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It’s not too late to apply. Many states are still offering the Elevate America vouchers.

Check out Microsoft’s page HERE for a list of states with outstanding and available vouchers.

Microsoft, in an effort to strengthening the U.S. economy and increase global competitiveness, has set up a program to improve access to the education and workforce readiness skills required for twenty-first century jobs. In support of this commitment, Microsoft’s Elevate America initiative provides one million vouchers for Microsoft e-learning courses and select certification exams at no cost to recipients. Elevate America will be implemented in cooperation with states across the country as part of Microsoft’s overall effort to help train two million people over the next three years.

Visit the Microsoft site to check local availability for this program and use your vouchers to get Microsoft Office 2007 Training, Windows 7 Training, Project 2007 Training, and other Microsoft Training course at KeyStone Learning Systems.

In a recent announcement, Microsoft has offered us a little tease. It seems the first public beta of Microsoft Office 2010 will be available in November 2009. We don’t know exactly when in November, just that November is the month. We also don’t know if they’ll be charging for this beta as they did late in the Office 2007 beta release.

For the last few months, some in the industry have been testing Office 2010 (me included) under a special limited-release technical preview. I’m really looking forward to the public beta. In my time spent using the technical preview, I have to say I like it. However, since I was very familiar with Office 2007, making my upgrade to 2010 was fairly seamless for me. I mean, there were a few new things to learn about, but for the most part, Office 2010 looks and feels like Office 2007.

The buzz in the industry is that many users will be upgrading straight from the 2003 version to 2010 (much like many are making the jump from Windows XP to Windows 7, skipping Vista altogether). This leap presents a much larger knowledge gap as Office 2003 users haven’t had time yet to become accustomed to the new GUI of Office products, like the Ribbon.

Such an upgrade presents a challenge to companies who now have to consider employee training in addition to hardware and software resources to handle these new products.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 and Office 2010 Training and Windows 7 & Office 2010 news and special subscriber offers.

We’re already at day two of the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009 and yesterday Mike Ferrara wrote a brief overview of the “Overview and Whats New for SharePoint 2010 IT Pro’s” for CMSWire.
According to Ferrara, the session focused on three main aspects

• Flexibility


• IT Pro Productivity


• Scalable Infrastructure

Its interesting to see where Microsoft’s focus is regarding whats new for SharePoint 2010. Or at least, where they want us to perceive their focus is. Check out the article here where Ferrara expands on these three topics.

Windows 7 is here for Enterprise, and will be here in a few weeks for the consumer market.

Do you have a Windows 7 Training Plan in place? Windows 7 includes many new features, tighter security controls, ease of use, and potentially better productivity and lower help desk support cost once your employees know how to use it. Don’t wait until your help desk is overrun, get your Windows 7 Training plan in place today!

Just for fun, I wanted to show you this Windows 7 Video I found. Enjoy!

“More Happy is Coming!”
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Many CIOs opted to skip the last Windows upgrade, with three-fourths skipping Vista and sticking with XP. However, with the Windows 7 OS upgrade coming out this winter and XP Support going away, it’s decision time.

Windows 7 has been released for businesses and holds tantalizing improvements in security, employee productivity, and bandwidth management. Can IT Pros afford to “play it safe” by sticking with the stable and trusted, but eight-year-old XP?

The good news is that Windows 7 is looking like a solid operating system and nine of 10 companies that have tested it rate it as at least satisfactory with more than a third considering it excellent. “The pervasive view out there is that 7 is probably better than Vista, and I’m buying it,” says Jim Green, CIO of Los Angeles County Public Health, which has about 5,000 PCs. “We’re not applying the old, standard ‘wait till SP1’ approach. The strategy is to begin upgrading as soon as we can.”

According to an InformationWeek case study by J. Nicholas Hoover, Green’s in the middle of a PC refresh and has been moving new PCs to Vista. He says that his employees have the most up-to-date technology at home and want it at work. He sees significant usability improvements in Windows 7, to which he’ll upgrade many of the agency’s PCs.

Another example is ETS-Lindgren, which makes energy measurement and management products. The reasoning is concrete cost savings. Global IT architect Jeff Border says 70% of the company’s 600 existing PCs can run Windows 7 without the major hardware upgrades Vista requires. So he expects he can slow new PC purchases while still upgrading older machines to Windows 7. Plus, he cut licensing costs by negotiating to become an early adopter.

CDW’s Doug Miller presented recently at the Smart IT Sessions 2009 Conference. CDW stays on the leading edge of technology so that it can not only take advantage of increased efficiencies but also offer hands-on expertise to its customers. The company recently deployed the Windows 7 operating system and has experienced faster deployments, increased user productivity, and enhanced security as a result. CDW has also experienced reduced costs due to a decrease in help-desk calls and the elimination of some third-party licenses.

While some may be tempted to hold on to Windows XP, there are many more reasons to make the move to Windows 7, and over half of surveyed companies have firm plans for Windows 7 deployment.

Make Windows 7 Training part of your Windows 7 Migration plans for improved productivity and lower help-desk support calls.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 Training and Windows 7 news and special subscriber offers.

Thursday’s Smart IT Sessions 2009 web conference provided attendees from many top organizations with key information they needed for planning around Windows 7 migration and upcoming Microsoft titles like Office 2010, Project 2010, and SharePoint 2010.

The Smart IT Sessions conference was live on Thursday, September 24th, and featured a full day of presenters including Mary Jo Foley and Paul Thurrott and topics based around Windows 7 and what to expect from Microsoft in 2010.

In summary, Windows 7 looks ready for enterprise use. As Paul puts it, “Is enterprise ready for Windows 7?” Issues to consider are budget and training plans. “We are proud to be part of this event,” said Rob Kingyens, COO of KeyStone Learning Systems, “Many CIO’s and IT pro’s have been asking about these topics and it’s great to be able to bring the information to them.”

A case study with CDW‘s Doug Miller showed that Windows 7 migration can improve efficiency, cut support cost, and increase end user productivity, and Ben Armstrong (Virtual PC Guy) illustrated the value of using virtualization to support migration efforts and ensure access to legacy systems.

Mary Jo Foley provided a great overview of the tentative Microsoft Timeline, highlighting Office 2010 and other 2010 Microsoft resources for IT Pro’s coming out in the upcoming year. Office 2010 should provide many time-saving features and increase end user productivity, but most likely will not be available till Q2 or later next year.

Whatever your migration plans, SharePoint and Project Management are sure to play a critical role in effective ECM and EPM. Andy Hopkins (Chrysalis BTS) covered a real world case study for SharePoint Enterprise Content Management and Robert Happy and David Blair (Project Management Practice, Inc.) provided tips and tricks for Project 2007 users, as well as a peak at the upcoming Project 2010 and new Project Server 2010.

I will provide summaries for each session in upcoming posts. Access to recorded sessions, slide decks, and other resources can be found Here.

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Yesterday I attended the Region 2000 Technology Council “Wired Wednesday” luncheon.

A packed room of Region 2000 Technology Council members were attentive and full of questions after the presentation. “What’s Next in the Microsoft World?” by Corinne Hoisington, was informative and entertaining, covering a live tour of Windows 7 RC and the Office 2010 alpha. (recording to be available later this month)

Her presentation was rich with multi-media including music and video clips, as well as a live demonstration of the Windows 7 touch-screen capabilities on a touch-pad. I was especially impressed with her poise and quick recovery when a technical difficulty derailed the planned demo of Windows 7 Speech Recognition (a non-Windows 7 issue before you say anything).

I was able to talk to Jonathan Whitt, Executive Director for the Tech Council, and he was gracious to allow me a few minutes to share about the upcoming Smart IT Sessions 2009 Conference on September 24th. “This (Smart IT Sessions 2009) ties in perfectly with today’s topic.” commented Mrs. Hoisington.

The Region 2000 Technology Council provides regional development leadership within the 2,000 square miles that surround Lynchburg, Virginia, providing a single point of contact to the public and private sector for regional planning services, economic development, marketing, and workforce training. Their new website will be up soon here.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 Training and Windows 7 news and special subscriber offers.

Mary Jo Foley, notable Author and Editor of the popular blog “All About Microsoft”, will be the keynote speaker for Smart IT Sessions 2009, a free online web event on Thursday, September 24th 2009.

The keynote titled “Microsoft in 2010: What IT Managers Need to Know,” will provide a roadmap, complete with the latest known (and rumored) Microsoft ship date targets for everything from SharePoint 2010, to SQL Server 2008 R2 and synergies between different Microsoft products that are set to launch in the near term.

This presentation will provide some much-needed guidance for those attempting to plan which new Microsoft products to purchase and deploy.

The Smart IT Sessions 2009 Conference will offer a full day of free, online sessions presented by leaders in the Microsoft Enterprise IT community, including:

• Mary-Jo Foley (Keynote), Microsoft Author, and Editor of the All About Microsoft blog
• Paul Thurrott, Author of Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows blog
• Ben Armstrong, Microsoft Program Manager (Virtualization) and Author, Virtual PC Guy’s Weblog
• Robert Happy, PMP Project Management Practice, Inc.
• Andrew Hopkins, Microsoft veteran and Principal Consultant for Chrysalis BTS

About Smart IT Sessions

Smart IT Sessions 2009 web-based sessions will be focused on Microsoft Enterprise and Microsoft Office Productivity topics that will give Microsoft Enterprise CIO’s, IT Admins, Help Desk Specialists, Customer Support Engineers and Migration Specialists the understanding and tools needed to plan around upcoming Microsoft 2010 releases, Windows 7 migration efforts, Project Management, and IT Innovation in this downturn economy.

Session topics will include:

• Microsoft in 2010: What IT Managers Need to Know
• Microsoft SharePoint ECM, the Vision and Reality
• Is Windows 7 ready for Enterprise Use?
• Office 2010: Separating Fact from Fiction
• Project 2010 and Enterprise Project Management (EPM)
• Microsoft Project 2010 First Look – Tips and Tricks Essentials
• Managing Windows 7 and Office 2010 Roll Out from a Project and End User Training Perspective.
• Support Windows 7 Migration with Virtual PC

About Mary-Jo Foley

Author, Editor of All About Microsoft
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/

ZDNet Blogger and Microsoft strategy, products and technologies expert. Editor of the “All About Microsoft” blog (blogs.zdnet.com/Microsoft) and author of Microsoft 2.0: How Microsoft Plans to Stay Relevant in the Post-Gates Era (Wiley, 2008). Mary-Jo Foley has covered the tech industry for 20 years for a variety of publications, including ZDNet, eWeek and Baseline. She has kept close tabs on Microsoft strategy, products and technologies for the past 10 years. In the late 1990s, she penned the award-winning “At The Evil Empire” column for ZDNet, and more recently the Microsoft Watch blog for Ziff Davis.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 Training and Windows 7 news and special subscriber offers.

Calling all Technology Council Members.

We are sponsoring a free, one-day web conference, Smart IT Sessions 2009 on September 24th, featuring leading Microsoft experts, partners, and product managers (including Mary Jo Foley and Paul Thurrott).

This conference is focused on the Microsoft-based enterprise and geared around topics involving upcoming releases, migration (e.g. Windows 7, Office 2010), and IT innovation, and will be a resource for all Technology Council members.

Please visit the website at SmartITSessions.com or send me an email for more information. – rhodges(at)keystonelearning(dot)com

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 Training and Windows 7 news and special subscriber offers.

Gavriella Shuster posted on the Windows for your Business team blog about the 90-Day Trial license of Windows 7, and also about Volume License Ability at a Discount.

As of yesterday, businesses can order upgrades to Windows 7 from a Microsoft Volume License Reseller. This option is for businesses that don’t already have Windows Software Assurance and want to upgrade their existing business PCs to Windows 7. There are two editions of Windows 7 available through Volume Licensing:

• Windows 7 Professional: Designed for small and midsize organizations, Windows 7 Professional provides a PC experience you can count on, helps you get more done, and helps safeguard your work. Today, we are also starting a 15% discount on Windows 7 Professional upgrade licenses that will run until February 28, 2010. Contact your Microsoft reseller to take advantage of this offer and confirm availability in your area (discount is offered on Microsoft pricing to its channel partners; pricing offered by partners may vary).
• Windows 7 Enterprise: If you have an active Software Assurance agreement or purchase one with your Windows 7 Professional upgrade licenses or new PCs with Windows 7 Professional, you can deploy Windows 7 Enterprise. Designed for enterprises and businesses that want to optimize their desktop IT infrastructure, Windows 7 Enterprise will help make users productive anywhere, enhance security and control, and streamline PC management.

Windows 7 will run on most PCs businesses have today. More information on tools to help with your upgrade to Windows 7 is available at http://www.windows.com/business/upgrade. Additionally, we recommend that customers with Software Assurance purchase the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) to aid in their enterprise OS management. The MDOP subscription currently includes six technologies that help reduce the TCO of a Windows 7 desktop. MDOP simplifies application deployment and lifecycle management and provides a solution for resolving application incompatibility through virtualization. MDOP also increases IT responsiveness and user uptime through robust diagnostics and monitoring capabilities, and increases IT control by providing asset tracking and group policy change management.

Keep in mind that Windows Volume Licensing upgrades are only available for PCs that already have a qualifying Operating System, such as Windows Vista Business or Windows XP Professional. For a list of qualified versions of Windows 7 operating system licenses, download the Windows 7 and Optimized Desktop Volume Licensing Guide available on http://www.microsoft.com/windows/enterprise/how-to-buy.aspx.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 Training and Windows 7 news and special subscriber offers.

Download Windows 7 at no charge and use it for 90 days.

Microsoft’s (NSDQ: MSFT) new Windows 7 computer operating system is now available to tech pros for a free trial.
The software can be downloaded from Microsoft’s TechNet Web site and can be used for 90 days.

The Trial is available in English, Spanish, French, German, and Japanese in 32-bit and 64-bit editions, and only a limited number of trial licenses are available.

“Many IT pros we talk to have been looking for a way to continue their work with the Release Candidate to test their applications, hardware, and deployment strategies with final Windows 7 bits,” wrote Microsoft’s Stephen Rose, in a blog post. “In response, we have created the Windows 7 Enterprise 90 Day trial edition.”

Upgrading from XP to Windows 7? Here’s a step-by-step guide provided by InformationWeek.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 Training and Windows 7 news and special subscriber offers.

Not officially, but through a “leaked” source, we’re learning a few things about Microsoft Office 2010. Specific to our enterprise-level customers, it looks Beta 1 of Office 2010 is slated to include new volume-licensing activation tweaks as well as a new upload center that we think may be related to the much anticipated Office Web Apps.

With all this being said, it seems that the only things the folks at Microsoft are willing to confirm are that the Technical Preview went out in July and they still expect to ship the finished version of Microsoft Office 2010 in, well, 2010.

If you want the full scoop, check out this article.

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Quick Reminder:

Don’t forget to register for the 5th annual Microsoft Project Conference September 14-17, 2009 at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, AZ.

KeyStone Learning Systems and partner Project Management Practice, Inc. are directly partnered with Microsoft to promote the new Project 2010 software and address Project Management and Project 2010 training needs that are critical to the adoption of the software. In addition, they will be providing free Microsoft Project 2010 software and Microsoft Project 2007 Training to Microsoft Project Conference 2009 attendees.

This year’s conference will exclusively disclose the powerful capabilities included in Microsoft Project 2010 and Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solutions while providing real world guidance on how Microsoft Project 2007 and Microsoft EPM Solutions are helping customers today with Project and Portfolio Management to save money, enhance efficiency and prepare for future growth.

“This gives conference participants access to a powerful training tool to help get the most out of Microsoft Project today and first access to most powerful scheduling tool when Project 2010 is released.” said Sean Creaghan of the Project Management Practice Inc.

Special Registration Offers include:

• Receive a free licensed copy of Project Professional 2010! Registrants will receive their copy of Microsoft Project Professional 2010 after the release of the full commercial version. The offer is extended to all registered attendees by Project Management Practice Inc. and Keystone Learning Systems. Sign Up!
• Receive free Project Professional 2007 e-learning! The offer is extended to all registered attendees by Project Management Practice Inc. and Keystone Learning Systems. Sign Up!

Learn what can be achieved today and what’s coming tomorrow with Microsoft Project 2010 and Microsoft EPM Solutions. Connect with your peers, industry practitioners and technologists, certified partners and the Microsoft Project team to share experiences. Grow your skills and investments to realize remarkable cost reductions, enhance efficiencies and move your business forward.

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Project 2010 and Office 2010 Training news and special subscriber offers.

Last week Microsoft released the latest service pack for Exchange Server 2007 which added a few new features.

Service Pack 2 for Microsoft’s e-mail server can be downloaded here, and a complete list of the new features here. The new service pack is supported on Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2008 operating systems.

Kurt Mackie with Redmond gives more detail.

SP2 for Exchange Server 2007 provides a new backup capability via Windows Server, improved Exchange Server 2007 auditing, a “more efficient” quota management system and new cmdlet parameters. In addition, Microsoft added a feature that makes it easier to update Active Directory (AD) schema, which is called “dynamic Active Directory schema validation.”

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Exchange 2010 Exam 70-662 Training and Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Training news and special subscriber offers.

KeyStone OnDemand Sponsors Microsoft Enterprise Focused “Smart IT Sessions 2009“ Conference
The Online IT Conference for a More Productive Microsoft Enterprise

You asked, we’ve answered! September 24th, 2009, KeyStone OnDemand is sponsoring Smart IT Sessions 2009!

Smart IT Sessions 2009 will offer a full day of FREE, online sessions presented by leaders in the Microsoft Enterprise IT community, including:

• Mary Jo Foley (Keynote), Microsoft Author, and Editor of the All About Microsoft blog
• Paul Thurrott, Author of Paul Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows blog
• Ben Armstrong, Microsoft Program Manager (Virtualization), Author, Virtual PC Guy’s Weblog
• Robert Happy, PMP Project Management Practice, Inc.
• Andrew Hopkins, Microsoft veteran and Principal Consultant for Chrysalis BTS

Smart IT Sessions 2009 web-based sessions will be focused on Microsoft Enterprise and Microsoft Office Productivity topics that will give Microsoft Enterprise CIO’s, IT Admins, Help Desk Specialists, Customer Support Engineers and Migration Specialists the understanding and tools needed to plan around upcoming Microsoft 2010 releases, Windows 7 migration efforts, Project Management, and IT Innovation in this downturn economy. Register Now!

Session topics will include:

• Microsoft in 2010: What IT Managers Need to Know
• Microsoft SharePoint ECM, the Vision and Reality
• Is Windows 7 ready for Enterprise Use?
• Office 2010: Separating Fact from Fiction
• Project 2010 and Enterprise Project Management (EPM)
• Microsoft Project 2010 First Look – Tips and Tricks Essentials
• Managing Windows 7 and Office 2010 Roll Out from a Project and End User Training Perspective.
• Support Windows 7 Migration with Virtual PC

“Based upon feedback we’ve received from many of our Microsoft enterprise customers and partners, there are many questions from IT decision makers regarding Microsoft’s new product releases, including Windows 7, Office 2010 and SharePoint 2010,” said KeyStone OnDemand CEO, Lawrence Cates. “We see this conference as a great forum to bring together Microsoft Enterprise thought leaders and experts to help answer many of the questions we hear coming from enterprise decision makers.”

In addition, attendees will be entered to win their share of over $50,000 in software, hardware, and training from conference participants, including KeyStone OnDemand, Microsoft, CDW, and Project Management Practice, Inc.

Register now at SmartITSessions.com!

Subscribe to the KeyStone OnDemand blog to be the first to learn about future Microsoft Windows 7 Training and Office 2010 news and special subscriber offers.