Key Partner Programmes

Microsoft Partner Programme https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/

Signing up as a Microsoft partner gives you access to information, technical and pre-sales support, training (online and locally), certification courseware materials, analyst reports, sales and marketing tools

Managing virtualisation for the desktop

Microsoft’s Desktop Optimization Pack includes two virtualisation tools, one for Windows itself and one for individual applications. what is involved with setting these up, and what are the benefits and downsides?

Managing Mobile Devices: Anywhere, Anytime

Remote support is one of those bugbears that is never going to go away. At least with PCs and laptops you know where you are, and remote desktop tools make it easy to log in and take control of a user’s PC. You can grab logs, check files, and see just what your users see.

GPO for IE8

If you’re using Active Directory and Group Policies to administer computers on customer networks, suggest they adopt Internet Explorer 8 to get more than 100 new Group Policies that you can use to maintain a stable configuration.

SQL Server: diagnosing and fixing performance issues

Many SMEs have applications that run on SQL Server. In the more recent versions, SQL Server 2005 and 2008 is largely self tuning so it may well run for months unattended. However, performance issues can still raise their ugly head.

Dirtection Inc: episode 1

There are 322 types of keyboard fluff. This is the story of one of them.

If it hadn’t been for the piece of fluff, the whole business with the horseflies, the vicar and the postmistress might have turned out very differently. It was a particularly interesting piece of fluff, as it happens, which is why I stole it. Well, I’m not sure ‘steal’ is quite the right word, really. More a case of borrowing. I would have given it back if asked. But, as is so often the case with fluff, nobody asked.

Bridging PBX to VoIP using a hardware gateway or VoIP enabled router

The simplest way to bridge between VoIP and conventional telephony systems is by installing a hardware gateway, or a VoIP-enabled router.

All-Access Pass

Good security requires good passwords. But good security is as much about ensuring access by authorised users as it is about preventing access by interlopers. Recovering, resetting, or removing passwords is sometimes a necessity. Here’s how.

Getting to grips with VDI

Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is being promoted as the solution to all that ails the desktop. The truth is somewhat different.

Bringing VoIP in house

For business, IP telephony and voice over IP is starting to displace conventional phone services. According to industry analysts Forrester, as many as 47% of businesses in Europe and the US have either deployed, or are rolling out, an IP-based phone system.