Anith Gopal

Some Free February Appy-ness with a new piece of free software for teachers from Microsoft every day in February. Many of these items are unknown heroes, but they all share two things in common: 1) They are useful for teachers or students and 2) they are free

The Microsoft IT team have the job of running an complex and rapidly-changing IT infrastructure for a very demanding user base – our own. Sound familiar to you too? Well I guess it should, because almost every education institution has exactly the same challenges and budget pressures

Office Communications Server (OCS) is finding new friends across the educational spectrum – aka Microsoft Lync.

·          Case Study – Taiwan: Chung Shan Medical University Hospital – University Hospital Develops HIS to Provide Top-Quality Medical Services “ Without a precedent for developing applications in-house, the hospital relied on the resources from the Microsoft Technology Center to provide the critical support to reduce the risk and help them to develop a new HIS smoothly … ” ·          Dallas Morning News – Irving Blog: A look inside Microsoft, NEC and Aviall’s offices   “The DMN wrote about the Microsoft Technology Center when it first opened (there are 8 in the U.S.). What you don’t see in this photo is that the rooms where they meet with clients are all named for Texas mascots, like the Southern Methodist University Mustangs and the Baylor Bears …”  Lee Everest’s SQL Server, etc. weblog: Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) event   “ I’ll be at the Microsoft MTC again in Irving, TX September 14, 15, 2009 for another Application Compatibility Lab

I was away for a while now in the wilderness of the Himalayas. I was out covering Leh, Ladakh and Kashmir by road (alas, not biking which I badly missed). Ladakh is one of those places one should not miss and that too its journey via road.

I’m always installing SQL Server or talking to customers about installations and the topic comes up of which version am I on, or what version should I be on ? A fellow MVP, Bill Graziano has lovingly compiled and maintains a list of version numbers and how they map to SP and CU level. Its a must for the favourites! http://www.sqlteam.com/article/sql-server-versions Another common question is should I apply the CU and the latest SP

We need to hear from you…. Have a great story to tell about a GP customer who recently replaced Oracle, SAP, or another Tier 1 competitor to save money like the one told here: http://www.erpsoftwareblog.com/2009/08/stila-cosmetics-selects-dynamics-erp-over-oracle-and-sage/ We have a great opportunity to secure additional press coverage with these competitive migration stories. Send your customer stories to mbsgp@microsoft.com to help spread the word! Jen Dorsey

It may be a little early to write this, but I’m aware that some of you will be starting to think (perhaps subconsciously) about starting next term well. And for many schools this will mean the day before the pupils arrive – the INSET day

Wanted to let you know that Rob Bernard will be giving the keynote session at the upcoming Data Center Dynamics conference in Seattle on August 6th. The theme of the conference is Carbon: Risk or Opportunity. The development, design and construction of high performance data centers and mission critical infrastructure is in a state of transition

Microsoft topped the rankings in the Goldman Sach’s GS SUSTAIN framework for the global software and services sector, released June 5, 2009. The GS SUSTAIN framework seeks to “identify companies best-positioned to sustain competitive advantage and superior returns through analysis of 1) return on capital, 2) industry positioning, and 3) management quality with respect to environmental, social & governance (ESG) issues.” Microsoft is also included in a number of other leading investment indexes focused on companies that are effectively addressing environmental sustainability and social responsibility

Microsoft topped the rankings in the Goldman Sach’s GS SUSTAIN framework for the global software and services sector, released June 5, 2009.

Cloud computing, in particular the move of email and other business productivity services out of your data center and into the cloud has a rising interest in the chemical industry. I’d like to share this new case study featuring Coca-Cola Enterprises , the world’s largest marketer, producer and distributor of Coca-Cola products. While certainly not a chemical company, the challenges they faced will be familiar to this community – rationalizing a complex IT vendor landscape, driving IT costs down, and delivering a unified collaborative workspace and corporate intranet across their 72,000 employees.