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Of course, they won't come out and say it, but as they slowly alter Windows to adopt tried and true Unix models, you get the idea: Server Core Best Practices on Windows Server

Not having to install the kitchen sink on every server has long given *nix systems an edge in performance and security. Keep it up, and Windows will just be another Linux distribution in the crowd before long!

There are a lot of advantages to the cloud, or utility, computing model, but it can be difficult for small businesses to see exactly how those apply to their situations. If you are in that group, consider attending a free webinar tomorrow by Ventureneer titled "How, Why, and When Small Businesses and Nonprofits should use cloud computing." Unlike most such presentations, this one isn't being put on by one of the big providers and so looks to be about as unbiased an initial presentation as you will find on the subject.

I run across these stories all the time, sometimes from the client's perspective, sometimes from the prospective of the consultant (almost always, actually, the former consultant), so this recent entry from MIT's Tech from an alum who worked for Boston Consulting Group isn't exactly a shocker. It is, though, one of the clearest and best written articles I have found in the leitmotif, so if you were still wondering why choosing a big consulting company is usually a mistake, it's worth a read.

Although some see these recurring themes in consulting engagements as a curse against consultants everywhere, in fact it is more an indictment of employees who didn't realize the game they were getting into and clients that didn't do their homework about the businesses they chose to rely on for vital business advice and guidance. Good advice is out there, and it's got great value; don't expect you're going to get it just because you are asking a firm with a lot of people on the payroll.

Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite has made available the bundled products of Exchange, Sharepoint, and Live Meeting, hosted by Microsoft itself, for more than a year now. The $120 per year, per user fee has seemed a little steep, though, considering those same solutions have been available from third parties who have much more experience and for much less money than Microsoft itself. The target market of BPOS, and most of its uptake, has been with larger organizations (many of which were probably able to negotiate much better deals in private, anyway).

The market most open to the hosted services offering, though, and representing the larger total number of seats, is the SMB market. Microsoft watcher Mary Jo Foley reports that Redmond is finally getting around to rolling out the SMB version of BPOS, due sometime in the second half of 2010.

Pricing isn't available yet, nor is a better long-term perspective on where Microsoft is going with the whole concept. Despite Steve Ballmer's assertion that the company is "all in" on cloud computing, it's not clear that Microsoft really realizes this may be where their bread is buttered for the foreseeable future... and if they don't, then despite their apparently privileged position as the designer of the software in question, you may still be better off buying the same services from smaller third-party hosting companies who have enough skin in the Software as a Service game to encourage stability and reliability.

http://www.directionsonmicrosoft.com/samples/49-samples/912-five-essential-resources-for-microsoft-licensing.html

From Directions on Microsoft, a list of five important resources for deciphering and appropriately setting up your Microsoft licensing.