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Make the Cloud Work for You:

Microsoft Exchange & SharePoint Transcript of original session on February 25, 2010

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About the Live Chat

Chat with the experts on cloud services from Microsoft to learn how you can reduce costs and streamline

your IT with enterprise-class communication and collaboration services. With Exchange Online and

SharePoint Online you can connect everyone on your team, without costly deployments and time-

consuming maintenance. Join the Live Chat to find out how these products from Microsoft can add value

and flexibility to the way you do business.

About Brett Hill

I’ve been with Microsoft about 5 years now. Originally hired as the IIS 7 Technical Evangelist as I used to

write and teach IIS content exclusively and was a regular author for Windows IT Pro Magazine where I

still write sometimes, that position morphed into supporting the production of technical content for

Partners related to Business Productivity Online Suite. In this role, I work with Engineering, the BPOS

Marketing Team and Worldwide Partner Groups inside Microsoft in order to produce and deliver training

and technical content about BPOS. Most of the content is available online at the Partner Learning

Center or at Quickstartonlineservices.com. The rest you can find on Technet. It’s a lot of fun working in

the heart of this big shift to cloud and I consider myself lucky to be involved with initial launch of

Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite.

About Dharmesh Singh

Dharmesh Singh is a Principal Program Manager for Community in the Business Online Services

Engineering team since the inception of Business Online Productivity Suite almost 3 yrs. ago. In this role

he is responsible for driving adoption of BPOS in the SMB segment and driving feedback from customers

and partners into the engineering teams Prior to this role Dharmesh was a Technology Strategy

Consultant working with customers and partners across SMB and Enterprise segments of Microsoft in

the US and globally.

About Microsoft

Microsoft® SharePoint® Online offers enterprise companies and organizations a flexible, Web-based

solution that includes tools and services to help users manage information and collaborate effectively.

This Microsoft hosted solution provides users the ability to easily create and manage custom team- and

project-focused sites for collaboration and personal productivity. Microsoft handles setup, provisioning,

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ongoing maintenance and upgrades. This reduces the IT workload and frees IT staff to work on core

strategic initiatives that can help move the business forward.

Microsoft® Exchange Online, a Microsoft-hosted enterprise messaging service, helps deliver the

messaging protection companies demand and the access employees want. Exchange Online leverages

Microsoft products, best practices developed with customers and partners, and experience operating

Microsoft internal corporate messaging to deliver a world-class, mission-critical service. Microsoft

handles setup, provisioning, ongoing maintenance and upgrades, reducing the IT team’s workload and

freeing resources to focus on core strategic initiatives that move the business forward.

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Moderator: Thank you for joining today’s chat. We will be starting in a few minutes...

Dharmesh: Great

Moderator: Vanessa: hi, i need the #

Moderator: Hello, everyone. Thank you for participating in the Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint

Online chat today. My name is Kyle. As the Moderator of this chat session, I’m here to facilitate the flow

of questions and ideas between today’s presenter and all participating members.

Moderator: Before we get started, please introduce yourself with your name, title and location.

Reena: Hi this is Reena. I am a product manager in AZ.

clarkmaintainer: My name is Clark, IT Specialist, Iowa

jdlmodelt: James D. Lane, Electrical Engineer, (process controls) Durango, Colorado

jdlmodelt: Thanks, I'm new to this topic so my participation will be a bit passive. James

Moderator: Thank you for your introductions.

Moderator: There is one last introduction before we get started. . I would like to introduce our guest

speakers.

Brett Hill: Hi all, this is Brett Hill, I work on the BPOS team here at Microsoft in partner technical

readiness. BPOS is Business Productivity Online Suite and includes SharePoint Online, Exchange

Online, Live Meeting and Office Communicator online

Dharmesh: Hi - This is Dharmesh here. I am a Principal Program Manager here in the BPOS team. I

have worked with Microsoft in various international locations and am looking forward to chatting with all

of you and answering your questions.

pranit: Pranit shah: SharePoint consultant, L&T Infotech, Southfield, MI

Brett Hill: FYI, my particular focus is technical so if you have technical questions, please ask away.

Moderator: Now that we know one another a little better, let’s chat about Microsoft Exchange and

SharePoint Online.

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jessiemaske: Jessie: Software Trainer, I have been presented with a challenge, a great one. I must

teach a seminar on SharePoint 2007 Design in May 2010. I am needing to know as much as possible, as

a side not I am looking=g for advanced training in March in Illinois or MO, any info would be vital.

Thanks

Moderator: Please submit your questions at this time.

Brett Hill: SharePoint design is a big topic. This chat is focused on SharePoint Online. You can design

sites in SharePoint online using SharePoint Designer but are limited with some capabilities such as

template scope and embedding server side code

Brett Hill: For SharePoint design information, there are many online resources about how to

build/customize SharePoint sites

sharepointuser: If someone gets stand SharePoint, and doesn't have Exchange, how does he make it

all work?

Brett Hill: You can purchase Exchange Online stand alone if you wish. The key to "making it all work" is

what is "all" to you. You need to understand the differences between Exchange Online and Exchange

Onpremise as while they are based on the same technology we don’t have the full features set available

online due to the multi tenant architecture of the system That said, you can certainly use Exchange

Online and SharePoint on premise together but will not have all the benefits of an integrated identify

system for example.

Derek: If my company already has MS Exchange and SharePoint already established "in house", what

advantages are there in migrating/augmenting with MS Exchange and/or SharePoint Online?

Dharmesh: It’s a great question Derek. What we are seeing is that email and collaboration are critical

business applications, however they do not give an org competitive advantage since running an email

platform is not core to most business. if you host it - we run it, host it and we will manage all upgrades

allowing you to focus on what you need to do most--- manage your business

Jan_Gremmen: I know about some advantages but can you also tell me what is NOT possible working

with SharePoint Online what IS possible working with local stuff

Brett Hill: Jan, regarding SharePoint Online, you can find a good descriptions of the capabilities in the

service description in microsoft.com/online

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Brett Hill: Jan, for example - SPO does not allow you to run custom code in the cloud.

pranit: i am new to cloud. Can you please tell where does cloud fit in the overall enterprise

environment?

lloydglin: i'm kind of new on this one and very interested on this topic. please give us some basic

introductions on this one.

Brett Hill: Anyone can get a 30 day free trial at mocp.microsoftonline.com

Dharmesh: BPOS is a collaboration suite - It provides email, document collaboration, Web meeting,

Archiving and filtering in the cloud. These are enterprise offerings offered from the cloud. You will see a

cloud component for all existing enterprise offerings over time

Jan_Gremmen: Is there a simple way to test SharePoint Online without being a gold partner or reseller

or something like this

Brett Hill: (see above answer)

jknausdorf: What are the key differences with BPOS vs. hostes Exchange & SharePoint from other 3rd

party providers? In other words when and why would I use a 3rd party provider vs. Microsoft who's rates

are much lower.

Brett Hill: As a note to all: we are deferring questions that are fully about on premise Exchange and

SharePoint as the topic is Online.....

Jan_Gremmen: thx

Dharmesh: BPOS is suite of offering that has in addition to email and SharePoint- LiveMeeting, filtering

and archiving. Since its offered by Microsoft we are also ensuring that you get the latest version much

earlier than you might get from hosted- who may have different upgrade cycles

marich50: What client devices and operating systems work with SharePoint Online?

Brett Hill: SharePoint online works with most any browser based system.

Brett Hill: Many mobile systems will work...

Brett Hill: You can find the details in the SharePoint Online service guide at microsoft.com/online

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Jan_Gremmen: Can you tell me why O should prefer using SharePoint Online above a local installation

Dharmesh: Yes. Microsoft is responsible for backups and ensuring that data is available always. We are

also SAS Compliant that means we can keep data for long term. We currently have big pharmaceutical

companies like Glaxo smithkline that have huge ediscovery needs using this service

user_0: Ahmed Nizami, I’m a business analyst in the telecom sector in Canada. I have personal interest

in SharePoint online.

user_0: can we connect BES to Exchange and SharePoint online?

Brett Hill: Regarding BES, yes we have a choice with Blackberry users and have many of them. There

was a recently published white paper on this topic

Brett Hill: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=3b895efc-5a55-

488e-a40c-14df1c2e7033

sharepointuser: can someone get SharePoint Online service and NOT have Exchange?

Brett Hill: Yes, you can be SharePoint online stand alone

Brett Hill: ... you can buy...

marich50: How will SharePoint Online integrate with Office 2010 Web apps?

Dharmesh: Marich- We will be announcing this integration soon. We will also be having a webinar that

goes into the detail of this on Apr 15th

JLG_Consulting: Ok, sorry but from a greed point, as an IT Service Company, how do we make $

putting our clients into the SharePoint cloud?

Brett Hill: There is a consulting opportunity to plan, manage, and migrate the migration.

Brett Hill: This will open up quite a bit more in the next release of the services.

user_0: Can exchange Online connect to other third party clouds?

Dharmesh: user_0 could you elaborate your question... are you asking if exchange can integrate with

things like gmail or private clouds

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Derek: What forms of authentication can be implemented to control access to SPO?

Brett Hill: Authentication is handled through the sign on client which automatically signs you on to the

services.

Brett Hill: Currently your on premise credentials are different than online

user_0: yes, if exchange online can integrate with third party clouds e.g. gmail etc

user_0: can someone buy just the exchange online and not SharePoint?

Dharmesh: yes- a person can choose to buy all components of the BPOS Suite-- exchange online,

SharePoint Online, LiveMeeting individually if they feel that they need only one service.

Dharmesh: we can bring gmail into email just like we do with on premises email--since it support IMAP

integration

Derek: can the on premise credentials be passed?

Brett Hill: Derek, at the moment, no.

jdlmodelt: we are interested in integrating MS Outlook or other MS tools to a database. The application

is a carpet retailer. SO, via Outlook, pulling up pricing on products, scheduling

delivery/installation/followup email reminders to the sales people. Initial client contact notes, all using

outlook as the frontend. How does the cloud effect this application?

Brett Hill: The application would need to reviewed to insure that it can work with the existing set of web

services available for SharePoint and Exchange Online

Brett Hill: Its important to understand the scope of the services and see the Developers Guides for those

services

Brett Hill: just search for SharePoint Online or Exchange Online Developers Guide

Richard: Are there circumstances where you recommend staying with Onpremise: integration with

certain products, large number of users, etc?

Dharmesh: There are multiple factors here- what is your business-- if its core you want it on prem like if

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you are a news org you probably would like to keep doc mgmt on prem, Compliance requirements are

another aspect. if you have a need to have extensive customization in SharePoint for eg- you should

have it on premise

sharepointuser: instead of exchange, can SharePoint stand alone integrate with gmail, etc

Brett Hill: Not sure what you mean by integrate. That can be a lot of things. Can you call a GMAIL API

from SharePoint online? No. Can you write a web service that reads GMAIL and sends the contents to a

list to SharePoint online? yes, but the service runs on premise.

Brett Hill: and you probably could call some web services from SPO using built in web parts that query

external systems. The key is that you can’t run custom code in the current deployment of SharePoint

online

Richard: How does unified communications work in the Online scenario?

Dharmesh: We have IM and presence support- VOIP Integration with PBX is not there yet

Richard: 3-follow up) Government agency. What is "extensive customization"?

Brett Hill: Regarding SharePoint online customization, as mentioned, you cannot run custom code in

SharePoint online. There are other differences as well between SPO and an on premise server. For

example, you can’t change web.config or modify the database schema. See the SharePoint Online

service descriptions for a list of capabilities.

jdlmodelt: Okay, I've downloaded the developer's guide to review and I'm downloading the trial

SharePoint package to review. There are presently, 4 businesses throughout the state of Colorado that I

suspect these solution(s) will offer benefits.

Brett Hill: Ideal would be a need for document collaboration and email with presence and the need for

doing real time collaboration with Live Meeting. Also ideal would be using Microsoft Office and

reasonably sized file, as opposed to CAD/CAM or moving movies around.

pranit: Is there an ideal scenario that would show an optimum performance of SP online n exchange

online

Brett Hill: (see above answer)

pranit: thnx Brett

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Moderator: We hope you are all enjoying the chat so far. If you have any questions you would like to

submit, please do so now.

alain: how do you see offline use of SPP SharePoint (notably with mobility / wireless) Are all the

functionalities available off line notably in rich client and or web client?

Brett Hill: Regarding offline use of SharePoint, you can use Colligo or other offline utilities with

SharePoint online to keep your local system in synch with SPO.

Brett Hill: You will not have all the abilities of SharePoint while off line as some of those are relevant,

such as document check in and check out, while you are online.

Brett Hill: However you can of course edit in Office and it will synch back using the 3rd party tools when

you reconnect.

Richard: 4) What is critical mass for Microsoft offering these services? You mentioned that Glaxo

SmithKline are customers, how many more are needed to assure the longevity of these offerings?

Brett Hill: Regarding the critical mass question: Great question..... You can rest assured that our online

offerings are here to stay. Microsoft is making a gigantic investment in these services. GIGANTIC. With

Azure, BPOS, the new government focus announced yesterday, data centers coming online worldwide,

new services coming out all the time - we are fully committed to Online.

pranit: does this help in a scenario where a designers from different locations India, USA all look at the

same design in real time, provide comments and approval in real time......this includes.....voice/text and

all sharing the same screen at one time

Brett Hill: Yes, this can be done with a combination of LiveMeeting and SharePoint.

Brett Hill: All users can view the same document but you cannot edit the same document

simultaneously at this time.

Richard: Can we take the Project Server question?

pranit: thnx brett

Brett Hill: Regarding Project server, we do not a specific story about project server integration with

BPOS and I must confess that I am not an expert on the product.

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Brett Hill: However, as far as project server allows you to use SharePoint web services there are

possible integration points.

Brett Hill: also, with email, there is no reason I know of that you couldn’t use an Exchange Online

mailbox to receive reports for example, however, if there are dependencies on AD identify then you

would potentially have issues there.

Artemice: Exactly how will the Cloud help me run my business in a more efficient manner with the

utilization of Microsoft Exchange and SharePoint?

Dharmesh: We make you efficient by allowing you to refocus your finite resources on things that will add

business value over and above the core while we take care of running your collab systems and keeping

them current

lloydglin: is there any performance issues for using this apps?

Brett Hill: For performance, the key issue is network latency. For most places in the world, this is not an

issue however, your mileage may vary depending on your ISP, available bandwidth, and distance to the

data center. There are speed tests online you can use to test your speed to our data centers

Brett Hill: see http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=c4ec4bbe-

5979-4cf2-bac5-d86e1baada2c

Brett Hill: for a paper that includes links to the speed testing locations

Moderator: If you have any questions you would like to submit, you may do so now.

Brett Hill: For those that are interested in learning more about the cloud services, and BPOS you can

find key information at http://microsoft.com/online

Brett Hill: If you are a Microsoft partner, please see https://quickstartonlineservices.com for a wealth of

detail about the business model and technical details including online training

Dharmesh: and follow the blog : http://blogs.technet.com/msonline is a great resource

Brett Hill: actually, that should be https://www.quickstartonlineservices.com

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Brett Hill: yes, that blog is a super important resource of keeping up to date as that is the mechanism for

announcements about changes to the service

Brett Hill: we have added many new features since the service was released.

Mary Ann: What types of clients can be used with BPOS? How will BPOS change with the release of

SharePoint 2010? What features available in SharePoint 2010/SharePoint 2007 Server that are not

available to BPOS users?

Dharmesh: We support outlook2003 and above for Email. For a complete list of SharePoint 2007 online

comparison - check this link; http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1bef6a35-

9785-4a0b-b227-387c0ee85a36&displaylang=en

Rich: I am interested in how Exchange on the cloud differs then being hosted locally. Mostly

management and how it ties into other services that we use that rely on exchange.

Brett Hill: Several point... you may want to be in a state of coexistence where you have some users in

the cloud and some on premise, that is fully supported

Dharmesh: SharePoint 2010 announcements will be coming soon.

Brett Hill: so it’s not necessarily all one way or another. We see this a lot actually for organizations that

have some sets of users that can be cloud based and others that rely on deep on on premise integration

Brett Hill: So administration of the cloud services is quite different. You can still have distribution lists,

resource rooms, multiple domains, alias, add/deny lists

Brett Hill: but you manage them at https://admin.microsoftonline.com rather than in Exchange.

Brett Hill: Other difference are you don't have access to some server level functions such as transport

rules. Some can easily be implemented, and others not.

skrehlik: Good morning. Could you compare SharePoint Online to a SharePoint server solution in terms

of ROI

Dharmesh: Depends1- It’s a factor of what you are using SharePoint for. If you are using it for basic doc

collaboration without custom code-- you are better of running it on the cloud. If you have business critical

workflow kind of apps running on SharePoint you want to keep it on premise. Check this link for complete

TCO guide http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9633461

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Brett Hill: For all... you can try out SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, Live Meeting Online and Office

Communicator Online for free. There is no cost or obligation. Just go to https://mocp.microsoftonline.com

and sign up for the free trial account.

Dharmesh: try this link as well http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/5/A/F5A91D7B-37C0-47C9-

9F9C-AEBDAA23B31E/BPOS_Cost_Comparison_Tool_User_Guide.docx

Reena: What new features are going to be included in SharePoint 2010? Brett and Dharmesh - what

excites you the most about SharePoint 2010?

Dharmesh: We have a webinar on SharePoint Online 2010 where we will have the SharePoint team

present. Please join us on that webinar. We announce all our webinar a week in advance on our blog

http://blogs.technet.com/msonline

Dharmesh: We also have a webinar today at 11:00 AM PST that talk about all the service

enhancements in BPOS since release. Feel free to join in

https://swrt.worktankseattle.com/webcast/4144/preview.aspx

skrehlik: When configuring the cloud environment, are there tools to assist in getting current enterprise

user accounts set up?

Brett Hill: Yes we have a directory sync tool that will automatically create users your online users as well

as distribution lists

Brett Hill: resources, contacts, email enabled lists.

Brett Hill: and a migration tool that can move mail from Exchange Online, POP3, IMAP, and hosted

exchange

Brett Hill: when directory synch is setup, any changes you make in your local AD are automatically

pushed to the cloud, except for passwords and email addresses

Brett Hill: there are online resources to teach about this such as training at the Partner Learning Center,

online webcasts, migration white paper and more

skrehlik: Can the services be split and still interact well? Say I want to use SharePoint Online but have

my own Exchange environment that I'd like to continue using.

Dharmesh: yes

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Dharmesh: we support coexistence between on premise and online environment-- but juts to be clear

there are some gaps between SharePoint and SharePoint online

Dharmesh: as such we can have exchange users on premise and SharePoint online users in the cloud.

However we have seen most folks opt to have email in the cloud

kkkk: can u tell the pros and cons of this exchange and SharePoint clouds??

Brett Hill: That is a big question.... pros are that you don’t have to manage on premise servers, security,

backup, updates, availability is all done for you.

Brett Hill: cons are that you give up access to details such as IIS logs, event viewer details, and server

level administration that can be useful in certain situations

Brett Hill: You should evaluate the service descriptions at http://www.microsoft.com/online to get a clear

idea of what the services can do and evaluate if this would be a good deal for you at $10 a user per

month.

Brett Hill: for many, the answer is yes.

Brett Hill: For example, one of the least well known capabilities is the ability to have 250 users in a Live

Meeting instance. That is an amazing value

skrehlik: What about retention and security issues relating to, for example HIPPA, or SOX?

Dharmesh: We are compliant with HIPAA, FERPA, FIPS 140-2 and Title 21 CFR Part 11 of the Code of

Federal Regulations ISO27001, SAS70 Type I and II, FISMA certification in the future. Check this

announcement HIPAA, FERPA, FIPS 140-2 and Title 21 CFR Part 11 of the Code of Federal

Regulations

Dharmesh: http://blogs.technet.com/msonline/archive/2010/02/24/microsoft-online-services-announces-

new-certifications-bpos-federal-for-us-government.aspx

Jan_Gremmen: is there any limitation in things like Mailbox sizes? Number of users etc?

Brett Hill: Currently, the maximum mailbox size is 25GB. As far as number of users, we can

accommodate very large organizations - tens of thousands.

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Dharmesh: for those who can also join the webinar if you can this morning:

https://swrt.worktankseattle.com/webcast/4144/preview.aspx

Brett Hill: There are a lot of people in the chat... what's on your mind?

BDenny29: How do you see Exchange integrating with the new generation of smart phones?

Dharmesh: don’t understand what you mean- Exchange is supporting all smartphones including iphone

with activesync. As such exchange supports sync on windows mobile, RIM and iPhone

Richard: Does SharePoint Online Dedicated offer different integration opportunities than BPOS (e.g.,

workflows)?

Brett Hill: Quite a bit. With dedicated, you essentially have your own server so you can customize

workflows and apps

Brett Hill: There is an approval process that you go through for custom apps as we can let people load

just anything into the data center, but you can customize the SharePoint apps and workflows

Brett Hill: In the dedicated offering.

BDenny29: What is the best way to go in regards to SharePoint training/education?

Brett Hill: SharePoint is pretty easy to use the basic features. I would suggest going to

micrcosoft.com/SharePoint and watching some of the free videos there to get some ideas about what

you can do with it. It's really easy for example to start publishing to SharePoint Online since it

automatically integrates with office.

Brett Hill: For example, you can open office documents directly from SharePoint Online, edit them, and

push them back. Word, PowerPoint etc will automatically show features

Brett Hill: that you only get with SharePoint. For example, it will notify you if the document is checked

out.

Brett Hill: Or, let you check a document back in if you have it checked out.

Brett Hill: There are PowerPoint slide libraries you can use in SharePoint and many other integration

points such as publishing documents in SharePoint to Outlook.

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Brett Hill: lots of really easy to use and useful stuff

Heather Watkins: I've heard a bit about utilizing MS Exchange and SharePoint in Cloud but how will it

help me run my business more efficiently and effectively?

Dharmesh: How much time do you spend installing, managing and upgrading your email servers and

SharePoint servers? Is that the primary focus of your org? If you do things in the cloud then we take care

of all the things including backup and migration... you also save on not having to spend on

infrastructure.

Richard: So the Online Dedicated is just/almost like having SharePoint on prem, without the backup and

anti-virus management?

Brett Hill: Yes, but to be clear, you get the same benefits for the Standard offering, aside from custom

code.

skrehlik: I assume there is an upgrade process as well for those users that grow into an environment

that would require dedicated hosting.

Richard: Thanks for the insights.

Brett Hill: Actually we don’t have a direct upgrade path - but even better, the gap between dedicated

and standard will be much narrower after the next release

Brett Hill: our goal is have feature parity with online services to on premise servers

jknausdorf: How do I recover a file from backup?

Brett Hill: In SharePoint, you can enable versioning so that your previous versions are always there. If

you delete a file completely you can file a service request and they can recover it for you if it has not

been X weeks (will look that up in min).

jknausdorf: Are there plans to make this available to an administrator with a future release?

Brett Hill: make what available?

akhanduri: what’s cloud computing?

Brett Hill: Cloud computing typically refers to running applications in the cloud using a service like

Azure.

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Brett Hill: This allows you to host your applications in the cloud where they can scale and be accessible

to everyone all the time or as needed to specialized group

Brett Hill: One of the benefits is that you only pay for what you use, and can scale up on demand.

Brett Hill: For example, if you host a web application online, you typically need to have capacity

available at any moment to handle your peak demand, but only have peak demand occasionally

Brett Hill: so thats like building a theatre for 1000 people which you have once a month but your

average use is 100 people

Brett Hill: with cloud computing, you host your app on our platform and pay for cycles that are

consumed.

jknausdorf: Are there plans to make restoring a file from backup an administrator function versus a

service request to MS?

Brett Hill: I don’t know the answer. So far, this has not been a big support issue since versioning allows

you to keep multiple backups.

akhanduri: this means cloud computing data storage isn’t possible?

pranit: thnx for explaining the cloud

Brett Hill: You can definitely host data in the cloud. Azure has sql service in the cloud as well

Brett Hill: so you can host your database there

MeganCAllen: How does security work with cloud computing? What's the best method of securing your

apps and data?

Brett Hill: There is a security infrastructure in place for cloud apps, but I am not an expert on that topic.

However, I was an IIS MVP for several years and can say that the biggest issue for securing you app

and data is attention to the application coding.

Brett Hill: that is not to diminish the importance of proper configuration of the hosting framework, cloud

or on premise

Brett Hill: For SharePoint Online, you can configure security using standard SharePoint security -

assigning rights to users within the SharePoint app.

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Reena: How do applications, such as SharePoint, in the cloud scale with user demand?

Brett Hill: SharePoint can support thousands of simultaneous connections. Most people don’t need that

many particularly in an authenticated scenario.

Brett Hill: Our data centers can support millions of request and we have state of the art technology

doing routing and load balancing so you should have no problems with scale.

Sifon: Sorry i'm just joining the chat session. I really don't mean to drag the ongoing discussion

backwards, but i have a question to ask.

Sifon: Are cloud service providers available in every country to host this service assuming i decide to

migrate my company's exchange to the cloud?

Reena: Thanks for your response Brett.

Brett Hill: Reena-anytime.

Brett Hill: Sifon-> all you need is a internet connection.

akhanduri: so what's the connection between operating system and cloud computing>>

Sifon: ok

Brett Hill: The OS hosts the local applications, such as Outlook, PowerPoint, and IE and accesses the

internet to the cloud services.

Brett Hill: There is a big difference, but they should operate more or less seamlessly so you can’t tell

that Exchange Online is not in your local business

Brett Hill: the only time you might notice is if your ISP goes down.

MeganCAllen: Are full versions of Exchange and SharePoint able to run in the cloud?

Brett Hill: Two parts. Yes, we run full versions of the servers in our data centers. But that doesn’t mean

that you have access to the full set of features.

Brett Hill: It's important to understand the differences between the online and on premise capabilities.

See the service descriptions at http://microsoft.com/online as a good place to start

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Cooper Harris: What excites you most about SharePoint and Exchange being a part of the larger MS

Unified Communications package?

MeganCAllen: Thanks for your help!

Brett Hill: :)

Dharmesh: What excites us most is the ability to provide collaboration ecapabilites across the stack from

the cloud. today the offering has Exchange Online SharePoint Online, Office Communication server

online. SharePoint Online and Office Communication Server Online are not on complete feature parity

today with onpremise. However this will be changing soon and its very exciting to see it all coming

together.

pranit: not sure if i am putting a correct question...........i am trying to compare a thin client application vs

an application being hosted on cloud

Brett Hill: One of the key distinctions is that a web browser was not designed to be a host for complex

applications. That is part of the reason we have such complexity in browsers today.

Brett Hill: The need for browsers to do word processing for example, is a big stretch from the original

idea of rendering HTML

Brett Hill: For that reason, applications like Office (clearly not thin) do things that you cannot do easily in

a web browsers such as embedding a powerpoint or visio object in a word document, clicking on the

object and being able to edit it in Word - that’s a really complex thing that we take for granted in office but

try doing that on the web.

Brett Hill: Another good example of smart clients are games interfaces that use web backenes like world

of warcraft and other services like that.

MeganCAllen: How does storage work if you're running SharePoint in the cloud?

Dharmesh: We currently provide 250MB/user storage in the cloud.

pranit: got ur point

pranit: thnx

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Dharmesh: it is allocated to a pool of users... so that if you have 10 users you get 2.5G to play for your

org

IT Jedi: What are the greatest areas for future growth with MS SharePoint and the cloud?

Brett Hill: I am not able to say easily right now without being specific about future service capabilities...

so, let me say this.... we are dedicated to closing the gap between on premise and online services and

our next release will make significant strides in that direction.

pranit: can the rendering strain be not reduced by Silverlight technology

Brett Hill: you can use Silverlight in SharePoint online to render custom consoles that integrate on

premise information, web services, and SharePoint Online.

IT Jedi: Thank you Brett, may the Force be with you

Brett Hill: ... Do not try...do.

Brett Hill: :)

pranit: is it possible to have a full engineering application like CATIA being hosted on cloud............and

everyone else uses it across the world.....in a way that happens in a thin client app

Brett Hill: yes. you can host any kind of application you want in azure.

Brett Hill: well, by that I mean, any supported type

Brett Hill: so you can develop an engineering app and deploy it fully in the cloud, including database.

Brett Hill: cool stuff. And it can integrate with BPOS services using exposed web services.

pranit: sounds interesting

Dharmesh: praerit you should check this link: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/ee335721.aspx

Moderator: There are 30 minutes remaining in this chat. If you have any questions you would like to

submit, please do so now.

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pranit: thnx Dharmesh

akhanduri: thank you and thank you brett for your answers...looking forward for more help

Dr. Henry Killinger: What are some of the most common pitfalls in migration to the cloud, and what are

some steps those on the journey can take to avoid them?

Brett Hill: The biggest problems I see are when customers don't have a clear idea of the differences

between on premise and online services. There are some key details like Exchange Online not having

public folders that people haven’t realized till they were into their migrations.

Brett Hill: That’s why we recommend using a partner with BPOS.

Brett Hill: and being familiar with service descriptions which highlight key capabilities and differences.

Brett Hill: Some other key details have to do with deployed investments in archiving technologies, DRM,

and other services.

Brett Hill: You need to evaluate your use and dependiciences on these services to insure that you can

integrate what you need with online services

Brett Hill: In many cases, you can. In some cases you cannot. As we bring more capabilities online, that

gap closes.

Alfred: I am looking for a tool that will help migrate clients from Microsoft On Premise environment and

Google Mail over to BPOS and allow them maintain Business Continuity. I've heard of Cemaphore's Mail

Shadow, Quest's Online Migration Tool, MigrationWiz. But I would like to know (1) does Microsoft have

any in-house tools that can be used to migrate users to BPOS?

Brett Hill: We have a migration tool that will migrate from GMAIL or any other IMAP service as well as

POP3, Exchange Online and Hosted Exchange

Brett Hill: This tool is free and can be downloaded from the admin.microsoftonline.com

Brett Hill: we also have a directory synch tool that will automatically create users from your AD into the

cloud. They are different users, in that they have different password and are not part of the local AD,

but...

Brett Hill: we keep the cloud based users updated so you can manage user properties using AD.

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Brett Hill: that makes it easy to manage many users time

Brett Hill: Finally, we have powershell commands that let you automate creation of users, setting

passwords, querying user status, migrating mailboxes etc so you can control very granularly what you

want to do.

Dr. Henry Killinger: I've had a bad previous experience with the cloud due to what turned out to be a fly-

by-night vendor who left my system exposed to outside threats. How does MS ensure proper security

whilst in the cloud?

Dharmesh: Understood. Microsoft is certainly not fly by night :-) We also ensure strictest compliance to

all security audits and certifications

Dharmesh: check out announcement here

Dharmesh: http://blogs.technet.com/msonline/archive/2010/02/24/microsoft-online-services-announces-

new-certifications-bpos-federal-for-us-government.aspx

Moderator: There are 15 minutes remaining in this chat. If you have any questions you would like to

submit, please do so now.

ClorisDunkin: How does hosting Exchange locally differ from the cloud? What are the major

differences?

Brett Hill: Cloris, there are significant differences. You don’t have to manage the server, virus scanning,

security, backups, spam management, updates, etc. You give up admin access to the server such as

audit logs, the ability to create server level transport rules, configure protocols, and some features.

Brett Hill: see the service descriptions at http://microsoft.com/online for Exchange Online to get good

idea of the differences.

Brett Hill: Also, sign up for a free trial at https://mocp.microsoftonline.com and see for yourself how you

manage Exchange Online.

ClorisDunkin: Great, thanks!

Dharmesh: and follow the blog: http:/blogs.technet.com/msonline

Brett Hill: regarding: bad experience... I understand... Keep in mind that our services are offered

worldwide and we are currently one of the biggest hosted service providers in the world.

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Brett Hill: We have millions invested in security, reliability, and availability.

jknausdorf: When signing up for a trail, will I be able to keep company email address and have all mail

routed through Exchange Online?

Brett Hill: If there is a problem with the service... people around here go wild... they are deadly serious

about security and arability and we have the investments to back it up

Brett Hill: when signing up for the service, you get a full blown set of service. it is not limited other than

have 20 seats which can be expanded on request.

Brett Hill: So you can run your entire company email through the system if you wish.

Brett Hill: You would need to validate your domain name in the service and set your MX record to point

to our services (see online docs for how-to)

Brett Hill: but then you would have a full set of capabilities including calendaring, SharePoint

collaboration, instant messaging, and live meeting

Brett Hill: I've been using them for years and in fact my actual microsoft.com email is on BPOS.

Moderator: We are close to wrapping up our chat. Please submit any remaining questions now. We will

get to as many as possible before we wrap up.

Brett Hill: There are important online resources to point out before we close up:

Brett Hill: If you are a Microsoft partner interested in BPOS, please see

https://www.quickstartonlineservice.com for important resources

Brett Hill: I keep a blog at http://blogs.technet.com/bpositive/ that is sometimes useful

Dharmesh: Those looking to stay current- you can join us on our weekly webinar that is announced on

the blog. The webinar happens every Thursday 11 am PST

Brett Hill: Also of course, there is the http://microsoft.com/online which is a great place to get started

Brett Hill: any other questions?

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Moderator: If you would like further information or have other questions, feel free to ask your peers in

these groups:

Moderator: SharePoint: http://knowledgemanagement.ittoolbox.com/groups/technical-

functional/sharepoint-l/

Moderator: MS Exchange: http://windows.ittoolbox.com/groups/technical-functional/ms-exchange-l/

Moderator: Cloud Computing: http://storage.ittoolbox.com/groups/technical-functional/cloud-computing-l/

Jan_Gremmen: thx a lot!!!

Moderator: Well, we're out of time for today's chat. Thank you all for attending the Microsoft Exchange

and SharePoint Online chat and asking so many great questions. Have a great day!

Moderator: An e-mail notification will be sent when transcripts are available.

jknausdorf: thank you all.

pranit: thnx brett and Dharmesh

Dharmesh: you are all very welcome. thank you for attending

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