Microsoft Partner Network Bloggers

Diagnostics Component for Windows Phone

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:18:03 GMT

Telerik writes "[by Valentin Stoychev]...RadDiagnostcs component will enable you to receive crash reports, get specific debug and run-time information from your end users when an issue (ApplicationUnhandledException) in your application is encountered. When an exception occurs, a MessageBox dialog is displayed and users are asked to report the diagnostics data. The collected data contains rich information about the exception, device and runtime info..." more

How to Deploy the Silverlight App in SharePoint 2010

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:14:03 GMT

RTM Group writes "...One of the great enhancements that Microsoft SharePoint team provides in SharePoint 2010 is the ability to integrate the Silverlight application with SharePoint 2010....we will walk you through how to deploy the Silverlight application in SharePoint 2010..." more

Issue with CRM 2011 after Uninstalling x64 Version and Installing x86 Version

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:12:24 GMT

Risual writes "[by Daniel Davies]...We had an issues recently on a client machine , when reinstalling a CRM 2011 client from x64 to x86. Once we reinstalled the x86 version we were unable to run the CRM Configuration wizard and if we opened outlook the CRM add-in appeared to be there but was not functional at all...To fix this we did the following..." more

How to Use a Dialog Process in Dynamics CRM to replace the Case Resolution Form

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:10:25 GMT

PowerObjects writes "[by Joe CRM]...One of the few elements of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 that is not customizable is the Case Resolution form. It is also not accessible via workflow. If more case resolution information needed to be captured it typically needs to be entered on the case form and perhaps some JavaScript to dynamically set field requirements. Then when the user clicks to resolve the case they are prompted again...I created a dialog that prompts for a 'Resolution'..." more

Require Authentication for InfoPath Forms from an Anonymous SharePoint Site

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:07:33 GMT

PointBridge writes "[by Andrew Schwenker]...Say you have an application that you want only authenticated users to access, how would you do it?...The short answer is to control all links on your site and force everyone through Authenticate.aspx, which will require the user to log in if they haven’t already....the tricky part of the authentication routine is getting the parameters for Authenticate.aspx correct...Specifically, Authenticate.aspx has a Source parameter that sets..." more

Huge Timesaver: Exchange PST Capture Tool

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:55:25 GMT

New Signature writes "[by Reed Wiedower]... Microsoft has released, for free, the Exchange PST Capture tool. This tool allows a small agent to be installed on all workstations in an environment, locates the dreaded mail archive files themselves, and pulls them into Exchange. It also makes an easy map of which individuals own specific files...For files stored on shared drives or for machines with multiple staff members on them, this is the single greatest way to save..." more

Tool for SharePoint Sends SMS messages

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:52:55 GMT

Lightening Tools writes "[by Nick Swan]...There are a few instances where this could be interesting for SharePoint such as sending SMS messages when certain things happen in SharePoint either through event handlers or workflows. Let’s see how we can easily register for an account, setup a number and start getting SharePoint sending SMS messages using an Event Handler..." more

Example of Async CTP - TPL Dataflow - Buffering and Combining Data

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:48:50 GMT

Intertech writes "[by Kyle Libbert...example that illustrates a more practical scenario where we have data coming in from multiple sources that needs to be combined, transformed and then propagated out to an end point such as user interface. But first we'll need introduce two additional TPL dataflow blocks that will help illustrate these concepts..." more

Monitoring Hyper-V Replica in Windows 8

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:40:30 GMT

Concurrency writes "[by Nathan Lasnoski]...Hyper-V Replica is an awesome technology in Windows 8 that allows for virtual machines to be replicated from one Hyper-V host environment to another. This includes replication to and from clusters and/or standalone hosts. The technology also provides a mechanism for roll-back to previous states and configuration of failover properties, such as IP addresses...we’ll discuss how we can monitor the replicas to validate replication is occurring as we expect..." more

The Importance of Company Culture

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:38:49 GMT

Terminal writes "[by Tim Dreyer]...Earlier this week we explained the reasons why your company’s culture influences your brand. A healthy company culture will have a very positive impact on your daily operations and the way the public views your company. Measuring the cultural health of your company is one thing, but where do you go from there...we’ll look at some ideas to improve...your company a cultura...there are several questions you will want to consider first:..." more

Video on Windows Azure as a Mobile Backend Platform

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:17:32 GMT

PointBridge writes "[Bart Tubalinal]...I posted a video blog discussing why using Windows Azure as a mobile backend platform is an attractive option...Backend platform selection is important because, unless you’re talking about the most trivial of apps, most mobile applications will have some need to connect to backend services and data...Windows Azure and SQL Azure is a compelling PaaS for mobile for the following reasons:..." more

Purging Old NT Security Protocols

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:36:39 GMT

Ned Pyle writes "If you need to keep using NTLM V2 and simply want to hunt down the less secure precursors, this should help... The only universal, OS-agnostic way you can tell which clients are sending NTLMv1 and LM challenges is by examining a network trace taken from destination computers. Using Netmon 3.4 or another network capture tool, look for packets with a negotiated NTLM security mechanism. This first example is..." more

How to Create Electronic Vendor Payments in AX 2012

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:34:09 GMT

Intergen writes "[by Steven Koppens]...a technical overview of how to process electronic vendor payments in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012. It is primarily targeted at consultants and developers who have implemented, or are looking to implement, Dynamics AX 2012..." more

How to Synchronize an Exchange Public calendar with Users Private Calendar

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:04:28 GMT

Code Two writes "[by Gniewko Oblicki]...how to easily apply automatic folder synchronization tasks on Microsoft Exchange Server with CodeTwo Exchange Sync. This easy-to-use, but yet powerful application, will let you synchronize data between various types of Exchange folders, in real time and in many different ways." more

Steps to Disable Default Permissions in SharePoint Site Settings

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:43:45 GMT

MSProjectExperts writes "[by Tom Godbold]...We can disable the ability for members of the Project Managers group to change certain SharePoint site settings, thereby eliminating the confusion...that can result from global changes to the PWA application pages. Steps to disable the default permissions that allow members of the Project Managers group to change the SharePoint Site Settings:" more

Browse the Internet InPrivate with IE

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:39:14 GMT

KnowledgeWave writes "[by Dan St. Hilaire]...There are many reasons to secure and keep your web surfing private. This easy keyboard shortcut keeps your business and web surfing from peaking eyes. Easily start your browsing session InPrivate. Here’s how..." more

Dynamics Business Leadership Web Seminar Series for Partners

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:39:32 GMT

Kevin Machayya writes "...new series of remotely-delivered sessions specifically for partner business owners and executive management teams...with a deep look specifically into the Sales and Service Delivery functions of Microsoft Dynamics ERP and CRM practices..To learn more and to register..." more

Partner Shares 2012 IT and Software App Priorities Survey Results

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:37:01 GMT

Common Sense writes "[by Nancy Medica]...At the end of November 2011 we asked recipients of our email newsletter to respond to a multiple-choice online survey about their IT and application development priorities for 2012. Here are the raw results:..key points: Business analytics is hot. It’s a high priority for a majority of respondents. Apps are popular. Half of respondents plan to make mobile apps, in contrast to..." more

8 Steps for Achieving World-Class Collaboration

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:00:49 GMT

NewsGator writes "...8 Step Process for Leading Change and achieving world-class collaboration. If you missed the complete webinar, click here to watch the on-demand version..." more

How to Configure Outlook Rules with Wildcards or - Subject Contains

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:58:08 GMT

Concurrency writes "[by Nathan Lasnoski]...I started playing with Outlook, trying different wildcard statements, but to no avail. I did find however that right in the interface, I was able to solve the problem. You can configure the rules to look for “text” which was extensive enough to accomplish the goal of having multiple names, or differing content in the subject or email address fields. Here goes it..." more

Digital Business Model: When Business Transitions from a Place to a Space

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:44:18 GMT

EMC writes "[by Chuck Hollis]...In the new digital information economy, who leads the transformation from the previous business model to the new one? It's one thing to say "we're transitioning to an information economy", it's another thing entirely to watch thousands of our customers wrestle very uncomfortably with the inevitable transition. The businesses that were "born digital" have an inherent advantage: they don't have to..." more

Integrating Marketing Tools in a Fast-Changing Digital Environment

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:53:34 GMT

Concurrency writes "[by Benjamin Bishop]...Concurrency and Microsoft sponsored an event titled “Microsoft Marketing Automation” at Microsoft’s Waukesha, Wisconsin offices to help marketing and technology managers integrate their marketing tools in a fast-changing digital environment...put together the whole package of how companies need to think intelligently about marketing..." more

Free SharePoint Field Diff And Copy Utility

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:50:09 GMT

ARB Security Solutions writes "[by Adam]...Recently at a client I was charged with investigating an application that dealt with incoming / outgoing requests...it was necessary for me to have a utility that would allow me to source a list, and copy the relevant SPField objects regardless of base type to a destination list...The application itself is simple, one form, very few controls..." more

How to Hide Tabs in the Dynamics CRM Outlook Reading Pane

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:22:07 GMT

PowerObjects writes "[by JoeCRM]...We recently encountered an issue with the Outlook Reading Pane displaying all the tabs on the form even though we had written java script to show and hide these tabs on the form. The reason behind this is that the java script can't be fired on the Outlook reading pane. As you can see in the screenshot...To resolve the issue..." more

It's Going to be an Exciting Summer for SharePoint!

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:00:37 GMT

Perficient writes "[by John Roe]...I believe this is one of Microsoft’s first public comments on the next version of Office which will include SharePoint. Although there is not much detail on what is in the new product in terms of features...think the interesting thing here is that for the first time Microsoft has publicly mentioned a timeline for the public beta..." more

Windows Phone Infographic on Mindshare and Customer Interest

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:57:25 GMT

Telerik writes "...100 Most Rated Publishers list on the Windows Phone Marketplace...And...retrospective infographic, posted by Brandon Watson, showing how the Windows Phone Marketplace, the developer mindshare and customer interest has evolved over in 2011..." more

How to Remove Query Data Cached in Dynamics CRM

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:01:43 GMT

Customer Effective writes "[by Nick Doriot]...there are times, when the retrieving data that you would like to have a current set of data rather than a set of cached data. There are a couple of methods that can be employed ...The following snippet of code can be used to remove entity data from the set of data cached by the context...If you would like to remove other pieces of cached data you can browse..." more

How to Call an ASP.Net Web Service using jQuery and JSON

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:57:47 GMT

Tallan writes "[by Karl Schwirz]...For the purposes of this demo I am going to return a string to the UI and display a message, but you can return any kind of object that can be serialized down to a primitive data type...With just a few simple configurations we have a quick call back to the server without having to run an expensive post back..." more

Exchange Online License to a User Before Migrating them to Office 365?

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:55:57 GMT

PointBridge writes "[by David Greve]...In a non-Hybrid configuration, Exchange Online has no way of knowing a mailbox does not exist on-premise. If you already have users working in Exchange Online mailboxes and you enable licenses for users that are not ready to migrate, you will cause email delivery to not route to the proper mailboxes. The Exchange Online users will end up..." more

SBS 2011 Not Impacted with Exchange 2010 Sp2 KB Installation Error

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:52:40 GMT

Susan Bradley writes "...When this error occurs, Exchange Server 2010 does not work and is not listed in Add or Remove Programs. Additionally, you cannot reinstall Exchange Server 2010. This issue occurs because the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) service is stopped during the installation process. Therefore..." more

How to Customize the SharePoint 2010 Ribbon

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:49:54 GMT

RTM Group writes "...we will add a custom button to the ribbon to perform custom functionality that might be required to solve specific business problems...Customize the ribbon by adding a button...Create a new solution in Visual Studio 2010 using the Empty SharePoint Project template and name it" more

Mail Enabled Public Folder - Rejected with NDR

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:14:29 GMT

Susan Bradley writes "...Recently during a migration someone found that public folder mail enabled routing was not working. Turns out this was the problem: When sending e-mail messages to a mail-enabled public folder that have been replicated from old Exchange Server 2000/2003/2007, Exchange Server 2010 environment mails are rejected with NDR..." more

Solution to Removing Additional Outlook Mailboxes

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:12:50 GMT

Risual writes "[by Jovan Davis]...even though the mailbox is still visible in the main Outlook pane. When right-clicking on the mailbox and selecting “Close Mailbox – Name” you may receive the following error:...Solution: Navigate to the following in the registry:...Look through each of the folders, and delete the folder that correspond to the additional mailbox(es) causing an issue...." more

Taking Dynamics CRM Mobile

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:03:16 GMT

BCG Systems Inc writes "[by Jeff Schrettler]...While Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 comes with built in mobile functionality, dubbed CRM Mobile Express, some organizations may have a need for more robust CRM capabilities... Here, we take a look at two options when it comes to CRM mobility – CRM Mobile Express and Mobile CRM from CWR Mobility..." more

How to Add Foreign Currency Symbols in Dynamics SL

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:41:49 GMT

Synergy Business Solutions writes "...In earlier versions of Microsoft Dynamics SL, the Currency Manager module had country flags available to use as currency symbols. Starting with Version 7.0 these symbols are no longer available out of the box. However, they can be added by taking the following steps...." more

The Power of Personality Management

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:40:44 GMT

Slalom writes "[by Carl M Manello]...While we may not all be geniuses, whether in the arts or sciences, we can understand that personality is key to making things happen. Personality impacts the management of people. People management is one of the under-rated but often most needed skills for delivery effectiveness. It is critical to understand that without the participation of other people, a project manager (for example) is incapable of doing anything...With so many different behaviors, expectations, and perspectives, a PM may..." more

Walkthrough Setting up Dynamic Option Sets

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:36:25 GMT

PowerObjects writes "[by JoeCRM]...If you were to imagine a custom form in Microsoft Dynamics CRM where you could select any entity and any field on that entity you would realize a few things about option sets...The solution we came up with was to utilize single line of text fields hidden on the form to store the values for our option sets. We'll demonstrate this with one mapping field..." more

NFC-Enabled Smartphones Rising in Popularity

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:31:46 GMT

Outsourcery writes "...Dan Tait, an analyst at IMS Research, said: "After seven or so years of false dawns and frequent disappointment, 2011 has proved to be something of a breakthrough year."Most of the leading cellular handset manufacturers have lunched NFC-enabled handsets over the last 12 months. These include Samsung, Research In Motion, Nokia and HTC." NFC technology will be made available to smartphone users at the Olympic Park during this year's London Olympic Games..." more

SharePoint 2010 and iPad Support

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:16:30 GMT

Perficient writes "[by John Roe]...There was an interesting update to technet recently describing how iPad support has been improved in SharePoint 2010 for viewing reports and scorecards. This is one of the first articles i’ve seen...SharePoint 2010 on the iPad actually works pretty well for most functions and can even be used to edit excel documents using the office web apps (there still seems to be issues with word and powerpoint)..." more

Walkthrough SQL Server 2012 RC0 Installation and Configuration

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:36:29 GMT

PointBridge writes "[byMike Burger]...After you are satisfied you have exhausted your ability use the resources on the Planning tab (or if you are impatient like me), click on the Installation link on the left side of the menu. Since I am installing everything on a single server, I then click on the option to install a new stand-alone SQL Server..." more

5 Considerations for Mentoring Customer Support Leaders

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:34:15 GMT

EMC writes "[by Mary Cay Kosten]...This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked this question. I’ve been asked this question in mentoring situations and have also had the opportunity to speak to groups on this topic. Based on a reflection of my experiences, here are five things that have played a key role in my growth. 1. Gather as much breadth of experience as you can...." more

How One Partner Found Event Success at the Microsoft Store

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:24:36 GMT

Barb Levisay RCP Mag writes "..."I am really in awe of the reach we were able to achieve through this event, even though we are a small partner[Rosebud Technologies]. This was beyond anything we could have done on our own. The fact that partners can use these regional stores...gives them the chance to meet people they would not otherwise have the opportunity to meet." ...the RoseBud team shared some lessons that partners can use..." more

First Small Steps Toward a More Connected IT Security Force

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:16:25 GMT

Terminal writes "...Microsoft's live threat feed may have an even more important impact: It could lead the information security industry to share more data. For too long, companies have hesitated to discuss important security information that they fear could lead to a copycat attack. This is a misguided belief as cyber criminals are already trading information amongst themselves. It makes sense..." more

Lync Momentum and Partner Opportunity

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:14:09 GMT

Scott Bekker writes "...President and CEO Andy Miller said, "The opportunity to leverage these key relationships is proving to be significant as evidenced, for instance, by our success and growth through innovation and go-to-market alignment with Microsoft Lync. In fact, in 2011 we grew the revenues generated through our partnership with Microsoft by approximately 135 percent over 2010 levels."...Polycom seems to be looking to current Microsoft partners to..." more

CRM Project Success Story from Requirements to Go Live

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:05:14 GMT

Neudesic writes "[by Stanley Ray]...Our client already deployed a very robust set of solutions to run all facets of their business including manufacturing, distribution, sales, marketing, and customer care. These systems supported hundreds of employees in multiple facilities as well as having deployments in multiple countries. Our client was seeking a new solution to address their current issues including:..The entire implementation from initial requirements definition until Go Live took five months to complete..." more

How to Recover an Unsaved Document in Office 2010

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:59:40 GMT

KnowledgeWave writes "[by Dan St. Hilaire]...Whether it’s a power outage or user error, we’ve all closed out of a document without saving it only to find out later we need it back. In Office 2010 you can! If the document was never saved, go to the File tab...AutoRecover is set to every 10 minutes but can be changed by going to File, Options and then Save..." more

How Skype Acquisition Will Transform the Contact Center

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:43:11 GMT

Aspect writes "[by Mike Butts]...All B2C companies have a short window of opportunity to prepare their organizations to use video as a service differentiator, productivity booster, and revenue generator. Companies need to act now to gain a leadership position in customer service before their competitors leap onto this emerging communications channel...Here are a few thoughts for how video can be used in the contact center:..." more

Going Mobile with CWR Mobility and CWR Mobile CRM 2011

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:48:44 GMT

Xrm writes "...Several improvements over the previous version of CWR Mobile CRM were packaged into CWR Mobile CRM 2011, including new features such as team ownership and custom activity types. CWR Mobile CRM 2011 also includes GPS mapping and navigation, and can be connected directly to Microsoft Exchange through the use of the new CWR Exchange Connector." more

Implementing a Custom Change Data Capture System

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:43:05 GMT

Slalom writes "[by Bruce Hendry]...I recently found myself in a situation with a client where it was necessary to quickly implement update processes between a legacy transactional application and a new transactional system...there was already an extract-transform-load (ETL) solution in place that was not architected to account for updates because it was never in the scope…until that day, and...nothing reliable existed in the legacy application to capture changed data. Our team...implemented a viable solution..." more

Tech Evangelist Customers Key to Mobile App Success

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:36:34 GMT

Scott Bekker writes "...Looking to make a splash with a mobile app? Some customers are better than others. A study released this week by IDC, based on a survey of 50,000 consumers in 25 countries, segmented app buyers into six groups. IDC's segments include Tech Evangelists, Impulse Buyers, Experimental Adopters, Pragmatic Purchasers, Green Buyers and Disengaged Functionalists. Will this taxonomy have the lasting power of..." more

The Classic Microsoft Refresh Cycle

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:33:44 GMT

Jon Roskill writes "...Partners, I sense momentum. We’re getting a sudden burst of buzz and I like it. Last year at WPC I said Microsoft was being massively underestimated by its competitors, Wall Street, and the press. Here we are, six months later, in the midst of a perception shift...Tell me what buzz you’re hearing about Windows 8 and the Nokia 900. If you’re picking anything up in line at Starbucks besides lattes, I want to know..." more

A Great Debate: Will the Cloud Replace IT Departments in SMBs?

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 23:18:59 GMT

Parallels writes "[by John Zanni]...Have you seen the “Great Debate” recently on ZDNet if the cloud will replace SMB IT departments? ZDNet’s Christopher Dawson and Heather Clancy go head-to-head, on the subject. And while Christopher and Heather differ in some respects, both make valid points about the impact of cloud, but the answer really depends on the type of SMB...the IT decision-makers in these small companies wear many hats – CEO, CFO, and CTO..." more

How to Remove the Continuous Sign in Prompt in Lync 2010

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:43:06 GMT

Risual writes "[by Jovan Davis] After resetting your password and signing into Lync, you may be repeatedly prompted to enter a user name and password so Lync can connect to Outlook...Remove the..." more

Management Reporter- Using Dimension Sets for Report Design Efficiency

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:30:06 GMT

Precipio Services writes "[by Christina Phillips]...First, select the Dimension for the set using the drop-down list, you can select any segment of your chart of accounts (for example, main account or department or division). Then you can either select an existing Dimension Set and click Modify or click New to begin a new one. Note that you can also Delete and Save As for existing dimension sets. After you click New..." more

RPC Over IT/Pro - Explained in Practical Terms

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:28:10 GMT

Ned Pyle writes "...one of the most commonly used – and least understood – network protocols in Windows: Remote Procedure Call. Understanding RPC is a foundation for any successful IT Professional. It’s integral to distributed systems like Active Directory, Exchange, SQL, and System Center. The administrator who has never run into RPC configuration issues is either very new or very lucky...attempt to explain the protocol in practical terms..." more

Statement of Direction for Dynamics NAV Dec 2011 Update

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:26:52 GMT

Kevin Machayya writes "...The Statement of Direction and roadmap for Microsoft Dynamics NAV gives you the overview of the roadmap and plans from 2011 and next 2-3 major releases. Catch up on the exciting news by watching his video, and download the updated SOD from PartnerSource..." more

Tool Cleans Up Customized CSS Files

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:18:44 GMT

PointBridge writes "[by Bert Johnson]...Have you ever come across a SharePoint installation that's been customized in an unsupported way? You look at the 12 (or 14) hive and see that files have been modified by hand?...changing core SharePoint files is unsupported and can lead to problems when patching...I wrote a tool called CSSCompare...will look at two CSS files and output the effective differences between them..." more

Tool Migrates Lync Contacts Between Profiles and Users

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:47:12 GMT

Paradyne writes "[by Loryan Strant]...I wanted to move our Lync services from a hosted provider...back to Lync Online under Office 365...the challenge for me was to preserve my contact list as I have over 200 contacts on there, split up into multiple groups. The only methods available...is to use either a Visual Basic script...or via PowerShell cmdlets. Unfortunately neither of these would help...I had a tool built..." more

Workaround for Error 502 - Accessing an FTP site via TMG

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:03:56 GMT

Risual writes "[by Daniel Davies]...We had an issue recently when trying to access an external FTP site. We tried to open the FTP website via Windows Explorer...we got the following error. The part we are interested in is the “502 Active FTP not allowed” , this is due to the fact that Active FTP is automatically disabled via TMG. To allow Active FTP in TMG do the Following..." more

A Use Case on how Clouds, Mobility and Big Data Create New Business Capabilities

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:04:58 GMT

Capgemini Group writes "[by Andy Mulholland]...The point being made was that these new business requirements and enabling technologies are not part of the IT environment as we know it today...I produce it here in full with accompanying diagrams to help make at least a little clearer what this is all about! I hope it helps, and yes it is high level, but various technology elements are discussed in more detail..." more

How to Close a ModalDialog Manually from Code in SharePoint 2010

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:57:58 GMT

PointBridge writes "[by Andrew Schwenker]...Fortunately, it is incredibly easy for the developer to close a ModalDialog in SharePoint, once you know where to close it...Where I prefer to put my code for closing the page is inside the callbacks for the buttons I have on the page. Every page usually has an OK and (usually) a Cancel button...Before we get there, however, my page looks like the following..." more

Goodbye ISA Server

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:55:12 GMT

Yuri Diogenes writes "...ISA Server 2006 Mainstream Support ended as shown in the table...what about this extended support that goes until January 2017? Extended support means the following:..." more

Lync Integration with Polycom SIP Phones

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:52:14 GMT

New Signature writes "[by Jim Banach]...“This means that the large ecosystem of SoundPoint IP, SoundStation IP, SpectraLink Wireless, and VVX Business Media Phones can all now natively register directly to Lync Server, adding a variety of choices beyond the purpose-built CX device family, including the first WiFi endpoint supported for Lync 2010 Server.” This is a big opportunity for..." more

Retrieving Activity Feed Post with CRM 2011 OrganizationService

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:27:49 GMT

Customer Effective writes "[by Nick Doriot]...The RetrieveRecordWallRequest retrieves all of the posts that involve the specified record in CRM, while the RetrievePersonalWallRequest retrieves all of the posts for a user that they are following or in which the user is mentioned...In order to retrieve post to a record wall we will use the RetrieveRecordWallRequest. The following shows an example of the service call..." more

Younger Execs Rebel Against Complicated ERP Software

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:24:33 GMT

ERP Software Blog writes "[by Anya Ciecierski]...A recent survey reported on by ComputerWorld suggests that some employees who have used complicated ERP systems are even willing to switch jobs just to get away from them. Others take less drastic but still damaging approaches, such as opting for Excel spreadsheets or even free cloud-based spreadsheet apps rather than using their overwhelmingly complicated ERP systems. The truth is, many of these workers are not just being rebellious. Plenty of them truly do not understand how to..." more

Personalization Makes List as a Top 2012 Tech Trend

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:49:17 GMT

Siteworx writes "[by Patricia Mejia]...We asked our top minds and most creative thinkers from design through technology to share their top tech trends and predictions for 2012.As should be expected given the diversity of interests among the team here at Siteworx, we found a wide range of predictions. Check out what our experts think..." more

How to Configure log4net in a SharePoint Application

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:40:35 GMT

Clarity Consulting writes "[by George Durzi]...Configuring log4net in a SharePoint or ASP.NET application is pretty straightforward, but no matter how many times I do it, I always forget something small and waste time troubleshooting why logging isn’t working. Here’s a guide to configuring logging using log4net in a SharePoint application..." more

How a Company Culture Heavily Engaged in the Technical Community Delivers

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:39:20 GMT

Skyline Technologies writes "[by Brian Morgan]...we use two very powerful channels for security information. First, since we are heavily focused on Microsoft products, our IT team relies upon the Microsoft Security Response Center...Another resource valued by the experienced IT engineers...is the Microsoft Security Newsletter...A second...is our associates. At Skyline we have a culture in which the professionals we hire love technology and are heavily engaged in..." more

Sample Social Media Dashboard Reflects Brand Conversation

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:30:46 GMT

Extended Results writes "[by Patrick Husting]...I was browsing through my twitter posts and came upon this great looking social media dashboard by Intel. It is their Social Cockpit...." more

The New Way of Licensing SQL 2012 is a Bit Interesting!

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:29:22 GMT

Softchoice writes "[by Brett LaForge]...Instead of licensing by the physical processor you will need to license by the core. The cores will be approximately ¼ of the costs of SQL 2008R2 processor license. However, there’s a 4 core minimum in order to report this SKU. In other words, if you have a machine with two cores, you still need to report four cores! Here are some simple guidelines:..." more

An SBS Essentials Guru Blog Resource

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:21:11 GMT

Susan Bradley writes "...There's another blog that you should add to your rss reader if you are starting to poke around SBS Essentials...And in fact it starts off with a gui way to edit the config file you need to join Essentials to an existing domain for migration purposes...For the REAL SBS Essentials guru, check out Robert's blog...." more

How to Enable CRM Online 2011 Email Tools

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:19:16 GMT

Xrm writes "...The only real drawback of e-mail sending, as we mentioned above, is that it is not enabled by default when you install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Outlook client. That’s really not too much of a hassle though, as enabling the feature is quick and pain-free. We’ll walk you through it..." more

Deeper Customer Engagement Through Speech Analytics

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 23:16:51 GMT

Aspect writes "[by Jane Hendricks]...What you can learn through your recordings is a huge, untapped amount of customer understanding. When you can integrate that data with your overall analytical plan, you get deeper, holistic view into how you’re engaging with your customers. Speech analytics looks at call recordings and is able to extract relevant concepts and convert them into..." more

How to Remove Email Queue Item from Queue in Dynamics CRM

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:24:26 GMT

PowerObjects writes "[by Joe CRM]...The one issue that constantly frustrates users is the fact that email queue items sit in the queue forever unless you go in and manually remove them...We recently solved this issue for one of our clients by creating a new workflow, and here are the steps involved:..." more

How to Remove Cached User Wireless Connection Credentials

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:15:21 GMT

Susan Bradley writes "[by Eric Guo, Partner Online Tech]...To remove your cached user credentials that are used for PEAP authentication, delete the following registry subkeys, as appropriate:..." more

Code Sample Overriding jQuery Functions

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:11:32 GMT

Tallan writes "[by Thomas Oscarson]...In this example, if the find and children functions are left unchanged, they will fail find any elements by ID if we don’t include the end part of the ID that we append in the $$ function. So let’s look at overriding / extending the find function..." more

How Secure is Cloud Security?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:58:23 GMT

Terminal writes "...self-regulation is not required at this time, many businesses believe it is their duty to display clear warnings, explaining what they don't provide or guarantee. Ultimately, as there is no current law that states that companies must divulge how tight their security is, the responsibility is in your hands. You must weigh the..." more

TechNet Papers on Solutions to Private Cloud Security

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:51:54 GMT

Yuri Diogenes writes "...These papers will guide you through the design of private cloud security, the understanding of te security blueprint and the secure service operation of a private cloud..." more

From GUI to Minimal GUI to No GUI: Windows Server 8

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:34:16 GMT

QA writes "[by Andrew Mallett]...Having the skills and confidence in using the command line has enabled me to run tasks effectively and quickly. These may be using PowerShell or just the CMD command prompt in Windows. As a simple example last week I was able to add a desktop shorcut to the 16 delegate machines easily without having to laboriously connect to each machine. A reduced example of the code is shown.." more

How to Set Up Azure Deployment Certificates

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:16:38 GMT

Tallan writes "[by Richard Krajunus]...will show you how to integrate your Azure deployments usingVisual Studio 2010 with an easy two step process. First, you have to create a certificate within Visual Studio, and second, you have to configure your Azure environment to accept that certificate..." more

Trends in Next-Generation Customer Interaction

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:10:30 GMT

Aspect writes "[by Jane Hendricks]...The contact center has become the option that consumers tap only after all others have been exhausted—the last best hope for issue resolution...This environment raises the bar for service agents and what they need to deliver to keep customers satisfied. That’s why some recent figures caught my eye...Forrester released research findings...55% of companies surveyed use knowledge management; 35% use real-time decisioning and another 40% are..." more

Working with Microsoft Office Documents on iPad

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:05:02 GMT

Concurrency writes "[by Kirk Poser]...Working with Word files on an iPad can be a challenge. Not an insurmountable challenge, but really just a different way of thinking than in the Windows world. First, is getting documents into your iPad to work with. For individual files, you can use..." more

The Pull Effect and Why Enterprise CIOs Want It

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:53:34 GMT

EMC writes "[by Scott Burgess]...Of the many varied shifts in IT that CIOs need to execute, there are three that continually come to the surface with our consulting services customers: well marketed and priced services; constituent targeted services; and consistent simplified service function and access. These topics can be a bit confusing if they are not discussed in a shared context so let’s...drill into each of them..." more

Mobile Business Intelligence Retail Solutions

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:46:36 GMT

Extended Results writes "...Microsoft showcases our mobile business intelligence solution on the retail floor. Check it out..." more

Customizing the Default jQuery Selector Behavior

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:12:59 GMT

Tallan writes "[by Thomas Oscarson]...Instead of changing every jQuery selector, we can instead create a private jQuery instance, that automatically uses the correct context. First we need to assume that each of these controls on the page is limited to the scope of its instance. Within this you need to define a new variable for the instance specific jQuery, lets call it..." more

Managing a Divided Project Team

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:57:57 GMT

EMC writes "[by Brandon McMillon]...I was brought in to advise a product team on the right architecture and tools for their next generation product. I met a highly competent team that had been together for a long time...So when 3 of the 7 members on the development team privately confided that the new product was a pipe dream and that they believed it would never work, you can imagine how seriously I took this...My plan..." more

Adding Users Programmatically to a Claims Site in SharePoint 2010

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:49:04 GMT

Steve Peschka writes "...what I did find worked for me on the first try was just to use the EnsureUser method on SPWeb. It's much simpler than having to fool around to try and get the encoding for an account name... EnsureUser automatically takes care of encoding the name and really simplified his code. For completeness here's a short example:..." more

Potential Issues with Characters in Database Names with Exchange 2010 sp2

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:15:50 GMT

Susan Bradley writes "...and according to the latest update I received today, this issue does have much to do with the database name. Characters like ),”, ‘:’, ‘(‘ are key delimiters to the budget resource string parsing logic in Exchange 2010...He will be trying to get the prerelease hotfix soon but i am not waiting around for this and going through and changing my 60+ databases names tonight to fix issue now..." more

Quick Command Runs IPCONFIG from Run Box

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:11:18 GMT

Risual writes "[by Paul W]...Here is a quick command that can be used so that you can run the ipconfig/all command from the run box without it closing down on you:...This should bring up the cmd box but pause and wait for input before closing down:..." more

Walkthrough on Migrating an Access Database to SQL Server

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:06:13 GMT

Tallan writes "[by K Morillo]...Recently I was tasked with migrating a Microsoft Access 2010 database to SQL Server 2008 R2 while preserving the form functionality built into Access...I will go through how to use the upsizing wizard to migrate an Access mdb file to an Access Project file connected to a SQL Server backend..." more

Hard Zoning vs Soft Zoning in a FC/FCoE SAN

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:29:51 GMT

EMC writes "[by Erik Smith]...Over the past few weeks, I’ve answered a bunch of questions that have asked something along the lines of “Should I use Hard Zoning or Soft Zoning?” And no, I have no idea why these questions are coming up now…The short answer...If you’re familiar with FC Zoning as well as the FC protocol and don’t require a detailed explanation, the short answer is; “You no longer have a choice..." more

Going Offline with SharePoint Online

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:26:44 GMT

Paradyne writes "[by Loryan Strant]...My latest piece in BoxFreeIT talks about using Outlook and SharePoint Workspace to go offline with SharePoine Online..." more

Deciphering NullReferenceException or Binding Reference Cycle Errors in Windows Phone 7.1

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:24:48 GMT

Steve Peschka writes "I recently ran across a very, very difficult problem to diagnose and fix, and I couldn't find this issue going on anywhere else so I thought I'd write about it here in case it comes up again for anyone else. In a Windows Phone 7.1 (i.e. Mango) application, you have a service reference - in my case, a WCF application. What I was seeing is that frequently yet randomly, it would throw an exception just creating the WCF proxy. What I mean by that is this line of code:..." more

Timing of Master Page JavaScript in SharePoint

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:07:20 GMT

Clarity Consulting writes "[by George Durzi]...This is pretty obvious in retrospect; your JavaScript can be sprinkled throughout the page as needed. People are scared away by this, wanting to have a super-clean master page. However, in this case, pulling out some JavaScript functionality into separate functions and calling them from the master page does the trick. The remaining JavaScript can stay in a global..." more

How to Manually Set Up Activity Feeds on Forms in Dynamics CRM 2011

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:04:00 GMT

Customer Effective writes "[by Brad Koontz]...If you are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM and you have multiple forms configured for an entity on which you wish to display the Activity Feed wall, you will need to download, import and publish the solution, and then you will need to follow the steps below to ensure the activity feeds are visible on the forms you want to display the wall..." more

PowerShell Functions for Azure - Delete Deployment Script

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:53:08 GMT

RBA Consulting writes "[by Adam Grocholski]...Recently I’ve been diving into the Windows Azure PowerShell Cmdlets published by Microsoft on CodePlex. First off, let me say that I think these tools are incredible powerful...I found one feature was missing from cmdlets that involve managing hosted services. The feature is the ability to simply delete a deployment...Here’s what you would have to do:" more

How to Disable ActiveSync on Exchange 2010

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:49:27 GMT

Risual writes "[by Daniel Davies}...We had a query from a customer recently , asking how you can disable ActiveSync on a Per User and for All Users basis. You can disable ActiveSync by doing one of the below steps depending on your requirements..." more

Tips on the Inventory Available to Promise (ATP) Screen in GP

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:45:29 GMT

Rose Business Solutions writes "[by Steve Chapman]...The Inventory Available to Promise screen will give you insight into your current inventory situation for any item...There is a feature that allows you to forecast when a new specific quantity of the item will be available, and when you could start a manufacturing order to build the quantity, if needed. Here is a good example that shows the various attributes of the calculation, and displays the related transactions:..." more

Excel 2010 Shortcut Makes Migrating More Palatable for End Users

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 16:42:05 GMT

Susan Bradley writes "...One of the things that if you actually USE Excel that you miss in the new 2010 menu system is the print preview, print layout view and print title settings. Oh, they are still there, but moved all over the place. So here's a way to get them back. Put them in a shortcut menu at..." more

Debugging SharePoint Web Site Authentication Changed to Anon

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:46:19 GMT

Susan Bradley writes "I was helping someone the other day fix up a SharePoint. You could tell it was due to messed up permissions...I figured it out by comparing it to a working SBS SharePoint. I cannot stress enough how having a baseline box helps you debug issues. It ended up that web site authentication was changed to anon...Since the SharePoint on sbs 2008 only had default I knew I had to..." more