Joe Homnick

Controlling Chaos in Software Development

Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:57:40 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...how do you control this chaos in software development? We have been doing a lot of work with the Scrum approach to software development implemented with Visual Studio Team System the last few years and I feel this is the best approach to controlling this creative chaotic process in software development. Scrum...has its roots of meaning in the process during a Rugby match where..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

How to Boot To VHD - Undo Snapshot and Reuse of VHDs

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 00:16:18 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...To create a Boot To VHD system, you start with a VPC or Hyper-V generated VHD and run Sysprep on the Virtual Machine (VM) contained in the VHD. You then need to run some BCDEdit command lines against the..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Microsoft Windows Client

Small Company Opportunity with Free WebsiteSpark and Web Installer 2.0

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:57:57 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...launching the Web Installer you are given the opportunity to install the Express Editions of Web Developer and SQL Server 2008 up to date with SP1. Not only are the Express Editions available through the installer, but it also sets up your local IIS with different extensions and includes things like Model Viewer Controller (MVC), PHP drivers and Silverlight Tools projects. Finally..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

SQL Azure First Impressions

Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:32:16 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...finally gotten around to playing with my SQL Azure token and here are the first impressions. The big promise of SQL Azure over its predecessor SQL Data Services was that you would be able to work with a cloud database very much like you would with an on-premise one. Sure enough..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

SharePoint 2010 Features Sneak Peek

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:38:21 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...three videos are broken down between a general overview, for the IT Pro and for the Developer feature set...Really cool integration between Visual Studio and SharePoint are shown...Something that is very encouraged is that I heard that SharePoint Online will be almost 100% feature compatible with..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Office System

Why Scrum Coaching is Critical in Implementing VSTS and TFS

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:12:54 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...The Scrum Agile process framework is really catching momentum as a way to deliver software projects, especially with its integration into VSTS/TFS. Take a look..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Visual Studio Team Systems

Azure Cloud Value Proposition on a Tight IT Budget

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:40:23 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...The Cloud Computing approach smoothes this Cost/Utilization by allowing the enterprise to only purchase the amount of computing power that they need to meet utilization requirements. Another issue that Cloud Computing addresses is daily Periodicity of Demand. The typical demand curve in a fully utilized system looks like the following:"

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Commands for Windows 7.0 Boot to VHD Feature

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:26:01 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...With Windows 7.0 there is a new capability to Boot to a Virtual Machine VHD file. This is not running a virtual machine in Virtual PC or Hyper-V, rather it is running it with full hardware fidelity...Execute these commands and you have a new boot option when restarting..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Microsoft Windows Client

Windows 7 Aces Memory Requirements - Processing Speed and Services

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:06:45 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...The amount of memory requirements has been reduced and processing speeded up along with quite a bit of use of background services. The concept being that if you only need a service, like USB operations...only fire up that service when it is appropriate. This decreases memory size, allows for faster processing and also..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick

Windows 7 Offers Powerful Sensor APIs

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:07:21 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...Developers have been writing computer interfaces with these external sensor devices for many years, however, it’s always been a custom endeavor without a common API. Windows 7.0 now delivers this common API, so the low level operations are now standardized. No reinventing the wheel every time...The following diagram shows the architectural relationship between the various components..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick

Extending the CRM Platform Opens up Potential Profit Centers

Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:21:34 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...Something that the .Net Framework software developer should look at as a potentially new profit center is extending the Dynamics 4.0 Platform. CRM 4.0 creates a platform of classes above a SQL Server data platform that bundles quite a lot of functionality around the Customer Relationship Management function..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Dynamics
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Cloud Services on the Horizon at MIX 09

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:17:17 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...Since with Cloud Services you are working in a shared environment, you need to be a good citizen and understand how security is implemented to assure that you are...If you are interested in Cloud Services along with other emerging web technologies such as Silverlight, Internet Explorer 8.0, Windows 7, MVC and ADO.Net Data Services, the MIX 09 conference..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Dissecting SharePoint Online and On-Premise Implementations

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 20:51:33 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "Of course, by moving the infrastructure to the Microsoft servers, you need to play by their rules and therefore have some limitations on what types of developer customizations are allowed....a handy chart to see what features are available in the SharePoint Online versions and on-premises versions."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick

Infrastructure Online - What it Means

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:52:50 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...Under this scenario all those things related to infrastructure, such as the buying, configuring and maintenance of servers along with the installing and maintaining of the software is borne by Microsoft for a flat fee. The thing that Microsoft is doing that differentiates from other online infrastructure offerings such as SalesForce..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

SQL Server 2008 is FAST!

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 16:34:14 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "The increase in performance in this latest release is reason enough for an upgrade... Pulling it all together is the new Performance Studio, which is an integrated framework that you can use to collect, analyze, troubleshoot, and store SQL Server diagnostics information... Developer enhancements also contribute to this SQL 2008 need for speed... look at the preliminary results..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Speeding up your VPC Machines with a Flash USB drive

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:16:27 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...I tested a Patriot 32 gb USB Flash by placing the VHD on it and the Virtual Machine Configuration file (VMC) on the C : drive pointing to the VHD on the USB Flash. The undo file will then by default go on the same drive as the VMC file. Launching the vpc and operations like loading the AX 2009 interface, which by design also JITs Office SharePoint, where well over twice as fast under the single drive approach..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : TechTalk

Top 6 SQL Server 2008 Dev/BI Features

Wed, 28 May 2008 19:18:21 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "TSQL - The speed and functionality of the new TSQL capabilities such as Merge, Table Value Parameters and Row Constructors....Non-relational extensions - Sparse columns allow for flexible storage of values as a solution for name value pair scenarios..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server

SharePoint 2007 Top Six Developer Utilities

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:07:09 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "I just finished our first Microsoft Official Course on Advanced SharePoint Development this last week and in almost every module we had some kind of utility that would ease our development implementation of the concepts. I thought I would share a list of the top utilities we came up. Most of these are free..."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick

Super .NET Developer Opportunities with AX 2009 and CRM 4.0

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:28:12 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "...this product is Microsoft’s best solution for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system...I am extremely impressed with the opportunities that the new AX 2009 and CRM 4.0 implementations have for the .Net Developer professional...If you work with .Net Development, SharePoint 2007 or SQL Server Business Intelligence...take a look at Dynamics AX 2009 and CRM 4.0 as a .Net development platform opportunity. You can now straight forwardly leverage your .Net experience to add functionality to these systems...."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : Dynamics

Using Generic MDX Queries in SQL Reporting Services

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 00:50:11 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "A common question I hear in Reporting Services training is related to implementing generic Analysis Services Cube Multi-Dimensional Expressions (MDX) queries into report datasets....A simple solution to this problem is to use the OLEDB Provider for Analysis Services in your Data Source instead of the .Net Framework Provider for Analysis Services....Here’s an example MDX query"

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Migrating Site Collections and Sites in WSS 3.0 and MOSS 2007

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:06:27 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "The Web Servers, Databases and MOSS Shared Service Providers (SSP) that make up the working parts of a SharePoint installation can be distributed across a bunch of different servers, not only for configuration changes but also staging development....there is always the question of how do you physically move Site Collections or individual sites."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

Leveraging the Dynamics enviornment with VS expertise

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 18:31:46 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "....Microsoft has done a great job of opening up the development of their CRM 4.0 product through the use of Visual Studio and I am expecting the same treatment for AX. Another great thing they are doing with these products and their whole line is integrating Business Intelligence (BI) as a core component. Instead of requiring the customer...."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick

Why BI Projects Succeed half the time

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:11:36 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "....it appears that the successful BI implementations have one main thing in common. They have someone who is well versed in business process and analysis involved in the planning, training, mentoring and review of the projects progress....To make your BI project successful be sure"

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
TechEdBloggers.net : TechEd : Tracks : Business Intelligence

Amazing power in OLTP database with UDM in SQL 2005....

Thu, 28 Jun 2007 16:44:23 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "Being able to attach to an Online Transaction Processing(OLTP) database using the Unified Dimension Model(UDM) in SQL 2005 Analysis Services and turning that OLTP into a cube is powerful. The process of taking so much voluminous and complicated data processes and turning it into a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that is simply an icon that reflects it's state is amazing...."

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Topics : SQL Server
InDepthTalk.net : Editors Picks

PASS Summit on BI/SharePoint/PerformancePoint

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 13:52:19 GMT

Joe Homnick writes "....This Summit is a must technical and networking event for the SQL professionals. I've been involved with the Summit and PASS for several years and higly recommend it. "

Bloggers : Joe Homnick
InDepthTalk.net : Events