What is a TeleBriefing? Briefings are telephone-based conferences that consist of a 30-minute presentation by a Directions on Microsoft expert followed by a question-and-answer period. Briefing topics complement Directions on Microsoft research.

How often are briefings held? Briefings are held once a month. Past TeleBriefings are listed below. For a list of upcoming TeleBriefings, see the Future TeleBriefing Schedule.

How does one register for a briefing? Please send an e-mail to TeleBriefings@DirectionsOnMicrosoft.com or call 425.739.4669 x13. You will be provided instructions for dialing into our telephone conference system.

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Microsoft's 2011 fiscal year began on July 1, and at conferences for financial analysts and partners in July, Microsoft shared some of its top business priorities and goals for the year.

In this TeleBriefing, Research VP Matt Rosoff gives an overview of Microsoft's five business segments and their performance in FY'10, and the top priorities for each segment in FY'11. Topics will include the company's big push into "cloud computing" and hosted online business services, the reset in Microsoft's mobile phone strategy, and the response to the iPad and other competitive touch-screen portable devices.

Packaging, licensing, and pricing changes introduced with SharePoint Server 2010 include moving developer-related components from the commercial product into the free SharePoint Foundation offering, a 10% price increase for certain server licenses and Client Access Licenses (CALs), and new licenses covering the use of higher-end search technology and deployments of SharePoint for Internet and extranet sites.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Chair Rob Horwitz explains what licenses are required to deploy SharePoint Server 2010. Topics discussed will include features requiring a SharePoint 2010 Enterprise Client Access License (CAL), license reassignment and other virtualization-related rules, pricing for SharePoint-related licenses, licensing FAST Search Server for SharePoint, Windows Server and SQL Server licensing prerequisites, and licensing SharePoint for Internet or extranet sites accessed by non-employees.

Answers to questions that Rob Horwitz was not able to get to during the TeleBriefing Q&A session have been answered here.

Microsoft seems to have abandoned project Stirling, code-name for a centralized console that promised to simplify management of the Forefront line of anti-malware products. Microsoft now says many of the management functions for the Forefront security products will be taken over by tools in the System Center line such as Operations Manager and Configuration Manager.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Vice President Don Retallack explains significant shifts in Microsoft's roadmap for protecting servers, desktops, and laptops from malicious software (malware), including viruses and spyware. He'll also discuss Microsoft's plans for updating the Forefront product line along with the new dependencies on products such as SQL Server and System Center these updates will create.

The .NET Framework 4 offers new and enhanced features in areas including Web development, the Workflow and Communication Foundations, data access, and the implementation of applications optimized to take advantage of parallel hardware. Development teams may realize many benefits by moving to the new Framework, but important tradeoffs must first be evaluated to justify the impact of the upgrade.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Vice President Rob Sanfilippo provides an overview of the new capabilities delivered in the .NET Framework 4, the benefits they could offer, and the factors to weigh when adopting the new release. This briefing will interest organizations with development teams using earlier versions of the .NET Framework and those considering moving to .NET-based development for the first time.

Office 2010 will be generally available in May 2010. This latest version of Microsoft's desktop productivity suite has some new features that organizations may want to evaluate. Evaluating any new version of Office is challenging because the suite is composed of many separate but related applications including Excel, Outlook and Word, and some individual products, such as Outlook work best when connected to a Microsoft server.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Vice President Michael Cherry provides an overview of the core Office 2010 features that an organization will want to evaluate without consideration of SharePoint, Exchange or other server products and the additional functionality they provide. This TeleBriefing will help organizations with an evaluation of the Office suite if they do not have these servers, or do not expect to deploy the latest versions of the servers for some time, or just want to take the first step toward a full evaluation of the 2010 products.

Expertise in Microsoft licensing requires extraordinary attention to detail and an appetite for reading the fine print. It also requires specific knowledge about where the rules live.

In this TeleBriefing, Research VP Paul DeGroot identifies and explains the five key information resources IT planners and purchasing managers can use to inform and refine complex Microsoft licensing decisions.

Exchange Server 2010 adds high-availability, archiving and retention features and enables interesting new client-side capabilities. Microsoft hopes these improvements will entice organizations to upgrade from Exchange Server 2003, which exited mainstream support in 2009.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Chair Rob Horwitz explains what licenses are required to deploy an Exchange Server 2010-based system. Topics discussed will include the differences between the two server editions, features licensed by the product's two client access licenses (CALs), licensing of client-side Outlook software, and prerequisites such as Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2 licenses.

2010 will see one of the largest release waves in Microsoft history. New versions of Office, SharePoint Server, SQL Server, and System Center products are scheduled for the first half of the year, with a strategic update to Microsoft's unified communications products planned for the second half. Many of the new capabilities delivered in these releases depend on one another, so organizations cannot evaluate them in isolation.

In this TeleBriefing, Managing Vice President Rob Helm provides an overview of Microsoft's 2010 release wave and point out the most important dependencies that could affect your evaluation of the products. He also provides a glimpse beyond 2010 at likely releases and retirements for Windows, Office, and other strategic products.

Microsoft's Online Services are a set of Microsoft-hosted solutions that can replace on-premises installations of Exchange, SharePoint, and Communications Server. They are sold separately or, when bundled with the online Live Meeting conferencing service, as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).

In this TeleBriefing, Research VP Paul DeGroot explains Microsoft's Online Services licensing model and how it differs from that of its on-premises software. He'll also discuss pricing, current promotions, how volume licensing customers can purchase online services, and the migration paths that Microsoft offers for customers who want to move from on-premises to online servers.

The Windows Azure platform is now commercially available, giving Microsoft a broad set of online services for developers, business customers, and consumers, and substantially completing the first stage of the company's "software plus services" strategy. Nearly every important Microsoft enterprise server now has an associated online service. Although these services could replace on-premises software in some scenarios, the company will continue to emphasize how well they work with locally installed software.

In this TeleBriefing, Research VP Matt Rosoff will give an overview of the current state of Microsoft's cloud computing and software plus services offerings for corporate customers and developers, including the Windows Azure platform services and Microsoft Online hosted application services. He will also explain its relationship to on-premises Microsoft software, and will describe what's known about future updates.

A Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) allows a user's desktops and applications to run in a private virtual machine hosted on servers in a data center rather than locally on the user's PCs. Though technically complex and not inexpensive, VDI has sparked considerable interest because it allows users to access personalized desktops from any client; and can simplify provisioning, updating, and decommissioning of desktop environments.

Licensing a VDI using Microsoft technologies is complex because it involves multiple software layers, most licensed separately, and numerous licensing options and choices, each with their own set of advantages and drawbacks.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Chair Rob Horwitz explains the six different software layers customers need to license, their role in VDI, what licensing choices they have, and how to choose. Though the presentation will focus on licensing the Microsoft VDI technology stack, the presentation will be relevant to customers combining Microsoft technologies with offerings from VMWare and Citrix.

Windows Server 2008 R2, a minor release, includes improvements to help administrators better manage large numbers of local and remote servers. It also includes improvements likely to interest customers using the Windows Server 2008 server core installation, the Windows Hyper-V hypervisor for hardware virtualization, or Active Directory Domain Services, as well as customers deploying Windows 7.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Vice President Michael Cherry provides a high-level overview of the Windows Server 2008 R2 release and discusses which improvements and scenarios might justify an upgrade.

SharePoint Server 2010, expected in mid-2010, will be a major upgrade of Microsoft's Web site management and collaboration product. This version promises improvements for team collaboration, including new social networking features, and for large-scale administration and policy enforcement. It also delivers major new features in business intelligence, application development, and other areas.

In this TeleBriefing, Managing Vice President Rob Helm gives an overview of the most important enhancements coming in SharePoint Server 2010, and previews the most important risks and costs organizations should consider in evaluating upgrades.

Exchange Server 2010, expected to release at the end of 2009, promises high-availability capabilities, enhanced archiving and compliance functionality, support for new client-side features, and more to the messaging server product.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Vice President Rob Sanfilippo gives an overview of the major enhancements coming in Exchange Server 2010 and outlines the caveats organizations should consider before adopting or upgrading to it.

Windows 7 stands in stark contrast to its precursor, Windows Vista. By carefully managing changes, ensuring application and driver compatibility with Vista, and working to improve the resource utilization and performance of the OS, Microsoft has a version of Windows that many businesses will be willing to deploy, particularly now that Windows XP is in Extended support.

In this TeleBriefing, Directions on Microsoft Research VP Michael Cherry outlines the features and benefits of Windows 7 most likely to interest business.

Software Assurance (SA) gives companies a discounted upgrade path to new versions of Microsoft products, such as the upcoming Windows 7, Office 2010, Exchange 2010, and SharePoint Server 2010. SA also delivers technical support, training, and other benefits. However SA is not always the lowest-cost way to purchase upgrades.

In this TeleBriefing, research vice president Paul DeGroot compares the package of benefits delivered with SA against the cost of purchasing those same benefits a la carte.

A planned PC management service and the next versions of Microsoft's System Center line of systems management tools were discussed at the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) in Apr. 2009. Improvements in System Center products and emphasis on tools for cloud computing may lead to further adoption of Microsoft's management products, especially in companies with large Microsoft-based server infrastructures.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Vice President Don Retallack discusses Microsoft's evolving strategy for systems management and provides a roadmap for current and future offerings of the System Center family of products.

Visual Studio Team System 2010, expected to release at the end of 2009, adds new software modeling, architecture, testing, and debugging features to the development collaboration product.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Vice President Rob Sanfilippo gives an overview of the major enhancements coming in Visual Studio Team System 2010 and outlines the caveats organizations should consider before adopting it.

Released earlier this month after a year of public beta testing, Internet Explorer 8 boasts significant improvements in standards support, privacy, and administration, as well as some notable features for end-users.

In this TeleBriefing, Research Vice President Matt Rosoff gives an overview of the most important features of IE8 and outlines some points organizations should consider before deploying it.

Volume licensing allows Microsoft customers to purchase and upgrade large numbers of licenses at substantial discounts and offers additional advantages, such as easier license management, flexible payment options, easier deployment, and version flexibility.

In this TeleBriefing, research vice president Paul DeGroot explains Microsoft's three major volume licensing plans--Open, Select and Enterprise--and outlines the advantages and drawbacks of each. He also offers advice how to choose between the three different plans.

With the simultaneous development and potential delivery of a new Windows client (Windows 7) and server (Windows Server 2008 R2) in the second half of 2009 or first half of 2010, and with Windows XP leaving Mainstream support, customers face some critical decisions about which versions of Windows they want to support. Discussions of internal projects such as MinWin and future OS research such as Singularity or Midori further confuse the decision.

In this TeleBriefing, Directions on Microsoft Research VP Michael Cherry reviews the Windows roadmap, and answers questions about what the new versions will mean to organizations that have to decide which versions of Windows they are going to support.

The Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) is a bundle of PC management utilities that speed testing and improve reliability of Windows PC configurations. MDOP also fills important gaps Microsoft's systems management offering for Windows PCs and is the only way to license Microsoft's application virtualization technology on Windows PCs. However, MDOP is only available to organizations that purchase Software Assurance for their Windows desktop OS.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Don Retallack reviews and answers questions about the most interesting systems management tools included in MDOP, including application virtualization.

At its 2008 Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft took the wraps off its "cloud computing" platform for developers, including the Windows Azure service for application hosting and data storage, Live Services for data synchronization among devices, and several other related services.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Matt Rosoff explains the importance of the Azure Services Platform to Microsoft and developers and gives a brief overview of each piece.

Among numerous enhancements, new features in SQL Server 2008 will improve management of large-scale SQL Server deployments and could help Microsoft close the distance on IBM and Oracle, its main competitors in the enterprise database market.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Chris Alliegro summarizes the key updates in the latest version of Microsoft's database management and business intelligence platform.

Advances in virtualization technologies have created alternatives to traditional thick client approaches to Windows desktop deployment. While these alternatives can be used to substantially cut Windows desktop management costs, they also require a confusing array of Microsoft licenses and subscriptions.

In this TeleBriefing, Rob Horwitz reviews the various methods organizations can use to provide a Windows desktop experience to users along with the licensing implications of each.

In this TeleBriefing, Directions on Microsoft analysts Michael Cherry and Paul DeGroot will review Microsoft's hardware virtualization technology, including Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V, Hyper-V Server, and Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, as well as tools that can manage the virtual environment, such as System Center Virtual Machine monitor. Mike and Paul will also offer insights into the recent changes in licensing that increases an organization's flexibility to move workloads between servers, and changes to the support policies for server software running in virtual machines.

Enterprise Agreements represent a major commitment for midmarket and enterprise volume licensing customers, and they require careful planning in order to maximize their benefits.

In this TeleBriefing, licensing analyst Paul DeGroot reviews the major features of Microsoft's Enterprise Agreements, and identifies what you need to understand before initiating or renewing an Enterprise Agreement.

Windows Server 2008 delivers tighter security and other improvements that can prevent a server application from running on the new OS. Some Microsoft server applications require a specific version or service pack, and some highly anticipated OS features such as Network Access Protection and Hyper-V virtualization require additional application or client updates. Consequently, organizations might want to stage deployment of Windows Server 2008 by concentrating first on infrastructure services and other server roles that are less likely to be affected by application compatibility.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS director of research Rob Helm summarizes the server and client software in your organization that might require updating to support Windows Server 2008 and leverage its most prominent new features.

At the recent Microsoft Management Summit, Microsoft reiterated its focus on enhancing and coordinating its enterprise systems management software offerings. It also announced plans to provide cross-platform support in its products.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Don Retallack discusses Microsoft's evolving strategy for systems management and provides a roadmap for current and future offerings, including the System Center family of products.

A year after introducing its "Software Plus Services" strategy, Microsoft is clearly focused on new services that add to—rather than cannibalize—its existing software offerings. Microsoft has also made clear its plan to use the existing channel to sell these new services.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Matt Rosoff discusses how software plus services has evolved in the last year, what it means for customers and partners, and likely next steps.

Microsoft used Convergence 2008, the annual conference for customers and partners of the Microsoft Business Solutions (MBS) unit, to set expectations for its most important products, including Microsoft CRM and Dynamics AX. In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Chris Alliegro summarizes the latest shifts in the MBS product roadmap and their implications.

In this TeleBriefing, Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry reviews the features delivered in Windows Server 2008 that have the greatest impact on business users, including changes to Active Directory, IIS 7.0 and Terminal Services that improve security, manageability, remote access and rights management.

As customers evaluate Microsoft's next major virtualization technology, a hypervisor that works with Windows Server 2008, they will need to keep licensing issues in mind.

In this TeleBriefing, licensing analyst Paul DeGroot reviews the major features of Microsoft's virtualization licensing for both servers and clients, assesses the impact of recent changes to licensing rules, and discusses areas where further change is likely.

Visual Studio (VS) 2008, the latest release of Microsoft's popular integrated development environment is about to ship. VS 2008, along with the .NET Framework 3.5, includes significant improvements in the way developers query databases, and better support for developing applications with Office 2007. It provides only modest improvements, however, in areas such modeling and development team collaboration.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS analyst Greg DeMichillie summarizes the most important capabilities delivered with VS 2008 and how they can help corporate IT departments streamline development of business applications. He also provides guidance on the VS and .NET Framework roadmaps.

PerformancePoint Server 2007 is suite of business intelligence (BI) applications that promise to help large organizations streamline complex financial reporting tasks and track and measure corporate performance. Released in September 2007, PerformancePoint continues Microsoft's push into the rapidly expanding but intensely competitive BI tools market.

In this TeleBriefing, senior analyst Chris Alliegro provides an overview of the three main BI applications delivered with PerformancePoint: PerformancePoint Planning; PerformancePoint Monitoring; and ProClarity. He will discuss opportunities and challenges early adopters of these tools should expect.

Major releases to Windows, the SQL Server database management system, and the Visual Studio development tool suite are coming in late 2007 and early 2008. Most organizations will want to evaluate these releases, which set a new baseline for Microsoft infrastructure and deliver important improvements for application development. However, some organizations will wait to deploy these releases until they have seen Microsoft's new virtualization technology.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS director of research Rob Helm discusses upcoming shifts in Microsoft's application platform roadmap IT planners should consider as they map their application development strategy.

Customers wishing to implement instant messaging (IM), voice and video calls, and on-premise Web conferencing using Microsoft's latest technology face a complex set of licensing choices and requirements.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS analyst Rob Horwitz explains the various server licenses and Client Access Licenses (CALs) required to implement a real-time communications system built on Office Communications Server 2007 and Communicator 2007.

Microsoft is talking up its new "Software Plus Services" strategy to customers, partners, and financial analysts, with Steve Ballmer calling it the company's top long-term priority.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Matt Rosoff explains what Microsoft means by software plus services, how it differs from "software as a service," and identifies how existing Microsoft products and programs are likely to evolve with the new strategy.

Microsoft offers a broad assortment of developer technologies, some with bright prospects for future enhancement and support, and others toward the end of their usable life. It is essential that both corporate and commercial developers target the correct Microsoft tools and APIs so as to avoid mistakes that could lead to premature obsolescence or costly rewrites.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Greg DeMichillie explains where Microsoft's developer technologies are heading. He'll also discuss what recent and upcoming changes in Microsoft's development platform mean for Microsoft customers and partners.

Microsoft's licensing policies are notoriously complex. A new class of Client Access Licenses (CALs) for Microsoft server applications—including Exchange 2007 and SharePoint 2007—adds more complexity and cost to Microsoft licensing.

In this TeleBriefing, lead analyst Paul DeGroot will explain the new Enterprise CALs. He'll also explain the pros and cons of Microsoft's new Enterprise CAL Suite, which may simplify the Enterprise CAL purchase decision for organizations willing to increase their commitment to Microsoft.

SharePoint Server 2007 aims to expand the appeal of Microsoft's platform for intranet portals and team collaboration with support for a variety new roles, including records management, centralized spreadsheet management, and business intelligence.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Chris Alliegro discusses new product features and business scenarios supported by SharePoint Server 2007, and outlines factors to consider when evaluating to the latest version of SharePoint.

The new Enterprise Software Roadmap shipped to DIRECTION'S clients March 1st. The roadmap summarizes past, current, and future versions of Microsoft's products and is an all-in-one-place reference for corporate IT customers who plan migrations, schedule training, budget for purchases, and assess license agreements.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS senior analyst Rob Helm will provide an overview of the most significant changes in Microsoft's software and services offerings including Windows, Office and major server releases for 2007. He will also provide insight into how these changes might affect Microsoft customers and partners.

Note: We made an error during the question and answer period regarding enterprise CALs. With the exception of the Forefront and Hosted Services Filtering options for Exchange, purchase of Enterprise CALs is not an all-or-none proposition; customers may purchase Enterprise CALs for only a select group of users. With Exchange Server 2007, for example, an organization with 10,000 Exchange users could buy 500 enterprise CALs just for the operators in its call center who use Exchange's voicemail feature (which requires enterprise CALs). However, this strategy can create serious problems in case of an audit: For example, it would be hard for an organization to prove that only users with enterprise CALs use Exchange voicemail, because voicemail is enabled for all users. Consequently, organizations that buy enterprise CALs for any users might end up having to buy them for all users. We regret the error. For more information on managing enterprise CALs, see the following article: "Enterprise CAL Suite Reduces Complexity, at a Price".

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS analysts Pete Pawlak outlines the major areas of improvement in Exchange Server 2007 that may influence organizations to upgrade, as well as summarizes the licensing and labor costs associated with migration.

Note: This Telebriefing was original scheduled for December 19, 2006 but had to be rescheduled due to ongoing disruptions caused by severe windstorms that hit the Puget Sound area on Friday December 15th.

After five years of delays and feature cuts, Windows Vista is finally shipping to Microsoft's corporate customers. But many businesses still question whether Vista delivers anything that merits their immediate attention.

In this TeleBriefing, DIRECTIONS analyst Michael Cherry will summarize and answer questions about the features in Vista that will have the greatest impact on business users, including security, manageability, mobile computers, and networking. It also explains how these improvements may justify early adoption of Vista to corporate IT decision makers.