About Us

The Windows Management User Group (WMUG), was formed by IT Systems Management professionals passionate about everything to do with managing the Windows platform.

The primary goal of the group is to simply bring together other like-minded Professionals to share hints, tips and experiences.

We will be arranging regular meetings at various locations across the UK so we can meet as many people face to face to talk about Windows Management tools and procedures, get problems answered, and allow you to get advice from industry leaders, specialists and product vendors.

If you would like to join us, then feel free to sign up here. Joining WMUG by creating an account on this site gives us the opportunity to email you when an event is scheduled, and it also allows you to fully participate in any of the site activities taking place.

So, who are the guys behind WMUG?

Rob Marshall - MVP

I've pretty much dedicated the last handful of years on SMS, but i come from a varied and deeply technical background in computing. It all began with a ZX80 back when I was 13/14 years old. I was instantly hooked. I like to think my "Golden years" where programming 68000 assembler for the Commodore A500. I had so much fun with that system and its custom chipsets, writing demo's and stuff. That machine was way beyond it's time. I moved to a PC, tried Assembler there but who wants to address memory in a non-linear fashion? urgh it put me off so i ended up tinkering with Turbo Pascal and Visual Basic then gave up programming all-together and instead focused on Microsoft desktop\server technologies. Unfortunately my l33t programming skillz(TM) fell to the wayside, replaced by Scripting skillz(TM) when I need to get something done.

My blog is here. But be warned, if you’re the type looking for constant technical content you'll be partly disappointed by the content on my blog, as I switch from technical to non-technical on a regular basis. If you need technical content go visit slashdot.org, or the IEEE website ;-)

A master of understatement, and an initial founder of WMUG in 2006, I like to share, learn and enjoy SMS (now known as ConfigMgr) with others.

Cliff Hobbs - MVP 

Cliff Hobbs is a UK-based systems management consultant who specialises in the various systems management tools covered by this site such as Microsoft Systems Management Server (SMS). He has extensive experience of designing, deploying, and supporting large enterprise-wide systems management solutions on behalf of companies such as EDS, 1E and Getronics. In recognition of his contribution to the Systems Management community Microsoft awarded Cliff the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for SMS in January 2004 which has been re-awarded in all subsequent years. Having grown up with the PC from the days of the IBM AT and PC-DOS 3.3, he has an extensive knowledge of several operating systems and applications gained through his present and past employment with companies such as EDS, Du Pont, Abbey National and Getronics, amongst others.

David Scambler

I have been working with SMS since the good old 1.2 days (over 10 years), at present I work for a large bank where I am lucky enough to be responsible for the global support of multiple SMS hierarchies spanning multiple domains, great fun ! for some reason I also get all the MOM problems as well.

David Allen - MVP

I began my IT career back in 2001 working for Computacenter, where I started as a first line analyst.  The main part of my job was answering support calls from various companies and providing basic IT assistance.  After only eighteen months, I was promoted to a second line role, which was far more technical; and it was in this position that I really developed my passion for IT.  Working with and administering AD, SMS, Exchange and NetWare, to name a few, I found the perfect career.  After two further years at Computacenter, increasing my experience and improving my technical knowledge, I decided it was time to move on.

The next couple of years, were spent working in development and administration of IT systems for a company’s in-house technical team.  This gave me a lot more exposure to different software and system setups which further developed my technical skills and experience.  As I was now really getting excited about what I was doing as a job, I started working on extending my knowledge at home.  Before I realised it, I had three servers and a number of PCs and laptops set up, and it wasn’t uncommon for me to be online until the small hours of the morning.

In 2006, I took the decision to move back to a large ICT company, Getronics (first PinkRoccade and now KPN).  Here, I primarily worked on projects to implement new systems and security enhancements, provide audited documentation and provide third line technical support to a large number of companies.  In 2008, after being relocated, I took a position closer to home at a company where I am still working at present.  Here, I work in Systems Management, where I have built on my experience and knowledge of IT to significantly improve the monitoring and management of a large enterprise.  Specifically, I have specialised in System Center Operations Manager 2007 ever since its first beta release, and now have an in depth knowledge of all aspects of the product.

I know, I sound like a geek but I love what I do and I know I couldn’t be happier in any other career.