Are you coming into town for MMS 2016 Sunday and are looking for something to do? Let’s kick off MMS properly by visiting what some would consider to be the finest taproom in the world, Surly Brewing. Besides the outstanding beer and world class food the actual space itself is just awesome. This will be a good time.
For those wanting to make the 4pm tour, register for this session. For those wanting the 5pm public tour, just get their early enough so that you're one of the 20 they let in.
Transportation options are Uber or Light Rail from MoA.
Light Rail:
Blue Line to MPLS-Target Field
2:43 PM depart from MOA Transit Station
3:14 PM arrive at U.S. Bank Stadium Station
Green Line to St. Paul-Union Depot
3:20 PM depart from U.S. Bank Stadium Station
3:29 PM arrive at Prospect Park Station
Walk 0.38 miles NE to 520 MALCOLM AVE SE, MINNEAPOLIS, MN 55414
This is to make the 4pm tour! If you can't make it that early, no worries. Take the train when you can or grab an Uber and meet us there. This scenic train ride will take us right by the new Vikings stadium. It's huge. For those wanting to make the 4pm tour, meet me at the train station located at the Mall of America! Also, follow me on Twitter for updates, @FredBainbridge.
Planning a migration to ConfigMgr Current Branch (CB) or have you already done so? Join Jason Sandys and Kent Agerlund, two of the world’s foremost Configuration Manager experts in a dazzling seminar on how to use Configuration Manager in the real world. We will cover the changes in ConfigMgr CB, how to build and maintain a rock solid ConfigMgr infrastructure including migrating to the new environment and stay current. Learn how to automate applications and update management, and how to deploy and manage Windows 10 operating systems.
Kent and Jason will share notes from the field, tips and tricks for making System Management using ConfigMgr even better. If you are working with ConfigMgr CB, or thinking about moving to ConfigMgr CB, this is the 4-hour seminar that you cannot afford to miss.
Join Don Jones and Greg Ramsey during this four-hour session to help you get started with PowerShell. This session assumes you have little to no experience with PowerShell, but are now ready to take your first steps into modern automation. In this session, you will learn the basics for a solid foundation, and learn the most important PowerShell techniques and technologies to set you on the right path for efficient, reusable code. You will learn the basics of toolmaking and automation that will help you get ahead throughout the rest of your professional career. This session can also be used as a refresher before some of the more advanced MMS sessions come where PowerShell can be rather deep.
In this hands on lab we will configure AADConnect, synchronize our Active Directory to Azure AD and build a complete mobile device solution using ConfigMgr and Intune that not only secure the mobile devices but also the applications and data on it. We will also take a look a managing mobile devices from stand-alone Intune so you can see the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. Learn from the many tips and tricks learned while implementing stand alone and hybrid Intune / EMS environments.
Bring your phone and tablet and you can enroll it. Seating limited to just 25!
Note that with limited space for the pre-con, this session is being held at the Executive Center at the Mall.
Directions from the Radisson Blu To Mall of America Executive Center
Walk towards Mall of America via the skyway connecting to the hotel. Once inside the Mall, walk straight ahead towards the elevator and take it to Level 4. Exit the elevator towards the movie theater and take a left. Continue down the hallway (away from the movie theater) until you come out by Dick’s Last Resort. Stay to the left and continue down the hallway past Sky Deck. At the end of the hall you may see an “emergency exit” sign, but disregard. You will see well-lit wooden doors and have arrived to the Executive Center.
Join Johan Arwidmark and Mikael Nyström, two of the world’s foremost deployment and Infrastructure experts in a dazzling session on Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016 and the future of automation. During the session you will learn how to automate deployment of Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016, automate the installation of your entire datacenter environment, from a single keystroke.
You learn about Windows 10 deployment and management using ConfigMgr, upgrade scenarios, limitations, troubleshooting, Windows 10 features, deploying and managing Windows Server 2016 using various methods, including System Center Virtual Machine Manger 2016, Hyper-V, Fabric, Virtual TPM and Storage Spaces Direct. You learn about automated builds of domain controllers and other infrastructure server roles. Basically we are getting everything up and running while we play World of Warships and StarCraft. Oh, did you want that lab with Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016? Not a problem, do you want extra fries with that order?
And yes, there will be PowerShell in this session!
STOP PRESS! Now includes the Native SCCM Client Peer Cache in Tech Preview build 1604!
BranchCache has been alive for quite some time, but is getting renewed attention from the Microsoft OS team. Why is that? The Win PE Peer Cache feature was included in SCCM 1511 (and a full client version is now in TP1604) - find out how it works, when you can or can't use it, the inner workings, tweak and notes from our extensive testing. Integrate it with BranchCache to include Applications and Updates and get optimum P2P in your OSD setup or just join this session to view the technologies fight face to face in an epic dual!
Configuration Manager has had the ability to use Compliance Settings (also known as "Baselines" or "Configuration Items") since 2007. This session will explain the logic behind using a Compliance Setting--when it makes sense and when it doesn't. The session will also cover SQL custom reporting on Configuration Item results, as well as WQL (collection query) using ConfigItem information.
At the last MMS in November, we shared our current real world Windows 10 adventure with you. Fast forward six months later and tons of things have changed. There have been two ConfigMgr releases (1511 and 1602), Windows 1511 is now CBB and there have been some hotfixes along the way, therefore the journey continues.
In this session, two of the world’s most advanced technology companies will talk about their experiences deploying Windows 10 and what it takes to get started on your own project. Along the way, you’ll discover the tips and tricks to make your project a success as well as the pitfalls you will need to avoid.
Topics for discussion will include *current* infrastructure requirements, deployment assessment, upgrade readiness, driver management and self-service OS deployments. The session will give you a better understanding of deployment methods and their implications for distribution in a corporate environment. So, come and join us for Part 2 of this interactive discussion on Windows 10 and see how the latest technology from Microsoft, Dell and 1E will put you in the driver seat of your Windows 10 project.
Join us and you will receive some invaluable information and will also automatically be entered for the chance to win an Amazon Echo!
How many times do you hear people screaming for applications they need, while you struggle to get them delivered? How much time do you waste trying to figure out what third-party applications require security patching, and how and where to apply them, while security teams dump sheets and sheets of vendor alerts on you?
In this duel session Flexera Software invites you to:
So, you have heard it before numerous times, “Private Cloud” or “Fabric”, yeah, yeah.
But do really know what it means in the Microsoft world? Do you really understand the benefits for your IT staff, your business and for your end users? Join us in this session, listen, learn and ask questions from one of the worlds most experienced Private/Hybrid Cloud Builder. During this session you will learn how to build the "Fabric" using diffrent forms of automation as well as learning about the diffrent ways to design this, including Azure Pack, Azure Stack as well as plain vanilla Enterprise style Private Cloud.
Are you an IT admin and have never used Visual Studio Team Services? Are you creating scripts using Azure Automation, using OMS, or System Center? Do you support enterprise applications? This session is for you. Learn about how any IT administrator at MMS can use VSTS today. Bring your developer friend with you and I promise you’ll have something to discuss after the session.
This session has two facets.
First we will cover some of the dumbest mistakes you can make in SCCM and have a look at the consequences.
After that, we will cover how you can bend the rules of SCCM by thinking out of the box.
In this session, we will look at a new approach to data analytics and business intelligence, leveraging multiple technologies to provide dynamic result the C-level is sure to love...without complex development tools! In a world of data scientists and mind-bending database schemas, Lee and Pete will lead you hands-on through simplification and visualization of a real-world data set, revealing the tools and techniques to put data visualization in the hands of the IT Pro.
The Azure Stack solution is designed to no longer leverage the capabilities of Virtual Machine Manager for managing the IaaS resources of the cloud. In this session we will take a close inspection to how the Compute, Network and Storage Resource Provider's take direction from the Resource Manager. We will also get a glimpse on where these providers live in the current preview, and how they interact with both the fabric and other resource providers.
This session has two facets.
First we will cover some of the dumbest mistakes you can make in SCCM and have a look at the consequences.
After that, we will cover how you can bend the rules of SCCM by thinking out of the box.
With the next version of Microsoft hypervisor Microsoft released some great new features for your Cloud infrastructure. Come to this session to get the details of all the new stuff that is in Hyper-V and learn about how you can play with it “hands-on." This session includes also the latest updates from the Technical Previews.
How many times do you hear people screaming for applications they need, while you struggle to get them delivered? How much time do you waste trying to figure out what third-party applications require security patching, and how and where to apply them, while security teams dump sheets and sheets of vendor alerts on you?
In this duel session Flexera Software invites you to:
- Join Mike O'Connor to find out how to optimize application delivery through SCCM and empower users with self-service.
- Join Nash Pherson to learn how to identify unpatched third-party applications, prioritize and deploy patches.
**NOTE** Raffle: Attendees will have a chance to Win a Surface Pro 4 in this session!
Join AECOM CTO and Computing Magazine's CIO of the Year, Steven Capper and Adaptiva's Director of Customer Experience, Dan Richings as they provide real-world examples of how to speed OS migrations and software deployments across the enterprise.
In this session, they will explain and demonstrate some of the technologies, processes and scripts used to provide a full end-to-end zero-touch operating system migration, complete with profile and automated migration of software and settings.
Explore the role that ConfigMgr plays in AECOM's 100,000+ person IT landscape. Discover how they leverage various automation and orchestration tools, including PowerShell and VBScript, to deliver new or migrated computers domain-ready to desk, complete with all software, settings and profile data, without any manual IT interaction.
Hear how Steven has previously implemented the “Holy Grail” of IT process automation, with a full self-service, IT hands-off OS deployment & migration system, and automated application delivery. Watch as Dan demonstrates some of the technologies and scripts used in providing this functionality.
Come away with practical tips to automate your own IT environment from Steven Capper, CIO of the Year with Computing Magazine and Runner Up in the UK IT Awards CIO of the Year 2015-16, and Adaptiva, the market leader in smart scaling systems management.
Did you skip planning the backup strategy? If a disaster occurred could you restore or would you get fired?
Come see System Center MVP's Steve Buchanan and Robert Hedblom walk you through building a bullet proof backup and restore strategy of your business services. These strategies can be used with Microsoft business continuity tools. Learn how to be a restore hero in the event of a disaster and keep your JOB!
Do you feel lost in the sea of configuration management technologies? Still trying to manage configurations in spreadsheets, manual clicking, or scripts? Confused about whether to use third parties like Chef or the Microsoft platform itself? This is the session for you. We will educate you on the configuration management landscape and how to use practical configuration management technologies of Azure Automation DSC and ARM in your cloud or hybrid datacenter.
"Automation" can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. This session will focus on IT Process Automation, where we automate tasks based on things like monitoring incidents, and Service Request Management (request for AD access, request for phone number, etc).
This session will focus more on the runbook development cycles, governance, intakes prioritization, process control, how you can leverage agile framework to support your dev lifecycle, governance, logging, standard, reusable components.
- How agile SCRUM framework can support your development lifecycle.
- Intake Request Management;
- Leveraging Visual Studio Team Foundation Server to manage agile process;
- Prioritizing work;
- Release and Management of Automations
- Standards and reusable components.
- Measuring the value of an automation
The PowerShell Gallery is the de facto standard for shared PowerShell content, and it contains hundreds of PowerShell modules and scripts. Since anybody can contribute content to the Gallery now that it is no longer in preview mode, some content it offers will be great, and other content…not-so-much. Not using this community content is simply not an option anymore, so how do you get the most value from it with the least amount of effort and risk? What content is available that can offer you tangible value today?
This session will demonstrate the importance of the PowerShell Gallery and the related PowerShellGet module, discuss why you might want to stand up your own internal Gallery mirror in your organization, and walk you through some highly-useful content that is available in the Gallery today.
Session takeaway:
Java. The worst of all the 4 letter words. This session will be a brief crash course on App-V followed by how you can use the tool along with ConfigMgr to help take control of Java in your environment. We will cover some various techniques for detecting existing Java applications in your environment and some tips and tricks for sequencing them. Ever need to run two version of Java side by side? This is simple and effective with App-V. You should be able to walk away from this session with a game plan on how to get a better grip on Java in your environment.
This is not a session about how to manage legacy Java installations from a security perspective. Java is a virus no matter how you deploy it!
Cloud Distribution Points have been around for a while, and have been deployed with varying levels of success! In this session we will deconstruct the Cloud DP role, lay out the best practice for deploying and using it, and provide some invaluable troubleshooting steps along the way. Want to deploy your SCCM content from the Cloud? Come on in!
Come join the enterprise client management docs team to learn about what we do and give us your feedback about how we can help you be successful using enterprise client management products from Microsoft. We'll also discuss the replacement of Technet documentation with documentation as a service (DaaS).
Most corporate environments today have a good handle on their patching of Microsoft Windows and Office vulnerabilities. However, they tend to overlook the forest for the trees. According to latest data from the National Vulnerability Database, approximately 85% of the reported vulnerabilities in 2015 have been in 3rd party applications like Java, Firefox, Acrobat Reader, Chrome, etc. Yet, due to lack of tools, resources and time, most organizations don’t have the time or the resources to keep their systems adequately up to date.
In this session, Duncan McAlynn, Senior Solution Specialist for HEAT Software, will demonstrate how quickly and easily you can become the IT hero by bringing this capability into your existing SCCM environment without introducing a new client, adding additional infrastructure or using separate consoles. Watch as Duncan demonstrates how to go from a barebones SCCM installation to patching 3rd party products in under an hour. Additionally, he’ll provide keen insights into how to use native SCCM features for monitoring and managing your organization’s security posture.
Configuration Manager has had the ability to use Compliance Settings (also known as "Baselines" or "Configuration Items") since 2007. This session will explain the logic behind using a Compliance Setting--when it makes sense and when it doesn't. The session will also cover SQL custom reporting on Configuration Item results, as well as WQL (collection query) using ConfigItem information.
Dell IT and the Dell product team will demonstrate how to leverage the Dell Client Command Suite to ensure that your client environment is Future Ready for Windows 10 and beyond. We will deep dive into OS Deployment, hardware configuration, inventory, updates, vPro, SCCM integration, and PowerShell capabilities that are available in the Command Suite to ensure that you are maximizing the value of Dell’s “most manageable” commercial client systems.
It is time to learn Azure Stack, during this session you will be guided through the journey of building an Azure Stack solution, what could possibly be more fun than that!
No, this isn't Azure.
BITS is everywhere! Windows Core even Windows Phone. If it’s good enough for Nano Server to pull containers with, its good enough for you. ConfigMgr uses it all the time, especially for Pull DP’s. But how can you manage it? Script it? Code it? Make it sing and dance?
Learn how to really get the most out of your Pull DP in ConfigMgr. We'll use some custom code to optimize the way that the Pull DP transfers content, and show you have the DP can even harvest content from local clients using BranchCache & De-Duplication. Your WAN will never be the same.
After building Storage Spaces Solutions for years, you do learn a lot. In this session it’s time for you to learn from our experience. We will spend the entire session explaining what works and what does not work, how to performance measure the system, from where, on what, with what, how much, how many and how to interpreter the result. We will show bad configurations as well as really great configurations. Expect a lot of PowerShell, Demos and some Excel spreadsheets for calculations. You will see demos based on Storage Spaces in single solutions, Storage Spaces with Scale-Out File Servers as well as Storage Spaces Direct.
Hey! Who knew that Phil 2Pint is a qualified butcher and bacon-curer par excellence!? In this fun session, there will be beers and bacon - what's not to like?
Bacon curing is actually pretty easy to get started, and the results can be amazing. We’ll start off by mixing beer and bacon. Can it get any better? Beercon anyone? We’ll show how you can start off by curing at home like a true moonshiner. We’ll also cover popular trends like “Bring yer own pig”, “PASS” (Pork as a Service) and "Mobile Pork Management" with third party pig parts.