WMUG Events

WMUG Event 31st October 2008 - Microsoft TVP, Reading

Rob — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 09:15:10 GMT

Wally Mead at WMUG – 31st of October, 2008

Mark the date in your diaries folks, the next WMUG meeting will be on the 31st of October at the Microsoft TVP Campus in Reading. This time we’ll be having from Microsoft, Wally Mead, Sr. Program Manager for System Center configuration Manager who has kindly agreed to stop over at our meeting on his way to Tech Ed, and do some presentations.

Please note: We will be starting this event earlier than normal on a Friday, to get the most benefit out of Wally for you.

We have three sessions:

1:15 - 2:30 - Configuration Manager Site Deployment (Deployment part 1)

2:30 – 2:45 - Break

2:45 - 4:00 - Configuration Manager Client Deployment (Deployment part 2)

4:00 – 4:15 - Break

4:15 - 5:30 - Configuration Manager SP1 and R2 Overview

5:30 – 6:00 - Q&A

This is a GOLDEN opportunity for you to meet, and hear from, one of the best SMS/ ConfigMgr experts in the world, so attending is essential!

Keep in mind this is as close to training in the product as you’ll get at a user group, as Wally will be covering off a lot of ground from the Site server to the deployment of the client, then discussing and highlighting the benefits of ConfigMgr SP1 and ConfigMgr R2. Each session gives you an in-depth dive of the subject matter, giving you the opportunity to discover new ways of achieving results with the product, and with plenty of time to put forward questions for Wally to answer.

This is a once a year event, definitely one not to miss, especially if you are not able to attend IT Forum and are interested in System Center Configuration Manager.

WMUG Event 11th September 2008 - Cardinal Place, London

Cliff — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:31:57 GMT

WMUG is proud to announce that we are finalizing the arrangements for our next meeting.

The date and location has been decided:

11th Spetember 2008 at the Microsoft Cardinal Place London office @ 6:30pm

6.30pm - 6.45pm
WMUG Introduction

6.45pm – 7.30pm
Jermiah Beckett - President of Secure Vantage Technologies
Jeremiah is the founder and President of Secure Vantage Technologies, Inc. (SVT) and responsible for driving the company vision, evangelizing SVT technology and forging strategic business relations. Over the past 10 years Jeremiah has focused on enterprise management and monitoring, working for small businesses, startups and large corporate enterprises. Jeremiah is a recognized industry expert in the System Center community and has established SVT as one of Microsoft’s security and compliance go-to partners. He will be covering the following topics:

•       Audit Collection Service Overview
•       Security Management & Auditing with Secure Vantage Compliance Security Suite for System Center
•       Case Study Review – Information Services Firm Enhances Compliance & Optimizes Data Center
•       Open QnA

7:30pm – 8:15pm
Break

8:15pm - 9:00pm
Aaron Parker - Microsoft App-V (formerly Softgrid) Technical specialist
Aaron is a WMUG Community member and also one of the country's leading specialists in Microsoft's App-V technologies, Aaron has been working with the Softgrid technology for a number of years now and has many large scale deployments to his name. He is a leading expert in this area as well as with its integration with SCCM. He will be covering the following topics:

•       Microsoft App-V Overview
•       SCCM Integration run through
•       New features in 4.5
•       Open QnA

9:00pm – 9:15pm
Open Q&A session

We will also be giving away a Microsoft Zune player kindly donated by Secure Vantage.

If you would like to attend then please click here to send us an email confirming.

About Us

Rob — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 16:27:22 GMT

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

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. The prime goal of FAQShop is to help people use Systems Management technology to make their lives easier - not for technology to control their lives which is reflected in this site's mission statement: 'Ensuring you get the best of IT'. Feel free to email Cliff at anytime.

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.

Gordon Mckenna - MVP

Hi, I'm Gordon and I am a System Center Operations Manager MVP, and expert in MOM since the products conception with Mission Critical Software back in 1998, where I was the Technical Specialist for thechnology. I now run my own successful UK based System Center consultancy business Inframon (www.inframon.com).

Those who have met me will know I am a massive evangelist for my chosen area of technology, and I regularly prsent at MMS, TechEd and IT Forum as well as WMUG and anywhere else someone will give me a soapbox to stand on.

These days I am busy working with customers and partners in helping them get the very best out of the System Center Suite of products so if you need to understand how to get the very best out of your Windows (and non-windows) infrastructure then drop me a line, or come along and meet me at our next meeting.

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.

WMUG Event 15th July 2008 - Cardinal Place, London

Rob — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 10:46:45 GMT

WMUG is proud to announce that we are finalizing the arrangements for our next meeting.

The date and location has been decided:

15th of July 2008 at the Microsoft Cardinal Place London office @ 6:30pm

6.30pm - 6.45pm

WMUG Introduction

6.45pm – 7.30pm

Rob Marshall

Using Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 I will be giving you an introduction and demonstration of the new Operating System Deployment feature.

7:30pm – 8:15pm

Break

8:15pm - 9:00pm

Gordon McKenna and David Allen

This session will provide a technical overview of System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM), looking at the key technology behind it as well as an architectural deep dive.

We will also look at SCVMM Integration with System Center Operations Manager 2007, looking closely at the new Management Packs that are provided.

9:00pm – 9:15pm

Open Q&A session

All content will be presented in real time, using Virtual Machine technology!

If you would like to attend then please click here to send us an email confirming.

WMUG Event content

Rob — Sun, 25 May 2008 13:03:53 GMT

At WMUG we're still paying attention to what kind of content you'd like to see at our events. So far we've given you presentations mixed up with hands-on demo's from VM's ... and now we want to present to you, some really good deep\shallow (depends on you!) coverage of features from the Systems Center product range.

[Poll]

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