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MCP TechMentor, Day 1: Directory Challenges Await with Win2K
At Monday's TechMentor keynote, technologist Curtis Cummings explains the major task that lies ahead for enterprises planning to implement Windows 2000 directories.
San Francisco (August 23, 1999) - Figuring out who will manage directory services once Windows 2000 is implemented within an enterprise could prove a staffing challenge, according to a member of Microsoft's Internal Technology Group. "Right now we're figuring that out for ourselves," said Curt Cummings, technologist for ITG, during his keynote presentation at the MCP TechMentor conference, taking place in San Francisco. "It's a new function. We started shopping it around [internally] in Microsoft, but nobody bit." So Cummings handles keeping Active Directory up and running himself for now.
[Click here to listen to the entire Monday keynote speech by Curtis Cummings, Microsoft technologist, internal technology group. This audio presentation is 1 hour and 40 minutes (12.1 MB) and requires Windows Media Player; for best results, please use version 4.0.]
Cummings cautioned attendees that the shipping version of Windows 2000, expected out this year, won't include sufficient tools for merging and migrating existing directories, such as those maintained for the network, mail system, and phone system. "Today it's all manual work. You've got to rekey everything. It's not real fun," he said. His expectation: Shortly after release Microsoft will figure out how to implement Windows 2000 with Zoomit, the directory synchronization software it recently acquired from meta-directory developer Zoomit Corp. in early July. "Maybe it'll come out as a resource kit."
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Linda Briggs addresses the crowd before the Monday morning keynote presentation by Curtis Cummings, technologist with Microsoft's Internal Technology Group. |
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Zoomit meta-directory technology will play a part in automating directory synchronization, but for now "it's all manual work," says
Cummings. |