Tag Archives: Tulsa

Office 365 Upgrade 2013

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office-365-log-orange-whiteOne of the big selling points of Office 365 is escaping the backend maintenance and upgrades. While there are regular updates monthly and quarterly, customers will benefit from a significant upgrade this year:

  1. Exchange, Lync, and SharePoint are upgraded to 2013.
  2. Office Professional Plus 2013 may be downloaded.
  3. Each user now has 7GB of SkyDrive storage versus previous 500MB.
  4. Forefront Online Protection for Exchange is upgraded to new Exchange Online Protection.
  5. Lync video conferencing and chat now is in HD.
  6. Windows XP and Internet Explorer 8 are discontinued April 8, 2014 and are not supported to reliably connect to Office 365.
  7. Office 365 E3 customers enjoy Rights Management, Data Loss Protection, and various new SharePoint templates including e-discovery.

How it works is Microsoft sends a notice e-mail of scheduled upgrade with the upgrade date (usually a Friday). For the most part the upgrade is seamless and no impact on customers. However, we have observed the following:

  • Outlook 2007 users sometimes must repair their Outlook profile and then switch from offline to online.
  • There may be a few days after the upgrade where you are unable to change SPAM and other related policies while Exchange Online Protection upgraded completes.

Approximately 40% of our customers were upgraded in Q1. The official statement from Microsoft is that customers will be upgraded throughout the year, but progress is steady and it seems our over 5,000 subscribers will be upgraded by mid-year.

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Microsoft Buys Matrixforce

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Microsoft Cloud Accelerate Partner LogoMatrixforce and Microsoft today announce a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Matrixforce, one of the leading U.S. Microsoft Cloud Accelerate Partners for $17.6 million. Matrixforce will join the Microsoft Office Division, led by division President Kurt DelBene, and the team will continue to report to current CEO Kevin Fream.

“The acquisition of Matrixforce underscores our commitment to deliver technology that businesses need and people love,” said Jon Roskill, Vice President, Microsoft Worldwide Partner Group. “Matrixforce adds best-in-class managed services and cloud migration as an innovative pilot for the Microsoft Partner Network.”

Matrixforce was one of the nation’s first Microsoft Partners in 1994 and Oklahoma’s first Microsoft Gold Partner for Security in 2003. Starting in 2008, Matrixforce now has more than five thousand Office 365 business subscribers annually. The Matrixforce Orbit service allows customers to securely access data and applications virtually anywhere for more agile business..

Matrixforce will continue to develop its standalone managed services and maintain its commitment to simplicity, innovation and cross-organization experiences. Moving forward, Microsoft plans to accelerate Matrixforce’s deployment of Office 365 migrations for medium business customers alongside complementary offerings from Microsoft Consulting Services for Fortune 500 organizations.

“When Matrixforce started offering cloud computing services five years ago, we set out to do something big for customers,” Fream said. “We had a vision for how online services could change the way we work. Joining Microsoft will accelerate that vision and give us access to the technologies, expertise and resources we’ll need to scale and innovate.”

The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

Windows Server 2012 Licensing Explained

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Windows Server 2012 LogoThe more things change the more confused people seem to get. Here is a quick run down of what you need to know about Windows Server 2012 Licensing:

  1. 32 and 64 bit. Yes, there are both 32 and 64 bit versions of Windows Server 2012, even though Windows 2008 R2 was only 64 bit.
  2. Standard and Datacenter. There is no Enterprise version of 2012 and there are two oddball versions of Essentials (limited to 2 processors and 25 users) and Foundation (limited to 1 processor and 15 users) that are not recommended for the limitations versus nominal difference in price.
    • Standard provides 2 free virtual instances. Others virtual instances may be added, but you must purchase Windows Server licenses for the additional instances.
    • Datacenter provides unlimited free virtual instances.
  3. Software Assurance. If you had SA on Windows Server 2008, you qualify for the following Windows 2012 versions:
    • Windows Server 2008 Datacenter upgrades to Windows Server 2012 Datacenter
    • Windows Server 2008 Enterprise upgrades to two each of Windows Server 2012 Standard
    • Windows Server 2008 Standard upgrades to Windows Server 2012 Standard
  4. Upgrades. You must upgrade previous 32 or 64 bit systems to the same 32 or 64 bit versions on Windows Server 2012 or backup data and format and reinstall with a new version. You can upgrade like versions or higher such as Windows Server 2008 Standard to Windows Server 2012 Standard or Windows Datacenter 2012, but you cannot install Windows Server 2012 Standard on Windows Server 2008 Enterprise or Datacenter.

Avoid Office 365 P1

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Office 365 LogoSince 2008, Matrixforce has helped customers move to the cloud with Office 365. We’ve helped organizations with as few as 5 users and organizations with over a thousand users with a la cart and enterprise plans. Each of these options offers cost-effective productivity and flexibility to help move business forward.

However, the Office 365 P1 subscription should be avoided at all costs by any individual or customer because of the limitations:

  1. There is no way to move from P1 to any other plan without exporting all of your data, removing associated domains, deleted the P1 subscription, creating a new E series or other subscription, and importing your data. For all other plans, you simply purchase and assign new licenses without such hassle.
  2. P1 subscription has a hard limit of 50 users.
  3. SharePoint is limited to 1 site collection and you cannot purchase additional storage.
  4. Users cannot have their own mysite.
  5. P1 subscribers are unable to edit transport rules such as corporate disclaimers.
  6. P1 subscribers cannot administer anti-virus or anti-spam rules.
  7. P1 subscribers are limited to only 25 users for Lync meetings.
  8. P1 subscribers cannot submit online support requests to Microsoft.

For the nominal difference in cost versus other plans, the restrictions are too great and Office 365 P1 for Small Business or Professionals should always be avoided. The better option is to try an Office 365 E3 trial free for 30 days. You can demo all of the features and then purchase whatever subscription you choose at the end of the trial without starting over.

IT Spring Cleaning

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Organized Server RoomIf you look professional, you’ll tend to act more professional and achieve more. This is the time of year when we work with clients on spring cleaning:

  1. Pull out dead equipment, obsolete books, and errant cleaning supplies or miscellaneous storage from the server room.
  2. Organize the software/supplies cabinet and likewise donate or dispose of Windows 98 or similarly defunct software, manuals, or floppy disks.
  3. Group all the old or dead printers, monitors, and CPUs for pickup by the Salvation Army or Goodwill.
  4. Do the same process digitally and archive to an external drive old setup software and delete from the system.
  5. Clear out administrative/user folders and eliminate the no longer relevant and file pertinent IT documents in appropriate department folders.

Be sure to wipe or format all drives and have management review disposal or donation of software or equipment. Once you’ve eliminated the clutter and confusion, you can now begin to focus on those projects and tasks to help move your organization forward with accomplishment and pride.

5 Reasons Windows 8 Succeeds

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Windows 8 LogoSo the trade rags are all in a flutter as they get back to their comfort zone of bludgeoning Microsoft over claims that Windows 8 has worse adoption than Vista in the first 5 months. It certainly has to hurt that Apple’s Mountain Lion was far eclipsed. Of course there is no mention from the numerous Open Source pundits that Linux usage as a whole continues to decline. In the real world, most organizations have just finished year-end and are holding cash trying to determine how much additional cost is required for Obamacare and other added taxes.

In response to the hopelessly biased and out of touch lame-stream media at ZDNet for Five reasons why Windows 8 failed, here are 5 reasons it succeeds:

  1. New Start Menu. Can you really argue with large text and easy to select options that are the same on a PC, tablet, or smartphone? Oh, right. You still want to do 3-5 more clicks to scroll up, right, down, and then the option you want.
  2. Innovative. So throw out speed, better search and voice recognition, or the new start menu. How about:
    • Support for HTML 5 eliminating buggy and unsecure Open Source bloat-ware like Java
    • Built-in PDF reader to eliminate the frustrating Adobe updates
    • Windows Live login to sync settings on any device
    • Windows-to-go settings on your thumb drive for the same OS settings on any PC
  3. Developers love it. There is this little thing called Xbox Live. Neither Apple or Google have such a service or a gaming console. Apps of all kinds are being ported from iOS and Android offering the fastest growing app segment that can be accessed from Xbox, Surface, Windows Phone, or PCs.
  4. Legacy users are moving. Those moving from the 12-year old legacy XP understand Windows 7 may feel more comfortable, but that Windows 7 is out of mainstream support already.
  5. Struggling competition. Apple stock is down 40% and continues to plummet as iPhone becomes more irrelevant. Windows Phone and Surface tablets directly integrate with Office 365 and SkyDrive. Android continues to thrive, but Google Apps is being beaten badly and anything without ads like Google Reader is quickly being scuttled.

State of Your IT

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State of the UnionEach year the President gives the State of the Union address, but how often do you assess the state of your information technology (IT)? You roar into January with year-end follow-up and new year optimism, but by February it’s the same old grind. Well, this is your quarter to stop and address strategy for your number four business expense:

1) Review your System Diagram with current status on the left and where you are going on the right. Don’t have every minute detail that is likely to change, but do have warranty expiration dates next to servers and critical applications hosted. Summarize problems on the left and benefits on the right.

2) Update your 5 year technology forecast. Servers are only warrantied for 3-4 years and software license agreements are generally 1-3 years. Add the cost of no more than 1 project per quarter for the current year and now you know well ahead of time how to budget and the impact of new systems.

3) Assess the half dozen categories where your support cases fall. This is a telling glance of whether your staff needs lunch and learns, a particular system needs attention, or the environment is squared away and just needs on-going maintenance.

If you’re not getting this information, then you’re flying blind. More importantly, you are forfeiting the opportunity to understand not only a major business cost, but impact how your organization grows and operates.

5 Tips for Picking a Managed Services Provider

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managed services selectionFor Valentines Day, we thought we’d give you some dating tips. Well really, how to select a managed service provider:

1) Assess your need.
Write down 6-10 concise and quantifiable phrases like:
- flat monthly cost, less than hiring a full-time employee
- guaranteed response of 2-4 hours
- minimum of 10 years in business
- proactive 5 year business planning
- team of 4 or more resources for support, not just one person
- veteran leadership with education, certification, and national experience

2) Do your research.
Now with some specific needs you can eliminate the bulk of vendors and focus on just a few. Google phrases with desired keywords and your geography like “managed services Tulsa” or “cloud computing Oklahoma”. Do the same for LinkedIn and learn the education and experience backgrounds of the management. Also, most people are unaware major players like Microsoft offer tools such as Pinpoint to find qualified firms.

3) Identify true motivations.
Ignore the boasts of being on some list and the tired mantra of “Let us help you focus on your business”. Everyone gives away their true motivations. That press release about being the Dell Partner of the year says it’s all about hardware. The retail store that offers the cheap in-store diagnostic means bring it to us. The constant barrage of building pictures makes it clear renting space is the game. The 80 contract programmers on staff want your website or to build you an app.

4) Check out the offices.
The dark and largely empty floor in the downtown building or lonely offices in an unoccupied industrial complex are telling for the viability of a provider. Beyond these red flags, you really want to see if they eat their own dog food and what kind of business acumen and systems are used.

5) Vet your choice.
Website and social media testimonials are either purchased or contrived. Request and contact 5 references. Don’t fall for the trap of a significant upfront investment for an initial assessment or lease of disaster recovery hardware or software. Demand a no obligation probationary period and have an attorney review any contracts.

5 Years Moving Oklahoma to the Cloud

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Cloud PowerDo you have the t-shirt that says “I survived Oklahoma ice storms, blizzards, wildfires, drought, tornadoes, and earthquakes in 2009″? As Matrixforce approaches 10,000 cloud subscribers, we want to thank hundreds of Oklahoma businesses for the opportunity to prove our expertise by lowering their technology costs and escaping the worry of keeping critical systems running. For the 5th year in a row, Matrixforce has been recognized as the exclusive Microsoft Cloud Accelerate Partner of Oklahoma. While the competition generally boasts about being leading hardware providers or winners of magazine contests, we understand clients simply want to get off the technology obsolescence hamster wheel and have expert support.

Since 1978, Matrixforce has been central to the technology industry with 35 years transforming business for Oklahoma clients. In 1994, Matrixforce became one of the first Oklahoma Microsoft Certified Partners providing third-party qualification of high standard support services and the first Microsoft Gold Partner in the state by 2003. Unfortunately, 5 years later the bar had been lowered and Microsoft Gold Partner was no longer about expert competency, but rather software sales.

So in 2008, we took a calculated risk and moved our critical technology like e-mail and document storage to the cloud, using the predecessor to the current day Office 365. It would take 5,000 subscribers before cloud computing could be considered a viable business, but a win-win for us to prove our expertise while positively impacting client business operations and bottom line. We eliminated a handful of servers with associated software, along with the ongoing maintenance and disaster recovery – amounting to a savings of over $100K per year.

Today, Matrixforce is a top 25 national cloud partner and we regularly provide those same savings to our clients. While competitors push the latest product wares and gush about building data centers in the harshness of Oklahoma, our Office 365 experts leverage cloud computing to help clients improve other business aspects, such as employee productivity and nominal cost regulation compliance.

Business Answer for Fiscal Cliff

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Fiscal CliffFor the most part, the general press is trying desperately to change the news cycle to something else besides the fiscal cliff. The problem is someone from the financial industry continues to speak out and some part of the media will break ranks to scoop the others with irresistible negativity. If there were just a solid two weeks without such mention, we’d be distracted by the Super Bowl or whatever headline of the day.

However, business owners already know payroll and dividend taxes increased, forcing both owners and employees to pay restitution for government ineptitude. The fact is businesses must follow the government lead and increase revenues while reducing expenses.

There are two main ways to achieve this effect: 1) Cut information technology costs with managed services and 2) Raise sales with digital marketing. Now, the worst mistakes you can make is to go fire your IT people and also hire the pay-per-click consultant of the day. For both decisions, you need to select vendors that fit with your philosophies and have proven results.

For managed services, avoid hardware or phone system suppliers or by-the-hour “consultants”. It’s pretty easy to spot their motivation and know your costs will do anything but go down. A true managed service provider offers flat cost and business acumen, as well as technology expertise.

Similarly, digital marketing is no longer just about your keywords and a website review. Ranking is pointless without conversion and you should select firms that have actually run sales and marketing teams and can provide numerous ideas for content. Watch for warnings signs of poor website design, missing blog, or few search results from startups or hobbyists.

Alternatively, you could just do nothing, but are your old ways going to prevent you from having a worse year in 2013?