Brad Bird at myITforum.com

OWSUG February Event: Lync Server 2010 - One year after unleashing the LYNCs

2012-02-05T23:47:00Z

David Marks shares his experiences from the past year with his project to introduce Microsoft Lync Server 2010 at one Government of Canada department. A demonstration of the tools available for the planning and deployment of a Microsoft Lync environment as well as a Lync online meeting will also be given using the virtual environment David created to learn about this product. Register for this event here: http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2907254677 Bio: David Marks is an information technology team...(read more)

OWSUG and Microsoft sponsored IT Virtualization Boot Camp in Ottawa

2012-02-02T19:49:59Z

These events are live and they’re HOT. 40 seats per event but they’re not free. The event cost is $25/person and registration is NOT optional. 40 seats is a HARD limit because that is the number of computers. Payments are collected via Paypal. Please register below. I hope to see you there! http://www.eventbrite.ca/event/2892520607 Regards, Brad Bird President OWSUG...(read more)

STEP Event from January OWSUG meeting Deploying Windows 7 for Enterprises of ANY size–Still waiting?

2012-01-31T03:18:10Z

This presentation was popular and very well received. Members asked me to post the slides so here they are! Right Click link and Choose Save As to download Windows 7 for Enterprises of ANY size–Still waiting?...(read more)

Weird Bug/Limitation in the SCOM 2007 R2 Maintenance Mode Scheduler from the Administration Toolkit

2011-11-21T20:34:39Z

I have been fighting with the maintenance mode scheduler for a fair bit of time at this customer of mine. They have a significant challenge. They have pods of web and DB servers with F5 load balancers which they rotate on a schedule to synchronize their content. There are 6 of these pods. Here is an example of the scheduler: The limitation/bug I have discovered is when you attempt to add more than 6 objects… The scheduler will actually let you complete the form by picking a category...(read more)

New SCOM AD MP guide references the wrong MP version

2011-10-27T19:46:58Z

The Active Directory Management Pack was just updated to version 6.0.7670 in September 2011. The last time this MP was updated was October 2009. I am very glad to see that the MP has been re-released and that it comes with guidance as to the monitoring operations, what the MP contains like deprecated monitors, etc. It also corrected several issues that were reported with the previous MP. The previous MP was version 6.0.7065 which you will see if you have the Windows Server 2000 monitoring MP...(read more)

Ottawa IT Community speakers Idol Nov. 2nd at DevTeach Ottawa

2011-10-19T12:31:29Z

Do you like to share your IT knowledge with others? Do you know a tip, trick or a feature that can save time for others and you would like to share it? Well, Ottawa Speaker Idol is your solution and there is still time to submit your session proposal. The dead line is Wednesday Oct. 26th. The Ottawa IT Community is organizing a contest where you can win a free registration to DevTeach Nov. 3-4 (value of $649). On November 2nd, at the venue for DevTeach Ottawa (Ottawa Conference Center), you will...(read more)

I truly value the help that Microsoft gives to Partners to help them succeed

2011-10-15T15:01:21Z

I work mainly with Microsoft technologies and I find that as an organization, they truly help to empower us to find the information and get the help we need. Now I know online resources have been done to death, actually I recently watched a really interesting TV show on “Customer Disservice” which showcases how we as a society are actually hurting ourselves from the point of view of customer satisfaction. Now I agree to some degree but online resources are always there for us and are...(read more)

Drastic Changes to the F5 Management Pack for SCOM 2007 R2

2011-09-02T17:55:27Z

I just received this alert from the SCOM MP Group on DevCentral that I am following: Subject: F5 Management Pack is ready to be ordered We are pleased to announce that we have converted the F5 Management Pack for Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 from a community supported DevCentral download to an orderable offering in the F5 Networks product portfolio. As part of this transition, the product will be fully supported by our world class services organization. Customers can now purchase...(read more)

No Images Display in Scheduled Reports Once Deployed

2011-08-31T18:59:13Z

Using SCOM 2007 R2 once a SQL Reporting Services report is deployed using Scheduled Reports when a report is deployed, there are no images: If this report is run manually, all data shows up just fine: The error is reported in the SQL ReportServer Application log: The solution is here: Solution =========== To resolve this problem, add the following information to the ReportingServicesService.exe.config file in the ReportServer\bin directory: <dependentAssembly> <assemblyIdentity name="Microsoft...(read more)

Some nice Globe and Mail press coverage for User Groups

2011-08-17T17:51:58Z

I was interviewed a couple of weeks ago by the Globe and Mail in Ottawa. Here is the published article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/small-business/business-categories/biz-categories-technology/get-plugged-in-with-an-it-user-group/article2128023/...(read more)

The Annual Ottawa IT Community Social Night

2011-06-15T13:20:40Z

Register to attend! The Annual Ottawa IT Community Social Night Mon June 27th 2011 on Elgin Street (new location!) Free food • Prizes • Celebration Registration from 5:30pm – Event starts at 6:00pm Hosted by With summer almost officially upon us, our organisations are teaming up to host the annual Ottawa IT Community Social Night, honouring the partners and members that helped to make 2010/2011 another great season for developers, IT pros and DBAs. Again,...(read more)

OWSUG Event June 16, 2011 - Virtual Reality: The truth about Microsoft’s Interoperable Virtualization Stack

2011-06-01T16:04:52Z

There are lots of players out there in the Virtualization Market. All of them have options to help you build a highly available solution to virtualize and protect your servers all with varying costs associated with them. Did you know Microsoft has a solution that you can cut your teeth into even if you are just learning the ropes and don’t have access to high end SAN hardware? Join us for a demo intensive 90 minute session that builds a solution from scratch and gives you the skills to bring this...(read more)

ITPRO Toronto User Group Presents: Windows STEP Event – Virtualize the Barriers!

2011-05-25T16:06:17Z

The ITPro Toronto User Group is proud to sponsor a special event to be held Thursday night May 26th, 2011 at 7PM (doors open 6:30PM). Due to the late notice of the event we appreciate you sharing the invitation with as many friends and associates as possible. Social time with many Microsoft MVP's in town for the night - a great opportunity to meet and ask questions of many Canadian MVP product experts! Location: Four Points by Sheraton Mississauga Meadowvale 2501 Argentia Rd * Mississauga L5N...(read more)

Ask the Microsoft Experts

2011-05-12T17:41:23Z

There is nothing soft about these Microsofties! On May 25th, we are going to have an informal User Group session. This will include Microsoft ITPRO evangelist Rick Claus, and Technical Account Manager Pierre Roman. We may also see guest appearances by others (not yet confirmed). OWSUG executive committee will come up with a list of topics in the next week to get the ball rolling but please bring your questions. Suggested topics include: What’s New? What is Microsoft’s focus this year...(read more)

Double Bill for the April OWSUG Meeting

2011-04-27T13:34:58Z

Sharepoint 2010 publication using UAG SP1 In the first session we will be reviewing the Publishing options in UAG (Unified Access Gateway) sp1 and how one can leverage UAG for sharepoint portal application publishing. We will review the basic setup on portal publishing and how you can leverage the inbound access controls native in UAG to give a more granular level of control and what it is you publish out to the YAG portal for your remote work force. Derek Kerr is the Director of IT at non...(read more)