Technocrat

Basic value proposition - significantly extends Office 365 reporting capabilities by providing a rich set of detailed reports that cover areas such as Exchange (mailboxes/recipients, distribution groups, mail flow), Lync, Mobile Devices, Licensing, and Security (future areas might include SharePoint, CRM, and other Microsoft Online Services). The solution also includes scheduling capabilities to have reports generated and distributed via email on a regular basis. The breadth and visual appeal of Cogmotive Reports goes well beyond what's offered via Office 365 at this time: Office 365: Cogmotive: Cogmotive is a Cloud-based solution that can be setup within minutes, so that you can start reaping the benefits right away. Here's a sample list: Track migration progress Measure service usage Identify and reassign unused licences Get help with meeting security and compliance goals Go beyond simple reporting by looking at trends Visit  https://www.cogmotive.com

It is not uncommon to run into problems when trying to use Windows Update on the UAG server. This is mostly due to the fact that UAG server runs on a harden configuration, protected by TMG. In most cases running the following command from the elevated command prompt will resolve the issue: netsh winhttp set proxy localhost:8080 It is always a good idea to check on the configuration before changing it, so you may want to try run this first and make a note of the output: netsh winhttp show proxy The following link contains some additional information - http://bit.ly/JoUoLW on the aforementioned, and this one has very detailed information on troubleshooting Windows Update on TMG - http://bit.ly/1fs3Xo7

Basic value proposition - supplements Office 365 dashboard capabilities by providing near real-time performance and point-of-access monitoring (includes alerting capabilities via email or SMS when custom defined thresholds are exceeded). Office 365 Health Dashboard: Exoprise Sensor Dashboard (sample): Crowdsourcing feature is pretty interesting - Exoprise service collects (anonymously) performance data across the entire community of users (all sensors that report back to the system), trends, and lets you compare your stats against calculated crowd averages. This may highlight performance problems that are common across the entire O365 Service or something that is not O365 related at all (e.g. local ISP issue). Seems like a very useful feature. The way performance data is collected - small (<12MB) agent in installed on a workstation (or server, or VM) at the customer's site. The agent performs synthetic transactions (like sending and receiving email, etc.) and measur

Update (05/15/2014):  since the release of another service pack the following information could be depreciated. Read more about UAG 2010 SP4 here    It seems like every time there's an operating system or browser update something UAG related goes wrong, considering this is an important infrastructure component that supports remote access services this is not cool!   And, unfortunately, last series of upgrades - from Windows 8 to 8.1 and from Internet Explorer 10 to 11 - weren't an exception. There were a number of issues that weren't apparent at first, for example - a connectivity issue with UAG displaying Mobile Portal access or an RDP issue when published links would disappear from the portal. Luckily, there are workarounds for most of these issues. The final resolution should lie with UAG 2010 SP4 that was rumored to be released in Q4 (but really should have been released before Win 8.1 or IE11 if you ask me). Things like the aforementioned connectivity issue can b

I had a post on this subject before (see Office 365 Information & Resources ), so this is more of a refresher and an update (cloud services is a dynamic field). So, here we go. Often getting familiar with new technologies may seem intimidating at first, but with the right training resources at your disposal the learning curve can be smoothed out considerably. The following site has excellent Office 2013 and Office 365 end-user video and text training resources and they are well organized by the subject and type: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj871004.aspx If you have an internal training site and would rather host all training content there, a downloadable Office 365 video training series called "Get to know Office 365" is available for download; it contains quick, introductory videos: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/office365-suite-help/get-to-know-office-365-RZ103709937.aspx Additional training resources (downloadable and online) ar

I have blogged before about the benefits of Windows Intune , which at the moment stands in the shadows of other Microsoft cloud services - such as Office 365, CRM Online, and Azure - but clearly deserves serious attention and is currently coming into the spotlight. What gives Windows Intune this fresh momentum? - Microsoft's new-found focus on devices and services, unified architecture, integration with System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), and strong Mobile Device Management (MDM) support. So, I decided to put together a quick collection of resources to assist anyone trying to learn more about the service - from the very basics to more advanced topics. Quick (~10min) videos to get you up to speed on service basics: Windows Intune Spotlight #1: Getting Started with Windows Intune - Deploying Windows Intune | http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/showcase/details.aspx?uuid=b4cbbb96-7f54-4338-b376-4d5cf9d84970 Windows Intune Spotlight #2: Deploying the Windows Intune Clien

Was getting some cloud news, including this little pearl by  Joe Weinman's " 5 Key Characteristics of the Cloud" : And I highly recommend watching through the entire presentation at  http://bit.ly/1faOUjn Anyway, I just decided to do my own, quick, little, building blocks inspired picture: That's all :-)

On the heels of SkyDrive Pro storage allowance increase  we now have Exchange Online mailbox sizes doubling : It is great to see a steady increase in value within Office 365, Microsoft's premier suite of cloud services! 

After upgrading to Citrix XenServer 6.1 Advanced Edition a while ago, I have been enjoying great features, such as "High-Availability" and "VM Protection Policies". I especially liked VM protection with automated snapshots and exports that took practically no time to set up and worked fairly well for a number of small to midsize environments we have partitioned our virtual infrastructure into. Well, my enjoyment proved to be short-lived, XenServer 6.2 came along delivering scalability improvements and also introducing many changes, click here for more information. I found many of those changes (like XenServer being fully open source; inclusion of software maintenance; simple, single edition packaging; socket based perpetual and annual licensing; etc.) interesting and welcomed them with open arms. All but one: This spelled the end of my automated protection days (once again, read more about it here ). Luckily, I was still able to draw on my by-now-virtually-

Great news all around! In a nutshell: Storage increase from 7GB to 25GB (per user) Easy and inexpensive upgrade to 50GB or 100GB "Shared with Me" view for better navigation Increased file upload size - to 2GB Longer recycle bin retention - 90 days Version history enabled by default - last 10 versions For more details see -  http://bit.ly/1dM4UHF http://technocrat.kagan.cc/2013/05/skydrive-pro-standalone-client.html    

Listening to customers' feedback is clearly a key to success and so is giving customers more options, flexibility, and control. It looks like Microsoft is on the right track here with the  Office 365 Subscription Switch Wizard: Read more about what's available now and what's coming later this year - here Or check out these FAQs - here  

​ Drumbeat - provides information as well as technical and sales resources for Office 365. From partnering with Microsoft, to building up your sales and technical readiness, to adopting proven methodologies for successful deployment - you will find lots of good information and many helpful links there. Here's a quick sample of topics covered: The Customer Decision Framework is Microsoft's selling methodology designed to help partners sell Office 365 to their customers. Office 365 FastTrack is Microsoft's new, 3-step pilot and deployment methodology designed so customers experience service value early in the sales cycle with a smooth path to advance from a pilot to deployment.

Update (12/21/2013):  take a note that Password Sync feature of DirSync is not compatible with Active Directory that has been configured for FIPS: More information at -  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn246918.aspx . The following provides additional information on the details of FIPS implementation: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/811833 http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn246918.aspx Windows Azure Active Directory (WAAD) Synchronization Tool (DirSync) that supports password synchronization is now available: More information -  http://bit.ly/11d7UDd Installation, upgrade and download instructions -  http://bit.ly/XIs65a And here’s a good write-up on the subject -  http://bit.ly/14o73S5 .

Check out one of the latest Ignite Webcasts that covers using the new message trace functionality in Office 365 based on Exchange 2013. Learn how to use message trace functionality to troubleshoot SMTP mail flow. You can view the webcast recording here , and you can download the Webcast Presentation here .

SkyDrive Pro standalone client is now available. If you are not familiar with it, check out -  http://bit.ly/RXuyMP . For an official release notes refer to -  http://bit.ly/18fCVwz . Finally, download client software here -  http://bit.ly/Zdxqho .  Happy syncing! 

Volume 14 of the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report (SIR) released - hundreds of pages of new security intelligence is now available, download it here - http://www.microsoft.com/sir

With Microsoft cloud services such as Office 365, CRM Online, and Windows Azure stealing most of the spotlight lately Windows Intune has almost gone unnoticed, though it is a pretty cool service in its own right. Imagine being able to secure and manage computers and mobile devices - track assets, generate software and hardware inventory, set policies, deploy software, configure security settings and endpoint protection, provide remote assistance - all without needing any infrastructure and at a cost of only $6 per user a month (each user can have up to 5 managed devices assigned), add a little more - $11 per user a month and you get Windows Software Assurance benefits (like free upgrade to Windows 8 Enterprise). If this sounds great, Windows Intune might be a perfect solution for you! Small and mid-size businesses can manage their  IT environment entirely through the cloud, while larger enterprises may choose to extend their existing on-premises solution by integrating Windows Intu

To go beyond project management functionality built into SharePoint Online (project sites, tasks,  etc.) one might look into Project Online and Project Pro for Office 365 ( http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/project/ ). These solutions can take your Project and Project Portfolio Management to the next level. For more information refer to: Project Online (online PM, no desktop software license) | ~$33/user/month | http://bit.ly/WiZ4bC Project Pro for Office 365 (subscription based Project 2013 Professional license, no online services) | ~$25/user/month | http://bit.ly/VNypB5 Project Online with Project Pro for Office 365 (both – online PM and subscription based Project 2013 license) | $58/user/month | http://bit.ly/XlrcZW Here’s an online article that goes over some of the features and benefits -  http://tek.io/XXGMc7

Unified Access Gateway (UAG) 2010 Service Pack 3 (SP3) is finally upon us! Yes, this is a much anticipated update which brings support for  Exchange 2013, SharePoint 2013, Windows 8, IE10, etc. Download the Service Pack here Review release notes here Read Ben Ari's (UAG/RAS/Security expert and author of a number of books) blog post here  

This Forefront business has been quite a conundrum for a while:  Old news first - TMG is being discontinued, you can read more about it  here UAG marches on, at least for now. And hopefully will soon catch up with a slew of already released products - like Exchange 2013, SharePoint 2013, Windows 8, IE10, etc. - by actually supporting them. That stuff is coming in SP3 (Q1 2013) And while you are waiting for the SP3 to arrive, here's a quick post on how to fix one of the issues commonly associated with the SP2 upgrade - "The URL contains an invalid parameter" error

After wondering for a while about a mishmash of communications services from Microsoft - some self-grown some acquired, some business and some consumer oriented - the world finally makes sense again! :)  Skype upgrade approaching for Messenger customers | http://bit.ly/XnReYP This summer, Microsoft will connect Lync 2013 and Skype in a move that the company hopes will disrupt and "humanize" enterprise communications market | http://bit.ly/Yy2pPP Future of Communications: Rehumanizing the Experience from the Living Room to the Boardroom | http://bit.ly/YkAtNt Watch Derek Burney's & Tony Bates' keynote @ Lync Conference 2013 | http://www.lyncconf.com/