Topic for this month's meeting include boosting productivity in Configuration Manager with BDNA Normalize, OS Deployment in Configuration Manager 2012, Change and Release Management in Service Manager 2012, and tips for setting up Virtual Machine Manager 2012 to manage a private cloud.

BDNA will be sponsoring the March meeting and will be onsite to demo BDNA Normalize for System Center Configuration Manager.

http://www.bdna.com/

Three breakout sessions are planned for the evening and as always food and beverages will be provided.

5:30 - 5:45 Introductions & Announcements

We'll keep the intro short and sweet so we can get to the meat of the evening.

5:45 - 6:45 Getting More from Your Configuration Manager Inventory with BDNA Normalize

Pradeep Bhanot, BDNA

BDNA boosts your productivity with Configuration Manager through the delivery of detailed, actionable information about your hardware and software environment directly into your Configuration Manager database. You can begin using this information immediately within your Configuration Manager console for everyday projects, reporting and analysis as well as supporting your strategic initiatives such as Windows 7 migration, application rationalization, unsupported software, and more.

In this presentation, Pradeep will describe a multi-step, hardware and software inventory data normalization process that can be used to simplify future query, collection and reporting writing. Using a normalized inventory means less time spent writing complex SQL and WQL to prepare for software deployments and provides a better picture of an estates Windows 7 Migration readiness and software compliance position.

Pradeep has been in IT for around 30 years. Wrote his first MS-DOS .BAT file in 1984.  Spent 13 years at Oracle in various roles including networking specialist in SNA, Netbios, SPX and TCP/IP protocols on Token Ring and Ethernet LANs. Pradeep created the Dell Strategic Business Unit at Oracle, and worked at multiple Microsoft Gold level System Center Alliance partners including BDNA, 1E and CA Technologies.


6:45 - 7:00 Break

7:00 - 8:00 Virtual Machine Manager 2012 - Deployment and Introduction to Private Cloud
Scott Stumpf

Continuing our series on Hyper-V and Virtual Machine Manager 2012, this month we'll step through a deployment of VMM and discuss how to prepare your environment to leverage the new private cloud capabilities including bare metal Hyper-V provisioning, Service Templates, Logical Networks, and Storage automation. 

7:00 - 8:00 Configuration Manager 2012 - OS Deployment
Chris Craig

In this month’s installment of our running SCCM 2012 functionality tour, we will be taking a look at Operating System Deployment. We’ll be talking about How Imaging works in the new environment, how it differs from SCCM 2007, and how to position your imaging needs for success.

We will expound on folder structures for disk organization, standard naming conventions for console cleanliness, organizing drivers and driver packages for more efficient driver inventory and updating. We’ll look at role server placement for distributed functionality for imaging needs. We’ll also discuss the merits of thin vs. thick images and the methodology for maintaining them.

7:00 - 8:00 Service Manager 2012 - Change and Release Management
Doug Henry

Join me as I take a hard look at using Service Manager for Change and Release Management.  I will cover topics such as “What meetings and who?”, “What documentation do I need?”, and “Why should I go through all this trouble?”.

Change Management is always a tough sell to organizations not fully implementing it yet;  harder still for those who are fighting a lot of fires.  After this session I will have given you all the knowledge you will need to justify the extra effort and start to ease your professional life.  Service Manager brings a lot of value to the party with its management features regarding Change Management and Release Management.