Russell Smith

Petri.com was recently asked by Cayosoft to conduct a survey amongst our audience regarding Active Directory (AD) downtime and disaster recovery strategies. Petri.com’s extensive experience in the marketplace, coupled with our standing as a representative voice for IT Professionals, allows us to bring distinct insights into prevailing trends and their evolution over time. The survey,…

Packaging and rolling out third-party applications to Windows endpoints has traditionally been a daunting task. It often involves a significant amount of testing and trial and error, and it can become a major time sink for IT Professionals. Recognizing this challenge, Microsoft announced a solution at its Ignite conference – a service set to make…

This Week in IT, I take a closer look at Microsoft’s new Intune Suite, which is now generally available this month. The new package includes all the core features of existing Intune plans plus 5 new advanced features for: endpoint privilege management, remote help, enterprise app management, advanced analytics, and cloud PKI. But will it…

Microsoft recently announced that it is taking a significant step forward by enhancing its search indexing capabilities with AI technology in the form of Copilot Semantic Index, which is part of Copilot for Microsoft 365. A semantic index uses vectorized indices to build a conceptual map of data by linking it together in meaningful ways,…

This Week in IT, I look at the best four new features in Windows Server 2025, including on-premises server hotpatching with Azure Arc, next generation Active Directory and SMB, improved storage performance, and robust in-place upgrades. Links and resources Transcript This Week in IT, I look at the best four new features in Windows Server…

When newly installed, Active Directory’s (AD) default configuration is designed to be easy to use. As a result, attackers can exploit AD to take over your entire network with relative ease. Here’s what you can do to further protect your organization by reducing your Active Directory attack surface. Securing beyond the default settings to reduce…

In this episode of Petri Dish, I speak to Michael Masciulli, Managing Director of Migration Products and Services at Semperis, and an expert in transformational IT and Active Directory. He tells me why you should consider consolidating your Active Directory domains, the benefits for organizational security, how to mitigate some of the risks, and how…

This Week in IT, I dig deeper into Microsoft’s recent announcement that Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now available for small and medium sized businesses, I’ll look at how Copilot for Microsoft 365 differs from the free version of Copilot, and whether you should consider spending $30/user for the additional features Copilot for M365 brings…

This Week in IT, I look at the new features expected to be part of the Windows 11 Moment 5 update due in February. Plus, Microsoft Teams channels are getting a new discover feed, a new secure printing experience is coming to Windows 11, and Windows keyboards are getting a new key for the first…

This Week in IT, our last episode of 2023, I look at three new features and changes in Microsoft Teams that can help you boost productivity. Plus, Microsoft releases a tool to fix a bug that renamed printers, Windows Mixed Reality exits stage left, and Microsoft Authenticator is getting support for passkeys to prevent password…

In the ever-changing world of IT, aligning strategic objectives with evolving user needs and business goals is a formidable challenge, especially in large, multifaceted organizations. In a recent interview on Petri’s UnplugIT podcast, Tim Aberle, a principal IT architect at a Fortune 500 entertainment company, shed light on this intricate process. The insights he provided…

This Week in IT, I look at what’s possibly in store for Windows 12, Bing Chat is now Microsoft Copilot and it’s generally available on a device near you! Plus, we navigate the twists and turns of Windows 10’s end-of-support maze, exploring the alternative options for those not ready to move on. I uncover the…