CIAOPS November Virtual Meeting–Resources

After a bit of a technical hiccup during the meeting yesterday I decided to re-record the video which you can now on my YouTube channel:

Here are the remaining resources I mentioned during the meeting:

Nexus 5 is now available – http://www.google.com.au/nexus/5/
New eBook form the CIAOPS – www.ciaops.com/publications
Microsoft certifications – https://blog.ciaops.com/2013/10/training-and-certification-opportunity.html
Office 365 service comparison – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/fp123607
DDOS attack map – http://www.digitalattackmap.com/#anim=1&color=0&country=ALL&time=15999&view=map

Some resources on the Office 365 Public web site:

Create and customize the public facing web site – http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/office365-sharepoint-online-enterprise-help/step-5-create-and-customize-the-public-facing-website-HA102418031.aspx
Getting started with Public Web site – http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/sharepoint-help/get-started-with-the-public-website-HA102801171.aspx
Set up a public web site – http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/office365-sharepoint-online-enterprise-help/set-up-a-public-website-HA102476205.aspx?CTT=3
Video: Getting started with the public web site – http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/office365-sharepoint-online-small-business-help/video-get-started-with-the-public-website-VA102801173.aspx?CTT=3
Get Started with your Public web site – http://officepreview.microsoft.com/en-au/office365-sharepoint-online-small-business-help/video-get-started-with-your-public-website-VA102801173.aspx?redir=0
Get Started with the Public Website in Office 365 – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJlwCNXMCBo
Upgrade your public website in Office 365 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3EpIZjh1io

Office 365 Public website examples:

I hope to see you at the next meeting on December 4th featuring Boon Tee talking about on premise server integration with Office 365. Registrations will be available shortly.

The Google Plus land grab has started

Remember the days when you could get any domain name you wanted? Remember the days when you could get any Twitter, Facebook or email address you wanted? Ah, the good ole days. Well I’m here to tell you that there is a new social media name grabbing opportunity that has just become available.
If you own your name or brand on what I believe is probably going to be the most important social media platform going forward then it is time to head over to Google Plus and see whether you can register you desired name. I’ve been lucky enough now to grab:
http://plus.google.com/+robertcrane
and
http://plus.google.com/+ciaops
To understand whether you qualify and what you need to do to register your desired name check out this post:
https://plus.google.com/+googleplus/posts/8C5oKFUKLVs
which will explain everything.
So head on over to your Google Plus account and see whether you can stake your claim in this next Internet naming stampede.

DIRSYNC can now be deployed on a domain controller

The latest release of DIRSYNC (version 6553.0002) can now be installed on a domain controller according to the release notes at:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/18429.windows-azure-active-directory-sync-tool-version-release-history.aspx

The details on how to go about this are located at:

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/17370.best-practices-for-deploying-and-managing-the-windows-azure-active-directory-sync-tool.aspx#A11

DIRSYNC is a stand alone application that copies information from the local active directory (user names, passwords etc) and copies them to Office 365, saving you from having to create these attributes in Office 365. DIRSYNC continues to copy any changes from the local Active Directory to Office 365 as well.

This is a HUGE improvement for smaller customers who typically only have a single server in their environment which runs as a domain controller (read Small Business Server).

It again points to fact that Microsoft is continuing to make incremental improvements to Office 365 in light of what customers are asking for. They don’t always come as quickly as we would like but they do come as evidenced above.

Now’s there’s one less excuse for smaller customers to configure Office 365 and one less excuse for going hybrid.

Best posts from November

Time to jump into the way back machine and see what I wrote that was worthwhile in the past Novembers:

2012

SharePoint Foundation 2013 setups

Adding a SharePoint calendar

2011

Installing SharePoint Services SP3 on SBS 2008

Windows SharePoint tutorials eBook

2010

PDFs on SharePoint 2010 Foundation

Optimizing Windows SharePoint Services Search

2009

Vehicles and drivers

Being busy is just an excuse

2008

The value of clear space

Further evidence of the coming of cloud computing

2007

Blocked file types in SharePoint

SharePoint V3.0 file locations

So here’s to 5 years of Novembers and I thank everyone who takes the time to read what I write.

Additional versions of recent SharePoint Online book

As promised, additional versions (ePub and Kindle) of my latest book “Getting Started With SharePoint Online 2013 for Enterprises” are now available from:

www.ciaops.com/publications

Although this book is aimed at people with Office 365 E and M plans much of it still remains relevant for those on P plans.

I’d also appreciate you letting others know about this work as it takes many, many hours to create and edit these books and at a sale price of less that five dollars I REALLY need to sell a lot to even break even, so any assistance you can provide really does go a long way.

Look out for additional titles soon.

CIAOPS Virtual Technology meeting–reminder

Don’t forget the CIAOPS Virtual Technology meeting this Wednesday the 6th of November from 4pm Sydney time. Registrations are still available via:
https://ciaops1113.eventbrite.com.au/
At this meeting I’ll be doing a presentation and demonstration of the Office 365 public web site basics and capabilities. The details of the session are:
You may not be aware that every Office 365 plan that includes SharePoint Online comes with the ability to create a public website linked to any domain. In this demonstration you’ll learn how to configure this public website and how to customize it for your needs.
There will also be the usual news, product updates, general discussion as well as questions and answers.
So if you want to get the latest make sure you register now.
I look forward to seeing you on the day.

Training and certification opportunity from Microsoft

I am pleased to announce that Microsoft Australia is planning a new training and certification campaign, Ready, Cert, Go which I will be involved with.

To start off with there will be complimentary 60 minute instructor lead tutorial webcasts in November which will cover the topic to be offered in full day exam prep courses in December 2013 at Microsoft in Sydney.

Here are the links to the upcoming webinars:

Server and Tools

Monday – 4 November 2pm, System Center 2012 (Exam 70-247)

Tuesday – 5 November 12pm, SQL Server 2012 (Exam 70-462)

Wednesday – 6 November 12pm, Windows Server 2012 (Exam 70-410)

Thursday – 7 November 12pm, Windows 8 (Exam 70-688)

Friday – 8 November 12pm, Windows Azure (Exam 70-487)

You can register for these webinars at:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/registrationex/LMS_Registration.aspx?UserMode=0&Mode=0&ActivityID=852862

Business Productivity

Monday – 4 November 12pm, SharePoint 2013 (Exam 70-331)

Tuesday – 5 November 2pm, Lync (Exam 70-337)

Wednesday – 6 November 2pm, Exchange (Exam 70-341)

Thursday – 7 November 2pm, Office 365 (Exam 74-325) (with me!)

Thursday – 7 November 3pm, Office 365 (Exam 70-321) (with me!)

You can register for these webinars at:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/registrationex/LMS_Registration.aspx?UserMode=0&Mode=0&ActivityID=852931

Here are the dates for the Exam Preparation Sessions, designed to get you across the line, first time. It’s $150 per day and includes an Exam Voucher, which is usually $206:

Server and Tools

Monday – 9 December, System Center 2012 (Exam 70-247)

Tuesday – 10 December, SQL Server 2012 (Exam 70-462)

Wednesday – 11 December, Windows Server 2012 (Exam 70-410)

Thursday – 12 December, Windows 8 (Exam 70-688)

Friday – 13 December, Windows Azure (Exam 70-487)

You can register for these certification days at:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/registrationex/LMS_Registration.aspx?UserMode=0&Mode=0&ActivityID=852912

Business Productivity

Monday – 9 December, SharePoint 2013 (Exam 70-331)

Tuesday – 10 December, Lync (Exam 70-337)

Wednesday – 11 December, Exchange (Exam 70-341)

Thursday – 12 December, Office 365 (Exam 74-325) (with me!)

Friday – 13 December, Office 365 (Exam 70-321) (with me!)

You can register for these certification days at:

https://training.partner.microsoft.com/learning/app/management/registrationex/LMS_Registration.aspx?UserMode=0&Mode=0&ActivityID=852965

Even though I am giving the Office 365 content I have signed up myself for the SharePoint and Lync sessions as I see this as a great opportunity to not only learn about the product but also hopefully pass the certification. I’d love to do the Windows 8 and Azure sessions as well, alas, not to be this time.

I hope to see you there at the webinar or on the day.

Getting Started With SharePoint Online 2013 for Enterprises

I am proud to announce the completion of another Office 365 book. This one is titled Getting Started With SharePoint Online 2013 for Enterprises and is the longest book I have written to date at 275 pages!

Abstract

This book helps novice users understand the basic usage and operation of SharePoint Online 2013 that is available via the Office 365 Enterprise and Mid-Sized plans. It examines the following basic components of SharePoint Online: Documents, Calendars, Tasks, Picture Libraries, Recycle Bin, Search, Site Notebooks, Public website and more. The reader will be taken through a tutorial process on how to use each item. Much has changed since previous versions of SharePoint and Office 365, however there are still some similarities. This book may also provide some insight into the basics of SharePoint Online 2013 for Small Business Office 365 plans as well. It will show you how to start interacting with SharePoint Online 2013 so it can be put to use in your business as well as provide a number of resources for continuing familiarity with SharePoint Online 2013.

This booked is aimed at users who have never used SharePoint Online 2013 or Office 365 plans.

Price = AU$4.95

You can purchase this directly from my publication page at:

http://www.ciaops.com/publications

along with all my other works. You can also view the table of contents to get a better idea of what the book contains. the ePub and Kindle version will be available soon from my publications page as well as other book resellers.