Exciting news today about the release of the Beta of Kinect SDK for Windows, I can’t even imagine what developers worldwide will come up with; and really looking forward to the creativity! Check this official post: Kinect for Windows SDK – It’s Here! Who can make this a reality: Microsoft Project 2010 Kinect Edition: You Are the Controller! ? Start your downloads: https://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/projects/kinectsdk/ PS: For Project Server developers make sure you attend this upcoming free webcast on June 23: Upcoming MSDN Webcast (6/23): Understanding Project Server Interface (PSI) in Project Server 2010 (Level 300)

This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here. For this week in BPOS news we look into a great conversation with the President of Microsoft’s Business Division, and we learn a new Office 365 trick. 1.     Q&A | Microsoft’s Kurt DelBene: On a roll with Office 2010; looking ahead to cloud  Mark Harrison / The Seattle Times Microsoft has announced its intentions to go “all in” to the cloud. Microsoft is committed to the cloud, and has already made some large impacts in Cloud Computing and people are following Microsoft into the Cloud. Microsoft’s business division has also made its way to the Cloud and Kurt DelBene, President of Microsoft Business division, sits down with The Seattle Times to discuss where Microsoft and the Cloud are heading. Seattle Times author Sharon Pian Chan asks Kurt DelBene about what BPOS and Office 365 hold for users. There are some great conversations based on how much small business could save with Office 365, and discussions around the new Lync communications service. This is a great article from The Seattle Times that should be read by anyone interested in some internal perspectives of BPOS, Office 365 and the Cloud. What are your thoughts on the direction of BPOS, Office 365 and the Cloud? Leave your comments below. 2.     Recreating the Default SharePoint Online Team Site in Office 365 This Week in BPOS News should be focusing on all things BPOS, but it is hard to resist some good Office 365 content. Office 365 is the next generation of BPOS and the video below illustrates a great product that comes with Office 365, SharePoint Online. The video below shows you how to recreate the default SharePoint Online Team Site. Be sure to check out all the great Office 365 videos here . (Please visit the site to view this video) What videos would you like to see? Leave your suggestions below. What are your thoughts about the stories we shared with you this week? Did you see a story you want to share with us? Let us know what other topics you’d like to see. You can comment on this blog post or send an email to our community mailbox . Follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here. For this week in BPOS news we look at why governments are choosing Microsoft, and we learn what the future holds for Microsoft’s data centers. 1.      Why Governments Buy Microsoft Online Services   Remember all of the posts about government sectors looking to the cloud ? Governments have not only been looking to the cloud, but have started moving. Our first story for this week reflects on why many government sectors are choosing Microsoft over the competition when it comes to trusting their data in the cloud. The Why Microsoft blog has a fantastic article that takes an in depth look at “ Why governments buy Microsoft Online Services .” Why Microsoft author, Tony Tai, looks at case studies and examples to figure out why government sectors are choosing Microsoft Online Services. Tony breaks down the government cloud requirements in the following categories: Saving Money while Delivering Valued Services Using Resources Optimally Compatibility and User Acceptance Data Security and Data Archival There are some great examples under each category above. I recommend anyone interested in the cloud race across government sectors to check out this Why Microsoft article . 2.      Microsoft: The Cloud is the ‘Utility of the Future   Our second story for This Week in BPOS News, touches on some interesting “big picture concepts.” Christian Belady of Microsoft is tasked to look at how data and energy are related.   “Data is really a processed form of electricity,” Belady says. “We’re part of this ecosystem: an energy pipeline. If you started from scratch, what with that whole pipeline look like? How does that change infrastructure? How can we deploy the cloud?” Christian also looks at where there can be innovations for the future.  Some innovations that are discussed in the article are temperature and humidity ranges, on-site power and geography and site location. Check out this story from Data Center Knowledge to learn more about what Microsoft is doing around their data centers. What are your thoughts about the stories we shared with you this week? Did you see a story you want to share with us? Let us know what other topics you’d like to see. You can comment on this blog post or send an email to our community mailbox . Follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here. For this week in BPOS news we feature a video that will help customers prepare for the Cloud productivity evolution, and we learn about the newest city that went to the Cloud with Microsoft. 1.      What Do Existing BPOS Customers Need to Do to Prepare for Microsoft Office 365?    Our first BPOS story comes to us in video form from Channel 9 . The video embedded below dives into what Office 365 will offer BPOS users and how customers can prepare for the evolution in Cloud productivity software.  What are your thoughts about the video? Are you ready for Office 365? Leave your comments below. 2.      Why Winston-Salem Chose Exchange Online Our second BPOS story focuses on the competition in the Cloud and why the city of Winston-Salem, North Carolina has chosen to move to the Cloud with Microsoft. Author Shane O’Neill, from CIO.com , writes a great article about Winston-Salem’s recent decision and notes some very interesting reasons for their move to the cloud. The first reason that is mentioned from the article is costs. Shane states that “with tighter budgets than most corporations, government agencies have been the first wave of cloud adopters.” The Cloud is seen as a way to cut costs for governments versus constantly updating and maintaining local machines. Winston-Salem is deploying 2,700 seats. Most users will have fully functional desktops, and the Cloud allows for 600 “deskless” workers that don’t need the full capacity of tools. The Cloud allows Winston-Salem to maximize their dollars and cents. It’s an exciting time for the government sector and the Cloud. San Francisco also joined Winston-Salem in the Cloud with Microsoft. What do you think of local governments moving to the cloud? What benefits do you see from cities moving to the Cloud with Microsoft? We would love to hear your thoughts below. What are your thoughts about the stories we shared with you this week? Did you see a story you want to share with us? Let us know what other topics you’d like to see. You can comment on this blog post or send an email to our community mailbox . Follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.  

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This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here. For this week in BPOS news we learn five things that every CIO should know, and we watch some great videos on how people are more productive with the Cloud. 1. Five Things Every CIO Should Know About the Cloud and Office In our first BPOS story we analyze five things that every CIO should know about the Cloud and Office 365. The Microsoft Future of Productivity blog has a special guest blog post from Office 365 Group Manager, Andrew Kisslo. Microsoft Office 365 recently released its public beta, and there is no one better than Andrew Kisslo to walk you through the top five talking points from Microsoft’s Cloud. The five things every CIO should know are listed on the blog in the following order:

This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here. For this week in BPOS news we find out

It’s hard to believe it has been a year already when we announced the Microsoft Project and Microsoft Project Server 2010 release on the official Project blog: Microsoft Project 2010 has Launched! So much has happened during the past year in terms of customer momentum, partner readiness, solutions, content, books etc. that it would be impossible to recap it all. Instead to illustrate the awesome momentum this release has I will just illustrate recent related announcement and releases in the past 24 hours alone (and by no mean exhaustive), simply amazing: Microsoft Project for the masses RTM’d Today: Microsoft Project 2010 Inside Out (O’Reilly) Enterprise Applications: Microsoft Project 2010: Top 10 Features ( eWeek.com ) An guess what we have a lot more imminent announcements and news you will all enjoy so stay tune to the Project channel! I baked a nice virtual muffin for the occasion and I wish you a very very happy Birthday Microsoft Project 2010!

This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here. For this week in BPOS news we learn about a small town that is cashing in and creating jobs with the Cloud, and discover a great resource for anyone moving from BPOS to Office 365. 1.

This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here. For this week in BPOS news we learn about Microsoft’s new specialty servers, and how Microsoft earned FISMA certification in the cloud. Microsoft Reveals its Specialty Servers, Racks Microsoft revealed the details and designs of new specialty servers and racks. Microsoft engineer, Dileep Bhandarkar, knew that a sleeker and more efficient server was needed, “When Microsoft saw its server counts and data center footprint growing, it became clear that we needed to improve efficiency.” Our first BPOS story comes from Data Center Knowledge and outlines the new Microsoft servers being revealed. The new half-width server design allows for Microsoft to optimize server energy usage. Idle server usage is dropping from using “50 percent of the power (used when the server is active)….to about 30 percent,” says Bhandarkar. Microsoft is not the only company to introduce new efficient servers. Google and the Facebook Open Compute project have also been a part of this “broader industry conversion.” “This is not rocket science,” said Bhandarkar. “Smart people facing the same problems will come up with similar solutions. Driving the entire industry forward helps us in the long run.” What do you think of the new designs? What do you think of the industry shifting its focus to more efficient servers? Leave your thoughts below. Microsoft’s BPOS-Federal system receives FISMA certification, lands USDA as customer * image source Microsoft BPOS has recently received the Federal Information Security Management Act, or FISMA, certification. This certification makes it easier for Microsoft to offer the government cloud services. The United States Department of Agriculture is one of those organizations that will be moving 120,000 employees to Microsoft’s cloud. Microsoft is also making a push to for more FISMA certification across other cloud services. A quote from The Next Web states that “We [Microsoft] plan to pursue FISMA certification and accreditation for Office 365, our next generation cloud productivity suite, after it launches.” What do you think of the FISMA certification? What other Microsoft products should receive the FISMA certificate? Leave your comments below. What are your thoughts about the stories we shared with you this week? Did you see a story you want to share with us? Let us know what other topics you’d like to see. You can comment on this blog post or send an email to our community mailbox . Follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.