Queensland signs whole-of-government deal with Microsoft

Up to 150,000 employees will access Microsoft software licensing through a panel of large account resellers

The Queensland Government has signed a whole-of-government deal with Microsoft to give all departments access to the vendor’s software through a selected panel of Large Account Resellers (LAR).

The three-year enterprise agreement, which was announced on Australia Day, will see all panel participants selected through a tender process.

“In addition, the arrangement gives all state and local government entities the opportunity to purchase other Microsoft solutions with various options, depending upon the needs of the agency involved,” Minister for Public Works and Information and Communications Technology, Robert Schwarten, said.

The major agreement was signed as part of the Government’s ‘Toward Q2 through ICT’ strategy, a five-year plan designed to bring the state’s ICT under whole-of-government arrangements.

Advance Your Career - Get a Second Shot at Microsoft Certification

Advance Your Career - Get a Second Shot at Microsoft Certification

Whether you are currently unemployed, looking for a promotion, or trying to become indispensable in your existing role, Microsoft Certifications can validate that you have the skills needed to work in the top IT professional and developer jobs in the industry.

Take advantage of our Second Shot offer and get a free retake if you do not pass an IT professional or developer Microsoft Certification exam the first time. You must take both the first and (if necessary) the retake exam before June 30, 2010.

Configure Your Windows 7 System to Run Legacy Apps in a Virtualized Windows XP Environment

“Windows XP Mode is an optional download for the Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows 7. It provides a licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3, saved in Virtual Machine Hard Drive Image (.vhd) format. When run in Windows Virtual PC, or another compatible program, this virtualized installation of Windows XP lets you run applications that might not run well in Windows 7. Windows XP Mode is also handy if you have an older device with a proprietary driver that hasn’t been updated for Windows Vista or Windows 7. If it worked great in Windows XP but doesn’t work in Windows 7, give it a try in Windows XP Mode.

Microsoft Learning Releases Labs Online Training Product.

On January 15th, Microsoft Learning released their Labs Online training product.

This is great news for any Microsoft training partner (CPLS) for many reasons, several of which are highlighted in the summary below…

“The Benefits of Labs Online for Training Partners:

• Reduce training delivery costs

Microsoft Learning Labs Online greatly reduce time spent on setting up labs and downloading lab images, giving you a chance to better utilize staff and instructors’ time. In addition, expensive hardware is not required to run Labs Online – reducing hardware upgrade costs and initial set-up costs of building new classrooms or training centers.

Office 2010 - Pros and Cons - Should You Upgrade?

"With Office 2010 set to launch in June, businesses of all sizes are considering if it is worth the money and hassle to upgrade, especially for small and midsize companies that never moved from Office 2003 to Office 2007.

The Pros:

It Breaks Down Old Boundaries

Forrester lists three features in Office 2010 that make it "boundary breaking": The use of SharePoint Workspace (formerly known as Groove) to share and edit SharePoint content both online and offline; easing enterprise security fears by making Office Web Apps available privately as part of a company's license agreement; and integrating social media tools from sites such as LinkedIn in Outlook through Outlook Social Connector.

These new integration features -- if they work smoothly -- give Microsoft an upper hand over more established online productivity suites like Google Apps and Zoho, according to the Forrester report.

Simplified Suite Options for Enterprises

There are seven total editions of Office 2010, but for volume licensing customers (mostly enterprise-size companies), Microsoft has reduced that amount to two: Standard and Professional Plus. This is half as many as Office 2007 (Ultimate and Enterprise editions have been eliminated).