Microsoft Technology in 2012

Should Microsoft meet their roadmap plans for 2012 there should be a number of business products and technologies that should be on your own roadmap for evaluation.  Some of those technologies rumored for release are listed below and we think should be firmly on your radar.

1. Windows Server 8: Windows Server 8 has hundreds of new features as you would expect with a strong play with Hyper-V.  Windows Server 8 includes improvements in storage, virtualisation, networking and clustering to name but a few.

2. Windows 8 client: A lot of interest around the Windows 8 client is focused on the tablet experience and the ability to roam across tablet and traditional operating systems, making the move into consumerisation a lot slicker for many businesses.  The noise around Windows 8 client so far has been pretty positive.

3. Office 2012 servers: New versions of on-premises Exchange, SharePoint and Lync  are all in development as part of Office 15.  Businesses continue to hear Microsoft will ship them before the end of calendar 2012.

4. Identity management: We’re talking Active Directory Services; Active Directory Federation Services; Certificate Services/PKI; Active Directory Rights Management Services and Forefront Identity Manager. This provides the foundation of the single sign on experience for Microsoft’s public and private cloud technologies.

5. System Center 2012: Microsoft will launch in the first half of 2012 its full suite of 10-plus systems management offerings. Some of these products will be able to manage non-Microsoft mobile devices for the first time. Some of the advancements in SCCM and SCOM are very compelling for businesses.

6. Skype and Lync/Outlook Integration: The $8.5bn acquisition of Skype should start to show integration this year across the business landscape including Skype integration with Lync, Skype integration with Exchange/Outlook and maybe even built-in Skype integration with Windows.

7. ERP in the cloud: Microsoft Dynamics NAV, will be the first cloud-enabled ERP solution from Microsoft. Microsoft officials have said they  plan to move all four of their ERP products to the cloud.

So looks like a lot of activity for Microsoft this year and a lot of value for businesses looking to upgrade and migrate to the latest product editions.

Need help with your plans?  Contact us to see how we can help you.