systems integrators Resources on ZDNet

ZDNet Resources

Microsoft Works to become a free, ad-funded product: Microsoft's next version of its small-business/home productivity suite, due imminently, will be free and ad-funded.Microsoft Works 9.0 -- which will be the new product's name, if Microsoft opts to stick with its current nomenclature -- might also debut at some point as Microsoft-hosted low-end productivity service, as many have been...; Tags: Systems integrators, Office Live, Office, OEMs, Google, Corporate strategy, Channel, Advertising; Blog posts 2007-07-30
Microsoft recruits vendors to integrate Office into business apps: Microsoft is stepping up its campaign to get more independent software vendors to integrate Office front-ends with their own business applications.There already exist a number of these Office-front-ended applications -- which Microsoft has christened Office Business Applications, or OBAs. Some are commercial applications, like the jointly developed Microsoft-SAP Duet. Others...; Tags: Channel, Corporate strategy, Office, Office 2007, Resellers, SharePoint Server, Systems integrators; Blog posts 2007-07-10
Microsoft to its hosting partners: Get ready. Here we come: At its Worldwide Partner Conference in Denver this week, Microsoft officials are trying to walk the tightrope when it comes to explaining Microsoft's plan to get into the managed services business in a major way.Microsoft officials have made no bones about the fact that Microsoft is planning to offer a...; Tags: Channel, Corporate strategy, CRM Live, Dynamics CRM, Exchange Server, Network service providers, SharePoint Server, SQL Server, Systems integrators, Web 2.0; Blog posts 2007-07-10
Microsoft headed for a services show-down with its hosting partners: Microsoft is on a collision course with its hosting partners.During the past couple of weeks, Microsoft officials have started touting publicly the handful of hosted managed services that Microsoft is selling directly to customers. This week at the NXTcomm 2007 show in Chicago, Microsoft was out hawking its"Microsoft Solution for...; Tags: Channel, Corporate strategy, CRM Live, Dynamics CRM, Exchange Server, Network service providers, OEMs, Resellers, SharePoint Server, SQL Server, System builders, Systems integrators, Telecommunications; Blog posts 2007-06-18
Microsoft readies updated version of its Live Meeting conference service: Some time this fall, Microsoft plans to roll out the third version of its Office Live Meeting conferencing service, company officials announced at TechEd 2007 on June 5.Expected to be dubbed Office Live Meeting 2007, the new release will include a redesigned and simpler user interface; improved training and event...; Tags: Web video, Web conferencing, VOIP, TechEd 2007, Systems integrators, Office Live, Network service providers, Corporate strategy, Channel; Blog posts 2007-06-05

Microsoft and Google seek partners for hosted productivity apps: There are more similarities than differences in Microsoft's and Google's approaches to building out their partner ecosystems for their respective hosted productivity suites.Google Apps and Office Live are not head-to-head competitors. Google Apps includes hosted mail, calendar, document and spreadsheets. Office Live includes hosted mail, small-business accounting, workspace and (with...; Tags: Web 2.0, Systems integrators, SharePoint Server, Resellers, Office 2007, Office Live, Office, Network service providers, Google, Corporate strategy, Channel; Blog posts 2007-05-21
Could Microsoft take a community lesson from Sun?: Microsoft talks a lot about community and wanting to foster/tap into it. But there really is no single, cohesive "Microsoft community," akin to the Linux community. The reasons for this are many and varied. A dominant market player-- vs. an up-and-coming underdog -- seems to inspire less vocal customer/developer...; Tags: Systems integrators, System builders, Resellers, OEMs, Novell, Network service providers, Linux, Corporate strategy, Channel; Blog posts 2007-05-09
Is Microsoft still worthy of the 'Evil Empire' crown?: Forget programmer Paul Grahams "Microsoft is dead" headline. It got the desired effect: Hes gotten links on TechMeme, Slashdot and a lots of other news-starved sites this weekend. But dont dismiss Grahams question as to who if anyone is afraid of Microsoft any more. It wasnt that long...; Tags: Systems integrators, Resellers, OEMs, Novell, Legal, Google, Corporate strategy, Channel, Web 2.0, VOIP, System builders; Blog posts 2007-04-08
Ex-Softie weighs in on how to avoid the dancing Microsoft elephant: Speaking of Microsofts unified-communications strategy, former Softie Alec Saunders has an interesting post on how to "avoid becoming Microsoft roadkill" in the converging VOIP/conferencing/phone market. (Saunders spent nine years at Microsoft in a variety of product management and marketing roles, including the initial launch of Microsoft Internet Explorer. He...; Tags: VOIP, System builders, Speech, Resellers, OEMs, Network service providers, Telecommunications, Systems integrators, Exchange Server, Channel; Blog posts 2007-04-06
Cisco's Chambers claims a three-year lead on Microsoft: Cisco CEO John Chambers has thrown down the gauntlet. At Ciscos Partner Summit in Las Vegas this week, Chambers told the press corps in attendance that he believes Cisco has a three-year lead on Microsoft in the unified communications space. And, according to TechIQ Magazines "VAR Guy," who...; Tags: VOIP, Telecommunications, Systems integrators, System builders, Speech, Resellers, OEMs, Network service providers, Corporate strategy, Channel; Blog posts 2007-04-05
Not all Microsoft 'Lives' are created equal: This is another branding rant. But Im not going to belabor Microsofts indecision regarding which services to designate "Windows Live and which to brand "MSN." Instead, its just "Live" thats got me -- and, Id wager, customers and partners -- confused. Consider the myriad ways that Microsoft is...; Tags: Windows Live, Office Live, Corporate strategy, Dynamics ERP, Dynamics CRM, CRM Live, Xbox Live, Channel, Systems integrators, Resellers, Search; Blog posts 2007-03-14
Arun Nayar for Microsoft Dynamics partner of the year: With my ZDNet blogging colleagues finding ways to mention everyone from Anna Nicole Smith, to porn star Stormy Daniels, in recent blog posts, I figured it was time to find some way to bring some star firepower to "All About Microsoft." Lucky me: I stumbled onto a great...; Tags: Dynamics CRM, Channel, Systems integrators, Dynamics ERP; Blog posts 2007-03-06
Local PC retailers prep Vista system give-aways: Not all of the new PCs preloaded with Windows Vista are going to come from major PC makers like Dell and Hewlett-Packard. Microsoft is trying to make sure local system builders have something new to offer customers, too. The latest iteration of the Microsoft-backed "Buy Local" campaign will kick...; Tags: Vista, Windows client, Corporate strategy, Channel, System builders, OEMs, Systems integrators, Resellers, system builder, Microsoft Windows Vista; Blog posts 2007-01-24

Additional Resources

Off Topic: Integrating mobile devices can be a challenge: I've been working through a project for a KG client that involves running through the same script on Windows XP, Mac OS X (10.5) and Linux SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. I mentioned the overall parameters of that effort in the post Off Topic: Desktop evaluation - Linux, Mac OS and...; Tags: Microsoft ActiveSync, Apple Macintosh, Microsoft Windows Mobile, Mobile, Mobile Device, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Apple Mac OS, Linux, Desktops, Handhelds, Software, Hardware, Dan Kusnetzky; Blog posts 2008-05-15
Icahn launches Yahoo proxy fight; Mark Cuban's return?: As expected, billionaire Carl Icahn launched his proxy war to turn over Yahoo's board of directors and one of his nominees is Mark Cuban, who sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo and then took those funds to buy the Dallas Mavericks. Just for entertainment value I may buy a...; Tags: Shareholder, Board, Yahoo! Inc., Chairman, Mr., Mark Cuban, Microsoft Corp., Carl Icahn, Director, Yahoo Shareholder, Bebchuk, Corporate Governance, Business Operations, Corporate Law, Larry Dignan; Blog posts 2008-05-15
Virtualization and security: It's easy to spot market trends when many vendors call to schedule meetings and all of them want to speak about the same topic. The topic du mois is security in virtualized environments. Some of the suppliers are taking a very broad view of both security and virtualized environments. Others...; Tags: Network, Environment, Virtual Machine, Virtual Machine Software, Virtualization, Security, Hardware, Dan Kusnetzky; Blog posts 2008-05-15
Virtualisation: Architectual Considerations and other Evaluation Criteria: Of the many approaches to x86 systems virtualisation available in the market today, the hypervisor architecture—in which virtual machines are managed by a software layer that is installed on bare metal—has gained the greatest market acceptance. This fact has translated into rapid growth and a large and expanding customer base...; Tags: Hypervisor, Virtualization, Storage Management, Utility Computing, Hardware, Storage; White papers 2008-05-15
With the Quickness: HD Moore sets new land speed record with exploitation of Debian/Ubuntu OpenSSL flaw: So, for those who haven't heard, a Debian packager modified the source used for OpenSSL on Debian based systems Debian and the whole of the Ubuntu family to remove the seed used for PRNG Pseudo Random Number Generator used when creating SSL keys.Â Well, HD Moore set a new record...; Tags: OpenSSL, SSH, Debian, Key, Flaw, HD, ID, Ssl/Tls, Operating Systems, Open Source, Security, Software, Nathan McFeters; Blog posts 2008-05-14
Photos: Where the building is the network: The San Jose, Calif., headquarters of Echelon, maker of technologies for smart buildings, model the company's energy management systems.Behind the scenes of "smart" buildings, including the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Sears Tower in Chicago, lies technology from Echelon. The company doesn''t call its embedded control technologies "green,"...; Tags: Network, Echelon, Photograph, Building, It', Echelon', That', Networking, CNET News.com; Image galleries 2008-05-14
Workday: a tipping point?: Larry Dignan is enthusiastic about Workday's 200,000 person deal it won to supply Flextronics with HR functionality, adding in the Chiquita 26,000 person deal as validation for what he suggests is a 'tipping point' for Workday. I'm a little more cautious. Next week, Workday will release update...; Tags: Workday, Dennis Howlett; Blog posts 2008-05-14