Waynes Architectural View Points https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/feed.xml These are the top-of-mind issues and random thoughts of Wayne Filin-Matthews. Wed, 17 Apr 2019 03:47:51 GMT en-US hourly 1 Force Field Analysis is a useful technique for looking at all the forces for and against a decision. https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/force-field-analysis-is-a-useful-technique-for-looking-at-all-the-forces-for-and-against-a-decision Mon, 26 Dec 2011 09:38:39 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2011/12/26/force-field-analysis-is-a-useful-technique-for-looking-at-all-the-forces-for-and-against-a-decision/ Force field analysis is an influential development in the field of social science. It provides a framework for looking at the factors (forces) that influence a situation, originally social situations. It looks at forces that are either driving movement toward a goal (helping forces) or blocking movement toward a goal (hindering forces). The principle, developed by Kurt Lewin, is a significant contribution to the fields of social science, psychology, social psychology, organizational development, process management, and change management.

Lewin, a social psychologist, believed the "field" to be a Gestalt psychological environment existing in an individual's (or in the collective group) mind at a certain point in time that can be mathematically described in a topological constellation of constructs. The "field" is very dynamic, changing with time and experience. When fully constructed, an individual's "field" (Lewin used the term "life space") describes that person's motives, values, needs, moods, goals, anxieties, and ideals.

Lewin believed that changes of an individual's "life space" depend upon that individual's internalization of external stimuli (from the physical and social world) into the "life space." Although Lewin did not use the word "experiential," (see experiential learning) he nonetheless believed that interaction (experience) of the "life space" with "external stimuli" (at what he calls the "boundary zone") were important for development (or regression). For Lewin, development (or regression) of an individual occurs when their "life space" has a "boundary zone" experience with external stimuli. Note, it is not merely the experience that causes change in the "life space," but the acceptance (internalization) of external stimuli.

Lewin took these same principles and applied them to the analysis of group conflict, learning, adolescence, hatred, morale, German society, etc. This approach allowed him to break down common misconceptions of these social phenomena, and to determine their basic elemental constructs. He used theory, mathematics, and common sense to define a force field, and hence to determine the causes of human and group behavior.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_field_analysis

]]> The Open Group ITAC program becomes Open CA https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/the-open-group-itac-program-becomes-open-ca Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:54:33 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2011/09/01/the-open-group-itac-program-becomes-open-ca/ The Open Group Certified Architect (Open CA) designation brings value and recognition to IT, Business and Enterprise Architects and the organizations that employ them

The Open Group Certified Architect (Open CA) program – formerly ITAC — is an independent global certification program for qualifying the skills, knowledge and experience of IT, Business and Enterprise Architects. Accepted and applicable worldwide, Open CA boasts more than 3,000 certified professionals from 160 companies in more than 60 countries worldwide.

The program requires applicants to demonstrate skills and experience against a set of conformance requirements through written applications and peer interviews. There are no training courses to attend, and no written exams to complete.

The Open CA program is:

  • The most trusted independent benchmark for validating an IT, Business and Enterprise Architect’s skills and experience
  • A distinctive, peer-reviewed, vendor-neutral, globally recognized, portable credential
  • Used by the world’s leading enterprises as an objective measure of capabilities
  • A proven guide for filling critical roles and responsibilities
  • An outstanding career move

If you have already registered for the Open CA program or are  currently certified and would like to access your individual records  then please use the following link to login. Certification Login

The Open Group Certified Architect (Open CA) program requires candidates to submit a comprehensive certification package detailing their skills and experience gained on working on architecture related projects, followed by a rigorous peer review process.

The program is unique in that it is skills and experience based, vendor neutral, portable and globally recognized.

The Open CA program currently focuses on IT. However, the architecture profession is constantly evolving and to reflect this, The Open Group will incorporate dedicated Business Architecture and Enterprise Architecture streams into the Open CA program in the near future. Therefore, applicants will be able to become an Open CA in:

  • IT Architecture
  • Business Architecture
  • Enterprise Architecture

To learn more about how to become Open CA certified, visit:

]]> Zachman v3 - By Mike Walker https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/zachman-v3-by-mike-walker Thu, 01 Sep 2011 06:49:31 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2011/09/01/zachman-v3-by-mike-walker/ Mike Walkers Blog on Zachman V3 worth a read.

The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture Version 3

Last week John Zachman released the third edition of his EA Framework. Like with other versions seen below, he has made iterative refinements to the model. After many years as noted as being a framework, it is slowing starting to shift to what it materially represents, an ontology. While there is no formal rename there is additional classification of the framework below the new title.

Mike Walker's Blog: The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture Version 3

Zachman International sent a press release (New Zachman Framework™ Announcement) and a conference in August 23rd 2011 to a dedicated few at an announcement conference.

Ron Ross provides insights from the event in his blog post on his “quick notes”. It’s an interesting read and I agree with most of the opinions their as well. I will provide more thoughts once the formal details are released.

Zachman Framework Version 3

Mike Walker's Blog: The Zachman Framework for Enterprise Architecture Version 3

More Information:

]]> Survivable Branch Appliance in Lync Server 2010: A Practical Guide https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/survivable-branch-appliance-in-lync-server-2010-a-practical-guide Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:40:06 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2010/12/30/survivable-branch-appliance-in-lync-server-2010-a-practical-guide/ The Survivable Branch Appliance is a purpose-built appliance to increase voice resiliency in branch-office scenarios. Built by Microsoft UC partners, this appliance is a blade server that is running Windows Server 2008 R2 and the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software Registrar service and Mediation Server role with a public switched telephone network (PSTN) gateway in a single appliance chassis. In addition to dedicated appliances that are provided by Microsoft UC partners, customers have the option to install the Lync Server 2010 Registrar service and Mediation Server role on Windows Server 2008 R2 to provide the functionality of a dedicated appliance.

This article also provides an overview of the Survivable Branch appliance, pre-requisite steps for configuration, and considerations for both deployment and management after installation.

Author: Wayne Filin-Matthews

Publication date: November 2010

Product version: Microsoft Lync Server 2010 communications software

Survivable Branch Appliance-What is it?

To provide communications resiliency for branch offices, Microsoft Lync Server 2010 introduces the new Survivable Branch Appliance role and the Survivable Branch Server role. The Survivable Branch Server is a standard Windows Server 2008 R2 Server with the relevant installed components. The Survivable Branch Appliance is a physical appliance provided by Microsoft UC partners. The Survivable Branch Appliance and Survivable Branch Server are targeted for branch office scenarios to provide high availability to the majority of Lync Server services (particularly Enterprise Voice) in the face of network connectivity failures in the primary site where Lync Server is deployed.

The Survivable Branch Appliance is built with an ISDN card and the following Lync Server roles.

Mediation Server and Registrar

The Survivable Branch Server is pre-installed with Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Registrar and Mediation Server components on Windows Server 2008 R2. AudioCodes, Dialogic, Ferrari electronic AG, HP, and NET have all announced survivable branch appliance products that are supported by Lync Server.

For more information about Microsoft Partner Solutions, see, Microsoft Unified Communications Open Interoperability Program.

Survivable Branch Appliance Architecture

Understanding when and where to deploy the appliance or server is an important part of the architecture design phase. Figure 1 shows both the physical placement and the logical placement of the appliance in relation to the location of each branch office site.

The Survivable Branch Role, both appliance and server, is one of the only roles within Lync Server that is not supported running virtually on Hyper-V or partners virtualization solution supported by the Software Virtualization Partner program (SVPP).

Figure 1. Unified Communication network topology with enhanced media gateway for connectivity to PSTN

 

Survivable Branch Appliance Support and Service

The Survivable Branch Appliance itself is supported directly by the vendor; customers have the option to have the partner support and update the appliance with relevant Windows and appliance updates or give the updates to the customer directly to implement and support.

Survivable Branch Appliance Deployment

Adding a Survivable Branch Appliance to your environment involves the following process:

1. Configure appliance networking.

2. Join the appliance to your Active Directory Domain Services.

3. Define the branch office sites within the topology.

4. Publish the newly configured Survivable Branch Appliance components by using Topology Builder.

5. Hardware Installation (refer to manufacturer's guidelines).

6. Configure the Survivable Branch Appliance (refer to manufacturer's guidelines).

7. Home users on the Survivable Branch Appliance.

Verify that Lync Server Components are Installed

Survivable Branch Appliances that are shipped usually includes all the required software be pre-installed. Following is how you can check whether your Survivable Branch Appliance has the software pre-installed as shown in Figure 2.

1. Check the Program menu on the server to see if Lync Server components are installed.

2. Click Start, Programs, Microsoft Lync Server 2010.

Figure 2. Check Survivable Branch Appliance pre-installed

Note   If Lync Server doesn't appear in your Programs menu, you need to run setup for the Survivable Branch Appliance. To do this, see Lync Server UA documentation in the Technical Library.  

IP Configuration

Configure the IP settings for the Windows Server 2008 R2 blade that runs Lync Server Registrar service and Mediation Server. To complete this step, see the manufacturer's guidelines.

Domain Join

When the previous steps have been completed, the Survivable Branch Appliance must be joined to the Active Directory domain. Following are two ways that the Survivable Branch Appliance can be joined to the domain.

Option 1: join the Survivable Branch Appliance from Active Directory User and Computers or the command line:

1. Log on to the Survivable Branch Appliance as a member of the Administrators group.

2. Ensure you have network connectivity with the central site where Lync Server is deployed.

3. Create a new computer object in Active Directory services, and then add the new object to the RTCUniversalReadOnlyAdmins group.

4. Open a command prompt as an Administrator from a domain-joined machine and then type dsadd computer ComputerDN.

5. Type dsmod group RTCUniversalReadOnlyAdmins -addmbr, and then type dsmod group RTCUniversalReadOnlyAdmins -addmbrComputerDN.

6. Add the RTCUniversalBOATechnicians group to the local Administrators group.

Option 2: join the Survivable Branch Appliance from the Survivable Branch Appliance manufacturer's user interface. (The following example is taken from the AudioCodes Survivable Branch Appliance Mediant 1000, Mediant 1000 MSBG & Mediant 2000.)

  1. On the Setup menu, click Join to Domain. Figure 3 appears.
  2. Enter the name of the Domain.
  3. Enter the User and Password of an account that has permissions to join the SBA to the domain.
  4. Click Apply.

Figure 3. Domain setup from the AudioCodes SBA Mediant 1000, Mediant 1000 MSBG & Mediant 2000

 

Define the Branch Office Topology

The purpose of creating Branch Sites in Topology Builder is to identify and publish branch offices where the Survivable Branch Appliance will be installed to provide voice resiliency if there is a WAN failure; see Figure 4. Create branch sites by using the following steps.

1. Open the Topology Builder by clicking Start All Programs, Microsoft Lync Server 2010, and then clicking Lync Server Topology Builder.

2. In the tree view pane:

1. If you've used the planning tool to design your Enterprise Voice topology, expand the Branch Office Sites node, and then expand the name of the branch site you previously specified. Next, go to step 3.

2. If you didn't use the planning tool, right-click the Branch Office Sites node, and then click New Branch Site.

Figure 4. Defining branch office sites in Topology Builder

3. Next, perform the following:

  • Click Name, and then type the name of the branch site. This field is required.
  • Click Description, and then type a meaningful description for the branch site. This field is optional.
  • Click Country/Region Code, and then type the two-digit calling code for the country in which the branch site is located. This field is optional.
  • Click State/Province, and then type the name of the state or region in which the branch site is located. This field is optional.
  • Click City, and then type the name of the city in which the branch site is located. This field is optional.

4. Click Next to create the branch site, and then start the SBA Wizard.

5. Repeat the steps 1-4 to create more branch sites.

Define the Survivable Branch Appliance

1. In the Define Survivable Branch Server dialog box, type the FQDN of the Survivable Branch Appliance you will deploy at this branch site in the System FQDN field. The FQDN of the Survivable Branch Server will have been defined previously, usually by the Architect or Systems Administrator as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5. DNS Fully Qualified Domain Name Definition

 

2. Figure 6 will then appear. Select the Front-End Pool that will be used by this Survivable Branch Appliance, and then select the front-end server in the central site that the Survivable Branch Appliance will connect to.

Figure 6. Aligning the Branch Site to the relevant Front End Pool

 

3. The dialog box as shown in Figure 7 will then appear; select the front-end server in the central site that the Survivable Branch Appliance will connect to.

Figure 7. Defining the Edge Server to the branch site

 

4. Click Next.

5. In the Gateway FQDN or IP Address field, type the FQDN or IP address of the gateway this Survivable Branch Appliance connects to if the connection to the central site Mediation Server is unavailable. The gateway selection should be based on the local gateway that is deployed in the branch office where the Survivable Branch Appliance will be deployed.

6. In the Sip Port field, type the port number of the gateway that will listen for SIP messages coming from the Survivable Branch Appliance.

7. In radio options, Sip Transport Protocol, select the transport type the Survivable Branch Appliance for your purchased supports as shown in Figure 8.

Note   For security reasons, it is strongly recommended that if you deploy a Survivable Branch Appliance that it supports Transport Layer Security (TLS).

Figure 8. PSTN Configuration Definition

 

8. Click Finish.

9. Publish the topology.

Home Users in the Survivabile Branch Appliance

Users that reside in the local branch office should move to the appliance to help ensure that access to voice services are not disrupted if there is a network outage between the branch office and any central site where the central Lync Server servers are installed and configured. Before moving users to the Survivable Branch Appliance, ensure that all the following are covered:

1. The appliance is up and running, and connectivity to the PSTN through the gateway is configured. You can verify this by initiating a call by using a test account homed on the Survivable Branch Appliance or by using the cmdlet Test-CSOutboundPSTNCall.

2. Make sure that users who are homed on the Survivable Branch Appliance are configured with the appropriate Voice Routing Policy. For more information, see the "Configuring Voice Policies, PSTN Usage Records, and Voice Routes" section of Lync Server 2010 Deploying Enterprise Voice.

3. Configure the Voicemail Rerouting settings. For more information see the "Configuring Voice Policies, PSTN Usage Records, and Voice Routes" section of the Lync Server 2010 Deploying Enterprise Voice.

After you have verified that the Survivable Branch Appliance is up and running and PSTN connectivity is configured, you can home users on the Survivable Branch Appliance. You can do this with either the Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Control Panel or the Move-CsUser cmdlet.

Survivable Branch Server Setup and Activation

Customers have the option of deploying a Survivable Branch Server. This is a standard Windows Server 2008 R2 server with the Survivable Branch Server software installed and published through Topology Builder. For more information, see the Lync Server UA documentation the TechNet library.

System Requirements

The following table describes the prerequisite software that needs to be deployed on a Survivable Branch Appliance that doesn't have software pre-installed.

The operating system must be 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2.

The following Windows Server 2008 R2 roles and features MUST be enabled on the operating system of the Survivable Branch Appliance as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. System requirements

Type

Item

Description

Operating system component

Windows PowerShell 2.0.

Available by default on Windows Server 2008 R2.

Required to manage Microsoft Office Communications Server configuration. Can also be used to further automate Office Communications Server setup and deployment tasks.

Operating system component

Message Queuing:

  • Message Queuing Server and Directory Service Integration features.
  • The NET Framework: 3.5 SP1, 3.5 SP2, 4.0, or 4.0.30319, enabled using Server Manager on Windows Server 2008 R2

Apply the update Windows6.1-KB974372-x64.msu from:            Code Gallery (MSDN): http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/KB974372

Required by Communications Server Call Detail Recording and Archiving agent to queue call detail records and archived instant messages to. These records are then read by the Call Detail Recording and Archiving servers in the central site.

 

Registry Key

Create an Appliance Registry key on the Survivable Branch Server at the following location: HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Real-Time Communications\Deployment\Appliance of type DWORD and set to value 1.

Summary

The addition of both the Survivable Branch Appliance and the Survivable Branch Server helps ensure that customers can keep important communication links open if there is a WAN failure. The introduction of the Survivable Branch Appliance role with Lync Server helps ensures that collaboration between branch sites can be maintained and the following functionality can still be maintained:

  • In case of a WAN outage, the Survivable Branch Appliance maintains voice survivability to the PSTN.
  • In case of a WAN outage, without a Domain Controller available, user certification is used to authenticate.

  • Survivable Branch Appliance reroutes internal calls over PSTN as well as the Internet in a survivability scenario.

Additional Information

To learn more, check out the following articles:

Lync Server Resources

Keywords: Branch, Appliance, Resiliency, UC, Partner, Discovery, Communication, Survivable

]]> Microsoft Office 365 Online Blog https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/microsoft-office-365-online-blog Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:36:49 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2010/12/28/microsoft-office-365-online-blog/ A worthy blog to read!

http://blogs.technet.com/b/msonline/

]]> Getting started with SharePoint Online for Office 365 Beta for enterprises https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/getting-started-with-sharepoint-online-for-office-365-beta-for-enterprises Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:31:40 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2010/12/28/getting-started-with-sharepoint-online-for-office-365-beta-for-enterprises/

Getting started with SharePoint Online for Office 365 Beta for enterprises

Applies to: SharePoint Online for enterprises

Getting started with SharePoint 2010 Whether you are new to either SharePoint products or SharePoint Online, or you are familiar with both but new to Office 365, explore these resources to begin learning how to use SharePoint Online.

WHAT’S YOUR SITUATION?WHERE TO GO

Planning for SharePoint Online?

Find out how to plan your sites collections and sites for SharePoint Online.

SharePoint Online planning guide for Office 365 Beta for enterprises

Managing SharePoint Online sites?

Read this guide on TechNet for SharePoint Online service administrators to learn how to manage SharePoint Online site collections.

SharePoint Online Administration Guide

Never used SharePoint Online before?

Learn how to perform common tasks with SharePoint Online.

Basic tasks in SharePoint Online for Office 365 Beta for enterprises

Used an earlier version of SharePoint?

Take an online course to learn how to use this version of SharePoint and what it can do for you.

Make the switch to the new SharePoint 2010 user interface

Missing the menus?

Read this guide to the new ribbon interface to learn how you complete familiar tasks in SharePoint Online.

Navigating the ribbon command interface

For more information about how to get started with other SharePoint products, see Getting started with SharePoint 2010.

]]> Get help with Office 365 Beta https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/get-help-with-office-365-beta Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:26:00 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2010/12/28/get-help-with-office-365-beta/

Get help with Office 365 Beta

When you have a question about Microsoft Office 365 Beta for enterprises, you have several options to find the answer you need.

 

  • Search the help topics. To do this, type a question or phrase into the search box at the top of the Help page.
  • Ask your Office 365 Beta administrator. The person at your company who manages the installation and maintenance of Office 365 Beta has a lot of knowledge about how Office 365 Beta works. Administrators also have access to additional information and resources if they don’t know the answer to a question. Not sure who your administrator is? Ask your co-workers or find the person who gave you instructions for setting up or accessing Office 365 Beta.
  • Read the team blog. The Office 365 Beta team writes a blog that highlights new features and solutions to common issues.
  • Read and post in the community forum. The community forum is a place where anyone who uses Office 365 Beta can post a question and others can answer. Before you add your question, look to see if someone else has already asked it. Many common questions are already covered.

If you are an Office 365 Beta administrator, for more information about technical support see Get support for Office 365 Beta.

See also

]]> Gartner: Office 365 Exchange Implications https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/gartner-office-365-exchange-implications Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:23:54 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2010/12/28/gartner-office-365-exchange-implications/ This document takes a detailed look at Microsoft's Exchange Online 2010.

http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=209483&ref=g_rss


]]> Office 365 https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/office-365 Tue, 28 Dec 2010 04:05:00 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2010/12/28/office-365/  

So what is Office 365?

Microsoft Office 365 delivers the power of cloud productivity to businesses of all sizes, helping to save time, money and free up valued resources. Office 365 combines the familiar Office desktop suite with cloud-based versions of our next-generation communications and collaboration services: Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online.

Office 365 is simple to use and easy to administer – all backed by the robust security and financially-backed, guaranteed reliability you expect from a world-class service provider.

Key benefits

Anywhere-access to email, documents, contacts, and calendars on nearly any device*

Work seamlessly with Microsoft Office and the other programs your users already count on everyday

Business-class features including IT-level phone support, guaranteed 99.9% uptime, geo-redundancy, and disaster recovery

Pay-as-you-go pricing options which give you predictability and flexibility for all or part of your organization

Latest version of Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), which has millions of business users today.

Versions of Office 365

Office 365 for small businesses

Easy-to-use set of web-enabled tools designed specifically for smaller businesses and professionals who are looking for cloud-based productivity tools without the IT hassles.

Office 365 for enterprises

Best solution for organizations that are looking to move their productivity tools to the cloud, while staying in control of their IT services

Office 365 for education

Cloud-based services for educational institutions that can help save money and give students access to familiar, next-generation productivity tools.

]]> IASA: Becoming Certified https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/waynefm/iasa-becoming-certified Sun, 02 May 2010 12:53:00 GMT https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/waynefm/2010/05/02/iasa-becoming-certified/ At the next UK IASA meeting we will get the chance to hear directly from one of the first UK IASA Certified IT Architect Professionals, Me!

The first official UK CITA Board will sit on 26th and 27th June and the first IASA Foundation training course will take place on the week of the 28th. For more information on IASA certification go here. http://www.iasahome.org/web/home/certification

Spaces are open to both members and non-members and you can register here … http://whycertify.eventbrite.com/

Why Certify?

Certification from the front line IASA recently launched its Certified IT Architect Program and in the UK we have just announced the first CITA Professional boards and IASA Foundation training for June and September!

Wayne Filin-Matthews is one of three UK architects who have become the first UK CITA Professionals and Wayne will talk exclusively to the IASA members on why he chose to certify and what he experienced as a result!

18:00 – 18:30 Welcome and IASA update

18:30 – 19:00 Why Certify?

19:00 – 19:30 My experience of board certification – The Do’s and Don'ts

19:30 – 20:15 Beer & Pizza

20:15 – 20:45 What do I need to focus on to be successful?

20:45 – 21:00 Q&A Session

21:00 Close

 

WIth special thanks to our meeting sponsors Onalytica and Microsoft.

]]>