Google's competition is with innovators in a garage

Apple recently surpassed Google+ as the most valuable brand in the world. How do you think the rivalry will play out in the future?
It's an exciting time to be in the technology space. I believe that the technological revolution we're in the midst of now will be remembered as one of the greatest in the history of mankind, if you consider both the pace of innovation and the effect it's having on people's lives.

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But in terms of our competitors, as I've always said -- I'm more worried about the two guys in the garage coming up with the next Google than our big competitors today! In the meantime, we'll stay focused on our users and fostering the kind of innovation that can change the world.

Trends in social web are something that Google has failed to capitalize on so far. Do you think that Google+ can change it?
About a month ago, we launched the Google+ field trial and we've been excited about the initial response and the growth it has experienced in these very early days. The idea behind the Google+ project is that relationships, identity, and sharing haven't yet been figured out in the online context -- the current offerings of the social web don't replicate how these things work in real life. So we designed this space from scratch with the idea of creating a better way of connecting users with the various groups of people in their lives.

The other aspect of Google+ is knitting together all of our products. It's undeniable that the people web has become a huge trend in the past few years, and we've seen a lot of social activity throughout Google: consider the 100m shares, likes, comments on YouTube every week; the hundreds of millions of people around the world who use Gmail; or products like Docs, Calendar, and Picasa which were built around the notions of collaboration and sharing.

Google+ is designed to have an impact across all of Google, and bring together all of our products through a common infrastructure. I think the people web is still in very early days and there will be a lot of innovation in this space.

Google has tasted great success with Android. The adoption is tremendous. But mostly the tangible benefits are for phone makers because Android is free to use. How does Google plan to monetize the success of Android?
The vision at the very heart of Android is openness and it has been an amazing driver for innovation across every aspect of the smartphone space -- handsets, apps, development. But the growth and proliferation of smartphones is also strategic for Google and the value proposition is simple: mobile searches and mobile advertising grow in tandem. The more smartphones there are in the world, the higher the volume of mobile searches, and thus the more opportunity for advertising and for advertisers to reach an audience.

How does Google strike a balance between the security, privacy and rights of its users when faced with takedown notices or information requests from the government?
Our users' trust is one of our most important assets, which is why as a company we have always taken issues of privacy and security so seriously. Of course we have to comply with the laws in the countries we operate in around the world and get a number of requests from government agencies to hand over user data for criminal investigations and so on. It's a fine balance.

Our philosophy has been to be upfront and honest about how we handle our user data -- that's essential to maintaining trust. For example, last year we launched a Government Requests tool to give people information about the requests for user data or content removal we receive from governments.

Writing in ET you said in February that in five years between 60% to 100% of all media will be digital. If the world is moving towards this scenario how will digital rights be managed?Google has tried to expand its reach but it has faced resistance from content owners. In the case of books, it faced resistance and in the case of YouTube, many in Hollywood like to believe that Google promotes piracy.How does Google plan to strike a balance between the philosophy of "information is free" and the concerns of content owners?

The Internet has had an impact on virtually every industry. As with any disruptive technology at that scale, the older industries are forced to adapt and develop new revenue models. While is important to limit piracy, it's even more important to create viable marketplace alternatives for content owners to thrive in within the digital space.

But to the point of digital rights management, new models and protections have emerged. One example is YouTube's Content ID, which has created a system where everyone wins. It identifies copyrighted content within user-uploaded videos and then lets the rights holders share in the revenue of this content or have it removed.

On the other side of the coin, one thing to remember is that the Internet is an incredible enabler of economic opportunity for content creators and content owners: you have an audience of billions at your fingertips. If you look at YouTube, it has launched countless careers -- running the gamut from musicians to chefs and educators -- and created entirely new markets that reach a huge audience.

Since acquiring YouTube for a staggering $1.65 billion in 2006, Google has struggled to make money from YouTube. What is the current state of monetization from YouTube services?
YouTube has been on a phenomenal trajectory, in terms of both page views and revenue; it is a vibrant ecosystem for users, partners, and advertisers alike. Video views are up 50% from a year ago -- there are now 3 billion views a day. We continue to bring more premium content to the platform, like the broadcast of Britain's Royal Wedding, which generated 100 million views from around the world, or the growing selection of Bollywood films.

On the advertising side, YouTube revenue more than doubled in 2010, and we share that revenue with our over 20,000 content partners. YouTube is also a core part of our broader Display advertising strategy and brands are engaging with audiences in a number of ways within the platform. To give just one example, T-Mobile recently launched a new mobile phone on YouTube and ran ads on the homepage, Watchpage, and Mobile. In sum, they reached an audience of over 46 million unique users.

Recently an Indian movie studio decided to offer full films on YouTube. IPL is there doing highlights and all. There are several other content owners showing a lot of their stuff on YouTube... and of course there are websites like Hulu and netflix. Do you think that soon TVs will be replaced by online streaming?
There's no doubt that the distinction between offline and online is dissolving and all of our devices (mobile phones, tablets, TVs) will go "smart" -- meaning they'll be broadband-connected. TV has been one of the last bastions of this shift. But consumers are pushing this trend forwards -- as our mindshare shifts towards digital, we're asking for more of our devices: richer apps, richer media, more choice, customization, and engagement. I have no doubt that in the very near future, all TVs will come with a broadband connection.

What are the regulatory challenges Google faces in India?
India with its strong democratic framework, free press and independent judiciary provides for a strong platform for the growth of new businesses. However as is the case with most other emerging markets, there is more that can be done to create a regulatory environment that encourages a free and open Internet that would be essential for the growing digital economy and safeguarding freedom of expression.

You talk about how Google's monetization in India suffers due to poor infrastructure, mainly broadband services. Can you elaborate with examples?
India's internet penetration has touched the 100 million mark and the growth has been exponential in the last 5 years. And if you look at the positive aspect, India's Internet population beats the population of some of the countries in the world. What I had earlier said was that India has an infrastructure problem and has always had one but if you look at the current scenario, this is changing.

The Infrastructure growth in India continues to improve and going forward there will be more emphasis upon new age devices. Talking about monetization and revenues from India, it is currently not the way we like it to be. However, we believe that this market has tremendous potential and therefore we are maximizing our efforts in India.

You say that Google's India R&D team has great expertise in maps and geo products. Isn't ironic that still India is not covered by Google Navigation or Street View?
We have recently launched the driving operations for Street View in India. However, the Bangalore Police has stopped the cars, citing security reasons. We are in discussion with them to address their concerns and hope to resolve the matter soon.

3 ways SMBs can avoid being ambushed as cloud pioneers

When it comes to cloud adoption, midsize companies are ahead of big businesses. That means they will take some chances as they migrate to this technology delivery model.

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Research firm Gartner published some new data this week suggesting that at least 10 percent of email and cloud applications within what it calls enterprise accounts will be using a cloud-based version of said technology by 2014. That actually is much slower than anticipated by about two years, because of things like corporate inertia, a focus on the strategic, and (realistically) concerns over the feature sets of some of their options.

Ho-hum.

Among small and midsize businesses, however, adoption rates continue to be much higher. Exhibit A is a study released earlier this year by Microsoft, which is attempting to recast itself as a bonafide cloud service provider after years in the on-premise world. The study, SMB Cloud Adoption Study 2011, found that almost 40 percent of SMBs expect to be paying for one or more cloud service within the next three years, compared with the approximately 29 percent who do so today.

The survey found that 82 percent of SMBs buying cloud services feel that a local presence offered by their cloud service provider is important. Read: they don’t want everything to be remote because they like having someone able to work through issues on site. When it comes to size, companies with 51 to 250 employees appear to benefit most from cloud technology options; 56 percent of this respondent base said they expect to pay for an average of 3.7 services within three years.

The MIcrosoft research was fielded among 3,258 SMBs worldwide in conjunction with Edge Strategies. The actual survey was fielded in December 2010.

Exhibit B in terms of SMB cloud adoption data comes from CompTIA, the technology advocacy organization. CompTIA’s third annual study of SMB adoption trends released over the summer of 2011 suggests that this community can be classified as an early adopter when it comes to cloud-based infrastructure and applications. SMBs’ top three reasons for giving love to this model:

Expand capabilities
Lower total cost of ownership
Gain access to more/better features

In short, small businesses can look much larger and more innovative through cloud infrastructure while saving money. What’s not to like?

Little wonder, then, that the CompTIA survey found one-third of the roughly 600 companies surveyed were using some sort of cloud applications — from infrastructure as a service (IaaS) to software as a service (SaaS). Here are the top five applications that smaller companies were moving to the cloud (along with the percentage of cloud-friendly companies using this sort of application):

Storage/backup = 71 percent
Email = 62 percent
Document management = 59 percent
Collaboration = 56 percent
CRM = 53 percent

One big red flag, though.

The CompTIA survey reported that among those SMBs that have moved part of their infrastructure to the cloud, approximately one-third have found the transition to be more costly or difficult than expected. What’s more, here are their top five concerns when considering the transition:

Security
Reliability of cloud provider
Reliability of internal internet connection
Integration with current systems
Long-term pay-as-you-go model

The reality is that very few companies will ever be “pure cloud,” which means that SMBs — especially because they ARE pioneers — could experience some hurdles as they migrate some applications to the cloud. That’s especially true because there really aren’t that many “best practices” that have been established, so far. WIth that in mind, here are three ways small businesses can protect themselves if they choose to try cloud services sooner rather than later:

Pay particular attention to integration implications. That might mean hiring an independent expert who can assess where cloud services might fit within your business infrastructure; and that can offer expertise in ensuring that cloud applications tie into on-premise applications seamlessly.
Battle-test network infrastructure. SMBs are right to worry about security and bandwidth, so they should ensure that connections are in order before committing to a cloud application that could affect productivity. They should also explore how the service being evaluated handles tasks offline. And, while I’m listing things to worry about, they should assess how to handle sign-in. Will employees need to first sign into a secure connection and then into the cloud application or will it be accessible from everywhere?
Understand service level agreements and contract terms. Small businesses should really spend time to consider what is included and what is not with a cloud service contract. Does the length of the contract make sense or will you be locked into something too long? How quickly does the cloud provider promise that interruptions will be fixed and does it have the wherewithal to deliver that? Speaking of which, will your organization get true 24×7 support or will it be confined to asking questions during “traditional” business hours. Whatever they are.

Any additional tips that some of you early cloud adopters would like to share? Have at it.

Architect certification increasingly impacts professionalization of IT in the cloud era

The primary driver here that we’re hearing from members and customers is that they need to get more out of the investments that they’re making — their payroll for their IT staff. They need to get more productivity. And that has a number of consequences.

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We’ve assembled a panel in conjunction with the recent Open Group Conference in Austin, Texas, to explore the impact and role of certifications for IT professionals. Examine here how certification for enterprise architects, business architects, and such industry initiatives as ArchiMate are proving instrumental as IT organizations seek to reinvent themselves.

There are now a lot of shifts in skills and a lot of movement about how organizations should properly staff themselves. There have been cost pressures and certification issues for regulation and the adoption of new technologies. We’re going to look at how all these are impacting the role of certification out in the field.

Here to help better understand how an organization like The Open Group is alleviating the impact and supporting the importance of finding verified IT skills is Steve Philp, Marketing Director for Professional Certification at The Open Group; Andrew Josey, Director of Standards at The Open Group, and James de Raeve, Vice President of Certification at The Open Group. The discussion is moderated by Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions. [Disclosure: The Open Group is a Sponsor of BriefingsDirect podcasts.]

Here are some excerpts:

de Raeve: The primary driver here that we’re hearing from members and customers is that they need to get more out of the investments that they’re making — their payroll for their IT staff. They need to get more productivity. And that has a number of consequences.

Realizing talent

They want to ensure that the people they are employing and that they’re staffing their teams with are effective. They want to be sure that they’re not bringing in external experts when they don’t need to. So there is a need to realize the talent that they’ve actually got in their internal IT community and to develop that talent, nurture it, and exploit it for the benefit of the organization.

And professionalism, professionalization, and profession frameworks are all tools that can be used in identifying, measuring, and developing the talents and capabilities of your people. That seems to be the major driver.

Philp: Something I have noticed since joining The Open Group is that we’ve got some skills and experience-based certifications. They seem to be the things that people are particularly interested in, because it’s not just a test of your knowledge about a particular vendor or product, but how you have applied your skills and experience out there in the marketplace. They have proven to be very successful in helping people assess where they are and in working towards developing a career path.

That’s one of the areas of certification that things are going to move more towards — more skills and experience-based certification programs in organizations.

Looking at certification in general, you still have areas like Microsoft MCSE, Microsoft technical specialist, application development, and project management that are in demand, and things like CCNA from Cisco. But I’ve also noticed a lot more in the security field. CISSP and CCSA seem to be the ones that are always getting a lot of attention. In terms of security, the trends in mobile computing, cloud computing, means that security certification is a big growth area.

There is a need for people too in the building of teams and in the delivering of results to nurture and grow their people to be team players and team participants.

We’re just about to put a security track into our Certified IT Specialist Program at The Open Group, so there will be a skills and experience-based track for security practitioners soon.

de Raeve: There is a whole world out there of technology and product-related certifications that are fulfilling a very important function in helping people establish and demonstrate their knowledge of those particular products and technologies.

But there is a need for people too in the building of teams and in the delivering of results to nurture and grow their people to be team players and team participants and to be able to work with them to function within the organization as, for want of a better term, “t-shaped people,” where there are a number of soft and people-related skills and potentially architecture related skills for the IT specialists, and skills and capabilities enable people to be rounded professionals within an organization.

T-shaped people

It’s that aspect that differentiates the professionalization and the profession-oriented certification programs that we’re operating here at The Open Group — The Open Certified Architect, The Open Certified IT Specialist. Those are t-shaped people and we think that makes a huge difference. It’s what’s going to enable organizations to be more effective by developing their people to have that more rounded t-shaped capability.

Josey: We see the certification as being the ultimate drive in the uptake of the standards, and so we’re able to go from not just having a standard on the shelf to actually seeing it being deployed in the field and used. We’ve actually got some people certification programs, such as TOGAF, and we’ve got some over 20,000 practitioners now.

We’ve gone through the certification program and we’ve been using and evangelizing, TOGAF as a standard in the field and then feeding that back to our members and, through the association, the feedback improvements to the standards. So it’s very much part of the end-to-end ecosystem — developing a standard for deploying it, and getting people on it, and then getting the feedback in the right way.

Philp: It’s very much an important part of the process now. TOGAF and IT Architect Certification (ITAC) have appeared in a number of RFPs for government and for major manufacturing organizations. So it’s important that the suppliers and the buyers recognize these programs.

Similarly with recruitment, you find that things like TOGAF will appear in most recruitment ads for architects. Certainly, people want knowledge of it, but more and more you’ll see TOGAF certification is required as well.

ITAC, which is now Open CA, has also appeared in a number of recruitment ads for members like Logica, Capgemini, Shell. More recently, organizations like the CBS, EADS, ADGA Group, Direct Energy have requested it. And the list goes on. It’s a measure of how important the awareness is for these certifications and that’s something we will continue to drive at The Open Group.

In development

Josey: ArchiMate certification is something new that we’re developing right now. We haven’t deployed a certification program as yet. The previous certification program was under the ArchiMate Foundation, which was the body that developed ArchiMate, before it transferred into The Open Group.

We’re currently working on the new program which will be similar to some aspects of our TOGAF program, and it’ll be knowledge base certification with an assessment by exam and a practical assessment in which the candidate can actually do modeling. So this will be people certification and there will also be accredited training course certification.

And then also what we’re going to do there is actually to provide certification for tools. There will be certifications there.

That’s pretty much what we’re doing in ArchiMate, so we don’t have a firm timeline. So it will not be available it looks like, probably towards the end of the year would be the earliest, but possibly early next year.

ArchiMate is a modeling language for enterprise architecture (EA) in general and specifically it’s a good fit for TOGAF. It’s a way of communicating and developing models for TOGAF EA. Originally it was developed by the Telematica Instituut and funded, I think, by the EU and a number of commercial companies in the Netherlands. It was actually brought into The Open Group in 2008 by the ArchiMate Foundation and is now managed by the ArchiMate Forum within The Open Group.

The latest version of TOGAF is TOGAF 9 for certification. As we mentioned earlier, there are two types of certification programs, skills and knowledge based. TOGAF falls into the knowledge based camp. We have two levels. TOGAF 9 Foundation, which is our level one, is for individuals to assess that they know the terminology and basic concepts of EA in TOGAF.

Level two, which is a superset of level one, in addition assesses analysis and comprehension. The idea is that some people who are interested in just getting familiar with TOGAF and those people who work around enterprise architects can go into TOGAF Foundation. And these enterprise architects themselves should initially start with the TOGAF Certified, the level two, and then perhaps move on later to Open CA. That will be helpful.

For TOGAF 9 Certification, we introduced that by midyear 2009. We launched TOGAF 9 in February, and it took a couple of months to just roll out all these certifications through all the exam channels.

Since then, we’ve gone through 8,000 certifications. We’ve seen that two-thirds of those were at the higher level, level two, for EA practitioners and one-third of those are currently at the foundation level.

A new area

Philp: Business architecture is a new area that we’ve been working on. Let me just to go back to what we did on the branding, because it ties in with that. We launched The Open Group’s new website recently and we used that as the opportunity to re-brand ITAC as The Open Group Certified Architect (Open CA) program. The IT Specialist Certification (ITSC) has now become The Open Group Certified IT Specialist or Open CITS Program.

We did the rebranding at that time, because we wanted to be it associated with the word “open.” We wanted to give the skills and experience-based certification a closer linkage to The Open Group. That’s why we changed from ITAC to Open CA. But, we’ve not changed the actual program itself. Candidates still have to create a certification package and be interviewed by three board members, and there are still three levels of certification: Certified, Master, and Distinguished.

However, what we’re intending to do is have some core requirements that architects need to meet, and then add some specific specializations for different types of architects. The one that we’ve been working on the most recently is the Business Architecture Certification. This came about from an initiative about 18 months ago.

We formed something called the Business Forum with a number of platinum members who got involved with it –companies like IBM, HP, SAP, Oracle and Capgemini. We’ve been defining the conformance requirements for the business architecture certification. It’s going through the development process and hopefully will be launched sometime later this year or early next year.

“For the first time we feel like management is paying attention to us.”

de Raeve: There’s a very good example [of the importance of staffing issues in IT] …, and they’ve done a presentation about this in one of our conferences. It’s Philips, and they used to have an IT workforce that was divided among the business units. The different businesses had their own IT function.

They changed that and went to a single IT function across the organization, providing services to the businesses. In doing so, they needed to rationalize things like grades, titles, job descriptions, and they were looking around for a framework within which they could do this and they evaluated a number of them.

They were working with a partner who wass helping them do this. The partner was an Open Group member and suggested they look at the Open Group’s IT Specialist Certification, the CITS Certification Program, as it provides a set of definitions for the capabilities and skills required for IT professionals. They picked it up and used it, because it covered the areas they were interested in.

This was sufficient and complete enough to be useful to them, and it was vendor neutral, and an industry best practice. So they could pick this up and use it with confidence. And that has been very successful. They initially benchmarked their entire 900 strong IT workforce against The Open Group definition, so they could get to calibrate themselves, where their people were on their journey through development as professionals.

It’s had a very significant impact in terms of not only enabling them to get a handle upon their people, but also in terms of their employee engagement.

They’ve started to embrace the certification programs as a method of not only measuring their people, but also rewarding them. It’s had a very significant impact in terms of not only enabling them to get a handle upon their people, but also in terms of their employee engagement. In the engagement surveys that they do with their staff, some of the comments they got back after they started doing this process were, “For the first time we feel like management is paying attention to us.”

It was very positive feedback, and the net result is that they are well on their way to meeting their goal of no longer having automatically to bring in an external service provider whenever they were dealing with a new project or a new topic. They know that they’ve got people with sufficient expertise in-house on their own payroll now. They’ve been able to recognize that capability, and the use of it has had a very positive effect. So it’s a very strong good story.

I think that the slides will be available to our members in the conference’s proceedings from the London conference in April. That will be worth something to look at.

Philp: If you go to the Open Group website, www.opengroup.org/certifications, all of the people based certifications are there, along with the benefits for individuals, benefits for organizations and various links to the appropriate literature. There’s also a lot of other useful things, like self-assessment tests, previous webinars, sample packages, etc. That will give you more of an idea of what’s required for certification along with the conformance requirements and other program documentation. There’s a lot of useful information on the website.

70-640 Exam

QUESTION 1
You work as the network administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a domain named
ABC.com. All servers on the ABC.com network run Windows Server 2008.
Only one Active-Directory integrated zone has been configured in the ABC.com domain. ABC.com
has requested that you configure DNS zone to automatically remove DNS records that are
outdated.
What action should you consider?

A. You should consider running the netsh /Reset DNS command from the Command prompt.
B. You should consider enabling Scavenging in the DNS zone properties page.
C. You should consider reducing the TTL of the SOA record in the DNS zone properties page.
D. You should consider disabling updates in the DNS zone properties page.

Answer: B

Explanation: In the scenario you should enable scavenging through the zone properties because
scavenging removes the outdated DNS records from the DNS zone automatically. You should
additionally note that patience would be required when enabling scavenging as there are some
safety valves built into scavenging which takes long to pop.

Reference: http://www.gilham.org/Blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=aab85845-88d2-4091-8088-
a6bbce0a4304&ID=211

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QUESTION 2
You work as the network administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a domain named
ABC.com. All servers on the ABC.com network run Windows Server 2008.
The ABC.com network has a server named ABC-SR15. You install the Active Directory
Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) on ABC-SR15.
Which of the following options can be used for the creation of new Organizational Units (OU’s) in
the application directory partition of the AD LDS?

A. You should run the net start command on ABC-SR15.
B. You should open the ADSI Edit Microsoft Management Console on ABC-SR15.
C. You should run the repadmin /dsaguid command on ABC-SR15.
D. You should open the Active Directory Users and Computers Console on ABC-SR15.

Answer: B

Explanation: You need to use the ADSI Edit snap-in to create new OUs in the AD LDS
application directory partition. You also need to add the snap-in in the Microsoft Management
Console (MMC).

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QUESTION 3
You work as the network administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a domain named
ABC.com. All servers on the ABC.com network run Windows Server 2008.
The ABC.com network has two domain controllers ABC-DC01 and ABC-DC02. ABC-DC01 suffers
a catastrophic failure but it is causing problems because it was configured to have Schema Master
Operations role. You log on to the ABC.com domain as a domain administrator but your attempts
to transfer the Schema Master Operations role to ABC-DC02 are unsuccessful.
What action should you take to transfer the Schema Master Operations role to ABC-DC02?

A. Your best option would be to have the dcpromo /adv command executed on ABC-DC02.
B. Your best option would be to have the Schema Master role seized to ABC-DC02.
C. Your best option would be to have Schmmgmt.dll registered on ABC-DC02.
D. Your best option would be to add your user account to the Schema Administrators group.

Answer: B

Explanation: To ensure that ABC-DC02 holds the Schema Master role you need to seize the
Schema Master role on ABC-DC02. Seizing the schema master role is a drastic step that should
be considered only if the current operations master will never be available again. So to transfer the
schema master operations role, you have to seize it on ABC-DC02.
Reference: http://technet2.microsoft.com/windowsserver/en/library/d4301a14-dd18-4b3c-a3ccec9a773f7ffb1033.
mspx?mfr=true

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QUESTION 4
You work as the network administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a single forest.
The forest functional level is set at Windows Server 2008.
The ABC.com network has a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database server named ABC-DB04 that
hosts the Active Directory Rights Management Service (AD RMS).
You try to access the Active Directory Rights Management Services administration website but
received an error message stating:
“SQL Server does not exist or access is denied.”
How can you access the AD RMS administration website?

A. You need to restart the Internet Information Server (IIS) service and the MSSQLSVC service on
ABC-DB04.
B. You need to install the Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) on ABC-DB04.
C. You need to reinstall the AD RMS instance on ABC-DB04.
D. You need to reinstall the SQL Server 2005 instance on ABC-DB04.
E. You need to run the DCPRO command on ABC-SR04

Answer: A

Explanation: You need to restart the internet information server (IIS) to correct the problem. The
starting of the MSSQULSVC service will allow you to access the database from AD RMS
administration website.

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QUESTION 5
You work as an enterprise administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a domain named
ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a Windows Server 2008 computer named ABC-SR03 that
functions as an Enterprise Root certificate authority (CA).
A new ABC.com security policy requires that revoked certificate information should be available for
examination at all times.
What action should you take adhere to the new policy?

A. This can be accomplished by having a list of trusted certificate authorities published to the
ABC.com domain.
B. This can be accomplished by having the Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) responder
implemented.
C. This can be accomplished by having the OCSP Response Signing certificate imported.
D. This can be accomplished by having the Startup Type of the Certificate Propagation service set
to Automatic.
E. This can be accomplished by having the computer account of ABC-SR03 added to the
PGCertificates group.

Answer: B

Explanation: You should use the network load balancing and publish an OCSP responder. This
will ensure that the revoked certificate information will be available at all times. You do not need to
download the entire CRL to check for revocation of a certificate; the OCSP is an online responder
that can receive a request to check for revocation of a certificate. This will also speed up certificate
revocation checking as well as reducing network bandwidth tremendously.

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QUESTION 6
You work as the network administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a domain named
ABC.com. All servers on the ABC.com network run Windows Server 2008.
You are responsible for managing two servers ABC-SR01 and ABC-SR02. They are setup with
the following configuration.
ABC-SR01 running Enterprise Root certificate authority (CA)
ABC-SR02 running Online Responder role service
Which of the steps must you perform for configuring the Online Responder to be supported on
ABC-SR01?

A. You should enable the Dual Certificate List extension on ABC-SR01.
B. You should ensure that ABC-SR01 is a member of the CertPublishers group.
C. You should import the OCSP Response Signing certificate to ABC-SR01.
D. You should enable the Authority Information Access (AIA) extension on ABC-SR01.
E. You should run the CERTSRV command on ABC-SR01.

Answer: D

Explanation: In order to configure the online responder role service on ABC-SR01 you need to
configure the AIA extension. The authority information access extension will indicate how to
access CA information and services for the issuer of the certificate in which the extension appears.
Information and services may include on-line validation services and CA policy data. This
extension may be included in subject or CA certificates, and it MUST be non-critical

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QUESTION 7
You work as the network administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a domain named
ABC.com. All servers on the ABC.com network run Windows Server 2008 and all client computers
run Windows Vista.
The ABC.com network has a client computer named ABC-WS640 that was last used six months
ago. During the course of the day you attempt to log on to ABC-WS640 but you are unable to
authenticate during the logon process.
What action should you consider in order to log on to ABC-WS640?

A. You should consider opening the command prompt on ABC-WS640 and running the netsh set
machine command.
B. You should consider opening the command prompt on ABC-WS640 and running the repadmin
command.
C. You should consider removing ABC-WS640 from the domain and then rejoining it.
D. You should consider deleting the computer account for ABC-WS640 in Active Directory Users
and Computers, and then recreate the computer account.

Answer: C

Explanation: In the scenario you should have the computer disjoined from the domain and
rejoined to the domain whilst having the computer account reset as well. You should additionally
note that the long inactivity caused the computer to stop responding to the authentication query
using the Active Directory records. You should note by disjoining and rejoining with the account
being reset would refresh the computer account passwords.

---

QUESTION 8
You work as an enterprise administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a forest with a
domain named ABC.com.
The ABC.com network has a Windows Server 2008 domain controller named ABC-DC01 that
hosts the Directory Services Recovery Mode (DSRM) role.
What would be the best option to take to have the DSRM password reset?

A. The best option is to open the Active Directory Security for Computers snap-in.
B. The best option is to run the ntdsutil command.
C. The best option is to run the Netsh command.
D. The best option is to open the Domain Controller security snap-in.

Answer: B

Explanation: You should use the ntdsutil utility to reset the DSRM password. You can use
Ntdsutil.exe to reset this password for the server on which you are working, or for another domain
controller in the domain. Type ntdsutil and at the ntdsutil command prompt, type set dsrm
password.
Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322672

---

QUESTION 9
You work as an enterprise administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a domain named
ABC.com. All servers on the ABC.com network run Windows Server 2008. ABC.com has two
offices Chicago and Dallas.
The network has the following setup.
Chicago Office – Domain Controller named ABC-DC01
Dallas Office – Read-Only Domain Controller named ABC-DC02
How can you make sure that Dallas Office users use only ABC-DC02 for authentication?

A. You should consider having ABC-DC02 configured as a bridehead server in the Dallas office.
B. You should consider installing and configuring the Password Replication Policy on ABC-DC02.
C. You should consider having ABC-DC01 configured as a bridehead server in the Chicago office.
D. You should consider installing and configuring the Password Replication Policy on ABC-DC01.
E. You should consider having the Global Catalog installed on ABC-DC01.

Answer: B

Explanation: You should use the Password Replication Policy on the RODC. This will allow the
users at the Dallas office to log on to the domain with RODC. RODCs don’t cache any user or
machine passwords.

---

QUESTION 10
You work as the network administrator at ABC.com. The ABC.com network has a domain named
intl.ABC.com. All servers on the ABC.com network run Windows Server 2008. The domain
controllers on the ABC.com domain are configured to function as DNS servers.
What action should you take to ensure that computers that are not part of the intl.ABC.com
domain are not able to dynamically register their DNS registration information in the intl.ABC.com zone?

A. You should consider removing the .(root) zone from the intl.ABC.com zone.
B. You should consider running the dnscmd /AgeAllRecords command.
C. You should consider configuring Secure Only dynamic updates.
D. You should consider configuring the intl.ABC.com zone as an Active Directory integrated zone.

Answer: C

Explanation: In order to ensure that only domain members are able to register their DNS records
dynamically you need to set the option Secure only for Dynamic updates. This will only allow the
domain members to register their DNS records dynamically.
Reference:
www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/cnet/cncf_imp_afpf.mspx

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Facebook strengthens multi-million dollar Diageo advertising deal

Facebook and Diageo, owner of multiple drinks brands, have strengthened their multi-million dollar advertising partnership.

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Diageo, owner of drinks brands including Baileys, Guinness, and Smirnoff, today announced plans to step-up its multi-million dollar partnership with Facebook. The deal shows Palo Alto’s desire to form closer ties with marketers.

The two companies want to focus on driving consumer engagement, especially in emerging markets. They will continue working together on their co-created experiments leveraging the full capability of Facebook’s platform. Facebook will also provide metrics to help Diageo track performance across its priority brands.

The relationship thus far has seen Diageo enjoy a strong return on advertising investment. Its five key brands in the US (Baileys, Captain Morgan, Crown Royal, Jose Cuervo Margaritas, and Smirnoff) showed a 20 percent increase in sales as a result of Diageo’s brands growing their collective fan base from 3.5 million Likes to 12 million Likes in the past 12 months. In the same time period, Smirnoff managed to become the number one beverage alcohol brand on Facebook worldwide.

As part of the new deal, Facebook will provide strategic consultancy to Diageo’s priority brands in its main creation hubs of New York, London, Amsterdam, Dublin, Sao Paulo, and Singapore. The social networking giant will develop consumer participation programmes it considers to be social. Diageo and its roster of agencies will work closely with Facebook teams from concept development, through campaign creation, to execution.

“Facebook has been a natural fit for us from day one,” Diageo chief marketing officer Andy Fennell said in a statement. “Working in such close collaboration will allow us to really maximize consumer participation at scale in our campaigns, particularly in emerging markets. We are already seeing real value from our work in this space. Over 950 Diageo marketers around the world have now been trained in Facebook boot camps to build their social media capabilities and we are seeing significant returns on investment across a number of brands. We expect this new way of working to deliver even more commercial value for Diageo.”

Fennell is joining Facebook’s client council, a 12-member group gives the social networking giant input on advertising and marketing. The client council’s first meeting is in New York on October 3.

“Diageo is an ideal partner because we see the world through the same lens – we put people at the center of everything we do,” Carolyn Everson, Facebook VP of Global Marketing Solutions, said in a statement. “Working closely together has delivered some amazing results and I’m looking forward to bringing to life some of the great things in the works across several of Diageo’s core brands.”

Microsoft and Steve Ballmer to kick off CES 2012

It's confirmed that he will head up the Microsoft keynote
Gary Shapiro, president of CES 2012, has confirmed that Steve Ballmer is to attend CES 2012 and head up what will be one of the biggest events at the show – the Microsoft keynote.

Ballmer is no stranger to CES, he was part of the 2011 and 2010 Microsoft keynotes, but both of these only hinted at what was to come with Microsoft.

This is why the CES 2012 keynote will be so important – we know that Windows 8 is coming but we need him to explain a lot more about the operating system and what to expect from the software which is said to bridge the gab between computers and mobile devices, touchscreen and keyboards.

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Latest initiatives

"We are pleased to welcome Microsoft back to the CES keynote stage," said Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of CEA.

"From mobile to desktop to gaming and beyond, Microsoft has a significant impact on all aspects of the consumer technology industry, and Steve Ballmer's keynote is a great way to kick off the exciting 2012 International CES.

"We are excited to hear Microsoft's latest initiatives and Ballmer's vision for where consumer technology is heading."

CES 2012 is set to kick off 2 January 2012 and will feature more than 2,700 tech companies showing of their wares – and many more journalists struggling with the balance of reporting on the show night life of Las Vegas… we, er, assume.

Microsoft closing in on Baidu Bing collaboration

Search tie-up in the Chinese pipeline

Microsoft is on the verge of signing a deal with Chinese search giant Baidu – which could give the US software giant’s Bing brand a major push in global search 70-640 Training ..

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Baidu is the dominant search engine in China, well ahead of Microsoft’s rival Google, and the US giant is keen to forge key links in one of the key growth regions in the world.

The terms of any deal remain under wraps, but the suggestion is that Baidu will take over the paid advertising on Ning’s Chinese site, while Bing results will be used for Baidu’s English language site.

Past agreement

It is not the first time these two companies have teamed up, with a strategic agreement in the past over paid search listings.

Google’s dominance of search has been a thorn in Microsoft’s side for a long time, and the huge investment in Bing has shown that the Redmond-based giant is prepared to splash the cash in order to compete.

In the US, Bing has had an impact on Google’s market, although that success story has not been replicated on a global scale.

The Chinese market makes a lot of sense for Microsoft, where Google’s relationship has been soured by its near-withdrawal over an attack on Gmail that left the search giant openly critical of the Chinese authorities.

Through that entire sequence of events Microsoft refused to get involved, maintaining a good relationship with the country Microsoft Free MCTS Training and MCTS Online Training.

There remains a good deal of controversy over the way in which the government in China expects search results to conform to its policies on restricting certain information.

Microsoft delivers new Internet Explorer 10 test build for Windows 8

Microsoft released a new developer preview of IE 10 this week for Windows 8 testers only. The new platform preview can work as a plug-in-free “Metro-style” app, or a Desktop app that still supports plug-ins.

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Microsoft released this week a new test version of its Internet Explorer (IE) 10 browser that is bundled with Windows 8: Platform Preview 3 (PP3).

Like previously released Platform Preview builds, the IE 10 PP3 is aimed at developers, not end user customers.

PP3 is accessible in Windows 8 in two ways: As a “Metro style” application and a Microsoft Desktop App, i.e., one that is part of the classic/legacy mode of Windows 8. (“Metro style” refers to an app that is designed to take advantage of the new tile user interface and supporting operating-system infrastructure in Windows 8.)

The Metro IE 10 PP3 release does not support any browser plug-ins and extensions — including Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. But Desktop App IE 10 PP3 does allow plug-ins and extensions.

Windows Chief Steven Sinofsky explained the distinction in a blog post this week. From that post:

“In Windows 8, IE 10 is available as a Metro style app and as a desktop app. The desktop app continues to fully support all plug-ins and extensions. The HTML5 and script engines are identical and you can easily switch between the different frame windows if you’d like.”

The Metro version of IE 10, because it doesn’t support plug-ins and extensions, “improves battery life as well as security, reliability, and privacy for consumers,” according to the blog post.

Microsoft is advising Windows 8 customers who need to access consumer sites and line of business applications that require legacy ActiveX controls to use IE 10 in the Desktop App to get to these sites.

Microsoft did not update this week the IE 10 test build that works on Windows 7 and Windows Vista. That version of IE 10 is still at the PP2 milestone. Microsoft officials said that a PP3 update for Vista and Windows 7 users would be released “at a future date.”

The PP3 version IE10 includes support for CSS Text Shadow, CSS 3D Transforms, CSS3 Transitions and Animations, CSS3 Gradient, SVG Filter Effects, HTML5 Forms and more. It also supports better offline application support via local storage with IndexedDB and the HTML5 Application Cache, as well as Web Sockets, HTML5 History, Async scripts, HTML5 File APIs, HTML5 Drag-drop, HTML5 Sandboxing, Web workers, ES5 Strict mode support.

Microsoft also updated its IE Test Drive site, as of this week, to be “touch-friendly,” and added some new multi-touchable demos like Particle Acceleration, Lasso Birds, and Touch Effects.

Microsoft Office Web Apps review

Microsoft Office Web Apps lacks many of its offline counterpart's most useful features

For Microsoft, offering a free version of Office to anyone with a Live ID account is more than a bit of a gamble, so it's not too surprising that the Office Web Apps built into Skydrive aren't exactly direct competitors to their offline counterparts.

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Excel WebApp, for instance, lets you put together basic spreadsheets and graphs just like the regular version, but a quick glance at the toolbar compared to the full applications' Ribbon makes it clear just how little you can do in comparison, and how few time-saving features are on offer to help you do it.

For simple spreadsheets though, it's fine, which is more than can be said for the online version of Word. This gives you a genuinely horrible editor to work with, forcing you to type into a full-width text box.

You can switch to a more traditional view for reading files and see how your document will look when printed out, but only via a read-only preview called 'Reading Mode'. This is truly dire.

Proper margins and maximum line lengths make writing far more comfortable, to say nothing of giving you a much better idea of how much you've written and how many pages you're using.

The online version of Word looks especially bad when you fire up OneNote WebApp – Office Web Apps' diamond in the rough. Here, the simplicity works in its favour, making it easy to create an online notebook and fill it with text, images and more, from a very comfortable editing window that Word should be using.

We like OneNote a lot, and this version – while cut down – is good enough to save most people the cost of the full product.

Cisco launches new routers aimed at wireless carriers

For carriers, Cisco is pitching its wireless network routers as a way to speed up IPv6 migrations, improve returns on investment and make service management easier.

Cisco on Monday rolled out a new set of routers designed to allow wireless carriers to deploy mobile services more easily.

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With the move, Cisco is aiming at Alcatel Lucent, which is a major player in wireless networking gear and betting heavily on low power and its new processors. In addition, Juniper is also targeting wireless network providers. Cisco’s routers are installed at more than 500 service providers globally, including Comcast, NTT Plala, PCCW in Hong Kong, China Telecom and Tata Communications.

These telecom equipment makers are chasing carriers that are likely to struggle to keep up with traffic. Cisco estimates that there will be two network connections for every person in the world.

Cisco called its latest wireless effort the Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers Systems. The idea behind the collective platform is to allow carriers to deliver mobile, video and data services faster.

Specifically, Cisco introduced three wireless service provider offerings:

ASR 901 is a cell site router designed for 2G, 3G and 4G services.
ASR 903, an Ethernet access router for mobile applications.
ASR 9001, a smaller version of the ASR 9000 edge router.

These products run on Cisco’s network virtualization, which mixes various parts of a network into one 96 Tbps system, as well as the company’s mobile framework.

For carriers, Cisco is pitching its wireless network routers as a way to speed up IPv6 migrations, improve returns on investment and make service management easier.

Cisco launches new routers aimed at wireless carriers

For carriers, Cisco is pitching its wireless network routers as a way to speed up IPv6 migrations, improve returns on investment and make service management easier.

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Cisco on Monday rolled out a new set of routers designed to allow wireless carriers to deploy mobile services more easily.

With the move, Cisco is aiming at Alcatel Lucent, which is a major player in wireless networking gear and betting heavily on low power and its new processors. In addition, Juniper is also targeting wireless network providers. Cisco’s routers are installed at more than 500 service providers globally, including Comcast, NTT Plala, PCCW in Hong Kong, China Telecom and Tata Communications.

These telecom equipment makers are chasing carriers that are likely to struggle to keep up with traffic. Cisco estimates that there will be two network connections for every person in the world.

Cisco called its latest wireless effort the Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers Systems. The idea behind the collective platform is to allow carriers to deliver mobile, video and data services faster.

Specifically, Cisco introduced three wireless service provider offerings:

ASR 901 is a cell site router designed for 2G, 3G and 4G services.
ASR 903, an Ethernet access router for mobile applications.
ASR 9001, a smaller version of the ASR 9000 edge router.

These products run on Cisco’s network virtualization, which mixes various parts of a network into one 96 Tbps system, as well as the company’s mobile framework.

For carriers, Cisco is pitching its wireless network routers as a way to speed up IPv6 migrations, improve returns on investment and make service management easier.

The top 10 geek sins that will get your geek card revoked

Here are 10 of the worst transgressions for any geek. Doing any one of these will put your geek credentials at risk. Do two of them and your geek card immediately gets revoked.

TechRepublic has previously talked about some of the things you can do to increase your geek cred. Naturally, there are also some things that can hurt your geek cred. In fact, we’ve put together a list of 10 of the worst transgressions for any geek. Doing any one of these will put your geek credentials at risk. Do two of them and your geek card immediately gets revoked.

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10. Admitting that you like iTunes

Sure, it’s convenient for buying music and media in one place and syncing it to an iPod or iPhone, but iTunes has a draconian DRM system (still in place for media), makes it difficult to manage your library on multiple systems, and it started out as one of the worst pieces of bloatware ever built. And, it hasn’t gotten much better.

9. Not knowing the difference between binary and hexadecimal

Binary is the basis of all computing and is simply composed of zeros and ones. Hexadecimal is a 16-digit numeric system — based on numbers 0-9 and letters A-F — that represents binary in a more friendly way. Know the difference.

8. Not knowing what MMORPG stands for

Even if you don’t play games (or rarely play) you should know that an MMORPG is a “massively multiplayer online role-playing game,” also known as the alternate reality for geeks. The biggest one is World of Warcraft (WoW), a cultural phenomenon with over 12 million subscribers.

7. Loving your cable or telecom company

Geeks built the Internet. Geeks live on the Internet. Geeks love the Internet. However, the companies that bring us the Internet to our homes and offices — the telecoms and cable companies — are doing everything they can to wall it off, manipulate it for their own financial gain, and stop geeks from using it so much. For as long as they do that, they will remain at war with the geekosphere.

6. Not knowing the name of the book that Blade Runner was based on

Blade Runner is one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time. If you’re a true geek, you’ve seen it multiple times. But, not only that, you also know that it’s based on Philip K. Dick’s “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” which is one of the best-titled stories in all of literature and an absolute classic in science fiction.

5. Confusing Star Wars and Star Trek

If someone mentions a Wookie and a Klingon and you’re not sure which one was part of the Star Wars universe and which one belongs to the Star Trek milieu, you are definitely not a geek.

4. Believing the “free” in open source refers to price

Repeat after me, “Open source does not mean it doesn’t cost anything.” Sure, some open source software is freely available to download at no cost. But, that’s not a requirement of open source. There is plenty of open source software that requires a fee. When open source talks about “free” software, they are referring to “free” as in “freedom.” It is freedom from overreaching licensing agreements. You’ll also hear this concept referred to as “Gratis verses Libre.”

3. Defending Facebook for its privacy transgressions

Look, Facebook is lucky the entire geekosphere hasn’t dropped it like a bad habit after all of the crap they’ve pulled in changing and violating their own lackluster privacy policies. Leo Laporte nearly led a geek revolt out of Facebook in May 2010. The only thing that prevented it was lack of a viable alternative.

2. Taking something into Geek Squad to get fixed

Best Buy’s Geek Squad has a few legitimate geeks on staff; however, too many of their technicians are completely clueless and can do more harm than good to your equipment. Besides, if you’re geek, just geek-up, open up the case, and fix it yourself. (Exception: It’s acceptable to go to the Geek Squad counter to exchange a DOA device that is still under warranty. Just don’t let us catch you asking for advice.)

1. Buying a paper computer book at Barnes & Noble

In 1999, if you wanted to quickly learn more about HTML or Exchange 5.5 or Apache or how to earn CCNA certification, you’d typically make a quick trip to your nearest book superstore like Barnes & Noble or Borders and comb through the huge selection of computer books. However, this is 2010. Any computer book you find at a bookstore is at least six months out of date. Almost everything you need to know is available on the web for free or in ebook format that you can quickly download to your laptop or tablet. Buying a dead-tree tome about a new technology is an immediate tip-off that your geek credentials are in question.

Microsoft to users -- the Windows 8 ribbon is here to stay

Ever since Microsoft revealed that the ribbon interface is coming to Windows 8, Microsoft has faced plenty of criticism and complaints. But Windows chief Steven Sinofsky says that employing the ribbon in Windows 8 makes a lot of sense, and it's here to stay.

Last week Microsoft showed off a ribbonized version of the Windows Explorer file manager for Windows 8. Alex Simons, director of program management for Microsoft, wrote in his blog that use of the ribbon will "allow us to create an optimized file manager where commands would have reliable, logical locations in a streamlined experience."

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That was followed by a blog from Windows and Windows Live President Steven Sinofsky providing more details about the Windows 8 interface, including how the ribbon and the tile-like Metro interface will co-exist.

Sinofsky got plenty of feedback about the ribbon on his blog, most of it negative. And now Sinofsky has replied to that feedback in another blog post, and he makes clear that while he understand why some people might not be happy about the ribbon, it's here to stay. He writes:

"We have taken into account many of the criticisms we were certain would surface [about the ribbon]. We chose the ribbon mechanism, and to those that find that a flawed choice, there isn't much we can do other than disagree. We were certain, and this proved out, that the dislike of the ribbon is most intense in the audience of this blog. Said dislike, we assumed, would produce a high level of commentary, much the way some topics during Windows 7 blogging did. That assumption was correct."

First of all, kudos to Sinofsky for addressing criticisms directly, and not being mealy-mouthed about it. It's refreshing to see a technology executive be so direct and clear, and to engage directly with his critics. His response to the criticism is a ideal use of a corporate blog.

Sinofsky is absolutely on target when he says that criticism of the ribbon is more intense on the blog than elsewhere. As a veteran tech blogger, I can vouch that no matter what you write, negative comments will almost always outweigh positive ones, and that comments on a blog do not necessarily reflect the views of most people, or even most of the readers of the blog.

Beyond that, he's flat-out right about the ribbon. The ribbon in Office, for example, makes for a productive experience, putting many commands and features within easy reach while using very little real estate. Applying it to Windows Explorer and other Windows 8 apps makes sense and will make it a better operating system.

Cloud computing employed at one-third of small and medium businesses: study

Survey confirms that small businesses are the most natural place for public cloud adoption.

When talking about public cloud and Software as a Service, the most natural market is small to medium-size businesses. (Defined as companies with fewer than 500 employees). Larger organizations are more likely to have bigger IT departments, and many of their own resources.

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Sure enough, a new survey finds that cloud adoption among SMBs is pretty fast and furious.

Nearly one-third of small to medium-size businesses have adopted cloud computing technology, with medium-sized businesses (42%) showing the highest utilization, a new study from the CompTIA industry trade group finds. Another 35% of all SMBs plan to use the cloud in some form in the next year.

Presumably, they’re talking about accessing public cloud solutions from third party suppliers.

The CompTIA survey found that storage and backup solutions are the most heavily used cloud applications, with 71% of SMBs using the cloud in this way. Email (62%), document management (59%), collaboration (56%) and customer relationship management (53%) are other popular options.

Among SMBs now using cloud computing, 92% of firms say their experience has been “positive or very positive”; and 97% report that their move to the cloud “has produced the desired result, with cost and flexibility most frequently cited as the benefits of a cloud solution.”

In addition, seven out of ten of the SMBs surveyed said they expect to increase their technology spending over the next 12 months, and one-third of the companies surveyed expect to increase their IT budget by 10 percent or more.

Google+ Tips: 4 Tools to Boost Your Social Networking Experience

Getting the hang of Google+ and looking for more? Check out these four Google+ tools that let you easily upload photos in bulk, find new people to follow, translate posts and more.

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CIO — While rumors continue to swirl about when the Google+ API will be released to developers, that's not stopping some people from getting in on the Google+ action.

Whether you're just starting out on Google+ or consider yourself an advanced user, more and more Google+ enhancements and add-ons are popping up across the Web.

Here's a look at four new ones that do everything from streamlining bulk photo-uploading to helping you increase your network reach.

1. Google+ Photo Importer for iPhone
If you store your photos on multiple sites such as Facebook, Flickr, Instagram or Photobucket, there's a new download available in the Apple App Store that lets you upload 100 photos in less than a minute to your Google+ account. This tool is especially handy if you plan on shifting your social networking focus to Google+.

The Google Plus Photo Importer by Dropico costs 99 cents, and while uploads I tested generally took longer than the advertised 60 seconds, it was still impressively fast.

10 Google+ tips for Beginners
Google+ Privacy: 5 Settings You Need to Know

2. Find People on Google+
Looking for more connections on Google+? While its own search feature only lets you find people by name, you can dig a bit deeper to find groups of people with certain characteristics at FindPeopleOnPlus.

Here, you can not only search for people by name, but you can also search by profession, location, relationship status, gender, education, employer, occupation and more, which makes growing your network and tailoring it to your needs a lot easier.

You can also choose to add yourself to its directory. This will keep your FindPeopleOnPlus profile updated and in-synch with your Google+ profile.

3. PlusClout
Akin to Klout.com, a site that measures your social media influence, PlusClout measures the influence a user has on Google+ and rates it from 0 to 100.

When you visit the site, PlusClout will ask you to insert your Google+ ID in order to generate your score. Your ID is the string of numbers that appear in the URL of your profile page.

PlusClout says that while its formula is still evolving, right now it calculates your number based on 15 million public Google+ profiles and items shared, such as posts, comments, +1s, the number of followers you have and the frequency and volume of information sharing.

You can also browse people with the highest PlusClout in categories such as bloggers, designers, entrepreneurs and the most-followed users on Google+. Click on any of these names and you will see their current PlusClout score, a graph of their score over the last five days, and websites associated with that person.
4. Google Translate for Google+

If you want to connect with people from around the world but find that language is a barrier, this is a must-download Google Chrome extension.

Google Translate for Google+ is a powerful tool that inserts a button into your Google+ streams, letting you quickly interpret a chunk of foreign text.

The real history of Java and Android, as told by Google

The ongoing legal battle between Google and Oracle is complicated. My ZDNet colleague Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is eager to step up to Google’s defense, but his “history” is incomplete and inaccurate. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what Google’s own lawyers have to say.

My ZDNet colleague Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols is eager to step up to Google’s defense in the company’s legal battle with Oracle.

To that end, he has written “A Google Android and Java history lesson” that attempts to debunk some of the issues I raised in my post last night about the latest documents filed in that case.

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Here’s the thing about history, though. In order to write it, you have to start with facts. And I hate to say it, but Steven just plain has his facts wrong.

Don’t take my word for it, either. I’ll let Google’s own defense attorneys dismantle Steven’s flawed history.

Here’s what Steven writes:

Recently, some people were shocked-shocked I tell you-to discover that Google had looked at Java to help create Android’s Dalvik …

First, there’s the accusation that Android used Java code in creating its Dalvik virtual machine (VM). This is news? When Android first came out, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz, then Java’s owner, greeted the news of Android’s birth with “heartfelt congratulations.”

Oh, by the way, anyone could look, use, and, yes, copy Java’s code too. You see, Sun had open-sourced Java under the GPLv2 in November 2006. Sun wanted Google and anyone else to use and copy its code. That’s kind of the whole point of open-sourcing a program don’t you know.

Oh dear. If this is true, then how on earth did this lawsuit ever get past the first day?

Perhaps because virtually none of that history actually matches up with the facts. The following quotations are taken, verbatim, from Google Inc.’s Answer to Oracle’s Amended Complaint. (I’ve bold-faced the interesting parts.) If you want to follow along, please turn to pages 16 and 17. And remember, this is what Google’s lawyers said. This isn’t an accusation by Oracle or a loose summary by some blogger:

[I]n response to the urging of open-source advocates and in the hopes of increasing the number of Java users, Sun officially announced that Java would become open-source. In 2006 and 2007, Sun released some but not all of the source code for Java SE (as well as the other editions of the Java Platform) under the terms of the GNU Public License, version 2 (“GPLv2”) open source license. This open-source aspect of Java contributed to its widespread acceptance among software developers.

So, Sun released some, but not all of the source code? That might change things…

Google’s lawyers even criticize Sun and its successor Oracle America for not being open enough:

Only two months later, in April of 2009, Oracle Corp. announced that it would be acquiring Sun (renamed Oracle America after the acquisition was completed in January of 2010). Since that time, and directly contrary to Oracle Corp.’s public actions and statements, as well as its own proposals as an executive member of the JCP, Oracle Corp. and Sun (now Oracle America) have ignored the open source community’s requests to fully open-source the Java platform.

Let’s continue:

Sun also released the specifications for Sun’s Java platform, including Sun’s Java virtual machine, under a free-of-charge license… [links here and here] The license allows developers to create “clean room” implementations of Sun’s Java specifications. If those implementations demonstrate compatibility with the Java specification, then Sun would provide a license for any of its intellectual property needed to practice the specification, including patent rights and copyrights.

So, no, that part about anyone being able to “look, use, and, yes, copy Java’s code too”? Not true. In fact, there’s the crux of the copyright case. If it were really permissible to simply copy the Sun/Oracle code, Google’s lawyers would be able to raise a big middle finger as their primary defense. Instead, this is what they argue on page 12 of their Answer:

The Android Platform, including the Android operating system, the Android Software Development Kit and the Dalvik Virtual Machine, was created independently and without reference to any works protected by the Asserted Copyrights.

They had to say that, of course. The definition of a “clean room” implementation is that the engineers writing the code have no direct exposure to the original, copyrighted material, incuding code, specifications, and other documentation. Here’s the Wikipedia definition, which is consistent with the claims in this case:

Clean room design is useful as a defense against copyright and trade secret infringement because it relies on independent invention. However, because independent invention is not a defense against patents, clean room designs typically cannot be used to circumvent patent restrictions.

The term implies that the design team works in an environment that is ‘clean’, or demonstrably uncontaminated by any knowledge of the proprietary techniques used by the competitor.

That’s a problem for Google, as I noted in yesterday’s post, because there is substantial evidence that the engineers working on the project had direct access to the copyrighted material. A number of Google employees and contractors who worked on Android previously had access to Sun’s Java code. One, Joshua Bloch, “was an architect of the Java platform at Sun [and] now works for Google … his name appears in the source code of several Java library files.” The copyrighted documentation was available to the so-called “clean room” engineers. That spells trouble for Google.

And even if Google followed those procedures, they were not guaranteed to succeed. Once again, I quote from Google’s own defense team:

The only way to demonstrate compatibility with the Java specification is by meeting all of the requirements of Sun’s Technology Compatibility Kit (“TCK”) for a particular edition of Sun’s Java. Importantly, however, TCKs were only available from Sun, initially were not available as open source, were provided solely at Sun’s discretion, and included several restrictions, such as additional licensing terms and fees. In essence, although developers were free to develop a competing Java virtual machine, they could not openly obtain an important component needed to freely benefit from Sun’s purported open-sourcing of Java.

Those were impossible restrictions for Google. As Professor John C. Mitchell noted in his expert report, filed under oath and made public earlier this week:

Developers creating compatible, independent implementations can obtain a license from Oracle on these or similar terms. Google could have entered into a license such as this, but chose not to. Google’s Android is not a complete implementation, without subsetting or supersetting. In addition, I understand that Android has not passed the relevant Java compatibility test suites that would check for and ensure total compatibility and Google has not attempted to complete this process. As Android founder and chief Andy Rubin wrote, “They [Sun] will never certify our VM, or put another way, I will not submit Dalvik for certification.” (GOOGLE-01-00026813.) Of course, there is no sense in submitting Android for certification — because it is intentionally incompatible, it would fail.

Microsoft’s 5 biggest weaknesses 2

Search, mobile devices, the Web and even the desktop represent challenges for Redmond
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Arguing that Windows is a weakness takes some work. Really, it is a potential weakness, but an important one because it is also Microsoft’s greatest strength. The 80% to 90% market share Windows holds on desktops and laptops is the reason Microsoft has direct access to most of the personal computing users on Earth, so even small percentage drops in sales are problematic. Windows 7 has sold more than 400 million copies, but revenue declined 2% in the fiscal year that ended June 30.

While Windows 8 will be optimized for both PCs and tablets, Microsoft is holding off on any big announcements regarding the next OS until the BUILD conference in mid-September.

“With a $32 billion chunk of Microsoft’s business (Windows Client and Office combined) dependent upon Windows 8′s long-term success, it is a fair statement that Windows 8 may well be one of the biggest bets any company has made in a long time,” Gillen writes in a new IDC paper titled “Getting Back in the Game: Can Windows 8 Reverse Microsoft’s Position?”

There have been various arguments that the PC is dead, but a more accurate description comes from 41-year IBM veteran Irving Wladawsky-Berger, who says the PC is the new mainframe: still profitable, but no longer the center of innovation.

Innovation is happening in cloud computing, and smartphones and tablets. With Microsoft struggling to gain any foothold in mobile devices, the biggest immediate danger to the Windows franchise is that smartphone and tablet buyers will delay the purchases of their next PCs.

It’s hard to imagine large segments of the population doing without PCs entirely, but someone who spends hours each day with a smartphone or tablet might wait five to seven years to buy a new desktop or laptop. The 10-year-old Windows XP is still the most widely used version of Windows, after all. And as more people buy Androids, iPhones and iPads, Microsoft’s share of all Internet-connected devices will erode.

“All the competitors would like to have you think that next year Microsoft hits the wall and the PC business is cut in half,” Gillen says. “That is not what’s going to happen. What is happening is we have a proliferation of other devices that are competing with Windows for mindshare. But at the end of the day, users, especially business users, need PCs.”

Microsoft should position the PC as the hub for all other devices to connect to, from phones to television sets. The company should also consider building more software for non-Microsoft platforms, if it wants users to interact with Microsoft software no matter which device they are using. One key change Microsoft is embracing is the ARM chip architecture, popular in mobile devices and which Windows will now support in addition to Intel x86 processors.

One rumor is that Microsoft and hardware partners will build an ARM-powered laptop with a removable screen that becomes a tablet when separated from the keyboard. One Microsoft advantage is that all the rich applications running on Windows will be available to tablets. But Microsoft will need a user interface that is a compelling alternative to the simplicity of the iPad, and provide strong battery life and quick if not instant startup time Microsoft Free MCTS Training and MCTS Online Training..

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Computerworld – Age bias: Some consider it IT’s dirty little secret, or even IT’s big open secret.

As he got older, he moved less and stayed in positions longer, but always took care to keep his skills fresh, moving from mainframes to VMS to his current specialty, servers. “I say every 10 years it’s time to retool,” he explains. “I keep trying to learn as much as I can, otherwise you become a dinosaur.”

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Even so, Ayr acknowledges that the climate begins to change as the years of experience add up. He tells the story of being passed over for a job several years ago in favor of a candidate who had nearly the exact same credentials as he did but was 20 years younger.

“I ran into the guy a couple months later at a users’ group meeting, and I asked him right up front what kind of money they were paying him. The bottom line is, he was willing to work for less. That’s what happens.”

“I was always the youngest person wherever I went; now I’m one of the oldest,” Ayr says. “You still picture yourself as the 30-year-old hotshot, but the reality is you’re not that guy anymore.”

Older workers by the numbers

What do we know about the aging workforce in the United States, and about older tech workers in particular?

For starters, more older Americans are remaining in the workforce. Last year, the percentage of people age 55 and older in the workforce reached 40%, its highest level in 35 years, according to a study published in February 2011 by the Employee Benefit Research Institute. And that’s after the 2008-2009 recession, when many older workers lost their jobs.
More Older Americans Are Working
Year Labor participation rate
of workers 55 and older
1975 34.6%
1993 29.4%
2010 40.2%
Source: Employee Benefit Research Institute analysis of the U.S. Census Bureau’s data on labor-force participation

But are older IT professionals remaining in the workforce? Hard numbers are difficult to find; the data that is available is sparse and sometimes inconsistent. Studies of older workers rarely break out their results by profession. Recruiting firms offer data on hiring, and sometimes salaries, by profession, but typically don’t break it down by age.

Other studies track unemployment, but not by age or profession — so it’s difficult to know how many older tech workers want work but can’t find it. The picture is further muddied when companies outsource and offshore IT jobs, as well as import workers through the H-1B and other visa programs, which could displace U.S. workers, including older employees.

Add the fact that a segment of IT professionals voluntarily bails out at a certain age, either for another career or to start their own business, and you can see why researchers find the topic difficult to quantify.

One set of data that does bring several of these factors together comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The agency released numbers in early 2011 that show that older IT workers have higher rates of unemployment than both younger IT workers and older workers in other professions. (Article continues on next page.)
U.S. unemployment rates
2009-2010
25-54 yrs. 55+ yrs. All 16+
2009 2010 2009 2010 2009 2010
Total population 8.2 8.5 6.5 7.0 8.6 8.9
All professional 4.2 4.1 4.3 4.6 4.4 4.5
All computer & math 5.1 4.5 6.0 8.4 5.2 5.2
Architecture & engineering 6.2 5.2 9.9 9.4 6.9 6.2
Life, physical, social science 4.3 4.2 4.0 5.5 4.5 4.6
Community & social service 3.8 4.7 4.3 2.9 4.3 4.6
Legal 3.6 2.7 2.8 2.3 3.4 2.7
Education, training, library 3.8 4.1 3.7 3.6 4.1 4.2
Health 2.3 2.3 2.1 2.7 2.3 2.5
Arts, entertainment, sports, media 8.0 8.1 7.4 8.4 8.4 8.9

Male all 9.1 9.2 7.0 7.7 9.7 9.8
Male professional 4.5 4.3 4.6 5.1 4.8 4.9
Male computer & math 5.1 4.3 4.9 8.0 5.1 5.1

Female all 7.0 7.6 6.0 6.2 7.4 7.9
Female professional 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.1 4.2 4.2
Female computer & math 5.2 5.1 8.9 9.4 5.7 5.7
Rates are percentage of total workers in each category. Data comes from the federal Current Population Survey of about 50,000 U.S. households conducted monthly. Margin of error for these demographic slices was unavailable Microsoft Free MCTS Training and MCTS Online Training. Workers are counted in a profession’s unemployment pool only if their previous job was in that field and if they’ve been in the workforce within the past few years, thus factoring out both new graduates and those who have been out of the workforce for some time.