In my travels recently (which explains the paucity of blog entries) I have noticed a lot of organizations seem to be struggling with Microsoft’s Key Management Services (KMS). Today I’ll briefly cover the technology and how it can help your business.
What is it?
Microsoft KMS is a service that companies who have volume licensing agreements for their Microsoft Products can activate installed copies of their software.
What’s covered?
As of this writing, KMS covers all volume licensing editions of Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Office 2010.
Read the rest of this entry »
Cloud computing has some strong elements, but be mindful of your legal exposure. Having your business information stored on the cloud does not appear to afford the same legal protection as storing it on your office PC.
IT has a history of latching onto hot trends and buzzwords, and the latest is no different: cloud computing. Let me first say that it’s an exciting concept, but not necessarily a new one. While it has evolved over the years, it’s had a number of names that date back to the early days of IT and MIS. Here’s a few you might have heard in previous decades: application service provider, hosted service provider, network computing, time-sharing, multitenancy. All of these are variations on the same theme – someone else hosts the system or application, the client using the system pays for only the portion they use, without the overhead expense of maintaining the infrastructure.
Read the rest of this entry »
