Microsoft Products Research Articles

HR Onboarding Kit

Users can automate tasks and processes within their Office 365 workflow with Microsoft Flow, now called Power Automate. There are many of organisations that rely on the many programmes that are part of Microsoft Office 365. Common Microsoft Office applications include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive. Other Microsoft products serve their purpose, but apps typically don't talk to each other and operate independently. With Power Automate/Microsoft Flow, these apps can communicate with one another and respond to events triggered by other programmes. With Microsoft Power Automate, you can automate a wide variety of processes and tasks by integrating various apps and platforms. Whether in the cloud or on-premises, users are able to integrate Microsoft Office 365 apps with one another and a vast library of other programmes. Anyone with even a rudimentary grasp of Office 365 may build simple automations to streamline mundane tasks for their company. Power BI and Microsoft Power Apps allow advanced users to build their own unique business processes. Users may easily design the interactivity of apps using workflows, which are also called flows.

Environmental Product Innovation and Perceived Brand Value: The Mediating Role of Ethical-Related Aspects

Studies developed in the last two decades indicate that environmental product innovations can potentially generate competitive advantages. However, the ethical dimension, now increasingly involved in evaluations for consumer decision-making, has received less attention in academic research. Considering the above, our study investigates the mediating role of ethical aspects in the relationship between environmental product innovation and perceived brand value. To this end, we carried out a quantitative study with 336 university students who are end users of Apple and Microsoft products and services. In addition to investigating the main effect of environmental product innovations on perceived brand equity, we explore the possible mediating effects of ethical behaviors: (i) open-mindedness and (ii) concerns with privacy practices. Our results indicate that environmental product innovations need to be supported by the ethical aspects of companies to have a positive effect on perceived brand equity. Crucially, customers perceive value in environmental product innovation when they can confirm that organizations exhibit ethical correctness, particularly in the sector under study. We understand that our research provides advancement in the field of sustainable innovation. The study confirms that broader approaches, mainly centered on corporate commitments beyond environmental issues, are critical for environmental product innovations to generate perceived brand value.

Artificial intelligence: Augmenting telehealth with large language models.

This brief editorial describes an emerging area of machine learning technology called large language models (LLMs). LLMs, such as ChatGPT, are the technological disruptor of this decade. They are going to be integrated into search engines (Bing and Google) and into Microsoft products in the coming months. They will therefore fundamentally change the way patients and clinicians access and receive information. It is essential that telehealth clinicians are aware of LLMs and appreciate their capabilities and limitations.

Effectiveness of Cooperation in Virtual Teams

Technological development has led to the emergence of cooperation separately both geographically and in time zone in an organization in the form of a virtual organization. PT XYZ's Microsoft Solution and Service (DMSS) Department is one of the departments that provides digital services in the form of One-Stop-Solutions on Digital Services, both in on-premise and cloud infrastructure models with products and solutions based on Microsoft products for customers. In his service during the Covid-19 pandemic, this department implements virtual team coordination so that product development can continue as planned. However, on the other hand, the effectiveness of performance in implementing virtual organizations is still a challenge for the company. This is the focus of research to find out what factors influence the effectiveness of cooperation in the application of virtual organizations at PT XYZ in general and specifically in the Microsoft Solution and Service Department. This study conducted an analysis of seven factors by surveying 40 respondents at PT. XYZ. The results obtained are three factors consisting of depth of communication, technology, and training which have an influence on the effectiveness of the application of virtual organizations at PT. XYZ, while four other factors such as trust, shared understanding of knowledge, commitment, and leadership have no significant effect on the effectiveness of virtual organizations.

Windows Post Exploitation [MSF] Keylogger for Security

Abstract: Keyloggers or keystroke loggers are software programs or hardware devices that track the activities (keys pressed) of a keyboard. Keyloggers are a form of spyware where users are unaware their actions are being tracked. Keyloggers can be used for a variety of purposes; hackers may use them to maliciously gain access to your private information, while employers might use them to monitor employee activities. Some keyloggers can also capture your screen at random intervals; these are known as screen recorders. Keylogger software typically stores your keystrokes in a small file, which is either accessed later or automatically emailed to the person monitoring your actions. You'll find the use of keyloggers in everything from Microsoft products to your own employer's computers and servers. In some cases, your spouse may have put a keylogger on your phone or laptop to confirm their suspicions of infidelity. Worse cases have shown criminals to implant legitimate websites, apps, and even USB drives with keylogger malware. Whether for malicious intent or legitimate uses, you should be aware of how keyloggers are affecting you. First, we'll further define keystroke logging before diving into how keyloggers work. Keywords: Keylogger, Reverse Shell, Post-Exploitation, Metasploit, Netcat, Intranet, privilege escalation.

A Survey on Windows Post Exploitation [MSF] Keylogger for Security

Abstract: Keyloggers or keystroke loggers are software programs or hardware devices that track the activities (keys pressed) of a keyboard. Keyloggers are a form of spyware where users are unaware their actions are being tracked. Keyloggers can be used for a variety of purposes; hackers may use them to maliciously gain access to your private information, while employers might use them to monitor employee activities. Some keyloggers can also capture your screen at random intervals; these are known as screen recorders. Keylogger software typically stores your keystrokes in a small file, which is either accessed later or automatically emailed to the person monitoring your actions. You’ll find use of keyloggers in everything from Microsoft products to your own employer’s computers and servers. In some cases, your spouse may have put a keylogger on your phone or laptop to confirm their suspicions of infidelity. Worse cases have shown criminals to implant legitimate websites, apps, and even USB drives with keylogger malware. Whether for malicious intent or for legitimate uses, you should be aware how keyloggers are affecting you. First, we’ll further define keystroke logging before diving into how keyloggers work. Then you’ll be able to better understand how to secure yourself from unwanted eyes. You might find legal keyloggers are in your daily life more than you realized. Fortunately, the power to control your data is often in your hands if the monitoring party has asked for access. Outside of employment, you can simply decline permission to the keyloggers if you so choose. Keywords: Keylogger, Reverse Shell, Post-Exploitation, Metasploit, Netcat, Intranet, privilege escalation.

Migrating Engineering Windows HPC applications to Linux HTCondor and Slurm Clusters

The CERN IT department has been maintaining different High Performance Computing (HPC) services over the past five years. While the bulk of computing facilities at CERN are running under Linux, a Windows cluster was dedicated for engineering simulations and analysis related to accelerator technology development. The Windows cluster consisted of machines with powerful CPUs, big memory, and a low-latency interconnect. The Linux cluster resources are accessible through HTCondor, and are used for general purpose parallel but single-node type jobs, providing computing power to the CERN experiments and departments for tasks such as physics event reconstruction, data analysis, and simulation. For HPC workloads that require multi-node parallel environments for Message Passing Interface (MPI) based programs, there is another Linux-based HPC service that is comprised of several clusters running under the Slurm batch system, and consist of powerful hardware with low-latency interconnects.In 2018, it was decided to consolidate compute intensive jobs in Linux to make a better use of the existing resources. Moreover, this was also in line with CERN IT strategy to reduce its dependencies on Microsoft products. This paper focuses on the migration of Ansys [1], COMSOL [2] and CST [3] users from Windows HPC to Linux clusters. Ansys, COMSOL and CST are three engineering applications used at CERN for different domains, like multiphysics simulations and electromagnetic field problems. Users of these applications are in different departments, with different needs and levels of expertise. In most cases, the users have no prior knowledge of Linux. The paper will present the technical strategy to allow the engineering users to submit their simulations to the appropriate Linux cluster, depending on their simulation requirements. We also describe the technical solution to integrate their Windows workstations in order from them to be able to submit to Linux clusters. Finally, we discuss the challenges and lessons learnt during the migration.

Experience Finding MS Project Alternatives at CERN

As of March 2019, CERN is no longer eligible for academic licences of Microsoft products. For this reason, CERN IT started a series of task forces to respond to the evolving requirements of the user community with the goal of reducing as much as possible the need for Microsoft licensed software. This exercise was an opportunity to understand better the user requirements for different types of applications. Here we focus on MS Project, the dominant PCbased project management software, which has been used at CERN for many years. There were over 1,500 installations at CERN when the task force started, with a heterogeneous pool of users in terms of required functionality, area of work and expertise. This paper will present an evaluation of users’ needs and whether they could be fulfilled with cheaper and less advanced solutions for project management and scheduling. Moreover, selected alternatives, their deployment and lessons learned will be described in more detail. Finally, it will present the approach on how to communicate, train and migrate users to the proposed solutions.

CERN’s Identity and Access Management: A journey to Open Source

Until recently, CERN had been considered eligible for academic pricing of Microsoft products. Now, along with many other research institutes, CERN has been disqualified from this educational programme and faces a 20 fold increase in license costs. CERN’s current Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure, dating from 2008, comprises multiple Microsoft services from the web Single-Sign-On to the Accounts Database. Replacing these core components is an opportunity to rebuild the CERN infrastructure using the latest technologies and concepts and to respond to evolving requirements of the community. It is also the appropriate moment to consider the alignment of CERN’s and the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid’s approaches to identity management, to create a more consistent environment for operators, developers and users. 2019 saw the launch of an Alpha version of CERN’s next generation Authentication and Authorization Infrastructure, focusing on free and open source products and responding to the limitations experienced by the current system. We describe the new solution and focus on key changes.

Executing Product Broadening Procedures for the Sustainability of an Innovation Organization - A Contextual Analysis of Microsoft Corporation

Started in 1975, with a view to develop and vend BASIC interpreter, today, Microsoftdevelop, produce, license, support and sell worldwide software, user-level electronics,personal computers, and allied services. The company is world-famous because of its bestsoftware products Windows operating systems, Office suits, IE and Edge. The company’snotable hardware pieces are Xbox and Microsoft Surface family touch-screen computers.The company is listed as the top software company by Forbes Global for many years. Fromits inception to date, the company is maintaining top ranking technology-wise, product-wise,service-wise, revenue-wise, and growth-wise. It is possible for the company to sustaingrowth because of the integration and implementation of product diversification strategy.Over the years the company transformed from just a developer and seller of interpreter toproducer & marketer of wide variety of software-hardware products. This paper analyses thestrategies the company adopted and incorporated in diversifying product and services lineupto sustain growth and maintain market stability. It also analyses the relevance andacceptability of different Microsoft products, its customer base, and software market shareand near future strategies.

Utilization of software supporting project management in middle and large project-based organizations: an empirical study in Poland

ICT (Information and Communications Technology) has three components: information technology equipment (computers and related hardware), communication equipment, and software. They comprise IS/IT (Information Systems/Information Technology). The literature indicates that there are numerous studies describing IT application in all industries and only few focus on PBOs (Project-Based Organizations), most of them are limited to construction industry. Presentation and discussion of the findings from empirical studies related to the software utilization and its differentiation in PBOs of various industries and size are the main objectives of the paper. The research concentrates on middle and large PBOs operating in Poland. The crucial findings from the conducted study are that PBOs utilize in most cases commonly known software, such as office suite, and IT tools integrating various areas of entities – such as ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. The most common software supporting project management are Microsoft products. The research points out that there is a remarkable difference in software utilization between entities from various industries (construction, ICT, and others), also there is a remarkable difference in software utilization between middle and large PBOs.

Ain't it “suite”? Bundling in the PC office software market

Research Summary: We examine the importance of office suites for the evolution of the personal computer (PC) office software market in the 1990s. An estimated discrete‐choice model reveals a positive correlation of consumer values for spreadsheets and wordprocessors, a bonus value for suites, and advantages for Microsoft products. We employ the estimates to simulate various hypothetical market structures to evaluate the profitability, welfare, and competitive effects of suites under alternative correlation assumptions. We find that firms benefit greatly from bundling components (i.e., a spreadsheet and a word processor) when the correlation of consumer preferences over the components in the bundle is positive. Our work adds another aspect to the recent work in the strategy literature that examines benefits from bundling when there are complementary relationships across the products in the bundle.Managerial Summary: Our research helps managers understand the conditions under which product bundling is likely to be most profitable. We show that one key to enhanced profitability is the correlation in consumer preferences over the individual products. We consider the performance implications of bundling under a variety of alternative market structures and competitive environments. Our analysis reveals that firms benefit greatly from bundling when the correlation of consumer valuations over the products is positive. Consumers benefit as well. Hence, bundling is a win‐win for firms and their customers. Since profits increase by more than consumer surplus, bundling leads to increased value capture by the firms. Consequently, it may be profitable for firms to invest in actively increasing the correlation in consumer preferences over products in the bundle.

Pen-Enabled, Real-Time Student Engagement for Teaching in STEM Subjects

The introduction of pen-enabling devices has been demonstrated to increase a student’s ability to solve problems, communicate, and learn during note taking. For the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects that are considered to be symbolic in nature, pen interfaces are better suited for visual–spatial content and also provide a better interface to support human expression. The approach described herein is the adoption of an innovative Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) pedagogy to enable delivery of chemistry lectures through OneNote, offering real-time annotation of notes delivered directly to student’s personal devices. The TEL innovation adopts the use of Cloud-based teaching methodologies (Microsoft OneDrive), the use of high-fidelity digital pen technology (Surface Pro), and standard Microsoft products (OneNote 2016), which are not specialized, to support the learning pedagogy. The motivation was to enhance the student teaching and learning experience while offering a single delive...

Modeling the delivery of security advisories and CVEs

This empirical paper models three structural factors that are hypothesized to affect the turnaround times between the publication of security advisories and Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs). The three structural factors are: (i) software product age at the time of advisory release; (ii) severity of vulnerabilities coordinated; and (iii) amounts of CVEs referenced in advisories. Although all three factors are observed to provide only limited information for statistically predicting the turnaround times in a dataset comprised of Microsoft, openSUSE, and Ubuntu operating system products, the paper outlines new research directions for better understanding the current problems related to vulnerability coordination.

Using OLAP Data Cubes in Business Intelligence

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that it is possible to develop business intelligence projects in big and medium-size organizations, only with Microsoft products, used in accordance with standard OLAP cube technology, and presented possible alternatives, in relation with the requested functions.

Formal methods

Formal methods research has made tremendous progress since the 1980s when a proof using a theorem prover was worthy of a Ph.D. thesis and a bug in a VLSI textbook was found using a model checker. Now, with advances in theorem proving, model checking, satisfiability modulo theories (SMT) solvers, and program analysis, the engines of formal methods are more sophisticated and are applicable and scalable: to a wide range of domains, from biology to mathematics; to a wide range of systems, from asynchronous systems to spreadsheets; and for a wide range of properties, from security to program termination. In this talk, I will present a few Microsoft Research stories of advances in formal methods and their application to Microsoft products and services. Formal methods use, however, is not routine?yet?in industrial practice. So, I will close with outstanding challenges and new directions for research in formal methods.

Practical performance models for complex, popular applications

Perhaps surprisingly, no practical performance models exist for popular (and complex) client applications such as Adobe's Creative Suite, Microsoft's Office and Visual Studio, Mozilla, Halo 3, etc. There is currently no tool that automatically answers program developers', IT administrators' and end-users' simple what-if questions like "what happens to the performance of my favorite application X if I upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7?". This paper describes our approach towards constructing practical, versatile performance models to address this problem. The goal is to have these models be useful for application developers to help expand application testing coverage and for IT administrators to assist with understanding the performance consequences of a software, hardware or configuration change. This paper's main contributions are in system building and performance modeling. We believe we have built applications that are easier to model because we have proactively instrumented them to export their state and associated metrics. This application-specific monitoring is always on and interesting data is collected from real, "in-the-wild" deployments. The models we are experimenting with are based on statistical techniques. They require no modifications to the OS or applications beyond the above instrumentation, and no explicit a priori model on how an OS or application should behave. We are in the process of learning from models we have constructed for several Microsoft products, including the Office suite, Visual Studio and Media Player. This paper presents preliminary findings from a large user deployment (several hundred thousand user sessions) of these applications that show the coverage and limitations of such models. These findings pushed us to move beyond averages/means and go into some depth into why client application performance has an inherently large variance.

Business Intelligence Applications in Retail Business: OLAP, Data Mining & Reporting Services

As a result of today's competitive business environment, companies have been trying to improve the utilization of funds effectively in their budgets for information technology investments. These companies retrieve more information with the same set of resources by means of business intelligence methods. According to Rubin (Chabrow, 2004) IT budgets are not simply declining or levelling off, rather, companies are shifting from a pure cost-cut mode to a model that emphasises agility and efficiency. Tremendous daily growth of the company data requires more funds and investment for establishing the technologies and infrastructure necessary for gathering fast and crucial information that supports the decision making process. This necessity gave birth to various business intelligence methods, which mainly aim to process mass amount of collected data from their existing application, and represent it in a way with which companies can apply to their daily competitive decisions. This application primarily concerns the implementation of business intelligence for a retail business company. The aim is to implement built-in business intelligence solutions of the Microsoft SQL Server that holds the commercial information of the company for the past three years. The customer company has already been using Microsoft products. The key items used for analyzing data are sales, momentary inventory and logistics information. The application can be grouped in five main areas: Building the data warehouse, constructing OLAP cubes, applying data mining algorithms on OLAP cubes, representing the results in reports with reporting services, and implementation.

Towards versatile performance models for complex, popular applications

Perhaps surprisingly, no practical performance models exist for popular (and complex) client applications such as Adobe's Designer suite, Microsoft's Office suite and Visual Studio, Mozilla, Halo 3, etc. There is currently no tool that automatically answers program developers', IT administrators' and end-users' simple what-if questions like "what happens to the performance of my favorite application X if I upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7?". This paper describes directions we are taking for constructing practical, versatile performance models to address this problem. The directions we have taken have two paths. The first path involves instrumenting applications better to export their state and associated metrics. This application-specific monitoring is always on and interesting data is collected from real, "in-the-wild" deployments. The second path involves statistical modeling techniques. The models we are experimenting with require no modifications to the OS or applications beyond the above instrumentation, and no explicit a priori model on how an OS or application should behave. We are in the process of learning from models we have constructed for several Microsoft products, including the Office suite, Visual Studio and Media Player. This paper presents preliminary findings from a large user deployment (several hundred thousand user sessions) of these applications that show the coverage and limitations of such models. Early indications from this work point towards future modeling strategies based on large amounts of data collected in the field. We present our thoughts on what this could imply for the SIGMETRICS community.

Editorial: Reflections on What We Mean by “Forever”

Editorial: Reflections on What We Mean by “Forever”