Welcome to an insider's view of the Microsoft enterprise IT environment. Here you'll find our latest content on Microsoft IT's best practices and lessons learned as we plan for, develop, deploy, and manage Microsoft products in our own global enterprise. Content is added regularly, so be sure to check back often to see what's new, or subscribe to our RSS feed to receive alerts when new content is posted.

• Rapid Deployment of Applications on the Microsoft Extranet
  RXP Security is a high-performance, scalable, security-enhanced, adaptable framework for deploying applications on the Microsoft extranet. Its centralized, shared platform eliminates the need for building custom authentication and authorization components into individual applications.
  Added: Wednesday, 1 July 2009

• Windows Server 2008 Upgrade Scales for Enterprise File Services
  Microsoft IT uses Windows Server 2008 to support the file server workload for users worldwide. The upgrade to Windows Server 2008 enabled Microsoft IT to provide higher service levels for performance and availability while significantly reducing server counts, operational complexity, and costs.Added: Tuesday, 30 June 2009

• Supply Chain Management Platform Supports Seamless Partner Collaboration
  The Entertainment and Devices (EDD) division leverages a complex supply chain of over 300 partners, suppliers, and distributors. Supporting the EDD business model requires a secure, easy, and scalable infrastructure to collaborate with multiple companies. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 provides the technology platform for EDD�s global supply network. The platform incorporates Business Intelligence solutions, workflows, and support for legacy solutions. It enables accurate decision making based on timely and trustworthy information, and supports seamless collaboration with business partners. Standardization and the reuse of existing information technology investments reduce complexity.
  Added: Thursday, 25 June 2009

• Deploying and Managing PKI inside Microsoft
  Microsoft IT installed a public key infrastructure to implement a security-enhanced communications and remote authentication infrastructure. This enabled the use of S/MIME signatures and encryption, helped secure Web connections by using Secure Sockets Layer or Transport Layer Security, helped ensure the confidentiality of stored data by using Encrypting File System, helped ensure the confidentiality and integrity of transmitted data by using IPsec, and enabled strong network user authentication by using smart cards.
  Added: Thursday, 25 June 2009

• Deploying Active Directory Rights Management Services at Microsoft
  At Microsoft, sensitive business information created in Microsoft Office as e-mail or business documents was at risk of being exposed to unauthorized internal or external users. Microsoft IT implemented Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) so that authors could use Microsoft Office and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to restrict access to confidential data to only authorized consumers.
  Added: Thursday, 25 June 2009

• Managing Network Access Protection at Microsoft
  Network Access Protection (NAP), a powerful tool available within Windows Server 2008 which helps protect networks from malicious software and other threats. Microsoft IT (MSIT) uses NAP to manage network health policy compliance. MSIT leverages NAP to institute network access requirements, to create policies that verify those requirements, and to update and manage non-compliant devices.
  Added: Wednesday, 24 June 2009

• Implementing Windows Internet Explorer 8 at Microsoft
  Microsoft Information Technology (Microsoft IT) worked closely with the Internet Explorer product team to test Windows® Internet Explorer® 8, and is now deploying it across the enterprise. With Internet Explorer 8, Microsoft IT is incorporating new features such as Web Slices to improve end user productivity, maintaining compatibility with older sites, and helping the company prepare for the next wave of modern Web applications.
  Added: Thursday, 18 June 2009

• Relationship Management at Microsoft
  Microsoft wants to build and sustain more mutually productive and satisfying relationships with its customers. To fulfill this goal, the Relationship Experience Division (RXD) of Microsoft Information Technology (Microsoft IT) is developing new business systems, online experiences, and common platforms. These global solutions, which are available anytime, will help satisfy customers’ desires for a more consistent, personal, and private customer experience. In turn, Microsoft will benefit by cultivating a deeper understanding of its customers’ needs for products and support services.
  Added: Tuesday, 16 June 2009

• Centralized Server Virtualization Drives IT Cost Reduction
  Are you faced with the competing demands of server growth and cost control? Learn how server and application growth at Microsoft has matured to a model where technologies such as virtualization power a centralized and consolidated server and application management system. In addition to reducing costs associated with physical space and power demands, the model improves server and application manageability.
  Added: Monday, 8 June 2009

• Work Smart Guides Deliver Key Software and Services Productivity Scenarios
  Microsoft IT (MS IT) created Work Smart Guides to provide employees with scenario-based, re-usable, best-use productivity aids on Microsoft products and IT technologies. The goal of the Work Smart Guides project is to enable more consistent, productive, and cost-effective use of software and service offerings across the company.
  Added: Monday, 8 June 2009

• How Microsoft IT Scaled Enterprise Services by Standardizing Business Processes and Integrating a Global Tools Platform
  When the Enterprise Services group committed to more than doubling its business, it realized that its existing processes and tools could not support the projected growth. Join this session to see how Microsoft IT (MSIT) provided a standard set of robust business processes and an integrated global tools platform, using Microsoft Office applications as the interface. The solution reduced core transaction costs and incorporated compliant policies, such as SOX, directly into processes. Tools and processes are integrated, reporting integrity is high, and engagement management is streamlined.
  Added: Monday, 8 June 2009

• How Microsoft IT Designs and Creates Enterprise Publishing Portals Using Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007
  Join this session to learn valuable lessons and strategies from the implementation of MOSS 2007 publishing portals at Microsoft. Learn planning and development approaches for rich publishing portals. See customizations and lessons learned in the process of building these flexible, extensible platforms across the Microsoft enterprise. Walk away knowing how to more deeply leverage, customize, and extend native MOSS 2007 functionality.
  Added: Monday, 8 June 2009

• How Microsoft IT Manages Vendor Development Projects
  When managing vendor development projects, lack of metrics, or the dependence on a single metric, can lead to surprises by the project’s end. Learn about the tracking system that Microsoft IT uses to manage software development projects from a client perspective. Agile Cross IT Engineering (AXE) generates telling project metrics from a small amount of provided data. The system provides immediate project feedback, and supports overall project and vendor analysis.
  Added: Monday, 8 June 2009

• Architecting the Virtual Application Infrastructure at Microsoft
  Microsoft IT is evaluating Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 (App-V) as a method to lower application management life cycle costs and to enhance the end user experience. Join this webcast to learn how App-V 4.5 sequencing, in conjunction with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2, provides a deployment infrastructure for virtualized rich client applications in an enterprise environment. When planned carefully, the same tools can be used to deploy a virtualized application that would normally deploy a desktop application.
  Added: Wednesday, 3 June 2009