Optimise IT

More Hell than Haven

November 3, 2011 JWESTWO No comments

A couple of weeks ago I had the misfortune to stay at a Haven Holiday/Prison camp Hafan-Y-Mor with my 2 girls (aged 5 and 2)

The chalet/cell was “tired” to say the least – However, I was surprised at the little collection my girls found on the floor over the 2 days we were there (we left a day early).

2 boiled sweets covered in hair and crap (managed to stop the 2 year old eating them)

A top from a bottle of Budweiser (managed to stop the 5 year old treading on it)

A BIG lump of hair (about the size of my fist)

Nail clippings

And my personal favourite – a used plaster.

It went beyond dirty. It was a health hazard.

And the response from them?

Well according to Linda Ashdown – Linda.Ashdown@bourne-leisure.co.uk because I left in disgust and I didn’t fill in the appropriate forms and complain to the appropriate people at the appropriate time (I did leave a note with security as I left) when it comes to a refund “computer says no”

If you could re-tweet this it’d be appreciated.

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Take Control of your Private Cloud–Virtual Event

October 14, 2011 JWESTWO No comments

Find out how at our online System Center 2012 Virtual Summit.

The Microsoft System Center 2012 Virtual Summit on November 30th is a collection of live interactive webcasts that will enable you to learn about the latest System Center 2012 management solutions. And because the summit is a web-based event, you can watch it all from your own PC – no travel required.

Microsoft System Center 2012 enables you to take full advantage of maturing technologies like cloud computing and virtualisation – so you can deliver IT as a service with confidence. System Center 2012 lets you control your physical and virtual cloud and datacentre environments, so you can:

· Deploy flexible, cost-effective Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas) using your existing datacentre assets

· Deliver predictable application service levels leveraging deep application insight

· Take control of your public and private cloud resources using single intuitive management toolset

A full agenda is listed below. We hope you can join us!

Full Agenda: Microsoft System Center 2012 Virtual Summit

Time

Session

13:00-13:45

Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012

This session will showcase Hyper-V as an enterprise class hypervisor then dive into the latest release of Microsoft’s multi-hypervisor management technology, System Center Virtual Machine Manger 2012. ‘VMM’ 2012 will allow you to optimise your existing investments by managing multi-hypervisor environments including Hyper-V, Xen and VMware! You can pool and dynamically allocate virtualised datacenter resources (compute, network and storage) enabling the self-service infrastructure experience your business demands. This is all delivered with flexible role based delegation and access control.

13:45-14:30

System Center Operations Manager 2012 and System Center AdvisorSee

It’s all about the App! In this 45 minute session we will cover how Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2012 can bring intelligent heterogeneous monitoring and management of your line of business applications, business services and the underlying infrastructure fabric including servers (physical and virtual), SANs and switches along with other datacentre resources. Learn how business services can be measured against SLA’s and how this information can be surfaced to business and application owners. Also learn how System Centre Advisor, one of Microsoft’s new cloud offerings, can bring proactive best practice monitoring to Windows Server and associated workloads.

14:30-14:45

Break

14:45-15:30

System Center Configuration Manager 2012

Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2012 makes it easier for you to empower users to be productive with a unified infrastructure that delivers and manages rich user experiences across corporate and consumer devices. During this 45 minute session we will demonstrate the capabilities of the latest version of our flagship System Center technology which dates back 17 years to SMS 1.0 Patch/Application/OS deployment, power management, asset intelligence & mobile device management will all be covered through live demonstration.

15:30-16:15

System Center Service Manager 2012 and System Center Orchestrator 2012

Microsoft System Center Service Manager 2010 is Microsoft’s ‘best of breed’ ITIL & MOF service delivery tool. By integrating with the other System Center technologies as well as Active Directory & Exchange, SCSM can handle all problem, change & incident requirements generated in today’s fast paced world of ICT. By working in conjunction with Microsoft System Center Orchestrator (formerly Opalis), we can easily automate a lot of the day to day manual tasks an IT organisation face. This will enable you to build a cost-effective and flexible private cloud infrastructure that responds to incidents, problems and change requests on the fly with minimal if any ‘IT touch’.

16:15-16:30

Break

16:30-17:15

System Center Data Protection Manager 2012

Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager 2012 continues to build on the legacy of providing unified data protection for Windows servers and clients as a best-of-breed backup & recovery solution from Microsoft, for Windows environments. Data Protection Manager provides the best protection and most supportable restore scenarios from disk, tape and cloud — in a scalable, manageable and cost-effective way. Already a critical part of Microsoft private cloud infrastructures, Data Protection Manager provides the capability to protect virtual machines in your IT environment, as well as the applications running on them. With the 2012 release Data Protection Manager grows these existing capabilities with support for item level recovery, even when Data Protection Manager is running in a virtual machine.

Your best opportunity to get to grips With System Center 2012.

Register now to reserve your place on the summit


Date:	30th Nov 2011
Location:	Online

Get the facts you need.

Explore the new features that make System Center 2012 even more powerful and flexible. Click here >>

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Learning to play the Guitar–Week 3

October 11, 2011 JWESTWO 1 comment

Things I’ve learnt this week.

I can now play A and G.

You get calluses on the end of your fingers very quickly

There’s muscles aching in my fingers I didn’t know I had

I can play rockin’ robin, surf rock and some french song (under the light of the moon I think)

Things I haven’t worked out

I can’t play the chord of C or A minor

I’m wondering how people with fingers much, much fatter than mine manage to play chords

How the hell do I get my fingers to do what I want them to.

Still loving it.

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Take control of your private cloud

October 7, 2011 JWESTWO No comments

Find out how at our UK-wide Launch Roadshows.

Microsoft System Center 2012 enables you to take full advantage of maturing technologies like cloud computing and virtualisation – so you can deliver IT as a service with confidence.

System Center 2012 lets you control your physical and virtual cloud and datacentre environments, so you can:

· Deploy flexible, cost-effective Infrastructure as a Service (Iaas) using your existing datacentre assets

· Deliver predictable application service levels leveraging deep application insight

· Take control of your public and private cloud resources using single intuitive management toolset

Join Microsoft and one of four expert partners for our System Center 2012 Launch Roadshows in Reading, Manchester, London or Birmingham this Autumn/Winter – and discover how to empower your business with System Center 2012 management solutions.

To learn more about delivering IT as a Service using System Center 2012 click here >

Time

Session

09.30 – 10.15

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: System Center 2012 – Dynamic Infrastructure Management From The Private To The Public Cloud. Learn how you can deploy System Center 2012 to reduce costs, improve application availability and improve service delivery.

10.15 – 10.45

Real-Life Customer Example. See how customers are benefiting from System Center.

10.45 – 11.00

Break

11.00 – 11.30

Deploying System Center with Microsoft Partners

11.30 – 12.30

Service-Centric Management and Self-Service with System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012. Learn how to deliver world-class virtual machine management, deployment and configuration.

12.30 – 13.15

Lunch

13.15 – 14.15

Application and Network Monitoring with System Center Operations Manager 2012. Discover how network and business application monitoring have been added to this already-comprehensive infrastructure discovery and monitoring tool.

14.15 – 15.15

Intelligent Application Protection and Disaster Recovery with System Center Data Protection Manager 2012. Find out how to give robust protection to your physical and virtual applications.

15.15 – 15.30

Break

15.30 – 16.30

Automation for Cross-Platform Environments with System Center Orchestrator 2012 and System Center Service Manager 2012. Learn how System Center 2012 helps you automate workflows even in complex environments with easy self-service provisioning.

16.30 – 17.00

The Future of Private and Public Cloud Management with System Center App Controller 2012. Discover the essentials of self-service.

Your best opportunity to get to grips With System Center 2012.

Register now to reserve your place at your chosen roadshow:


Date:	16th Nov 2011
City:	Reading
Location:	Microsoft TVP

Register now to reserve your place at your chosen roadshow:


Date:	6th Dec 2011
City:	Manchester
Location:	Hilton Hotel, Deansgate

Register now to reserve your place at your chosen roadshow:


Date:	14th Dec 2011
City:	London
Location:	Imperial War Museum

Register now to reserve your place at your chosen roadshow:


Date:	18th Jan 2012
City:	Birmingham
Location:	Maple House

Get the facts you need.

Explore the new features that make System Center 2012 even more powerful and flexible. Click here >>

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Learning to play the guitar: Week 1

October 4, 2011 JWESTWO 2 comments

So this is my first week of learning to play the guitar – at the umpteenth attempt. My Guitar (which i know call Gary) has been gathering dust for about 10years.

Things I have learnt this week –

My fingers weren’t designed to stretch that far;
I can now play E, F and G;
Repeatedly playing E, F and G really annoys my wife;
I prefer to pluck rather than use a plectrum;
Don’t leave children with a guitar unattended – they retune it for you;
If you try and retune it yourself don’t tighten the strings too much – they snap;
According to Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers I need to practice for 10,000 hours to get any good;
If I practice for an hour every day I will be 68 before I’m any good.

So far so good.

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Some great Lync videos

May 29, 2011 JWESTWO No comments

Your Office is Now Anywhere http://bit.ly/k1t5LO

Bring Together Your Communications http://bit.ly/kuextC

Be at the Center of Your Social Network http://bit.ly/mR6mVi

Get More Done in Less Time http://bit.ly/jesK9s

Stay Green with Greener IT http://bit.ly/jV35c9

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Does paying people turn them off using social tools at work?

May 5, 2011 JWESTWO No comments

The bonus myth: How paying for results can backfire

This is just one of many articles that tells us carrots and sticks don’t work.

But isn’t going to work just a giant carrot and a giant stick. Do you work and I’ll pay you (carrot) – If you don’t do your work I’ll sack you (Stick)

Is this why so many projects trying to encourage people to use Social Tools at work fail?

The theory goes that people use FaceBook, WikiPedia etc etc at home. Therefore it’s only natural that they’ll use the same tools at work.

The difference is motivation. I use them at home because I want to. (Intrinsic motivation).

The fact I have to be paid to go to work (Extrinsic motivation) changes the ball game completely.

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Top 10 CIO priorities for 2011

February 18, 2011 JWESTWO No comments

Gartner have recently published the results of their survey of more than 2000 CIOs on their priorities for 2011. http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1526414

Top 10 Business Priorities	Ranking	Top 10 Technology Priorities	Ranking
Increasing enterprise growth	1	Cloud computing	1
Attracting and retaining new customers	2	Virtualization	2
Reducing enterprise costs	3	Mobile technologies	3
Creating new products and services (innovation)	4	IT management	4
Improving business processes	5	Business intelligence	5
Implementing and updating business applications	6	Networking, voice and data communications	6
Improving technical infrastructure	7	Enterprise applications	7
Improving enterprise efficiency	8	Collaboration technologies	8
Improve operations	9	Infrastructure	9
Improving business continuity, risk and security	10	Web 2.0	10

Any surprises?

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Warning! Productivity tools may just make your people more efficient at doing the wrong thing.

February 16, 2011 JWESTWO 2 comments

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” – Bill Gates

And most likely, those operations may well be inefficient.

This is a quote from Stephen Covey’s

The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness

Only 37 percent said that they have a clear understanding of what their organization is trying to achieve and why
Only one in five was enthusiastic about their team’s and their organization’s goals
Only one in five said they had a clear ‘line of sight’ between their tasks and their team’s and organization’s goals
Only 15 percent felt that their organization fully enables them to execute key goals
Only 20 percent fully trusted the organization they work for

Or to put it another way

‘If, say a soccer team had these same scores, only 4 of the 11 players on the field would know which goal is theirs. Only 2 of the 11 would care. Only 2 of the 11 would know what position they play and know exactly what they are supposed to do. And all but 2 players would, in some way, be competing against their own team members rather than the opponent.’

Sounds a bit like watching Birmingham play Newcastle today.

So next time someone claims they’re going to make your users productive, take a step back and ask if they’re doing the right thing in the first place.

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MSIT IT Showcase new videos on SharePoint upgrade, Fast Search deployment

February 15, 2011 JWESTWO No comments

Highly recommend checking the following new MSIT showcase videos which recently got published, covering SharePoint 2010 upgrade and Fast Search deployment:

· How Microsoft IT Deployed FAST Search for SharePoint 2010

· Managing a Parallel Upgrade to SharePoint 2010

· Initial Best Practices & Lessons Learned from Microsoft ITs SharePoint 2010 Upgrade

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