Category: Microsoft
Category Archives: Microsoft
Does Windows have a Guest Halt Polling feature?
Can a Windows virtual machine implement a function similar to Linux’s Guest Halt Polling? Specifically, can Windows be configured to poll for a period before executing the HLT (Halt) instruction, to facilitate faster response times?
For reference, the description of Guest Halt Polling is provided here: https://docs.kernel.org/virt/guest-halt-polling.html
Can a Windows virtual machine implement a function similar to Linux’s Guest Halt Polling? Specifically, can Windows be configured to poll for a period before executing the HLT (Halt) instruction, to facilitate faster response times? For reference, the description of Guest Halt Polling is provided here: https://docs.kernel.org/virt/guest-halt-polling.html Read More
How to identify the most impactful GenAI use case
Generative AI solutions are very transformational for businesses nowadays. Organisations have access to tools and AI capabilities that will enable them to generate immense value for the business.
At the same time though, some businesses are struggling to identify the areas they should invest in AI. Most of the AI engagements fail because there isn’t really a business value that the AI solution is delivering. At times we find ourselves in a situation whereby we have an AI solution looking for a problem.
This is what leads to failure. In order to make sure a Generative AI or AI solution is successful, we need to make sure it’s clear the business value it will deliver before any technical work starts. It’s very important that we work with business and technical decision makers to make sure they are aligned on where to invest in AI, why they think it’s a good idea for their organization to invest and what is the expected business outcome the solution is supposed to deliver. AI experts need to work alongside the customer’s decision makers to engage in a Value Creation exercise. The objective of the Value Creation exercise is to identify those High Value use cases that will impact key business processes of an organization, enterprise-wide and deliver the highest business impact; consequently making clear the Value that the AI solution will deliver. The Value can be anything: cost savings, increase profit, put a new service on the market, employee productivity, etc.
When we work in a GenAI project, we should work alongside our customers and help uncover the following points:
What would we like to achieve in the AI space and by when?
To whom is this AI initiative important? Who is sponsoring it and why?
What are the core business processes within our organisation that deliver the highest business impact?
What are the core business processes within our organisation that would benefit from AI?
How are we measuring the impact of the core business processes?
Where do we think there is the highest ROI for our business if we were to invest in AI/Gen AI?
Where is the data at the moment? (i.e: Cloud, on-premise waiting for a DC migration?)
The above will help focus the conversation on what really matters for a given organisation that is planning to invest in AI.
Ultimately this conversation should be leading the business and technical decision makers to a list of use cases organised by: priority, complexity, business impact and ROI. Similar to the table below:
Use Case
Business Area
Priority
Complexity
ROI
M&A
Legal
H
M
£xM
Document drafting
Legal
H
H
£xM
To derive the ROI, it is important for the organisation to work on a Strawman business case. The Strawman business case is an estimate of the value that the AI solution in scope is expected to deliver to the business.
Below is an example template of Strawman business case in the legal space:
The Strawman business case will help the business and technical stakeholders where they should be focusing their investment in AI.
Once a use case or list of top X use cases have been identified, it’s important to derive the metrics and KPIs of the use case/s. These metrics, will be the same that the PoV will need to measure so that the business can validate the expected ROI which is delivered by the PoV and be able to extract the expected ROI once the solution is in production.
After the KPIs and metrics have been identified, it’s important for the business and technical stakeholder to understand if the ROI is compelling enough to invest in AI. If the business decides to press ahead, it’s important to create an evaluation team which is normally made by domain experts or end users of the AI solution.
The evaluation team is tasked to review/validate the output of the solution, collect the KPIs and at the end of the PoV to derive and validate the actual ROI the AI solution is delivering.
Once we have identified the right use case to focus on alongside the business case/ROI the GenAI solution will deliver, it’s necessary to understand which type of Copilot to use. That is, an out of the box GenAI capability like M365 Copilot or build a custom Copilot.
M365 Copilot is a GenAI SaaS offering from Microsoft that enables organisation to quickly adopt GenAI to extract insight not only within the M365 ecosystem but also within external systems too(i.e: SQL DB, etc).
The experience an end user gets with M365 Copilot is directly linked to how “good/precise” the prompt is and the quality of the data that particular end user has access to.
The M365 Copilot indexes all the data the end user has access to, so it’s important to remember that a given user has access to working progress data and final data. Ultimately the quality of the output of a prompt is also linked to the quality of the data besides the quality of the prompt itself.
What if we need to be in control of:
The knowledge base(data) the GenAI model is grounded to/has access to
Prompt structure and how the prompts are executed
Evaluate the quality of the output of the prompts
Be able to get back to the user and ask for more information if the submitted prompt is “too generic”.
This is where a Custom Copilot will come handy.
When we talk about Custom Copilot, we have two options:
Low Code/No code option with Copilot Studio
Code first approach with Azure OpenAI
Copilot Studio or the ex PVA is a cloud service that enables organisation to build intelligent Bots powered by GenAI(if needed)
As the development team is designing the interaction between the end user and the Intelligent Bot, we can cater for all those scenario whereby we need to ask the end user for more information if the prompt is not too accurate or if we need to augment the data from an external system.
Copilot Studio comes with integration with Azure OpenAI or the wider Azure AI ecosystem and non – via API integration
Being a Low Code/No Code development tool, Copilot Studio works well for those use cases whereby it’s not required a huge data integration, aggregation, filtering etc before providing context to the GenAI model to execute a prompt.
Also, if a given organisation needs to be in control of the amount of compute the GenAI application needs alongside a pro code development approach, then this is where the Custom Copilot built with Azure OpenAI will help.
Via the Azure AI Studio developers have access to best in class data integration, LLM models, model evaluation, LLM Ops etc to build GenAI application that can be exposed within an organisation or externally to its own customers.
Moreover with Copilot Extensions available within Copilot Studio, we can build a custom plugin around our custom Copilot (built either with Azure AI Studio or Copilot Studio) and publish it to M365 Copilot. This allows it to leverage more specialised Copilots as and when needed from within a single UI.
Below is a decision tree that helps navigate among the different Copilots and when to use which Copilot:
In the next article we will discuss Use Cases with Generative AI across industries : Potential Use Cases for Generative AI (microsoft.com)
@arung @Stephan Rhodes @Renata Bafaloukou @morgan Gladwell
Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More
Roadmap – Languages?
Hi,
i couldn’t find and information about possible languages that might be supported in the future in viva engage. Is there anyone who knows or can give me a hint whether or not
Arabic
Bulgarian
Malay
Serbian
Slovak
are coming up anytime soon?
Thanks in advance
Hi, i couldn’t find and information about possible languages that might be supported in the future in viva engage. Is there anyone who knows or can give me a hint whether or not ArabicBulgarianMalaySerbianSlovak are coming up anytime soon?Thanks in advance Read More
Eventid 5014 is Missing in Documentation
Eventid 5014 is Missing in Documentation Microsoft Defender Antivirus event IDs and error codes – Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft Learn
Log Name: Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational
Source: Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender
Date: 12.06.2024 11:20:33
Event ID: 5014
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords:
User: SYSTEM
Computer: pc.some.domain
Description:
Microsoft Defender Antivirus Resource Monitor: Memory consumption exceeded its limit.
Hit count: 49
Current Threshold: 3211316
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event“>
<System>
<Provider Name=”Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender” Guid=”{11cd958a-c507-4ef3-b3f2-5fd9dfbd2c78}” />
<EventID>5014</EventID>
<Version>0</Version>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Opcode>0</Opcode>
<Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime=”2024-06-12T09:20:33.3043903Z” />
<EventRecordID>11449</EventRecordID>
<Correlation />
<Execution ProcessID=”6168″ ThreadID=”11428″ />
<Channel>Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational</Channel>
<Computer>PC.some.domain</Computer>
<Security UserID=”S-1-5-18″ />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data Name=”Product Name”>Microsoft Defender Antivirus</Data>
<Data Name=”Product Version”>4.18.24050.7</Data>
<Data Name=”Hit Count”>49</Data>
<Data Name=”Threshold”>3211316</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>
Eventid 5014 is Missing in Documentation Microsoft Defender Antivirus event IDs and error codes – Microsoft Defender for Endpoint | Microsoft LearnLog Name: Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/OperationalSource: Microsoft-Windows-Windows DefenderDate: 12.06.2024 11:20:33Event ID: 5014Task Category: NoneLevel: ErrorKeywords:User: SYSTEMComputer: pc.some.domainDescription:Microsoft Defender Antivirus Resource Monitor: Memory consumption exceeded its limit.Hit count: 49Current Threshold: 3211316Event Xml:<Event xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event”><System><Provider Name=”Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender” Guid=”{11cd958a-c507-4ef3-b3f2-5fd9dfbd2c78}” /><EventID>5014</EventID><Version>0</Version><Level>2</Level><Task>0</Task><Opcode>0</Opcode><Keywords>0x8000000000000000</Keywords><TimeCreated SystemTime=”2024-06-12T09:20:33.3043903Z” /><EventRecordID>11449</EventRecordID><Correlation /><Execution ProcessID=”6168″ ThreadID=”11428″ /><Channel>Microsoft-Windows-Windows Defender/Operational</Channel><Computer>PC.some.domain</Computer><Security UserID=”S-1-5-18″ /></System><EventData><Data Name=”Product Name”>Microsoft Defender Antivirus</Data><Data Name=”Product Version”>4.18.24050.7</Data><Data Name=”Hit Count”>49</Data><Data Name=”Threshold”>3211316</Data></EventData></Event> Read More
Viva Amplify Campaigns – Visibility / Teams Approvals
Hello everyone,
with recent demos of Viva Amplify, I have run into two issues:
Campaign Visibility
Users can only see campaigns they themselves have created in their dashboard, no matter their role.
So Campaign 1, created by User A, will have User B as editor or approver. User B, however, sees only their own campaign, Campaign 2, in their Dashboard, but not Campaign 1. Using the campaign’s URL, User B can view and edit Campaign 1 without issues. Direct navigation to the campaign’s page from the dashboard, however, is not possible.
The issue is the same regardless the role and whether a user is an initial part of the campaign or added later. Both users are part of the M365 group and can navigate to the sites e.g. via the associated team sites.
Approvals
Approvals seem to generally be causing errors at the moment. If an approver does receive an approval, the approval does not contain an option to view details / jump to the element that the approver needs to review. Below is a full view of the approval request details – I am almost certain there was a link leading to Amplify page included in the approval request not two months ago.
I am thankful for any thoughts on this :).
Hello everyone, with recent demos of Viva Amplify, I have run into two issues: Campaign VisibilityUsers can only see campaigns they themselves have created in their dashboard, no matter their role.So Campaign 1, created by User A, will have User B as editor or approver. User B, however, sees only their own campaign, Campaign 2, in their Dashboard, but not Campaign 1. Using the campaign’s URL, User B can view and edit Campaign 1 without issues. Direct navigation to the campaign’s page from the dashboard, however, is not possible.The issue is the same regardless the role and whether a user is an initial part of the campaign or added later. Both users are part of the M365 group and can navigate to the sites e.g. via the associated team sites. ApprovalsApprovals seem to generally be causing errors at the moment. If an approver does receive an approval, the approval does not contain an option to view details / jump to the element that the approver needs to review. Below is a full view of the approval request details – I am almost certain there was a link leading to Amplify page included in the approval request not two months ago. I am thankful for any thoughts on this :). Read More
Massive reduction in Threat Intelligence IP data since Monday 10th June
Hi,
Anyone else see a massive reduction in Threat Intelligence IP data since Monday 10th June into Sentinel platforms? I operate two Sentinel environments and they both seen the same change.
The screenshot below is the past 30 days.
The past 48 hours still reports some IP information being sent but at a very reduced rate.
What’s changed with the feed?
Hi, Anyone else see a massive reduction in Threat Intelligence IP data since Monday 10th June into Sentinel platforms? I operate two Sentinel environments and they both seen the same change. The screenshot below is the past 30 days. The past 48 hours still reports some IP information being sent but at a very reduced rate.What’s changed with the feed? Read More
SPO individual file views – extracting/adding to views
Hi, is there any progress with being able to export, or add to views, individual file views in SPO, i.e. a way to surface them without manually selecting documents individually and looking at the information panel? Thanks
Hi, is there any progress with being able to export, or add to views, individual file views in SPO, i.e. a way to surface them without manually selecting documents individually and looking at the information panel? Thanks Read More
Fingerprint based SIT
Hello,
I wanted to ideally create Fingerprint Based SIT for certain document templates in the organization.
When I did create the Fingerprint Based SIT, I could notice the below:
-I can use SIT in DLP policies.
-I am not able to find it as an option in Labeling settings (for Auto Labeling configuration in Label settings)
Steps:
Compliance portal -> Information Protection -> Labels -> Edit label or create new -> go to the steps “Auto Labeling for files and emails” ->Content Contains -> Add -> Sensitive info types -> Look for the Fingerprint based SIT: Not found
Hello,I wanted to ideally create Fingerprint Based SIT for certain document templates in the organization. When I did create the Fingerprint Based SIT, I could notice the below:-I can use SIT in DLP policies.-I am not able to find it as an option in Labeling settings (for Auto Labeling configuration in Label settings) Steps:Compliance portal -> Information Protection -> Labels -> Edit label or create new -> go to the steps “Auto Labeling for files and emails” ->Content Contains -> Add -> Sensitive info types -> Look for the Fingerprint based SIT: Not found Read More
ICYMI: Fine-tuning – Azure AI Discord Community Roundtable
Hello Everyone!
Last week we hosted a Community Roundtable in the Azure AI Discord on Fine-tuning.
The Community Roundtables are a time where members of the Azure AI Discord can come and learn together on a specific AI topic that is voted on by the community. For this session, we covered Fine-tuning LLMs. The session started with a brief lighting talk from @nitya and then we open the stage for members to ask questions and talk about their experiences with fine-tuning.
Here is the recording for anyone who missed it:
Here is a summary of some of the questions and topics discussed generated with the help of CoPilot:
Our next session in the AI Discord is an Office Hours about the RAG on Thursday, June 13th. This is an ask me anything and open floor discussion.
See you in the Discord!
– Korey
Hello Everyone!
Last week we hosted a Community Roundtable in the Azure AI Discord on Fine-tuning.
The Community Roundtables are a time where members of the Azure AI Discord can come and learn together on a specific AI topic that is voted on by the community. For this session, we covered Fine-tuning LLMs. The session started with a brief lighting talk from @nitya and then we open the stage for members to ask questions and talk about their experiences with fine-tuning.
Here is the recording for anyone who missed it:
Here is a summary of some of the questions and topics discussed generated with the help of CoPilot:
beginners. 0:59
Question: What is fine-tuning in the context of AI?
Answer: Fine-tuning is described as retraining an existing model with new data to improve its performance. 7:40
Question: Why should we fine-tune AI models?
Answer: Fine-tuning is appropriate if the response quality is not achievable with other techniques, considering the trade-offs such as cost efficiency. 8:50
Question: When should we consider fine-tuning AI models?
Answer: Fine-tuning should be considered only if the benefits outweigh the costs, after trying other approaches first. 10:22
Question: What are the steps involved in fine-tuning an AI model?
Answer: The steps include preparing data, training and evaluating the model, and then deploying and using it. 11:20
Question: How does one decide on the amount of data needed for fine-tuning?
Answer: The amount of data needed depends on the model, provider, and use case, ranging from a few hundred to thousands of samples. 11:45
Question: What are the considerations for deploying a fine-tuned AI model?
Answer: Considerations include deployment constraints, model rate limits, and validating the model in a playground before production. 13:53
Our next session in the AI Discord is an Office Hours about the RAG on Thursday, June 13th. This is an ask me anything and open floor discussion.
See you in the Discord!
– Korey Read More
Passing base64 content as knowledge source to custom copilot
Hello
We have a requirement where we need to fetch documents from DMS and pass them as knowledge source to custom copilot. The HTTP request returns base64 content of the document. What needs to be done to let copilot consume this as knowledge source and provide output.
Hello We have a requirement where we need to fetch documents from DMS and pass them as knowledge source to custom copilot. The HTTP request returns base64 content of the document. What needs to be done to let copilot consume this as knowledge source and provide output. Read More
Chronically slow PC running Windows 10 Home
Hi all.
My Windows 10 Home PC has been experiencing slow performance for a long time. Despite having a decent specification, including an Intel i7 processor and 16 GB of RAM, my PC takes a long time to start up and load applications. It’s not just the startup process that’s slow, but also the general responsiveness of the system. For example, it takes a few seconds to open a simple text file, and even basic tasks like browsing the web or checking email can be slow and unresponsive. I’m looking for any advice or suggestions that might help me identify and fix the underlying cause of this problem.
Hi all.My Windows 10 Home PC has been experiencing slow performance for a long time. Despite having a decent specification, including an Intel i7 processor and 16 GB of RAM, my PC takes a long time to start up and load applications. It’s not just the startup process that’s slow, but also the general responsiveness of the system. For example, it takes a few seconds to open a simple text file, and even basic tasks like browsing the web or checking email can be slow and unresponsive. I’m looking for any advice or suggestions that might help me identify and fix the underlying cause of this problem. Read More
Unable to Log into Epic Account via System Proxy on Domain-Joined Hosts in an Intranet Environment
Hello everyone,
I am using Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC, version 19044.4412. My domain controller and the computers within the domain are all in an intranet environment. Initially, after installing the system and joining the domain, configuring the system proxy allows me to log into the Epic Launcher and my Epic account without any issues.
However, after a certain period, be it a week or a month, attempting to log into my Epic account using the system proxy causes the login process to stall on the offline login page. The proxy server shows traffic passing through normally, but the login fails.
At this point, if I remove the computer from the domain controller and join the WORKGROUP workgroup, then configure the system proxy again, the login page for Epic appears normally. Subsequently, rejoining the domain and configuring the system proxy once more also allows me to log in to Epic without any issues.
Any assistance or insights into resolving this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hello everyone,I am using Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC, version 19044.4412. My domain controller and the computers within the domain are all in an intranet environment. Initially, after installing the system and joining the domain, configuring the system proxy allows me to log into the Epic Launcher and my Epic account without any issues.However, after a certain period, be it a week or a month, attempting to log into my Epic account using the system proxy causes the login process to stall on the offline login page. The proxy server shows traffic passing through normally, but the login fails.At this point, if I remove the computer from the domain controller and join the WORKGROUP workgroup, then configure the system proxy again, the login page for Epic appears normally. Subsequently, rejoining the domain and configuring the system proxy once more also allows me to log in to Epic without any issues.Any assistance or insights into resolving this issue would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Read More
Query Problem
Good morning,
I wonder if someone could help, I have two queries based on date ranges, I would like to see them side by side but cant work out how to.
select customer, sum(nett)Nett,sum(items)Items,Sum(area)M2
from goorders
where ordered BETWEEN GETDATE()-7 AND GETDATE()
group by customer
order by Nett DESC
select customer, sum(nett)Nett,sum(items)Items,Sum(area)M2
from goorders
where ordered BETWEEN GETDATE()-15 AND GETDATE()-8
group by customer
order by Nett DESC
I would like to see as :-
Customer Nett (This Week) Nett (Last Week) Items (This Week)Items (Last Week)M2 ()This Week)M2 (Lats Week)
Can anyone better than me help please,, i would be vert grateful.
JD
Good morning, I wonder if someone could help, I have two queries based on date ranges, I would like to see them side by side but cant work out how to. select customer, sum(nett)Nett,sum(items)Items,Sum(area)M2from goorderswhere ordered BETWEEN GETDATE()-7 AND GETDATE()group by customerorder by Nett DESC select customer, sum(nett)Nett,sum(items)Items,Sum(area)M2from goorderswhere ordered BETWEEN GETDATE()-15 AND GETDATE()-8group by customerorder by Nett DESC I would like to see as :- Customer Nett (This Week) Nett (Last Week) Items (This Week)Items (Last Week)M2 ()This Week)M2 (Lats Week) Can anyone better than me help please,, i would be vert grateful. JD Read More
using bookings email address as full mailbox
I have created a bookings page. The bookings page then gets an email address.
In the config of the bookings page it is possible to assign a license to this booking page mail address so that it becomes a full mailbox. After doing this I can login via web to the mailbox. I can handle all email in the mailbox of the booking page and I have direct normal access to the calendar.
If I would use a different mailbox then the mailbox of the booking page, then I would need to add this mailbox as staff. The calendar of that mailbox will then be the leading “staff” and I can add it as “team member” like below.
In line with that I am now added the mailbox of the booking page itself as staff. But there is an unexpected result. The staff is set to guest and can not be changed. It looks like this:
This seems to give all kind of limitation – of which the most visible is that the “events on the office calendar affect availability” is greyed out. This seems not how it should be. How can I make that I can set this bookings page mailbox to “team member”. Does that require another type of license or do we need to make changed is the office / exchange admin settings?
I have created a bookings page. The bookings page then gets an email address. In the config of the bookings page it is possible to assign a license to this booking page mail address so that it becomes a full mailbox. After doing this I can login via web to the mailbox. I can handle all email in the mailbox of the booking page and I have direct normal access to the calendar. If I would use a different mailbox then the mailbox of the booking page, then I would need to add this mailbox as staff. The calendar of that mailbox will then be the leading “staff” and I can add it as “team member” like below. In line with that I am now added the mailbox of the booking page itself as staff. But there is an unexpected result. The staff is set to guest and can not be changed. It looks like this: This seems to give all kind of limitation – of which the most visible is that the “events on the office calendar affect availability” is greyed out. This seems not how it should be. How can I make that I can set this bookings page mailbox to “team member”. Does that require another type of license or do we need to make changed is the office / exchange admin settings? Read More
Is it real mandatory to pass AZ-104 before I can take AZ-305?
I see bit confusing data around the learn portal and the forum, so asking this again. Is it real mandatory to pass AZ-104 before I can take AZ-305? Or is that just a recommendation/ guidance only?
Currently I hold AZ-900 and want to get AZ-305 without doing AZ-104. I do work with Azure in my work place, so I’m hands on. Only reason I skip the AZ-104 is that I work on Azure and also I want to speed up the certification path towards AZ-305 if that makes sense. Please clarify.
I see bit confusing data around the learn portal and the forum, so asking this again. Is it real mandatory to pass AZ-104 before I can take AZ-305? Or is that just a recommendation/ guidance only? Currently I hold AZ-900 and want to get AZ-305 without doing AZ-104. I do work with Azure in my work place, so I’m hands on. Only reason I skip the AZ-104 is that I work on Azure and also I want to speed up the certification path towards AZ-305 if that makes sense. Please clarify. Read More
Is there something wrong with M365 spam filtering?
Hi All,
I work for a small MSP and have received multiple reports of legitimate mail being flagged as spam by 365 and sent to the recipient’s Outlook Junkbox, seemingly at random.
It’s happening to too many clients in such a short space of time to be anything other than a service issue but there’s no mention of it anywhere.
Is anyone else noticing anything similar?
Hi All, I work for a small MSP and have received multiple reports of legitimate mail being flagged as spam by 365 and sent to the recipient’s Outlook Junkbox, seemingly at random. It’s happening to too many clients in such a short space of time to be anything other than a service issue but there’s no mention of it anywhere. Is anyone else noticing anything similar? Read More
Exclude sensitive labelled document from Microsoft 365 copilot lookup
Hi,
In my organization i have AIP labels which is used only for classification not for protection. while implementing copilot, is it possible to exclude copilot access to sensitive labelled documents while looking up based on user prompt. Thanks.
Hi, In my organization i have AIP labels which is used only for classification not for protection. while implementing copilot, is it possible to exclude copilot access to sensitive labelled documents while looking up based on user prompt. Thanks. Read More
Where are all the IT-heroes? The challenges of adoption.
AI-assisted: This article was first written in it’s entirety by me, then I asked ChatGPT to Factcheck it for me, and the resulting changes with reference to sourves where then reevaltuated and modified before posting. If you like to see the text in it’s various stages, please tell me.
This is a short version of a Norwegian article I’m writing where I focused on the lack of IT competense in SMB. The core issues might scale to enterprise, so please join the discussion with reflections from your experience.
Historical Context
During the 90s and early 2000s, many companies built their own IT infrastructure, often with in-house IT departments managing servers and business-critical applications. However, as the MSP model gained traction, companies began outsourcing their IT needs to reduce costs and improve efficiency. By the early 2000s, MSPs became a popular solution for businesses of all sizes, offering services such as remote monitoring, management of servers and networks, and later expanding into areas like managed security and cloud services (Fast IT Support Calif/Hawaii) (The AME Group).
Present Issues
Today, many companies, especially SMBs, have significantly downsized their internal IT departments, if they exist at all. The role of CTO has often become more of a titular position, with many strategic IT decisions falling to CFOs or even general administrative staff. This shift has led to a lack of strategic IT leadership, making companies more reactive than proactive in their technology adoption (Fast IT Support Calif/Hawaii).
Even larger companies with dedicated IT groups often struggle with limited budgets, leading to a focus on immediate issues (“firefighting”) rather than long-term IT strategy and infrastructure improvements.
Pressing Issues and Resulting Problems
One of the main issues arising from this lack of in-house IT competence is that tool and software decisions are frequently made based on sales pitches rather than strategic alignment with the company’s needs. This often results in a fragmented IT architecture, where information is scattered across multiple systems, and legacy systems remain in use because their data hasn’t been migrated properly (The AME Group) (Mindsight).
SMBs also tend to look to enterprise-level best practices, which aren’t always feasible due to resource constraints. This mismatch can further complicate their IT environments, leading to inefficiencies and increased administrative burden.
AI and Copilot
Introducing advanced tools like AI and Copilot into this chaotic environment can indeed be challenging. While these technologies hold significant promise, they are not a panacea for deep-rooted structural and organizational issues. A foundational restructuring of IT systems and processes might be necessary to fully leverage these innovations (Mindsight).
The discussion
Did I hit close to home or miss the field? What are your reflections on the challenges we meet when introducing a new tool? Is this limited to small companies in a small country called Norway?
Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts and reflections!
AI-assisted: This article was first written in it’s entirety by me, then I asked ChatGPT to Factcheck it for me, and the resulting changes with reference to sourves where then reevaltuated and modified before posting. If you like to see the text in it’s various stages, please tell me.This is a short version of a Norwegian article I’m writing where I focused on the lack of IT competense in SMB. The core issues might scale to enterprise, so please join the discussion with reflections from your experience. Historical ContextDuring the 90s and early 2000s, many companies built their own IT infrastructure, often with in-house IT departments managing servers and business-critical applications. However, as the MSP model gained traction, companies began outsourcing their IT needs to reduce costs and improve efficiency. By the early 2000s, MSPs became a popular solution for businesses of all sizes, offering services such as remote monitoring, management of servers and networks, and later expanding into areas like managed security and cloud services (Fast IT Support Calif/Hawaii) (The AME Group). Present IssuesToday, many companies, especially SMBs, have significantly downsized their internal IT departments, if they exist at all. The role of CTO has often become more of a titular position, with many strategic IT decisions falling to CFOs or even general administrative staff. This shift has led to a lack of strategic IT leadership, making companies more reactive than proactive in their technology adoption (Fast IT Support Calif/Hawaii).Even larger companies with dedicated IT groups often struggle with limited budgets, leading to a focus on immediate issues (“firefighting”) rather than long-term IT strategy and infrastructure improvements. Pressing Issues and Resulting ProblemsOne of the main issues arising from this lack of in-house IT competence is that tool and software decisions are frequently made based on sales pitches rather than strategic alignment with the company’s needs. This often results in a fragmented IT architecture, where information is scattered across multiple systems, and legacy systems remain in use because their data hasn’t been migrated properly (The AME Group) (Mindsight). SMBs also tend to look to enterprise-level best practices, which aren’t always feasible due to resource constraints. This mismatch can further complicate their IT environments, leading to inefficiencies and increased administrative burden. AI and CopilotIntroducing advanced tools like AI and Copilot into this chaotic environment can indeed be challenging. While these technologies hold significant promise, they are not a panacea for deep-rooted structural and organizational issues. A foundational restructuring of IT systems and processes might be necessary to fully leverage these innovations (Mindsight). The discussionDid I hit close to home or miss the field? What are your reflections on the challenges we meet when introducing a new tool? Is this limited to small companies in a small country called Norway?Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts and reflections! Read More
MS Access passthrough query performs very slow when executing a stored procedure
I have passthrough query in my Access frontend that I use to import data from a sql server db. Before executing the passthrough query I pass the connectionstring and the sql to the querydef object and then I pass the output to a DAO recordset:
qdf.Connect = maconnectionstring
qdf.SQL = “EXEC MyStoredProc ” & param1 & “, ” param2
Set rstDAO = qdf.OpenRecordset
When I execute the stored procedure in SSMS using the same parameters it takes 2 seconds. In MS Access I need to set the ODBCTimeout parameter to 4 minutes to avoid a timeout error.
Any ideas how to improve the performance of the passthrough query?
I have passthrough query in my Access frontend that I use to import data from a sql server db. Before executing the passthrough query I pass the connectionstring and the sql to the querydef object and then I pass the output to a DAO recordset:qdf.Connect = maconnectionstring
qdf.SQL = “EXEC MyStoredProc ” & param1 & “, ” param2
Set rstDAO = qdf.OpenRecordset When I execute the stored procedure in SSMS using the same parameters it takes 2 seconds. In MS Access I need to set the ODBCTimeout parameter to 4 minutes to avoid a timeout error.Any ideas how to improve the performance of the passthrough query? Read More
Weird sound problem Win 11 computer
I’ve been experiencing a weird sound problem on my Windows 11 computer. Whenever I’m watching videos, listening to music, or even just browsing the internet, I start to hear strange sounds coming from my speakers. These sounds are not part of the content I’m playing, but rather seem to be generated by the computer itself. I’ve tried restarting my computer, updating my drivers, and even checking for malware, but the problem persists. I’m not sure what’s causing this issue, I need your help.
I’ve been experiencing a weird sound problem on my Windows 11 computer. Whenever I’m watching videos, listening to music, or even just browsing the internet, I start to hear strange sounds coming from my speakers. These sounds are not part of the content I’m playing, but rather seem to be generated by the computer itself. I’ve tried restarting my computer, updating my drivers, and even checking for malware, but the problem persists. I’m not sure what’s causing this issue, I need your help. Read More
