Volume 6 Issue 7

July 31, 2006

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Welcome to the July edition of QTS QuikNews, our monthly e-mail newsletter. In this monthly e-mail, you will receive an update of what's new at QTS - new products we support, new patches and upgrades, solution ideas and promotions to save you money, and information about our company and our clients.

In this issue:

• QTS and Partner News
• Events
• President's Corner
• QuikSecure Tip of the Month
• Patches and Upgrades
• Product Support Lifecycle Watch
• Solution Spotlight
• Special Offers
• Partner Spotlight

QTS AND PARTNER NEWS

WELCOME TO NEW CUSTOMERS
QTS offers a �welcome aboard� to the following new customers:

�         Englewood Hospital & Medical Center

�         Hughes Hubbard & Reed, LLP

�         J.W. Seligman & Company

�         Qosina

JOHN HOUSTON
Many of you had the pleasure of working with John Houston, who was a key QTS employee for almost 10 years. John left QTS in 2004 to pursue other opportunities, and has returned to the IT industry with Network Hardware Resale (NHR) www.networkhardware.com, a company specializing in purchase and resale of pre-owned Cisco & Juniper networking equipment. If you are interested in checking in with John, or see the opportunity to sell your surplus equipment or purchase direct from John, you can reach him at (201) 984-1476, or via email at JHouston@networkhardware.com. We at QTS are looking forward to working with John again, and hope you have the opportunity to do so as well.

QTS IS HIRING!
QTS is recruiting for senior and mid-level technical personnel, an entry to mid-level sales/service specialist, and 1099 contract technical resources.  If you know anyone who might be a good fit, please have them visit our recruitment page at http://www.qtsnet.com/jobs/Default.htm, or submit their resume to Liz Meechan, our Office Manager. Liz can be reached at lmeechan@QTSnet.com, or (973)984-7600 x223.

PRESS RELEASES

QTS PARTICIPATING IN OFFICE 2007 RAPID DEPLOYMENT PROGRAM
7/10/2006: QTS today announced that it is participating, along with several QTS customers, in Microsoft's Rapid Deployment Program for Office 2007.  Under the Office 2007 Rapid Deployment program, Microsoft customers are actively beta testing Office 2007, the next release of the Microsoft Office System, to identify potential problems and compatibility issues so they can be resolved prior to commercial release of the product. QTS is providing project management services and coordinating efforts with its customers and Microsoft, as well as helping customers develop specific business solutions based on Office 2007.  Read more at http://www.QTSnet.com/stayinformed/l3_stay_pr69.htm

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PRODUCT NOTICES AND ADVISORIES

FREE MICROSOFT CRM SERVER LICENSE FOR MBS CUSTOMERS
At its Worldwide Partner Conference, Microsoft announced that all new customers purchasing its Dynamics ERP products (Great Plains, Axapta, Navision, Solomon) will receive a free Dynamics CRM Server License.  This offer also applies to all current customers who presently have maintenance on their systems.  Contact your Microsoft Business Solutions Partner, or your QTS Account Manager, for more information.

TERMINAL SERVICES CAL TRADE-UP EXTENDED!
Due to a change in the way Microsoft licenses Terminal Services as of April 2003, customers may be eligible for free Terminal Services Client Access Licenses (CALs).  With the release of Windows Server 2003, the �built-in� CALs under Windows 2000 were eliminated.  However, customers owning Windows XP Pro receive a free Terminal Services CAL for each XP license.  This offer has been extended, but we strongly recommend processing this promptly.  For more information, visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/ howtobuy/licensing/tscaltransfaq.mspx.

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PRESIDENT'S CORNER

Every summer for the last few years, I have used Microsoft�s Worldwide Partner Conference as an anchor to organize QTS� product strategy, technical readiness planning and marketing strategy for the upcoming year.   Microsoft operates on a fiscal year of July to June, so WWPC coincides with the end of the prior fiscal year, and the start of the new one.  It is a good opportunity to re-align QTS with our number one partner and make sure we�re working together properly, and that QTS� efforts are in line with key areas of focus for Microsoft that match our competencies.  This year was no different, and was particularly critical in light of the massive array of products Microsoft will be releasing in the next 18 months.

We have been actively involved in pre-release testing and deployment initiatives around Windows Vista and Office 2007, so there really weren�t any major surprises there.  We are working toward an anticipated release window of November 2006 for Vista and Office 2007 (from a electronic download perspective � it will take another 2 months or so for retail and OEM versions to reach store shelves), and that time frame still appears to be realistic, though some slippage is possible.  We�ve been working with Beta 2 code for both products and our experience to date has been good, with overall solid reliability for this stage in the Beta process.  Both are compelling upgrades, with Vista offering major security, mobility and search/ease-of-use benefits.  Office 2007 offers many significant enhancements, particularly around the client interface and the SharePoint technologies, as well as enhancements to the Business Scorecard Manager technologies and Groove platforms.

On the server side, Windows �Longhorn� Server is proceeding through development and we�re looking at the second half of 2007 for this major server release.  There are several areas targeted for enhancement, including the addition of Network Access Protection.  Microsoft NAP will be an extension of the IAS service, with the ability to define and enforce policies and isolate machines that don�t comply with your organization�s requirements for patches, antivirus, firewall, etc.  This will be a major enhancement to reduce potential security vulnerabilities within a network.  In addition to the predictable enhancements to security, reliability and performance, Microsoft has also put significant work into improving the administrative interface to make Windows Server easier to manage (QTS has been participating with Microsoft in this for the past year), making the interface easier to navigate, combining multiple tasks (instead of doing one thing at a time) and implementing a role-based model for administration.  Microsoft has also added enhancements to Terminal Services, including a Terminal Services Gateway feature, that will force Citrix to further enhance and refine its offerings (which it is working on with its �Constellation� release targeted to coincide with Longhorn).

Microsoft is working on enhancements to its Small Business Server strategy, as well as an offering targeted at the lower mid-market space (50-250 PCs).  Small Business Server 2003 R2 is about to be released, and essentially adds Windows Server 2003 R2, Exchange Server 2003 SP2, WSUS and SQL Server 2005 into one small business package.  The licensing model has also been relaxed, allowing SBS CALs to be used even when SQL or Exchange are offloaded to another server (the server license still needs to be purchased).  On the horizon is �Cougar,� or SBS 2007, which will be a 64-bit only version of SBS based on Longhorn and Exchange Server 2007.  In the mid-market space, Microsoft is still defining its strategy and packaging but the �Centro� offering will include some level of Email, Server/PC Management and Security components with streamlined licensing.

I�m particularly interested in how Microsoft executes on its Management strategy, based on the �System Center� branding.  A new version of MOM, rebranded as �System Center Operations Manager 2007,� will be released late this year.  This version seems to build upon the current version as an incremental upgrade.  Later In 2007, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 will be released.  This is essentially SMS 2007, with a new name (something I�ve been recommending to Microsoft for years).   What is particularly interesting here is System Center Essentials � a hybrid product that combines about 80% of MOM with some of the core features, significantly simplified, of SMS � patch management, remote control, hardware/software inventory � targeted at �core mid-market� businesses (50-250 PCs).  System Center Essentials will be released some time in the first half of 2007.  Microsoft will be introducing other System Center modules, including a help desk module (integrated with the other System Center pieces), a Virtualization Manager, and other tools.

Big announcements were made in the Security space at WWPC.  Microsoft is moving into the antivirus business, outlining the roadmap for its ForeFront Client Security software.  ForeFront Client security will provide antivirus technology (based on an enhanced version of the GeCAD acquisition from a few years ago and the security operations center Microsoft has built since that time) and anti-spyware (from the Giant acquisition subsequently branded Windows Defender).  Microsoft�s offering will be in beta later this year, and released in the first half of 2007.  On the Server side, Microsoft�s ForeFront Server Security products are essentially a re-branding of the Sybari Antigen products, offering antivirus for Exchange, SharePoint and Live Communications Server.  These products are available today, and will be upgraded over the course of the next year to align with new product releases.  Microsoft is also now in the hosted messaging space with the FrontBridge acquisition (also now under the �ForeFront� branding), and has a new release of ISA Server planned in the upcoming year, with the Whale SSL VPN acquisition pending finalization.  All in all, Microsoft has put together a significant line card of products to complement the free tools and resources it deployed in its Trustworthy Computing initiative.

Perhaps the most significant long-term announcement at WWPC was the Microsoft Live Platform, and Microsoft�s message to partners around offering �software as a service.�   Microsoft is now in the hosting business, planning to offer a hosted version of Microsoft CRM that partners can help customers to customize and implement (and which will directly compete with SalesForce.com).  Microsoft is taking a broad swing at this market space, also offering the Office Live hosting platform (web site, storage, applications), and working to build related market space areas including advertising, and other annuity models.  Microsoft is looking to help drive adoption of this computing model, which it views as an eventuality to complement the current computing model.  It will take several years for this to really shake out, and Microsoft is forming a Partner Advisory Council to help it chart its direction in this space.

What I liked in particular about this year�s conference was the way I felt all of the products, and the product strategy, seemed to really come together and make sense cohesively.   These are tremendous tools coming out that have the potential to significantly enhance and impact our customers� business.  The big challenge will be Microsoft executing on the roadmap and vision � which I believe they have the ability to do even if some delays are inevitable � and customers understanding the tools and products so they can decide what to implement, in what order.  The latter challenge is something QTS is particularly well-positioned to help with, and I am confident we�ll be doing a lot of customer education and strategic planning in the next 12 months to help our customers take advantage of these powerful technologies.

As always, feel free to email me your comments or thoughts at nrosenberg@QTSnet.com. Thank you.

Neil Rosenberg
President & CEO
Quality Technology Solutions

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PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

This month�s QTS Partner Spotlight is on ISS Group, a Gold Certified Microsoft Business Solutions Partner headquartered in northern New Jersey with a remote location in Atlanta, Georgia. ISS Group was founded in 1986 and specializes on providing Information Technology solutions to the Wholesale Distribution and Discrete Manufacturing communities both locally as well as throughout the U.S.

For the first ten years of ISS Group�s operations, ISS Group offered technology products and services for Manufacturer�s and Distributor�s back-office operations such as Order Processing, Billing, Purchasing, Production Control, Warehousing and Accounting applications. ISS Group�s services included activities such as software installation/configuration, program customization, application training, process re-engineering and project management. By performing a complete range of solution implementation services and business process consulting, ISS Group became experts in satisfying the information technology requirements, operations and business practices and processes for Distribution and Manufacturing organizations.

In 1996, ISS Group developed an eCommerce solution providing real-time web transaction processing such as Order Entry, Purchase Order Maintenance, Stock Status Inquiry, A/R Inquiry, and more for integration to back-office ERP applications. This eCommerce solution was developed in the very early days of the Internet, before Al Gore�s Superhighway, and afforded ISS Group entr�e into the burgeoning eCommerce and Customer Relationship Management business. ISS Group focused on the eCommerce business throughout the late nineties and in 2000 became one of Siebel�s first reseller�s to market their CRM applications into the mid-market Manufacturing and Distribution communities.

As fate would have it, Siebel was marketing their CRM applications via the Great Plains product as the Great Plains Front-office Solution, and ISS Group was selling the Siebel applications via this sales channel. When Microsoft decided to purchase Great Plains in 2001 and develop their own CRM solution, the relationship between Siebel and Great Plains was dissolved. Microsoft then began courting the Siebel resellers who were selling via the Great Plains channel, such as ISS Group, and convinced ISS Group to become a Microsoft CRM reseller while the Microsoft product was still in Beta.

ISS Group has been working with the MS CRM product since it�s initial release back in 2002, has continued to develop their eCommerce products and service capabilities as well as their CRM solutions portfolio and integration expertise with Microsoft�s BizTalk technology, and has become one of Microsoft�s top CRM solution providers in the U.S. ISS Group has developed a product called iBridge which integrates MS CRM with back-office ERP solutions, which has been certified by Microsoft as an approved MS ISV solution, and has completed dozens of successful CRM implementations for Manufacturers and Distributors across the U.S. ISS Group has also broadened their expertise in Microsoft technologies and offers services in SharePoint and C# application development, Business Intelligence solutions, and Information Worker Productivity solutions using Microsoft Office.

For more information on ISS Group, please view their web site at www.issgroup.net, email them at sales@issgroup.net, or call 973-812-9700.  Or, contact your QTS Account Manager.

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