nivdolgin's posterous

How important is a responsive strategic partner? Immeasurably invaluable!

I ran across an interesting tweet from @msuspartner earlier this week. The Partner Programs Team over at Microsoft announced the availability of a new blog designed specifically to “…serve the needs of Microsoft partners across the U.S.”

I found it especially interesting that they announced this on twitter. Moreover, they asked for suggestions for topic. Frankly, I was caught a little by surprise, in a good way! Happenstance had it that we had recently just wrapped an excellent meeting ‘marathon’ with our MS Partner Account Manager, Eric Trimble and Jeff Gindin, a Senior Product Manager from WWLP. The meetings touched on some terrific topics, including collaborating on ideas to help Partners during and after the sales cycle; post-sales support was a big one.

Being fresh on my mind, I tweeted a quick suggestion about needing some technical resources after signing deals. I didn’t really think about it much afterwards as I figured our friends @msuspartner likely got hammered with countless requests/suggestions on topics, and for all I knew would have to review the best of them and get approval by some unseen, bureaucratic  committee. Quite frankly, I wasn’t expecting an particular type of reply at all. Boy was I wrong.

3 days later, @msuspartner responded to my suggestion. Wait; Hold the phone… MS Listened? Marketing Responded? What the… How…tremendously refreshing!! I’m impressed, and couldn’t be more pleased.  The simple fact that someone ‘behind the curtain’ took the time to acknowledge a suggestion, and very simply and concisely aggregated all the technical, post-sales resources currently available is absolutely fantastic! Sure, I knew about many of the resources:

 

·         BPOSitive and the MSO Team Blog is already on my daily blog roll

·         My team has trained, absorbed, tested and committed to memory all of MS’s BPOS resources!!

·         And the reminder that TAS can be leveraged for BPOS was appreciated, and very well received.

I’ll be the first to admit that MS Partners still need more resources, both pre and post sales. We need strong SharePoint & ForeFront TSPs/SSPs badly, and I know Microsoft will work with Partner likes us on issues like that. More importantly, I’ve personally seen a notable shift in how the Partner Program is being conducted, especially on the Online Service side of their house. At first this change was embodied by Eric Trimble, our loyal PAM – kicking ass and taking names – and we’ll grateful for having him. And of course, our TSPs/SSPs Jeff Medford and Duane Mataczynski are unbelievably knowledgeable, accommodating and quick to respond; All are superstars! Seems to me that other areas within the Microsoft organization are following suite, with Diane Golshan, the Sr. Marketing Manager who authored the response post as well as the blog’s opening welcome post for the new blog now getting into the mix, and that is what Partners want  (maybe that is who is behind those handy @msuspartner tweets too?). It’s good to see something new after years of the same-old Partnership ‘stuff.’ The points here are that:

·         Microsoft reached out the their partner-base;

·         Microsoft asked for our perspective;

·         Microsoft is participating in the community;

·         Microsoft is actively engaging Partners;

·         Microsoft is giving us what we need;

·         Microsoft is working hard to help us be successful.

As SADA Systems continues to successfully migrate client after a client to BPOS, it ‘s important that our Partnership with Microsoft is being nurtured on both sides of the relationship. Keep up the good work everyone, 2010 will be a very good year!

Niv Dolgin
Director of IT Services
Consulting | Managed Services | Cloud Computing | App Development 
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Server line-up for small businesses (and home) is increasing in options (or complexity)

Blog-worthy re-post from David Overton’s Blog!

==

via David Overton's Blog by David Overton on 12/30/09 @ http://davidoverton.com/blogs/doverton/archive/2009/12/31/server-line-up-for-small-businesses-and-home-is-increasing-in-options-or-complexity-for-some.aspx

How to monitor Connectwise's Outlook Sync using Kaseya

Perhaps you are asking yourself ‘what the hell could there possibly be to monitor about Connectwise’s Outlook Sync’? If so, read on.

If you already know/share my pains, skip to the meatier parts of this post below. J

About a year ago, we found ourselves adding new employees (members) to Connectwise pretty regularly, as the need to scale our operations @ HQ and overseas grew. Like good little soldiers, we diligently documented & managed each task/step in our new-hire on-boarding process in Connectwise via Service Templates + Tracks.

Like clockwork, we always seemed to overlook the all-important Exchange 2007 PowerShell Script task that issued our Connectwise Service Account the necessary access right to our people’s mailboxes.

 If you’ve every overlooked this step yourself, you find out very quickly what happens. The very first item to be put on this new member’s calendar (from CW) becomes an impassable queued object, causing all future calendar changes for ALL OTHER MEMEBRS to patiently wait in the queue until offending item gets processed (or deleted). At first it was baffling, and frankly, I didn’t think wasting the Connectwise Support Staff’s time for every new-hire was a good use of anyone’s time. Connectwise Support did turn me onto QXplorer by Julius L Ramos which is a very convenient tool, but is woefully clunky to have to rely on repeatedly.

What’s worse is that we normally didn’t find out there was a problem until someone screamed at one of our Connectwise Admins about missing a critical meeting, appointment or conference all because Connectwise didn’t sync up with Outlook.

So I set out to treat ourselves like we would our best client, and at least gain some visibility into the problems so we can respond before people come at us with torches and pitch forks.

What you may (should) already know is that Connectwise achieves “Outlook” Calendar integration through a combination of delegated Exchange mailbox access and a crafty use of Microsoft’s Message Queuing (MSMQ) system. What you may not know, and something I found out, is Microsoft doesn’t ship MSMQ with a Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) provider out of the box. At least I found this to be the case in Windows Server 2003, but perhaps they fixed this in Server 2008; comments/updates are welcome.

My searching lead to Yoel Arnon’s MSMQ space, who conveniently complied a MSMQ WMI provider for all of us to use; Thanks Yoel!

After installing the Yoel’s MSMQ WMI Provider on the Connecwtise server, it was a calk-walk. Since we’ve used Kaseya for a quite sometime, the instructions below reflect that. I’m sure similar monitoring can be achieve with LPI, NAble, Zenith, Nimsoft, and the other players in the space; it’s just WMI after all and the Objectless/Counters all remain valid across platforms. The exported Kaseya Monitor Set is also found at the bottom of this post.

1.        From the Monitor Tab, filter your agent list by server name to show ONLY your Connectwise server.

2.       Select Update List by Scan, check the box next to your Connectwise server and click the Scan button.

3.       While you wait, Click Monitor Sets -> Add

a.       Name it whatever you like, we used “Connectwise 8 PSA”

b.      Select any group alarm column you think is appropriate, we chose “Other”

c.       Click Save

d.      From “Counter Objects” section locate the “MSMQ Service” from the Objects drop-down

e.      From the “Counter” drop-down, select “Total messages in all queues” and click Next

f.        We set the collection operator to “Over,” threshold to 1, Alarm Operator to 100, and duration to 30 minutes. You’re mileage may vary, but we found this effective for 20-25 members, and have had to adjust upwards 20-40% as we approached 35 members.

g.       We also used this same Monitor Set to watch for the Outlook Sync service, ConnectWiseUdpater, and a couple other minor items.

Of course, the final step is to apply the monitor set and setup the alerts. This should be self evident with a working knowledge of Kaseya, but contact me directly if you need assistance with this. Once done, a ticket get created if the queue stays over 100 for 30 minutes or more, triggering my CW Admins to check The queues, check permissions, and let the calendar sync flow freely again.

===COPY ALL BELOW THIS LINE===

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>

<monitor_set_definition version="1.0">

-<MonitorSet name="ConnectWise 8 PSA " description='Monitors ConnectWise Programs'>

-<Counters>

<Counter name='MSMQ Service - Total msgs'  description='null' counterObject='MSMQ Service'  counter='Total messages in all queues'  counterSampleInterval='900' collectionOperator='Over'  collectionThreshold='1' trendTimeSpan='1209600' trendReArm='3600' thresholdOperator='Over'  thresholdAmount='100' thresholdDuration='1800' thresholdWarning='10' thresholdReArm='3600'/>

<Counter name='MSMQ Service - Bytes in Queues'  description='null' counterObject='MSMQ Queue'  counter='Bytes in Queue'  counterInstance='Computer Queues'  counterSampleInterval='300' collectionOperator='Over'  collectionThreshold='1' trendTimeSpan='14' trendReArm='1' thresholdOperator='Over'  thresholdAmount='500' thresholdDuration='7200' thresholdWarning='10' thresholdReArm='3600'/>

</Counters>

-<Services>

<Service name='OutlookSync'  serviceDescription='ConnectWise Outlook Sync' description='Synchronizes appointments between ConnectWise PSA and Exchange' restartAttempts='3' restartInterval='60' reArm='3600'/>

<Service name='ConnectWiseUpdaterService'  serviceDescription='ConnectWise Updater Service' description='ConnectWise Updater Service' restartAttempts='3' restartInterval='60' reArm='3600'/>

<Service name='NsnClientService'  serviceDescription='ConnectWise Network Client Service' description='Listens for and processes events from the ConnectWise Nationwide Service Network' restartAttempts='3' restartInterval='60' reArm='3600'/>

</Services>

-<Processes>

</Processes>

</MonitorSet>

</monitor_set_definition>

===COPY ALL ABOVE THIS LINE===

Niv Dolgin
Director of IT Services
Consulting | Managed Services | Cloud Computing | App Development 
nivdolgin.typepad.com
cloudtoolkit.com
sadasystems.com
tungle.me/nivdolgin
linkedin.com/in/nivdolgin

Microsoft's Quietly Gives a Holiday Gift to use living in Clouds - New Blackberry Licensing Model!

Perhaps Microsoft is in the giving spirit of the Holidays? Maybe Ballmer wanted to bury such appealing news under the mistletoe? Regardless of the reason, Microsoft has been brewing an announcement about their Blackberry mobility offering for about 2 weeks now. Seems Microsoft and Research in Motion finally see eye to eye, and have struck a deal! On their public partner-blog, they announced publicly what us Accelerated Partners have been promised; a true subscription-based licensing model for Blackberry users!

·         No longer do clients need to purchase/own BES

·         No longer do you have to purchase/maintain a RIM support/maintenance contract!

·         No longer do clients need to provide Microsoft their SRP ID.

·         No longer is there a painful 2 week provisioning process

·         No longer is there a 20-user minimum!!

$10/user/month now get you a truly scalable, variable-priced option for organization of ANY size! This is a welcome, and well received update. Thanks to the MS Online Team!

To find out how SADA Systems, Inc. can help you take full advantage, just visit our site or drop me a line!

Niv Dolgin
Director of Operations & IT Services
Consulting | Managed Services | Cloud Computing | App Development
www.cludtooklik.com
www.sadasystems.com
www.linkedin.com/in/nicdolgin
www.twitter.com/nivdolgin

A Quick Windows 7/Vista Licensing Guideline

Microsoft licensing doesn’t have to be complex or convoluted! David Overton posted a very convenient and concise topic about option around Microsoft Windows licensing that I wanted to share. Per David:

1.     A PC has to licensed with a Full retail product (FPP, bought from a shop) or supplied with an OEM license (this can’t be used after the PC has been bought and supplied to the end user)

2.     Volume Licenses for Windows client is an upgrade to the FPP / OEM license

3.     Volume Licenses upgrade only apply to business versions, not Home editions

He also provided a link to this fact sheet: https://partner.microsoft.com/UK/40120720

If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to SADA anytime.

Niv Dolgin Director of Operations & IT Services Consulting | Managed Services | Cloud Computing | App Development www.cludtooklik.com www.sadasystems.com www.linkedin.com/in/nicdolgin www.twitter.com/nivdolgin

Did you know your password might be easily guessed?

Hold the phone; Settle down - I don't have, nor do I want your password. 

I wanted to write on this topic because it is so [sometimes unbelievably] simple to gain access to systems with some simple guessing or creative social engineering. Even the security questions/answers we put so much faith in are really quite silly at times, and can be answered by some not-so-close friends/family/associates. The risks we assume today are more likely to have broader impact than anytime in the past because most sites now link to each other (OpenID, Application Publishing, and other social media standards). But even if talking about closed/private systems, most people have little appreciation for the power of their passwords; truly they represent keys to our kingdoms.

Inc Magazine (@IncMagzine) has a good article about this topic that so many take for granted: passwords.

Its strikes me as odd that too often for the sake, of convenience or "simplicity," people overlook the most simple yet powerful means to protect themselves. And for those of you not creative enough to spend 55 seconds every 3-4 months because of a corporate password  mandate, then  (insert tone of extreme cynicism here) perhaps you should reevaluate your role as a modern information worker, and consider a position in masonry, coal mining, fire fighting, truck driving, and other such less demanding careers. 

Securing your password is quite easy, and if you base it on a phrase that is close to your mind/heart (mine is about my daughter AND better-half Lisa), then it can actually put a smile on your face each time you enter your credentials in YET ANOTHER SYSTEM. :) 

I use Microsoft's prescribed method for creating passwords in 6 VERY simple steps here works great. 

Niv Dolgin Director of IT Services Consulting | Managed Services | Cloud Computing | App Development  nivdolgin.typepad.com cloudtoolkit.com sadasystems.com tungle.me/nivdolgin linkedin.com/in/nivdolgin

Niv Dolgin Director of IT Services SADA Systems, Inc. Consulting | Managed Services | Cloud Computing | App Development 866.997.0000 T 818.766.2400 P 818.766.0090 F http://www.sadasystems.com SADA Speaks – Company Blog

Microsoft Now has a Partner Resource Gadget!

How do you Backup your Google Apps Data?

My first post - interesting topic (I think). Hope to be 1st of many.

So to begin, it should be self evident that Google has thought about data protection. :) Google's own technology replicates (duplicates, splinters and/or segments) data 7 times, across all its data centers. So a "single" Doc actually exists in 7 instances at any given time, across hundreds, possibly thousands of servers and multiple DCs.

Nevertheless, a fellow MSP asked in a private forum how we would go about recommend to backup all the 'stuff' in Google Apps. As such, here are some areas that proove most critical: 

Email - Yes, archiving is the solution for retention. Additionally, a simple email forwarding can be setup as a 'failsafe' of sorts, but this is done manually, per user. And while the trash feature exists, configuring a POP client to pull down the email is the best option. You can now use the APi to enable POP en-mass. Otherwise you are still subject to the 'will of the user'

Docs - 1st keep in mind that Google retains unlimited revision history of each document, made accessible to the user, right from the web GUI. Next, anyone that uses Firefox Greasmonky Script can download all docs in a batch (PDF, DOC, CSV,etc...). Of course, this needs to be done manually by the user, but is otherwise an effective option. Thereafter, deleted documents go to the Trash in the web GUI as can be expected, and will live there until removed. Thereafter, it's back in the user's hands.

Calendar - No web-based trash-can here, so we're going purely 3rd party. GCalSync exists to grab the calendar data to your desktop,

Contacts - Not much to do here manualy, but read-on.

Google gears - This is one strategy we've recommended from time to time. Its a simplified form of 'fail back' - Use Google Gears to download all Docs, Email and Calendar, etc... Interestingly enough, Gears stores separate offline data sets for each browser, from what I understand. Basically, you sync up two or more browsers, then when you realize you've cooked the Doc you've been working on for 37 days straight, disconnect form all internet services and fire up a browser with an offline copy and send to [notepad/word/email/carrier pigeon]. Of course, you can also use DropBox, Redirects, Roaming Profiles, and/or other such techniques to backup the raw Gears data, here for your reference, if you want softish 'hard copies.'

Google Apps Outlook Sync for Microsoft Outlook - Another strategic option for backups of all Apps account data. While this mimics Exchange for the sake of user experience management, it does pull all the data to the desktop. You could further export to PST on a regular basis and/or use the Outlook Archiving features. Key advantage here is that it unifies all the data elements above, but of course, requires a PC with Outlook.

The suite continues to change, and we haven't even touched on Videos, Groups, Tasks or other such goodies. Not to mention the non-Apps stuff like Blogs, Reader settings, etc... but I hope the above is a good start. :)

Credit LifeHacker with a few of these gems as we had to figure these the hard way; I should have Googled it when our clients first asked!! ;)

Niv Dolgin
Director, ITS
www.sadasystems.com