

4. To collect data – issue a survey – these can be posted at all of these sites – the  results can be aggregated and analyzed.

2.0 | community | web 2.0 | Education | higher education

05.11.2009 23:43:39

Tony DiSanza

We’re at Educause (#educause09) this week – Social computing is a key topic.  There is a plethora of information regarding how to use Twitter/and other tools.  A recurring theme, though, is using these tools as part of an overall strategy – not to start using it because everyone else is.

Sounds simple, but sometimes – if one is unfamiliar with specific best practices and successful techniques, one may not understand how it would integrate into an overall strategy.

One article I read recently identifies statistics of the top 100 universities using twitter.  This article highlights usage pattern, followers and frequency of communication – but “What” is communicated?

HigherEd Morning provides the following detail

If you’re wondering what schools are tweeting about, the study determined usage falls into six basic categories:

• Delivering news updates
• News updates within the universities’ schools and departments
• News about student services
• Staying in touch with people outside the university community, such as alumni associations
• Updates on research and campus extensions
• News from university media

Basically, the content is “broadcasted”.  Other ways twitter can be used – interactive conversations, tracking re-tweets to demonstrate influence were not identified. 

Broadcast is great if you have to broadcast the content once – sending a message to a service either developed internally or using something like ping.fm that is integrated with facebook, twitter, linkedin, et al provides greater reach for content.

There are a melange of tools one can use to track content. 

I’ve read several examples of using twitter as part of the learning environment. For example:

A professor at the University of Minnesota makes Twittering  a must for students in her public relations class. It’s a tool they’ll need in the professional world, she says.

At the University of Wisconsin-Stout, another professor requires students in her English composition classes to post 200 tweets for the semester. She touts it as a way for them to talk about class materials and share information about assignments.

Another:

If you have a good example within the learning environment, i’d like to know.

Something else http://whatthetrend.com/trend/%23educause09

Education | community | web 2.0 | social | higher education | twitter

03.11.2009 06:44:26

Tony DiSanza

We’ve been testing with Windows Server 2008 R2 – the version released to manufacturing.  We’ve installed it with Hyper-V R2 – and loaded MOSS 2007 into a vhd as well as exchange 2007 – usability is very good – server 2008 r2 has a windows 7 vibe – from the RDP login

to the AD Admin center

System center

As for the Server itself,

R2 is the first operation system from Microsoft that is only available in 64 bit versions, one version for Itanium (ia64) and another version for Intel and AMD (x64) processors.

This could be an issue for those who wish to run 32 bit apps that can not be made compatible with a 64 bit OS.

One of the most eagerly awaited improvements is that PowerShell 2.0 and .NET Framework are now supported on Server Core. This functionality was sorely missed in the original release of Server 2008 by Core devotees.

I am a big fan of Hyper-V and R2 has Live Migration which enables failover of a virtual machine from one node on a cluster to another without any noticeable interruption to clients. See the video demonstration at:

Hyper-V and NetApp Storage Part 1: Storage Configuration

Window 7 runs faster than Vista on the same hardware and R2 also makes better use of processor power and iSCSI storage than the original release of Server 2008.

Active Directory has always needed a Recycle Bin for accidentally deleted accounts and, finally,

R2 has one!

IIS 7.5 debuts with R2 and includes a better FTP Service.

Add to this list of improvements more energy efficiency (a real factor as we get into multiple cores!), support for 64 physical CPUs or 256 cores, Remote Access improvements and enhanced Branch Office management.

There are some compelling reasons to consider upgrading to R2.

Top Reasons to Upgrade to Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008 R2 is the newest Windows Server operating system from Microsoft. Designed to help organizations reduce operating costs and increase efficiencies, Windows Server 2008 R2 provides enhanced management control over resources across the enterprise. It is designed to provide better energy efficiency and performance by reducing power consumption and lowering overhead costs. It also helps provide improved branch office capabilities, exciting new remote access experiences, streamlined server management, and expands the Microsoft virtualization strategy for both client and server computers.

Overview the Top 10 Reasons to Upgrade

1. Powerful Hardware and Scaling Features

Windows Server 2008 R2 was designed to perform as well or better for the same hardware base as Windows Server 2008. In addition, R2 is the first Windows Server operating system to move solely to a 64-bit architecture.

Windows Server 2008 R2 also has several CPU-specific enhancements. First, this version expands CPU support to enable customers to run with up to 256 logical processors. R2 also supports Second Level Translation (SLAT), which enables R2 to take advantage of the Enhanced Page Tables feature found in the latest AMD CPUs as well as the similar Nested Page Tables feature found in Intel’s latest processors. The combination enables R2 servers to run with much improved memory management.

Components of Windows Server 2008 R2 have received hardware boosts as well. Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2 can now access up to 64 logical CPUs on host computers—twice Hyper-V’s initial number of supported CPUs. This capability not only takes advantage of new multicore systems, it also means greater virtual machine consolidation ratios per physical host.

2. Reduced Power Consumption

Windows Server 2008 introduced a 'balanced' power policy, which monitors the utilization level of the processors on the server and dynamically adjusts the processor performance states to limit power to the needs of the workload. Windows Server 2008 R2 enhances this power saving feature by adding Core Parking and expanding on power-oriented Group Policy settings.

Active Directory® Domain Services Group Policy in Windows Server 2008 already gave administrators a certain amount of control over power management on client PCs. These capabilities are enhanced in Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows® 7 to provide even more precise control in more deployment scenarios for even greater potential savings.

3. Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008 R2 also holds the much-anticipated update to Microsoft’s virtualization technology, Hyper-V™. The new Hyper-V™ was designed to augment both existing virtual machine management as well as to address specific IT challenges, especially around server migration.

Hyper-V™ is an enabling technology for one of Windows Server 2008 R2’s marquee features, Live Migration. With Hyper-V version 1.0, Windows Server 2008 was capable of Quick Migration, which could move VMs between physical hosts with only a few seconds of down-time. Still, those few seconds were enough to cause difficulties in certain scenarios, especially those including client connections to VM-hosted servers. With Live Migration, moves between physical targets happen in milliseconds, which means migration operations become invisible to connected users.

Customers employing System Center Virtual Machine Manager for Hyper-V will also enjoy additional management and orchestration scenarios, including a new VM-oriented Performance and Resource Optimization feature and updated support for managing failover clusters.

The new Hyper-V™ also has core performance enhancements, including the previously mentioned ability to take advantage of up to 64 logical processors and to beef up that CPU performance with host support for Second Level Translation (SLAT). Finally, VMs can also add and remove storage without requiring a reboot and also boot from VHD as well.

4. Reduced Desktop Costs with VDI

Much of the interest in virtualization solutions is in the server world. However, equally exciting advances are being made in presentation virtualization, where processing happens on a server optimized for capacity and availability while graphics, keyboard, mouse, and other user I/O functions are handled at the user’s desktop.

Windows Server 2008 R2 contains enhanced Virtual Desktop Integration (VDI) technology, which extends the functionality of Terminal Services to deliver certain business programs to their employee’s remote desktops. With VDI,  programs that Remote Desktop Services sends to a computer are now available on the Start menu right alongside programs that are locally installed. This approach provides improved desktop virtualization and better application virtualization.

Desktop virtualization will benefit from features including improved personalization management, a near-invisible integration of virtualized desktops and applications in Windows 7, better audio and graphics performance, a seriously cool Web access update and more. VDI provides more efficient use of virtualized resources and better integration with local peripheral hardware as well as powerful new virtual management features.

5. Easier and More Efficient Server Management

Although increasing the capabilities of your server operating system is always a good thing, the perceived downside has always been additional complexity and workload for day-to-day server managers. Windows Server 2008 R2 specifically addresses this problem with lots of work evident across all of its management-oriented consoles. Features in these tools include:

• Improved data center power consumption and management, as evidenced earlier

• Improved remote administration, including a remotely-installable Server Manager

• Improved identity management features via the updated and simplified Active Directory Domain Services and Active Directory Federated Services

Windows Server 2008 R2 also improves on the popular PowerShell feature introduced in Windows Server 2008. PowerShell 2.0 significantly enhances the earlier version with the inclusion of more than 240 new pre-built cmdlets as well as a new graphical user interface (GUI) that adds professional-level development features for creating new cmdlets. The new GUI includes colored syntaxing, new production script debugging capabilities, and new testing tools.

6. Managing Data Not just Managing Storage

Managing storage isn’t just about managing disks. Storage volume is increasing at a 51% compounded annual growth rate between 2008 and 2012 according to IDC. To keep pace and stay competitive, organizations must begin managing data, not just disks. Windows Server 2008 R2 gives IT administrators the tools for precisely this kind of initiative with the new File Classification Infrastructure (FCI). This new features builds an extensible and automated classification mechanism on top of existing shared file architectures; this enables IT administrators to direct specific actions for specific files based on entirely customizable classification. FCI is also extensible to partners, which means Windows Server 2008 R2 users can expect to see additional capabilities around FCI being delivered by ISVs in the near future.

7. Ubiquitous Remote Access

Today’s mobile workforce is increasing the demand on IT to provide remote access to corporate resources. However, managing remote computers is an ongoing challenge, with low wide are network (WAN) bandwidth and sporadic connection and re-connection processes interfering with lengthier desktop management tasks such as Group Policy changes and up-to-date patching.

Windows Server 2008 R2 introduces a new type of connectivity called DirectAccess—a powerful way for remote users to seamlessly access corporate resources without requiring a traditional VPN connection and client software. Using technologies that shipped in Windows Server 2008, Microsoft has added simple management wizards that enable administrators to configure SSTP and IPv6 across both R2 and Windows 7 clients to enable the basic DirectAccess connection, and then augment that connection with additional R2 management and security tools, including management policies and NAP.

With DirectAccess, every user is considered remote all of the time. Users are no longer required to distinguish between local and remote connections. DirectAccess handles all of these distinctions in the background. IT professionals retain precise access control and full perimeter security, helping to ease both desktop security and management headaches on both sides of the connection.

8. Improved Branch Office Performance and Management

Many branch office IT architectures have relatively low bandwidth. Slow WAN links impact the productivity of branch office employees waiting to access content from the main office, and costs for branch office bandwidth allocation can amount to as much as 33 % of overall corporate IT spending. To address this challenge, Windows Server 2008 R2 introduces a feature called BranchCache™, which reduces WAN utilization and improves the responsiveness of network applications.

With BranchCache™, clients who request access to data on the organization's network are sent directions to the file on the local (branch office) network if the file has ever been requested there before. If the file is stored locally, those clients get immediate high-speed access. Such files can be stored either on a local BranchCache™ server for larger branch offices or simply on local Windows 7 PCs.

9. Simplified Management for SMBs

With Windows Server 2008 R2, Microsoft is focusing more attention at the SMB and mid-market customer. This new focus provides these customers with a rich landscape of Microsoft product offerings, from Small Business Server up to Windows Essential Business Server and now Windows Server 2008 Standard. All SKUs are being outfitted with new management tools to make SMB IT Pro life easier.

Active Directory’s new Active Directory Administration Center is one example—all those disparate management GUIs now hosted in a single interface and all based on PowerShell. Additionally, there are the Best Practice Analyzers, which Microsoft has extended to every server role to keep all your server configs in sync with the latest know-how.

And last but not least, there’s the new Windows Server Backup utility. Long a second-class citizen, this updated, in-the-box backup app has been significantly upgraded to include more granular support for designing backup jobs, including support for system state operations; and, it’s been optimized to run both faster and to use less disk space.

10. The Strongest Web and Application Server To Date

Windows Server 2008 R2 includes many updates that make it the best Windows Server application platform yet, but one of the most important is the new Internet Information Services 7.5 (IIS 7.5).

The updated Web server includes features that streamline management by extending IIS Manager, implementing the IIS PowerShell Provider and taking advantage of .NET on Server Core. IIS 7.5 also integrates new support and troubleshooting features, including configuration logging and a dedicated Best Practice Analyzer. Last, we’ve integrated several of the most popular optional extensions associated with Windows Server 2008, including URLScan 3.0 (now known as the Request Filter Module).

Education | higher education | windows | Microsoft | infrastructure