The World According to Mitch

An acquaintance sent me an e-mail yesterday in which he essentially asked: 'I am interested in becoming an IT Professional.  What certifications should I get and where should I start?'  Here is my answer to him: You are right on the mark… certifications, no matter which one, take...

One of the great advantages to MVP Summit is the information that is made available to us; speak to any MVP and chances are they were in no fewer than a dozen sessions over the course of four days, not to mention all of the break-out sessions, the Open Space sessions on the first day, and a plethora...

For years I have been saying that Small Business Server was the best solution for small businesses that did not have huge IT budgets; it allowed them to take advantage of the same enterprise-level tools such as Microsoft Exchange Server, SQL Server, and SharePoint Server without having to purchase several...

On Wednesday I got together with five thousand of my closest friends at the Direct Energy Centre in Toronto for the launch of, among other products, Windows Server 2008.  It was one of those events that you had to be at to believe! Most of you know that I wear many hats wherever I go, and this event...

One of the things that has impressed me about Microsoft since I started paying attention is the lengths that it goes to with regards to encouraging IT Pros, both with community building and with helping individuals to succeed. Microsoft Canada, through its TechNet Canada Team, has been sponsoring user...

Some time ago I was asked to submit an on-line profile for a web site. I did, and adding a small touch of humour at the end, after listing some of my accomplishments and whatnot, I added the line ‘Mitch is not married, has no kids, and has never been to Cleveland.’ Since then I have used a variance of...

One of the great supporters of the IT Pro community in Canada is Rick Claus of Microsoft Canada. Rick has been a great inspiration to me and to my career over the past few years. If I had to point to a single moment in time that has most positively altered the course of my professional life it would...

An interesting post appeared in a newsgroup that I monitor today. A desktop support technician in the United Kingdom lamented a colleague who had attended a two week MCSE boot camp and indeed earned that certification. Unfortunately he later encountered a number of simple issues that he could not resolve...

Greetings from Chicago, Illinois. Actually to be fair I am in Schaumburg, a suburb of the big city, and I have not yet seen a building over twenty-five stories, except on the flight into O’Hare. It is always exciting to introduce exciting new concepts to fresh audiences, which is one of the reasons I...

For the second time this summer I find myself in Houston, Texas... and I couldn’t be happier. In May when I got my tour schedule I didn’t think twice about Houston. I had never been, and aside from the Astros I admit I didn’t know a lot about it. This time would be different. You see, I had a great time...