Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update – February

Last time out we went a bit System Centre mad, so this time we’ll start with news of Windows 8. The beta version of the product is due for release this month and the feature I’m looking forward to most is Hyper-V 3. I blogged about a while back with what hopefully would be in the product, well some more details relating to Storage, management of storage with PowerShell and the new VHDX format disks.

Back to System Centre and a new product in the family that may have escaped your notice. System Centre Advisor, which is now a benefit of Software Assurance for Windows Server or Microsoft SQL server. So what is System Centre Advisor, to find out more and download the 60 day free trial click here.

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Microsoft and HP team up on public and private cloud services

HP and Microsoft have announced a new four-year partnership to deliver public, private and hybrid enterprise cloud solutions built around Office 365 and its on-premise equivalents. Microsoft solutions will be offered via HP’s cloud data centres. Brandt Faatz, vice president of Workplace Services at HP Enterprise Services, stated: ‘This alliance with HP not only broadens Microsoft’s geographic reach, it gives customers maximum flexibility to choose a cloud computing solution that meets their organisation’s specialised messaging and collaboration needs’.

Switch and router sales see continued growth

IDC recorded growth of almost 11% sequential in the worldwide market for Ethernet switches in Q3, with year-on-year growth at just over 6%. Revenues reached of $5.9 billion. The worldwide market for routers grew by 2.9% year-over-year. Most of the growth came in the Asia/Pacific region, where switch sales increased by almost 28% and now account for a quarter of worldwide revenue. China experienced a remarkable 44.1% year-over-year growth. Revenues generated by 10GbE switches increased by almost 30% and almost doubled in terms of port shipments, due to continued adoption in data centres and campus core deployments. A record total of 2.09 million 10GbE ports were shipped in the quarter.

Tech Data announces changes to its European organisation

New European Executive Board and two geographic regions formed to optimise business efficiency between its European functions, specialist divisions and country operations.

Tech Data Europe today announced changes to its European organisation which will enable Europe’s leading technology distributor to optimise the business efficiency of its central resources and specialist divisions whilst enhancing the support for its country operations.

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Azlan appoints Nigel Dunn to head HP Business Unit

Azlan, the enterprise division of Computer 2000, has appointed Nigel Dunn as Director of its HP Business Unit. Dunn, who has previously worked as General Manager of Azlan’s HP Value Storage Business and has a strong history with the company having worked at Frontline and Datech.  More recently, Nigel has worked with Tech Data in a consultative role on strategic initiatives in Europe.
 
Dunn will take full responsibility for all for day-to-day business on HP ESSN (servers, networking and storage) solutions, working with the existing Azlan HP team to drive business development initiatives and growth programmes for HP and its partner network.

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Gartner predicts strong 2012 for smartphones

Gartner has revised its predictions for the coming year saying that growth in mobile phone production will now be slightly higher at 7.5% and while it has reduced the forecast for media tablet production – from 110 million to 107 million in 2012 – it is still expecting a 63% increase year-on-year in this segment.

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Get registered to sell Adobe CLP licensing

Any reseller can now apply to sell Adobe CDP but you need to register before March to be sure of getting onto the current scheme and enjoy the full benefits of the new Adobe Partner Program. Once you are enrolled, you’ll be able to take advantage of free training for Adobe certification – and all the benefits that go with that, including higher rebates, co-op marketing, leads, deal registration, access to a partner portal and account management – and enhanced credibility for your business.

Microsoft Datacentre Security & Management Update

Having updated my Exchange skills last week to 2010 I thought it worth recapping on the protection offered by Forefront Protection for Exchange this useful FAQ will run you through some of the main points of interest.

The Microsoft Virtual Academy is the ideal place to start your learning journey for both the present incarnation and the 2012 versions of Microsoft Private Cloud you can select a track and study the material and then do the self-assessment this will earn you a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum accreditation. If you are wanting Private Cloud resources without having to join the virtual academy try this. Whilst we’re talking private cloud Hyper-V Nu has a great article on Private Cloud explained. Finally on Private Cloud all the System Centre 2012 products have now gone Release Candidate.

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Microsoft makes changes to rules on government licensing

Microsoft has made some changes to the rules on selling licences to government recently. From now on, you are no longer able to sell central or local government licensing deals through the Open Licensing scheme; instead you need to use the Open Value or Select routes. While this won’t affect many agreements, it’s worth making your licensing teams and your government customers aware of the changes. If you have any questions, please get in touch with our Microsoft Licensing expert, Simon King – email simon.king@computer2000.co.uk.

Now you have more opportunity than ever to maximise software renewals – and you can buy HP Care Packs online too

Computer 2000 has introduced new features to License Online that give you full and clear visibility of software renewal opportunities. We’ve also announced the availability of HP Care Pack services on the system. The HP products are the first hardware-based maintenance contracts to be made available through License Online.

The new Renewals Dashboard, Self-Service Portal and Cross-sell, Up-sell and Tag-sell options, make License Online an even more useful and essential tool for software and hardware resellers. Also new is the Life Cycle Management feature, which gives resellers the date on which a renewals order must be placed to ensure licences do not become overdue.

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