This effort has a four-letter acronym, just to be refreshing. Want to know what it is? You'll just have to click.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 04, 20100 comments
The analysts at Forrester have put out a tasty little tidbit about upgrading to Exchange 2010. Increase RCPmag.com's hit count by reading more about it here.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 04, 20100 comments
Well, this just figures, doesn't it? As soon as we at RCPU start to go and brag on Windows 7 and tell partners what a great opportunity it'll provide for them, the whole operating system goes kaput.
Well, not really. Windows 7 is still popular and working well for most folks. But for others, it literally is going kaput -- or at least threatening to, due to a puzzling bug that keeps telling users that their laptop batteries are dying or faulty. In fact, it seems as though Windows 7 might be damaging the batteries themselves. Or, Windows 7 might not be at fault at all. Everything's a bit murky right now. The root of the problem isn't clear at this point.
Microsoft is investigating the snafu and looking to develop a fix. The bug is nothing new, by the way; users have been reporting it since June, apparently. Given Windows 7's meteoric rise up the OS charts, this isn't the best time for a problem like this to come to light. However, we hope that Microsoft will be able to fix this problem relatively quickly now that it has gone mainstream.
After all, it would be a shame for all the post-Vista credibility that Microsoft has rebuilt with Windows 7 to drain away like so much...well, battery acid, we guess. Microsoft and its hardware partners need to make this a top priority, which they are no doubt doing, so that Windows 7's (and Microsoft's) momentum can continue to build.
Have you experienced the Windows 7 battery problem? What has your experience been? Send it to [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on February 04, 20107 comments
We still think of cola when we hear the letters "RC," but if you're thirsting for knowledge on the forthcoming version of Microsoft's big moneymaker, you can take a sip or two here. (Heh, we carried that whole beverage thing all the way though the sentence. Not bad. Not bad.)
Posted by Lee Pender on February 04, 20100 comments
So, Microsoft posted a job entry seeking a manager for a new, SMB-focused, hosted collaboration and e-mail service...and then took it down. And then wouldn't say anything about it. And now probably wishes the whole thing would just go away, at least for a little while. Well, it won't -- because Jeff Schwartz is on it.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 03, 20100 comments
Well, that's a relief. After the debacle that was Vista, Windows 7 has turned out to be a hit and is already paying dividends for Microsoft. (It even helped Microsoft win a customer-satisfaction battle against Apple, a seemingly impossible feat given the dedication of the Mac masses.)
There's no reason why partners shouldn't jump on this bandwagon. In fact, they should. In one fell swoop, Microsoft seems to have restored its reputation -- the good part of it, anyway -- and won back an impressive number of consumers. And given that folks who make corporate IT spending decisions are consumers, too (like the rest of us), it's very possible that they're high on Windows 7 right now along with a lot of other folks.
So, partners, maybe now is the time to start talking to clients about that hardware (and operating system) refresh. Folks who fork over IT cash might really start thinking about putting XP out to pasture now, especially with the economy seemingly out of the absolute lowest depths of the recession (for now). Or perhaps this is a good time to carry a bunch of other Microsoft products into corporate IT departments under the Windows 7 banner, given that Microsoft has a pretty aggressive and impressive roadmap for 2010.
In any case, there's no time like the present to capitalize on the goodwill and happy feelings surrounding Windows 7. In fact, this might be Vista's parting gift to the channel: Just about any OS would have seemed better after it, especially one like Windows 7 that actually is very good. In fact, maybe Microsoft planned the whole thing to play out this way. OK, probably not...but once again, Redmond seems to be winning in the long run.
How have you capitalized on Windows 7? Do you like it as much as other users seem to? Tell all at [email protected].
Posted by Lee Pender on February 03, 20100 comments
It's called the integrated cloud storage connector, but it doesn't make CommVault a storage provider. Rather, it lets users integrate storage with cloud offerings from providers such as Microsoft and Amazon. That sounds pretty useful, actually.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 03, 20100 comments
Bill McCracken is the new man following the retirement of John Swainson.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 01, 20100 comments
Now, that's more like it! Last year around this time, we were talking here in RCPU about how Vista had helped tank Microsoft's earnings. You remember Vista, right? Well, Microsoft probably doesn't want you to because Windows 7 is tossing touchdown passes while Vista threw mostly interceptions. (Hey, it's Super Bowl week.)
And the success of the new operating system is showing up in Microsoft's earnings, which look way, way better now than they did last year. The moral of this story? Never, ever count out Microsoft, especially when it comes to something Redmond knows how to do. Reports of Microsoft's demise (and there were plenty of them a year ago) do now look premature indeed.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 01, 20102 comments
Redmond's much-discussed cloud platform is open for business as of today. (That is to say that those of you who have been using it for free will need to start paying for it if you want to stay on it.) We've droned on here about the cloud and its importance for Microsoft many times in the past, so we're going to leave it to Redmond columnist Mary Jo Foley to talk about some of the ramifications of Microsoft hanging Azure's virtual shingle.
Posted by Lee Pender on February 01, 20100 comments
This entry just doesn't require that much commentary. Jeff Schwartz has put together a fantastic guide to Microsoft's 2010 product roadmap for RCP the magazine. You might find some things in there that you haven't seen yet or read about anywhere else. Partners, we know how much you love product roadmaps. Well, RCPU is here for you. And that's all we really have to say. Really!
Posted by Lee Pender on February 01, 20100 comments