Demo recording and reviews of Quest OnDemand
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: November 25, 2009
Last week at Microsoft PDC we launched our Systems Management as a Platform offering with a few of the services going into private beta.
Now you can actually see a quick demo of one of these services and read some of the media coverage.
You can see the product demo if you watch the recording of Kim Cameron’s identity keynote session (the Quest OnDemand demo starts approximately at the 35:00 mark). If you don’t have Silverlight, here are the recording files in downloadable format:
In addition to watching the demo, you might want to read what media had to say about this service:
Network World – Microsoft adds identity to cloud
InformationWeek - Quest Launches Cloud Services Based On Microsoft Azure
Lawrence Wilson/SaaS, Cloud Computing and Virtualization Review: Quest Software Offers Software as a Service (SaaS) Windows Management Solutions
Kelly Higgins Jackson/DarkReading: Product Watch: Microsoft Unveils Windows Identity Foundation
Forefront Team Blog: Available now: Windows Identity Foundation for building more secure, simplified access to cloud applications
Read, watch, and sign-up for the beta.
Quest OnDemand Goes Live
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: November 17, 2009
Systems Management as a Service (is there an acronym for this yet?) is finally becoming a reality. Today at Microsoft Professional Developer Conference we have announced beta launch of Quest OnDemand our online IT management services.
This is one of the projects which have been consuming most of my time for the last year so I am extremely excited that we reached this roadmap.
We demoed one of the services – our Active Directory backup and recovery (Quest Recovery Manager OnDemand for Active Directory) – on stage at PDC (will hopefully be able to post a link to the recording in a couple of days) today – and there are 2 more down the line: InTrust OnDemand (event log management) and Site Administrator Reports OnDemand for SharePoint (SharePoint reporting).
We will not be able to let everyone sign up immediately. Instead, if you want to participate, you need to go to the Quest OnDemand web page and fill out the beta nomination survey. After that you will be contacted by our product management and granted access to the beta.
This is a huge step for Quest as a Systems Management company, and in my opinion, a big step forward in cloud computing and SaaS adoption. We hope these services will help a lot of administrators out there manage their IT environments more efficiently and really looking forward to the feedback we get from the beta.
More news to come. Congratulations to the whole team involved in developing and launching this service!
How to find me at TechEd Europe
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: November 9, 2009
Here’s when and where you can find me in Berlin this week:
Microsoft Online Services booth (Unified Communications area) in the TLC area (3.2)
I’ll be there tomorrow (Tuesday) during the evening reception – 6:15-8:00 pm. Obviously, I will be happy to answer any questions on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, LiveMeeting, OCS Online and sign
And then, both Tuesday and Wednesday:
For developers:
BOF10: Developing on Azure: Stories from the Trenches
Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 12:20-13:00 (lunch break)
Interactive theater 5, Yellow – Hall 3.2Have you given Windows Azure a try? Whether it was just kicking the tires or you are deep in the enterprise application development, let’s get together and share the lessons we learned on the way.
For IT Professionals:
BOF13: Going to the Cloud: Are we crazy?
Wednesday, November 11, 2009, 12:20-13:00 (lunch break)
Interactive theater 6, Pink – Hall 3.2Are cloud services about efficiency or negligence? About being able to outsource commodity services and concentrate on core competence or loosing control and risking getting out of compliance? Which IT services can be safely moved to the cloud and which should stay in house? Let’s get together and discuss the present and the future of Software + Services use in our companies, share success stories, lessons learned, discuss concerns and best practices.
And you can obviously contact me by email or twitter. So if you are at TechEd Europe 2009 – I am looking forward to seeing you this week!
Cloud and BPOS sessions at Oct 21 Virtual Tradeshow
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: October 20, 2009
Quest Connect is a big online conference put together by Quest, Microsoft, , Dell, NetApp, Vizioncore, Scriptlogic, Techrepublic, Oracle Magazine, Redmond Magazine, and The Code Project. The agenda is packed with a lot of useful material on Windows Server 2008 R2, AD, Identity Management, Exchange 2010, Virtualization, Cloud Computing, SharePoint, SQL, Oracle – see full agenda here – and they include some sessions specifically on cloud computing and Microsoft Online Services.
Here are a few:
Here or Way Out There? Should Your Active Directory Management Be In Cloud?
Available the whole day on-demand
Dmitry Sotnikov, New Project Research Manager, Quest Software
Spend a few minutes learning how to leverage the Cloud Computing Craze in your environment. During this session, Dmitry Sotnikov will demonstrate provisioning for cloud directories and review Quest’s soon-to-be-released SaaS solution for AD backup and recovery. You can even sign up for the beta!
Exchange 2010 and the Cloud – Migration and Management Best Practices
Live: 12:00 pm BST/7:00 am EDT/ 4:00 am PDT – then recorded on-demand
Add this Webcast to my CalendarKeith Ridings, Product Manager, Exchange Migration; and Rob Sargent, Product Manager, Exchange Management – Quest Software
Exchange 2010 and the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) are designed to help organizations achieve better business outcomes while controlling the costs of deployment, administration, and compliance. But adopting these innovative Microsoft technologies can be one of the most complex, labor-intensive projects an organization can undertake. However, it does not have to be. With the proper planning and execution, you can successfully migrate to and proactively manage Exchange 2010 and BPOS and minimize the impact on your users and your help desk. Join Quest product managers Keith Ridings and Rob Sargent as they share best practices for maximizing the value of your next-generation Exchange investment.
Reach for the Cloud: Seamlessly Migrate to Microsoft BPOS
6:00pm BST/1:00 pm EDT/10:00 am PDT – then recorded on-demand
Add this Webcast to my CalendarKeith Ridings, Product Manager, Notes and GroupWise Migration – Quest Software
Matt Fangman, Director, Unified Communications – MicrosoftIn a time of diminishing IT budgets and headcounts, hosted e-mail and collaboration services are an increasingly attractive alternative to on-premises platforms, offering reduced costs, increased protection from outside threats, and enhanced operational efficiency. Many organizations are choosing Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS): a set of hosted messaging and collaboration solutions including Microsoft Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Office Communications Online. In this webcast, experts from Microsoft and Quest will discuss how to ensure a fast and seamless migration from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange Online and SharePoint Online.
A Complete Notes-to-Microsoft Migration
2:00am BST/9:00 pm EDT/6:00 pm PDT – then recorded on-demand
Add this Webcast to my CalendarTim Fountain, Systems Consultant, Notes Migration Solutions – Quest Software
For organizations looking to migrate from the IBM Lotus platform, Quest offers the industry’s most complete set of transition solutions for seamless, cost-effective migrations of Notes mailboxes to Microsoft Exchange/Exchange Online, application content to SharePoint/SharePoint Online, and Sametime users to Office Communication Server. Learn from experts at Quest and Microsoft the best ways to analyze the Lotus environment, rapidly rebuild complex applications and allow the Notes and Microsoft environments to coexist throughout the migration.
Speed and Simplify Your Notes Migration to Exchange Online
Pete Caldecourt, Solutions Architect, Quest Software
There is also quite a few sessions related to Private Clouds: virtual datacenter management, VDI, end-user experience monitoring and so on.
In-between the sessions you can hang out in the conference lobby or booth area and discuss the topics with other attendees.
See live session list here and on-demand list here.
This online show is a great learning alternative if you cannot make it to TechEd and other face-to-face conferences this year. Register for the event here. Virtually see you tomorrow!
Windows 7 – Microsoft’s First Step to the Cloud
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: October 13, 2009
Pundits talking about how Windows 7 is all about Microsoft competing against Apple, recovering with Vista consumer adoption disaster, or getting people off of XP, are missing one other – extremely important – part of the Windows 7 story. Windows 7 and its server counterpart – Windows Server 2008 R2 – are actually the first real step in Microsoft’s Windows Cloud Story. Before Windows 7 Microsoft could offer some services (such as Exchange Online) from the cloud – but could not provide full enterprise directory, security and so on – now they can.
Microsoft has always called their SaaS plan Software + Services, emphasizing that they can enable rich Windows and application experience over the internet. The reality however has been that in most cases these have been limited to a few web-enabled (e.g. Outlook) or pure web (e.g. SharePoint) applications. Most Microsoft systems and their whole enterprise security model rely on Active Directory and intranet network connectivity – neither of which work should the directory be located in Microsoft’s datacenter.
Now Microsoft has actually quietly added a few key features enabling this scenario:
- Offline Domain Join – customers can now have add their computers to Active Directory without ever having them in the same network (by importing special security key they get from whoever is running their domain.)
- DirectAccess – end users can log into their domain and access any services (including even file servers) without having to VPN into the network and there is a way to automatically enforce their patch and antivirus level using Network Access Protection (NAP – the feature they added in Vista which now really shines when added to DirectAccess).
- Active Directory Management over Web Services – even administrative tools: both graphical and command-line – got revamped to work over web services instead of traditional direct connectivity.
- To say nothing about much improved Remote Desktop Services, application streaming, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure and so on. There’s definitely some pattern here!
With these technologies, Microsoft will actually be able to run your entire environment in their datacenter, yet let users securely connect to that environment from their own Windows machines.
This is a pretty important step in fighting the Web 2.0 approach of Google and the like which are suggesting that all your applications are going to be replaces with in-browser web counterparts like Google Apps. And obviously Microsoft’s approach has the potential of providing a much more familiar and evolutionary way of outsourcing your IT than radical “we’ll find everything on the web” way.
It is also fascinating to see that Microsoft is not yet positioning these technologies as hosting enablers. Their documentation lists them as advances for enterprise own administration. Yet, administrators find them quite hard to discover and set up. My guess is that this is because, as I mentioned above, these feature are not really for customers but are for hosters – most importantly Microsoft – and Microsoft is simply not ready yet to publicly announce their next generation services which make use of the features.
My gut feeling is that we will hear about them pretty soon. Time will tell.
Attending TechEd Europe? Vote for Cloud sessions
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: September 29, 2009
There are two cloud-related sessions in the “community” section of Microsoft TechEd Europe 2009 and you need to vote for them here if you are attending the conference (and obviously if you want them in the agenda).
Basically, both are on cloud computing: one for developers and the other for IT professionals:
Going to the Cloud: Are we crazy?
Are cloud services about efficiency or negligence? About being able to outsource commodity services and concentrate on core competence or loosing control and risking getting out of compliance? Which IT services can be safely moved to the cloud and which should stay in house? Let’s get together and discuss the present and the future of Software + Services use in our companies, share success stories, lessons learned, discuss concerns and best practices.
Developing on Azure: Stories from the Trenches
Have you given Windows Azure a try? Whether it was just kicking the tires or you are deep in the enterprise application development, let’s get together and share the lessons we learned on the way.
Both topics are near and dear to my heart, and as a matter of fact, will be moderated by me should they get into the agenda.
So if you want these sessions in Berlin this November, please cast your vote here.
Google Apps get into Enterprise Provisioning Systems
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: August 27, 2009
An important milestone just got passed by Google – one of the big enterprise identity management vendors out there – Quest Software (full disclosure: I work for the company) – has added Google Apps as a directory to which they can provision identities and access.
One might argue that this is a small thing considering that Quest is by far not the first vendor to enter Google’s ecosystem. Google Solutions Marketplace lists a few hundred solutions and services around Google Apps and Enterprise Search.
However, Quest is the first among the big systems management (Quest, HP, CA, BMC, Symantec) and identity management (Quest, Oracle, Sun, Novell) vendors to get in there and this is a very important milestone for Google’s acceptance in the enterprise.
Technically, what Quest did was adding a Google Apps “connector” into their identity management and provisioning platform – ActiveRoles Server. This is an AD-centric platform which helps enterprises keep all their systems in-sync with Active Directory and automates the necessary identity management operations (provision or deprovision access, invoke associated approval workflows, check relevant policies and so on). Here’s a quick graphics from their whitepaper:
Obviously similar functionality is provided by Quest for multiple other enterprise platforms ranging from mainframes to Lotus Notes. Now Google Apps is one of them. Google becoming just yet another enterprise platform people want to get integrated with Active Directory, HR databases and their identity management systems. Boring. For Google, obviously, in a good way. 
See a little bit more information in this whitepaper (requires registration.)
Email address as the universal identity
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: August 17, 2009
- In: Technology
- 2 Comments
In the brave new world of enterprise applications going to the web do we need an identity directory spawning the internet, and if so, will email address system become the de-facto global identity system?
Global directories are obviously not new. There were efforts like X.500 and like, but then we kind of got scaled back to company-wide identities instead. So most of us just use a username (or DOMAIN\username) to log into our computer at work, and do not care that this is not globally unique at all. Sounds like the internet will make us care again.
Suppose you are designing a global enterprise SaaS application and you absolutely do not want to maintain user identities yourself (because this would obviously be a headache both to you and your customers).
Federation is the answer, right? So OK, you go out, pick the federation standard you like (for example, WS-*) and you should not care about user identities. Just redirect users to their actual identity providers – in enterprise world this will likely be Active Directory – and let users in once you hear back that the user is authenticated there. Ay, there’s the rub – you still need to know something about user to decide where to send the user to authenticate.
This problem is known as Realm Discovery – even in the federation world you still need to know where the user comes from. Here are a few options which I see:
Identity Selector on user computer
If all users on all computers had Windows CardSpace you could never prompt users for anything and just use those. However, the reality is that this technology has not taken off (yet?) so you cannot rely on it.
URL-based discovery
You could ask your customers to use custom URLs to access your site: e.g. CustomerA.MyWebService.com. In that case you know where the user comes from and can redirect to proper federation partner. If you can have all users go to this custom URL instead of generic MyWebService.com this might be a pretty good idea.
The problem is that you probably cannot. Your users will probably want to be able to log in from your generic site as well. Even worse, they might want to delegate tasks in their services to users from other companies – and in this case they will have to learn and supply the CustomerB URL as well when setting up this delegation – which becomes kind of messy.
Ask the user
If the user comes to your generic URL and wants to authenticate (or is authenticated and want to delegate rights to another user), what do you ask the user so you know where to redirect her for authentication?
Displaying a drop-down list with all your customers is probably not a good idea.
DOMAIN\username notation won’t work either – intranet domains are not globally unique.
I would argue that email address is probably the only usable solution here:
- Email addresses and email domains are globally unique.
- By this time, every user on this planet knows her email address and email addresses of whoever they would want to delegate rights to. And obviously despite spam we are all trained to supply our email addresses when prompted by a credible service we need.
Where does this lead us? Not only we probably need a global directory, we actually already have one. Long live email addresses.
Cloud Definitions: NIST, Gartner, Forrester
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: August 4, 2009
Analysts should love hype – it lets them jump into a hot area and be the thought leaders who everyone has to consult to make any sense out of what is going on in the area.
“Cloud” is probably the most hyped word in the industry these days and everyone has a definition of what it is. And despite this being a running joke in the industry, everyone obviously needs definition conversion to happen so we can start speaking the same language here.
U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) stepped in and did – from my perspective – something truly amazing: they provided a relatively comprehensive set of cloud definitions in a simple two-page document.
The document lists major characteristics of cloud services:
- On-demand self-service
- Ubiquitous network access
- Location independent resource pooling
- Rapid elasticity
- Measured Service
Classical delivery models:
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
- Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
- Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
And cloud deployment models:
- Private
- Community
- Public
- Hybrid
For details and definitions see full NIST draft here.
Gartner has published a comparison between their definitions and those of NIST (requires subscription). In which they basically approve NIST definition (apart from a small rant that internet is not being specifically called out as access mechanism – my guess is that this is because private clouds can be deployed and accessed in local datacenters).
But then they suggest adding a couple of extra layers to the IaaS/PaaS/SaaS stack: namely Information and Process services – and quite a few deployment models explicitly calling out all various combinations of ownership (individual agency/company, government-wide, third-party) and access levels (anyone, limited membership, exclusive).
Here’s why I think that NIST definitions are better:
- NIST’s terminology is widely accepted in the industry – for example, SaaS/PaaS/IaaS. Whereas Gartner seems to be pushing their own wording for everything: application services, application infrastructure services, system infrastructure services.
- NIST is simpler:
- SaaS/PaaS/IaaS distinctions seems to be sufficient – additional Gartner’s information services and process services seem to be subsets of SaaS and unnecessary detailed.
- Private/Community/Public/Hybrid is much easier than the 8 block definition which Gartner has – and also generalized because Gartner’s classification is somewhat government-related. Yes, there might be further details in these groups: e.g. you might organize a public cloud out of your own datacenter or get an external company set one up for you. Yes, these details might affect the way your datacenter works for you but if we go along this path we can go way deeper than the 8 options Gartner came up with. 4 is enough.
In fact, I believe that for most companies out there 3 would have been enough as well: Public/Private/Hybrid.
All, in all, a very good job by NIST, which hopefully will make Gartner work together and agree to one simple framework (Gartner’s reference architectures make my head heart).
In addition to these, Forrester just published a related report: “How To Message “Cloud” Offerings And Not Get Lost In The Fog” – arguing that use of the term “Cloud” – vague and overhyped it is these days – can backfire on you and should be avoided.
Although, I personally think that the term “cloud” is still the right term for the overall class of dynamic on-demand systems, I could not agree more that companies need to be specific when positioning their products and not do bulk search/replace changing all “SOA”/”SaaS”/”Internet”/”Virtual” terms on their web-sites to “Cloud”.
For example, I tend to characterize our upcoming OnDemand services as “Systems management as a service” (this is not approved by Quest marketing – just my personal wording for now. )
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Cloud Computing, definitions, Forrester, Gartner, NIST
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Cloud Computing: ain’t electricity – it’s a supermarket
Posted by: Dmitry Sotnikov on: September 25, 2009
Electricity is kind of a wrong model. Not because so many folks are now trying to get the pendulum swing back and get to solar panels and other micro-generators, but also because software and IT services are much less uniform than electrical current. There’s no single “IT utility current” you can get from your network outlet to solve all IT needs.
Supermarkets seem a far closer paradigm. There was a period of natural household economy when basically people were raising their own crops and more or less producing most of the stuff they needed day to day. And of course we do not really do this anymore because – as Nicholas so eloquently demonstrated in his books – specialization and mass production make more economic sense.
All the talks about security, privacy, lack of control and so all totally apply here. When you grow your own potatoes you can be by far more sure that no pesticides get in there. However, we just don’t do this anymore apart from maybe a fraction of people growing some plants for fun and personal joy.
Even more, we now have the whole new segment in agriculture – organic/bio food – which charges premium for real or perceived additional quality and safety (depending on the country there might or might not be real certifications and controls involved).
Seems to me that this is exactly the direction in which we are heading. Maybe with the difference that in IT, the quality of service might actually be easier to track than in the food industry – so we are probably in a better shape than anyone else.