Ground Up

Many times our business revolves around helping small to mid-size (50-2000 user) organizations design, implement and support enterprise grade solutions for their organizations. While that is the primary focus of PEI, we have also helped many smaller, start-up organizations get going from the ground up. Given the family business nature of PEI, we can understand the pains that start up go through when they are looking for that initial IT set up. Below are a few points that PEI takes into consideration when helping newer organizations get started from the ground up:

- Cloud, on premise, or combination

o Determining how you would like your company set up is critical. We can help address the pro’s and con’s of each choice so that the best decision possible can be made

- User adoption

o You must consider the “tech savvy-ness” of your workers when setting up the technical foundation of your company. Depending on how you think your workforce will react to newer technologies, the implementation plan will change to adapt to your users.

- Growth

o This is probably the biggest factor when deciding what tools to implement. While every new business owner has very lofty growth expectations, sometimes those growth expectations come with a large cost. Implementing the right solutions, with growth in mind, is the key to any technology investments an organization can make.

Arash Zadeh, PEI

Direct Access

What is direct access?

DirectAccess is a feature in the Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 operating systems that gives users the experience of being seamlessly connected to their corporate network any time they have Internet access.

With DirectAccess, users are able to access corporate resources (such as e-mail servers, shared folders, or intranet web sites) following common security standards, anytime they have an internet connection.

Key Benefits:

• Improved Productivity

o Helps improve the productivity of remote staff by providing the same, always-on connectivity experience no matter if users are inside or outside the corporate network.

• Secure Connectivity

o Leverages IPsec for authentication and encryption.

o Provides the ability to apply granular policy control over access to resources, applications, and servers.

o Integrates with Microsoft Server and Domain Isolation, Network Access Protection (NAP), and BitLocker solutions, resulting in security, access, and health requirement policies that seamlessly interoperate between intranets and remote computers

• Greater Manageability

o Helps ensure that machines both on the network and off are always healthy, managed, and up-to-date.

o Provides administrators with the ability to update Group Policy settings and distribute software updates any time a remote computer has Internet connectivity, even if the user is not logged on.

o Helps ensure that organizations can meet regulatory and privacy mandates for security and data protection for assets that must roam beyond the corporate network.

I use direct access almost daily and love the ease of use. The look and feel of all the tools and information that I access is the same as if I am in the office. Direct Access is a great tool for working remotely. It just works!

Jon Eyberg, PEI

How to Backup Lync (Part 1)

A question that I am frequently asked after we get Lync installed and running is “How do we backup Lync?” This is a great question and one that is easy to answer. Thanks to the Central Management idea and Topology Builder, we only have to backup a few items in order to get the entire Lync environment backed up.

There are two crucial pieces for most environments. First is the topology itself and then secondly, we need the user’s data (Contacts, etc). To do the first piece, we use Export-CsConfiguration from the Lync Management Shell. An example:

Export-CsConfiguration -FileName MyTopologyBackup.zip

To backup the users data, we need to use the dbimpexp.exe tool. This tool is available in the root folder of the Lync Server installation media. It is also installed at \Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Lync Server 2010\Support as part of the Core Components. Here is an example of how to run the dbimpexp.exe command:

Dbimpexp.exe /hrxmlfile:<path and backup file name> /sqlserver:<SQL Server FQDN>\<instance name>

dbimpexp.exe /hrxmlfile:MyUserDataBackup.xml /sqlserver:mysqlserver.domain.com

With these two pieces you can get most of your Lync environment. In the next article I will detail how to backup other Lync components such as the Location Database, Group Chat and Response Group settings.

Adam Ball, PEI

What Makes a Good Client?

It’s often surprising to people when I speak to them about what makes a good client. It’s always presumed that the partner, the vendor or integrators are the ones that have to ‘work’ during a project or long term engagement. Believe me it is not! The very definition of partnership is; an arrangement where parties agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The key word here is ADVANCE meaning move forward …accomplish something. I have worked recently with several new prospects that have found it acceptable to keep some key bits of information from our team. For some reason (I have no idea) they feel that keeping little nuggets of information from a partner or vendor is imperative to maintain control or possibly test their ability to read minds. An ESP evaluation if you will. I’m still unclear when or how the talent of mind reading became associated with IT consulting or selling in general but I’d like to stop that campaign from running again.

Firmly establishing there are limited to no real mind readers on both sides of a client-consultant partnership what then can we do to work better together? First, know your environment. It’s amazing to me how many pre-sales calls I can make with clients on a critical migration project (email, phone, servers) and they have NO idea what’s happening in their own house. Things such as users count or seat counts, server totals and applications are not trivial things, they are THE thing. Without some critical information there is absolutely no way to price a new solution nor is there a way to price the support or engineering hours to get you to that new solution. It’s amazing when clients are upset that you are unable to give them a cost on an email migration when they have no idea what their user count is currently.

Second, know what you want. Ok, this one can be tricky but know at least an idea of what you want. Do you want to move to virtualization or do you want to stay with static servers? If you don’t know what virtualization is just ask. Do you want to empower your users with IM, presence, online meetings and VoIP? Are you looking for a mobile solution or application to help improve productivity? I recently had a client tell me they wanted to migrate to a cloud system for email, calendars and document sharing. After reviewing the pro, cons and costs, uncovering their user count, their total document needs and creating a migration strategy over a several week engagement they seemed frustrated on how long it took to create a plan. Their comment to us was ‘you didn’t tell us what to do you asked us what we wanted’. Shocker, asking what someone wants. Be prepared folks we are going to ask you what you want and it’s ok to say you don’t know.

Last, don’t be afraid to say I don’t know. As stated previously we are going to ask you what you want, when you want it and how you think you might get there. It would never occur to a good partner or consultant to assume you will follow our every direction or command. Remember this is a partnership and we’re going to agree to cooperate to advance our mutual interests. We’ll achieve your interest in complete success while looking good to management and our interest in making you completely happy…or at least satisfied. When we ask the question ‘what do you want’ or ‘what you do envision’ don’t be afraid to say I don’t know. It’s ok because there will be times when you ask us questions and our response will be I don’t know. That’s when we do our jobs of finding the answers for you and helping you better understand what’s possible.

So overall there are really simple principles to being a good client. Know your environment, know what you want and don’t be afraid to say I don’t know. If we work together and share all the details necessary and even the ones that seem unnecessary we’ll achieve that amazing thing together …success!

Jennifer Smith, PEI

Recommendations for Rookies – Microsoft Project Professional 2010

These past couple of months I have been working with my fellow project manager, Dan, to configure and figure out Project Server. After playing with a lot of the settings, I found that the backbone of Project Server’s web application is really Microsoft Project Professional. So far, to us, Server is an interactive platform to do resource allocation and update projects via timesheets. In order for Project Server to behave the way we want, we need project plans that are properly constructed. You can create a basic project plan in the project web app but it is not going to have a lot of the features that our in-depth project plans need.

Through my tests and trials I noticed there is a specific order each column should be filled in that works best. I start with the task name and fill in every task and sub task in the project. Then I build my team and assign the resources required to complete each task. Next I set the order the tasks are to be completed in by noting the predecessors. The last thing I do is determine task type and enter my variables.

Project uses three variables to determine the timeline of a project-Duration, Units and Work. Duration is the overall amount of time it will take to accomplish a task, which is usually measured in days. Units depend on the resource and is the percentage of available time the resource gives to the task. The third, Work, is the amount of time in hours it actually takes to do the task. The underlying concept is that you tell project 2 of the variables, one of which is fixed as the task type, and the program populates the third. For example, if you enter a task with Work = 8 hours and Duration = 2 Days, project will calculate that 50% of the resource’s effort will go to that task on each day. People often overlook that the default task type in Project is Fixed Units. So given the scenario above, if you keep the task type set to Fixed Units and then you change duration, project will recalculate the amount of work. This can be a bit confusing so here is my recommendation for rookies:

The task type should be set to the variable that does not change. Enter that variable for each task in its associated column. Then enter the variable you would like to control in its column. Finally, hit “Calculate Project” and let the program determine the values for the third variable.

Heidi Christensen, PEI

The Advent of the Cloud

With Cloud computing being ‘all the rage’, I can’t help but equate the evolution of the IT sector with the demographic that tends to follow suite. Does anyone really remember “Time Sharing”? One job in…one job out.

If you’re under 45 years old, probably not.

Dumb terminals, probably IBM green screens, hard wired into monolithic mainframes; could be IBM’s, NCR’s, Burroughs, Digital Equipment Corp’s (DEC’s), Wang, Sperry Rand, Control Data (my former employer), Honeywell and yes………even General Electric.

This was the era of the baby boomer. Typically folks born between 1946 and 1964. Green stamps, posty notes, wide ties, milkmen, xx cents for a gallon of gas, hula hoops and Frisbees, drive-ins, silly putty, mood rings, lava lamps, 8 track players and pet rocks all come to mind.

Then Nerds starting showing up……..and creating companies that would forever change the way we live.

PC’s, Client Server, then Enterprise and Internet computing came into vogue and as a result time, sharing and ‘batch processing’ went through any number of transformations.

Application Service Provider (ASP) comes to mind where a vendor might house any number of ‘instances’ of an app and effectively ‘rent’ it to a customer. This is about the time the Gen X crowd (born early 60’s to late 70’s) would have hit the employment market.

Then SaaS (software-as-a-service), PaaS, and IaaS, started showing up. And low and behold……here comes Gen Y (born from the 70’s to 2000) to bring it to the marketplace.

And now “the cloud”…………..

Just wondering what they’ll call that generation. Gen Z?

Matt Teahan, PEI

Lync: Changing the Way We do Business

It was really great to participate in a live demonstration with a prospect and begin using these products at work and see the power of Microsoft’s Lync. I guess I’ve been a little old school and have always been the one to pick up the phone a ‘reach out and touch someone’. What a big step up the food-chain to see who is available to reach out to, how long they will be gone or just what their current status is. Even better, a quick Instant Message (IM) and I can get my quick question answers without having to wait for them to complete their current call. The coolest part is being able to ‘federate’ with people outside of the same company. Friends and colleagues from all over the world can have visibility into my status and know if I can talk to them now or in an hour.

It’s like Skpe on every desktop. And it’s Free, no minutes to worry about, all VOIP.

It does reinforce one basic point and one fundamental change for those of us that have grownup over the last 30 years in the computer revolution, proprietary PBXs, etc..…Telephony is just application on the net.

-Brent Cherry, PEI

Setting up Simultaneous Ring on Lync

Simultaneous ring is a great tool to have for Lync in case you are busy or briefly unavailable. Unlike call forwarding where your phone doesn’t ring, you can have your incoming calls simultaneously ring your office phone and another number or contact that you so choose. This setting is a great way to ensure that callers never get a busy signal and that an important call is never missed. What also makes this a great tool is that the caller will never know their call has been forwarded. It can be done like this:

1. On the bottom of the Lync there is a telephone symbol.  Click it.  Then, click Simultaneously ring, and then do one of the following:

• Click another of your numbers, such as your mobile phone.

• Click New Number, and then type a new number in the dialog box that appears.

• Click My Delegates, and then in the Delegates dialog box, add any contacts whom you want to answer calls for you. You can also specify that they be rung only after a certain period. Delegates can also make calls on your behalf.

2. Click My Team-Call Group, and then, in the Team-Call Group dialog box, add the contacts you want to receive your calls at the same time you do. You can also specify that they be rung only after a certain period of time.

For more information and a helpful video on how to set up simultaneous ring, go to http://bit.ly/xfDGqc

Adam Lee, PEI

Lync External Pool Name and Lync Mobility

Here is another tidbit that I came across recently while working with a client. When we setup Lync for them originally, they wanted their internal and external pool names to be exactly the same. At the time, there was no reason it couldn’t be from a technical reason so that is what they chose to do.

With the release of Lync Mobility, we now have a technical reason that the internal and external pool names cannot be the same. The Lync Mobile client is dependent on the web services to sign in and due to how Lync Mobility works, if your pool names are the same, it won’t properly utilize the external web services.

The reason we want to utilize the external web services is so that if you switch from an internal wireless to say a 3G connection, the Lync Mobile client will be able to stay connected. The Lync Mobile service is built with the idea that internal clients will actually use “hair-pinning” in order to sign in. That is, they will go out the firewall and come back in the same interface so that they are accessing Lync Mobility as if they were outside the corporate network.

If you are wanting to implement Lync Mobility, the lesson learned is make sure your internal and external pool names are different.

Adam Ball, PEI

2012 IT Trends

As 2012 continues to push forward, I’ve started to notice a trend in the types of projects that our existing and new client base is looking at for this year. It doesn’t matter the industry type or the size of the company, all organizations seem to have the same basic IT needs this year. The 3 major types of projects organizations are looking at are Unified Communications, Network Refresh and Disaster Recovery. While all three of these areas are rather broad, I wanted to describe how PEI is helping our clients with the above needs.

Unified Communication – The big interest I’ve seen this year is with organizations looking to either expand or implement some sort of Unified Communications plan. Already in the first 6 weeks, I’ve done countless Microsoft Lync demos, showing how Lync can help reduce the cost of phone charges, reduce the amount of “Instant Messaging” currently taking place over email within organizations, and help make companies more efficient. What has been nice about Lync is that all different business units can benefit from it. The finance team likes Lync because it helps reduce phone costs. IT loves it because support for the solution is rather simple. Sales likes it because of the ease of use for their remote workers who are out in the street selling.

Network Refresh – We saw a large surge in back room network (routers, switches, etc…) projects about 5-6 years ago. Many companies held off on doing the necessary refreshes in the late 2000s due to the struggles within the economy. Now that it seems like the economy has stopped bleeding, many organizations are looking to refresh some of the older gear. PEI has done a few “Network Assessments” to help organizations identify where their networking may be lacking. We can help identify older equipment, end of life equipment, and make recommendations on how to bring your network up to the latest technology.

Disaster Recovery – Tying in with the Network Refresh, many organizations are finding out that they are not as prepared as they think they are when it comes to having a solid Disaster Recovery plan in place. From single points of failure to improper backups, PEI can come help identify where a DR plan is lacking and make the appropriate recommendations. Disaster Recovery is one of those areas within IT that a manager must ensure is set before a situation should arise, as it may be too late at that point to come up with a plan.

I hope that this helps describe some of the work that we are doing and can help companies, small and big, help put forth in 2012.

Arash M Zadeh, PEI