Open Other User's Calendar Option?

[decker12]

We have a recent Surface purchase into our office and as the IT guy, I'm tasked with it's integration. It has not gone smoothly so far. I am thrilled to find this forum and see the activity, as it looks like alot of users have really spent some time on the device and I've had a ton of issues so far.

One of the larger issues that we can't figure out is:

The user is an executive assistant and needs to "Open Other User's Calendar", the "other user" being her boss. In Outlook 2010 on her Windows 7 machine, she's a delegate for her boss and has all those permissions and delegation features. She wants to grab her Surface tablet, go into the boss's office, take notes and compare calendars and I can't figure out how to do this with Surface and Windows 8 RT.

We don't want to "add the boss's account" to the device in addition to the EA's. The best way to word is as I said above, "Open Other User's Calendar" like you can do in Outlook 2010.

We are running Exchange 2010 on the back end. Any help would greatly be appreciated!

 

[Dewg]

I'm afraid you cannot do that from the default application - the Mail/People/Calendar is simply ActiveSync versions of those apps - just like on a WP8, Android, or iPhone. Aside from loading her boss's account, she can't do it. Now - that being said you can load her Boss's account, and just turn off E-mail and People (Contacts), just sync the Calendar...

 

[FinsUpDNC]

This is an outlook specific activity, and there is no outlook on the Surface. Does your company have OWA enabled? If so if she logs into her account there, it should work.

 

[inteller]

as a Surface owner I'll just cut straight, Surface RT is not meant for the enterprise and I'd boot it out of your domain (which ironically it can't join) Of course I'd say the same thing about all those iPads users bring in. Your user needs a Surface Pro, which for you, will be just like integrating any other Win7 box.

Tell the user to come back in Jan with a Surface Pro. The Rt can't begin to do the things they are requesting.

 

[FinsUpDNC]

as a Surface owner I'll just cut straight, Surface RT is not meant for the enterprise and I'd boot it out of your domain (which ironically it can't join) Of course I'd say the same thing about all those iPads users bring in. Your user needs a Surface Pro, which for you, will be just like integrating any other Win7 box.

Tell the user to come back in Jan with a Surface Pro. The Rt can't begin to do the things they are requesting.

I guess your 900 is not meant for the enterprise either, or by your definition set above any phone or device. At one of my clients a few users have picked up a Surface and they are doing just fine with it, as they were replacing iPads. If you they wanted a laptop(ultrabook) they would get the Pro. If you are out of office a lot, and need quick access to e-mail, documents, etc with a really good battery life a Surface does just fine.

 

[inteller]

Just like the iPad the surface cannot join the domain and be managed with the big boy toys that real enterprise it outfits use. For that you need the pro in order to install full blown office and complete the workflows the OP mentioned.

 

[FinsUpDNC]

Just like the iPad the surface cannot join the domain and be managed with the big boy toys that real enterprise it outfits use. For that you need the pro in order to install full blown office and complete the workflows the OP mentioned.

I fully understand what you said, but if we used your definition there would be very few devices allowed in the enterprise environment As much as IT guys would like full control over every device, it is not realistic anymore. Please let me know what are big boy toys btw? Some of my clients would not allow your Windows phone (or mine) into their office as without VPN or a blackberry there is no email for you. BES or bust....

So yes the Surface can't do what the OP wants....however that does not mean the RT can't serve a purpose for certain people in big business.

 

[inteller]

BYOD is a scam and cios are slowly starting to realize that. More studies come out every day that the costs are higher to maintain the headache of byod. Now that viable, compatible enterprise solutions like the Surface Pro are available you are going to see byod curtailed in some shops. No my 900 isn't allowed in the enterprise and shouldn't, but a 920 would be. And by big boy toys I'm talking about sccm or intune if you are cloud managing devices. No consumer devices play with that. And BES is a joke btw. The thought of sending all your corporate communications through a 3rd party proxy is just stupid.

 

[decker12]

Thanks guys for the candid response. I am starting to realize that sadly, the Windows 8 RT OS isn't what I was hoping it would be. As stated above, it's really just another Active Sync device, which is fine, but it's not compelling enough for my users to switch to. My main reason for getting a Surface over another iPad was the hope that it would some how integrate better to the Enterprise, which so far I have been unable to do. Also, I was hoping to have some built in ability to access to shared drives on our 2008 R2 server. I am not trying to say that I was misled in the purchase - we had the budget to try out a new device and I wanted to put the Surface through it's paces and learn what it's capable of before the inevitable after Christmas BYOD help desk call when the CFO says "So I got this new thing for xmas, can you get it to work on network?"

Plus, we've had issues with the OS itself and its.. well, lets just say "learning curve". The Windows 7 user has struggled with the Windows 8 RT interface.

It has Excel and other Office apps which is nice, and the hardware is pretty solid. I am annoyed by the scrapes left on my desks from the flip out kick stand tho, and the hard cover flip keyboard seems to have a mind of its own when it's in pure tablet mode (the keyboard folds to be the outside of the tablet, where the user's hands are, and sometimes the keys she presses while holding it in this method are translated to the tablet itself for no reason).

So I'm going to continue to fiddle around with the device, and I appreciate everyone's comments and frank discussion about it's capabilities. It's refreshing to be part of a frank discussion about the device instead of degenerating into a Apple vs MS vs Android battle.

 

[inteller]

Well, check out the Acer W510 or W700s. Those are the only device I know at that price point that will do what you want. I'm not sure if they run Pro or not, but WIndows 8 Pro is what you are going to need for enterprise integration (ideally you'd want Windows 8 Enterprise) Those Acers are decent form factors, but they aren't going to be as thin or light as the Surface RT. If you can justify the spend, the Surface Pro will be the ideal device.