I’m pleased that Rajesh Jha, corporate Vice President for Microsoft Exchange Server, agreed to write the foreword for my Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Inside Out book. The book is also available from Amazon.co.uk and other online and traditional booksellers. I’m pleased to say that the book has now gone to press after some last-minute tweaks to things like the back-matter content (what you see printed on the rear cover of the book). Printed copies should be available in a couple of weeks and electronic copies will come a little while afterwards, or so I hear.

I have enjoyed excellent relations with every leader of the Exchange development group since Brian Valentine (aka BrianV) first agreed to write the foreword of my Exchange 4.0 book in 1996. Every VP of the Exchange group has written a foreword for me – something of which I am very proud. Some are still at Microsoft (for example, Terry Myerson now leads the Windows Phone initiative while David Thompson is very involved with Microsoft’s online services) and others have moved on to other challenges or indeed to retirement. None seem to have suffered too much from having to cope with the demands of working with me, even when I was at my most demanding. Of course, they might have a different view!

Moving to the other side of the equation, I have been honoured to write forewords for many books about different aspects of Microsoft Technology by authors such as Kieran McCorry, Guido Grillenmeier, Jan De Clercq, Alain Lissoir, Kevin Laahs, Emer McKenna, and Pierre Bijaoui (all of which I obviously recommend). It’s nice to be asked because it shows that the author values your opinion and standing. However, it can be challenging to write something that is cogent, insightful, and helps the reader understand the value and tone of the book. I don’t agree to write a foreword unless I like what the author has produced and believe that it adds something to the area of technology that they set out to cover. Because of this, I find it very difficult to let an author down softly when I decline their request to write a foreword.

With this in mind, here’s Rajesh’s foreword for Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Inside Out

– Tony

Foreword

I took over the Exchange team in 2008 after 18 years in various roles at Microsoft, welcomed to the team appropriately via a blog post on the “You Had Me at EHLO” Exchange team blog.  In November 2009, not too long after taking on this new mantle, I was in Las Vegas preparing to keynote the Exchange Connections conference to celebrate the launch of Exchange Server 2010.  Knowing that I’d have some time to get to know members of the much lauded Exchange community at the event, I reached out to my team for suggestions on what customers to seek out, which partner booths to visit, and any other advice they’d have.  If one thing was universally clear it was that I had to…simply must…meet Tony Redmond.

Tony has been a fixture in the Exchange community for over a decade.  Whether it is his advocacy for the Exchange customers or his critical feedback toward improving the product, Tony has played a significant role in the Exchange ecosystem since before the first Exchange Server ever shipped out of Redmond.  He is one of the most popular speakers and authors on Exchange and an important voice for every one of the executives who preceded me as leader of Exchange at Microsoft.

It is appropriate that, after 14 years, it is Tony publishing a book on Exchange Server 2010 SP1, a release that has so much to do with responding to customer and community feedback through early adopter and beta programs that he has been so active in over the years.  Although an important milestone for the server, Exchange 2010 SP1 is also a significant milestone in our cloud strategy.  This is the version of Exchange that we carry to our own datacenter as we bring the capabilities of Exchange 2010 to the cloud.  It is unprecedented in the industry to provide a product that so comprehensively increases the operational efficiency of IT, makes users more productive in their daily workflow and reduces the risk profile of an organization and bring this value to customers whether they choose to deploy servers on-premises or migrate mailboxes into the cloud.

It is this unprecedented choice and flexibility that makes Exchange so unique and SP1 so important.  It is with this focus that my team marches forward as we plan for the next updates to Exchange Online and the next versions of Exchange Server.  Exchange 2010 SP1 makes me excited for the future of Exchange and I hope it does the same for you.

On behalf of my entire team, thank you for being part of our Exchange family and enjoy the book!