Tech·Ed Australia 2011 Sessions

To BLOB or Not to BLOB? Storage Optimisation Demystified

Dan Holme — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 02:01:39 GMT

SharePoint and SQL Server offer several methods with which you can externalise the BLOBs—the files that are stored in libraries and as attachments—to reduce the size of your content databases. BLOB externalisation offers benefits beyond reduced storage cost—benefits that may surprise you! But there's a lot of hype and misunderstanding about BLOB externalisation, which is neither a silver bullet nor evil incarnate. Join SharePoint MVP Dan Holme for a balanced, intelligent, detailed examination of the technologies and issues surrounding BLOB externalisation. Dive deep into the performance impact, scalability implications, and critical considerations for backup and restore, high availability, and disaster recovery. To BLOB or not to BLOB? There are no easy answers, but after this session you will have what it takes to maximize the potential of BLOB externalisation in your storage architecture.

Easy to build, eye-catching dashboards in SharePoint via Excel Services

Bhavik Merchant — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:58:49 GMT

Traditional BI setups can require specialist skills to develop dashboards. Furthermore there are many tools in the Microsoft stack which can all be used to create dashboards – SharePoint PerformancePoint Services, SQL Reporting Services and SharePoint Excel Services. This session focuses on Excel Services as a "low barrier to entry" solution for enterprise dashboard development that business people can build and deploy. Bhavik will demonstrate some cool looking dashboards built in Excel Services, share tips on how these were built and also cover best practices and caveats that one should be aware of.

Ask a SharePoint Expert: final Q&A Panel

William Cornwill, Mark Rhodes, Dan Holme, Chris Oconnor — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:58:21 GMT

Protecting your SharePoint Content with SQL Server 2008 Transparent Database Encryption

Michael Noel — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:57:32 GMT

One of the 'killer apps' with SQL Server 2008 is the ability to transparently encrypt all of your SharePoint content databases at the SQL level, without the need to modify any settings in the SharePoint farm. This type of transparent encryption allows organisations to comply with governmental and industry regulations that require content to be stored in encrypted format, but doesn't introduce any new complexities to a SharePoint environment, as the application itself is unaware that any encryption is happening. This session focuses on the best practices, tips and tricks, and real world advice on how to setup and deploy SQL Server 2008 transparent database encryption for a SharePoint farm.

Learn how to setup SQL Server 2008 for transparent encryption of content databases.
Examine limitations, best practices, and deployment tips for implementing this new capability.
Take an in depth look at the security precautions and advise for the encryption methods that can be used and what makes sense for SharePoint.

FAST Search: The Developer Story

Shyam Narayan — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:56:35 GMT

The session aims to provide a developer overview of FAST Search for SharePoint. It will focus on providing some core techniques that you can take away to build search driven applications on the SharePoint platform. The session will be a mix of demos and code walkthroughs.

SharePoint + jQuery – bring da bling!

Chris Oconnor — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:56:00 GMT

Chris will show a fully sick SharePoint solution with cold-hard-chillin' eye candy guaranteed to bring all the cool cats to check the funky shizzle on your SharePoint site. He will use jQuery/JavaScript along with DVWP's, XSLT and HTML to show some animation effects, hovers & sliders – to pimp out the plain ol' News Rotator like never before ! Word.

Making Data Sexy using SharePoint 2010 & Project Crescent

Peter Ward — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:55:30 GMT

When you think about data you typically think about those folks wearing brown pants in the accounts team. In this fast paced-presentation you will see how Project Crescent leverages SharePoint 2010 to allow you to easily create interactive dashboards that look like they belong in your favourite glossy magazine. Project Crescent is the code name for a new data visualization tool that will be released as part of the next version of SQL Server. Project Crescent introduces a new ad-hoc reporting and visual exploration paradigm which allows users to share data assets using everyone's favourite collaboration platform, SharePoint.

Creating, classifying and documents SharePoint 2010

Paul Turner — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:54:16 GMT

Learn about how to create Content Types, Document Sets, classify documents with Managed Metadata and apply unique Document ID's.

Matthew Magain - Perfection Pursued

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 11:08:00 GMT

Matthew wrote and illustrated a geeky kids' book called Charlie Weatherburn and the Flying Machine. In this talk he challenges the notion that "perfect is the enemy of done" and suggests that, particularly in personal projects, the pursuit of perfection is a noble and worthy cause.

Listen up to Jane Cockburn

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:34:25 GMT

Jane is a Senior Product Manager at Cochlear – the leader in advanced hearing loss solutions. She discusses how the technology and software she works with is literally changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids around the world.

Jarod Green is Beached Az

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 23:21:22 GMT

Jarod's the guy that created that beached whale and its feathered friend with the Kiwi accents. His viral video, Beached Az, kick-started his career by creating quite the splash on YouTube - in fact, more people have watched it than the entire population of New Zealand!

TechEd Backstage: DIY Private Cloud + IP Performance Mythbusters

David Connors, Ben Parker — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

PART 1: DIY Private Cloud Ben Parker will take you on a 30 minute tour of the auteched private cloud. Learn how we built out the infrastructure to support several hundred virtual machines with huge on-demand infrastructure deployments which are imaged, run up, used for a one hour presentation and then torn down again. PART 2: Mythbusters: Provisioning the Internets at gigabit speeds and getting what you paid for David Connors will share tales of woe from many events past. As surely as the sun comes up, the IP transit links we provision for these events do not perform as we would like and Connors enjoys at least 2-3 days of yelling at suppliers to get things right before delegates turn up and start their BitTorrent clients. Learn the common myths and creative stories that ISPs use to tell you that X performance is acceptable and why it is not. Get a primer on the performance characteristics of IP in a very easy to understand manner to cover off slow-start phase/congestion avoidance strategies, bandwidth-delay product, and why they exist, etc. Every excuse has a grain of truth and we tell you how to get the facts and get what you're paying for.

The Essential Windows Azure Developers Toolkit

Mahesh Krishnan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Come along to the sessions to learn about all about the essential tools, accelerators, SDKs and plugins to develop, debug, deploy and manage Windows Azure solutions. The session is a must for all Azure developers whether you are using .NET, Java, PHP or mobile. This will be an information packed session to fast track your cloud development efforts.

The Challenges of moving Document Creation to the Cloud

Chris Gabriel, Michael Puckridge — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Intelledox is a business process automation platform focused on producing personalized documentation for customer and staff communication. Automating employment contract generation is one example of how Intelledox can be used. This session focuses on why Intelledox moved their platform from an on-premise solution to a Software as a Service solution on Azure and the development steps that were taken to get there. The session will discuss the technical design issues, implementation process and demonstrate a working solution that can be quickly and effectively deployed to a global audience. The session will also discuss data sovereignty issues showing how an Azure based solution can be used against an organizations SharePoint deployment behind the firewall.

The Future of .NET Parallel Programming

Joseph Albahari — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

This session will cover .NET parallel programming in the present and future. Starting with a recap of the parallel programming libraries in Framework 4.0, we'll highlight the most effective patterns for levering today's multicore processors - along with some cool tricks and tips. Then we'll take a preview at what's coming in the next .NET Framework with TPL Dataflow. We'll demonstrate how an actor-based model inspired by quantum mechanics takes parallelism and concurrency to the next level, reducing latency and simplifying design through a message-based architecture. We'll also look at how this ties in with the upcoming asynchronous language features, and how to get started with the CTP today.

Windows Phone Marketplace - The Business of Phone Development

Dave Glover, Rocky Heckman — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Mobile platforms open up a whole new world of possibilities to extend a market to affluent customers willing to pay money for apps that are everything from useful and helpful, to just cool to have. But to get an app that people are willing to pay for takes some special sauce. Then getting to market and actually making that money takes a bit of work too. In this session we’ll talk about what makes apps stand out and makes people want to actually spend money on them. We’ll look at the best way to draw money from your mobile apps and what it really means to be a successful mobile app developer.

Windows® Centric Singular Information Management for Hyper-V™

Brett Chase — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

CommVault’s Singular Information Management® solution ensures a single piece of Windows centric software enables high-performance data management, active-archiving; backup/recovery, deduplication and content search/indexing for Hyper-V and the applications residing in Hyper-V environments. The CommVault Unified Virtual Server (VSA) agent enhances Hyper-V and the growing amount of data virtual Windows servers and virtual machines are managing while utilizing the Microsoft® FAST indexing engine to recall virtualized data based on content.

Why Hyper-V for VDI?

Derek Moir, Gareth James — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

In this session we discuss why Hyper-V is the best Hypervisor for VDI workloads. Come learn both the value of Hyper-V for VDI along with performance, cost and customer proof points. This session also dives deep into VM density for Windows 7 on Hyper-V SP1 and covers the new game changing features of Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX.

Windows Server 2008 R2 File Services Consolidation: Technology Update

Jeff Alexander — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

The File Services role in Windows Server 2008 R2 is a core function, accounting for a large number of server deployments. You probably see the trend, from small business to global enterprises, to consolidate multiple file servers into a small number of larger capacity servers, able to deal with the growth in unstructured data. In this presentation, we cover technology enhancements in Windows Server 2008 R2, focusing on performance, scalability and availability. This includes details on the improvements in the SMB2 file protocol, with comparative performance data gathered using FSCT (the File Server Capacity Tool) that showcases how much Windows Server has improved over the past few releases. We also review a few scenarios in File Services consolidation, including Name Consolidation, Advanced Networking and High Availability. Throughout the presentation, recommended configurations are outlined, so they can spark ideas for your next upgrade or consolidation project.

Windows Intune: PC Management with Cloud Services and Windows 7

Jeff Alexander, John Pritchard — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Are you are a customer with unmanaged desktops or a partner looking at desktops managed using the Internet? Are you feeling left out of the business benefits of Cloud for desktop management? Windows Intune is Microsoft's new cloud-based solution for client management and monitoring. In this informative session we will introduce the business value of Intune, the advantages for customers in managing desktops with cloud services and the opportunities for Partners looking to expand their service management horizon. We will demonstrate many of the features that will simplify the job of the desktop management team, while increasing security and stability for your organization's desktops, laptops, and tablet devices.

What's new in XenApp: the next chapter in the on-demand application story

Andrew McMurray, Derek Moir, Danny Newport — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Microsoft and Citrix have teamed to deliver cost-effective desktop virtualization solutions with on-demand applications. Citrix XenDesktop and the Microsoft VDI Suite deliver the most comprehensive desktop virtualization solution on the market. It enables organisations to deliver the best user experience, scalability, manageability and cost benefits. Learn how Citrix HDX and Microsoft RemoteFX technologies provide the best user experience over any network, and why Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center help IT organisations maximise flexibility.

What's new in Windows Phone 7.5 for End Users and Enterprises

Dave Glover, Brett Gordon — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Come along and be delighted, hear what’s new in Windows Phone 7.5, this session will help you understand how Windows Phone is maturing , what's new for end users, deeper integration with Windows Live, Office 365, Exchange and Mobile Device Management. We'll also cover security and targeted application distribution.

Windows Phone First Up/ All Up

Nick Randolph, Dave Glover — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

This session is intended to introduce developers to Windows Phone. It isn’t your boring old level 100 intro session. This session assumes that you know how to develop applications and skips past the “hello world” stuff to talk about tools, navigation elements, the back stack, phone controls and the marketplace. Dave Glover (Windows Phone Evangelist) will start the session presenting on the all up phone business in Australia. Nick will then take over and build an app from scratch during this session and finish the session by submitting it to the marketplace. Come along if you are interested in developing applications for Windows Phone but are yet to taker the first step.

Turn Bare Metal into Silver Lining with SCVMM 2012…Today!

Mark Rhodes — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Have you wondered what it would take to build your own private cloud? Going from bare metal to Hyper-V to a Cloud used to take a significant amount of time and expertise, but with the soon-to-be-released System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012, building a private cloud is easy and inexpensive, and with the beta of SCVMM 2012 you can do it right now! Join James Bannan and Mark Rhodes as they perform a live provision of a Private Cloud, taking a blank server from Bare Metal to Silver Lining. This session will explain the core technologies of Data Center Fabric and Private Clouds with Hyper-V R2 and SCVMM 2012, and include comprehensive live demonstrations of all of the steps necessary for you to go home and build your organization a Private Cloud, today!

Troubleshooting Application Compatibility Issues with Windows IE 9

Chris Jackson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

When your website doesn't work with a new browser, what do you do? In this demo-heavy session we explore the primary causes of application troubles, take a deep dive into the compatibility infrastructure in the browser, and give you helpful tips and tricks to accelerate your application compatibility troubleshooting and remediation.

Understand How Microsoft Virtualization Compares to VMWare

Reid Purvis — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

This is a must-see session for anyone who is comparing VMware with Microsoft's virtualization offerings. We will review Microsoft's technology compared to VMware, focusing on what differentiates the two technologies. The session will also cover effective strategies for integrating Microsoft virtualization into datacenter environments, and review one company's experience with implementing Microsoft virtualization. If you need to know how the Microsoft virtualization stack compares to VMware's, this is the session for you!

The SQL Server Database Consolidation Appliance

Rob Reinauer — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

This session will dive into Microsoft's new Database Consolidation Appliance reference architecture. We will explore the appliance software stack, and its relationship to SQL Server in areas like performance modelling and result measurement. Demonstrations of live migration and integration into the monitoring infrastructure will round out the session, giving you the information you need to assess this architecture's fit within your organisation.

The SharePoint Developers Guide to Project Server 2010

Brad Purdy, Brian Farnhill, Alexander Burton — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

It’s just meant to be – Project Server and SharePoint server are better together, and this is the session that will show you why. Come and join us as we take you on a tour showing how the two products work together, and how you can deliver better solutions by integrating the two. Get to know how developers can leverage both of these great tools together and how you can deliver more value, what the features of the tools can offer and what you need to know as a developer to start solving real world business problems.

There is no Web: HTML5 Offline, NoSQL and MVC 3

Paul Glavich — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

HTML 5, NoSQL and ASP.NET MVC 3 are popular technologies within the IT industry today. This session will bond all these glorious buzzwords together in a stew of awesomeness to bring you an application that defines one single domain model in code, have that persisted to a NoSQL store and also have that very same model handled in an offline and online manner by your web application. This session goes beyond code first, to one time code only modelling, and hooks into the HTML 5 capabilities such as offline operation, caching and local storage to allow your web app to provide seamless online and offline capabilities. I’ll also be employing the capabilities of RavenDB to guest star in the role of NoSQL. If you want to see something a little different, then come along to this session. You’ll need some Javascript knowledge, a dash of MVC and an open mind.

Troubleshooting Application Compatibility Issues with Windows 7

Chris Jackson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

In this demo-heavy session we examine a series of case studies for troubleshooting application compatibility issues with Windows 7. Using this approach, we show you more about how Windows 7 works and how to think about and resolve application compatibility problems based on real-world examples. In addition, we demonstrate the tools you would use to resolve these issues.

The Future of C#: Good things come to those who 'await'

Joseph Albahari — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

This presentation will showcase the magic of asynchronous programming in C# 5. We'll start with the basics: exactly what asynchronous programming is, how it differs from multithreading, and why it's become so important in today's cloud-connected world. We'll then set up scenarios to demonstrate the headache that asynchronous programming creates today - and how it's solved so elegantly with the new async and await keywords. They'll be plenty of practical examples - from making a responsive UI to writing high-concurrency apps. The session will be structured as an overview followed by a deep-dive with more advanced examples and under-the-covers discussions. We'll also describe how this technology fits in with other asynchronous offerings such as the Reactive Framework, and how you can plan for it (or even use it) today.

To The Cloud! A lap around the entire Windows Azure platform.

Steven Nagy — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Microsoft offers a variety of services under the Windows Azure Platform umbrella. This session will go through them all at a high level to help you catch up with what's happening outside your organisational boundaries. Be you IT Pro, Developer, or pointy haired boss, this session is not to be missed if you need to ramp up on Microsoft's premium cloud offering.

Virtualizing Microsoft Exchange Server with Hyper-V

Glen Gooda — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

This session covers virtualization scenarios for Exchange 2010 and how the combination of Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center solves them. We discuss the various deployment scenarios for Exchange and perform a deep dive into its use with Hyper-V. The session highlights examples of Exchange performance under Hyper-V and best practices for a successful deployment. Finally, we also touch upon partner solutions, including the PRO packs and how these solutions enhance the benefits of running Exchange virtually.

Unlock the power of User Device Affinity in SCCM 2012

James Bannan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

User Device Affinity (UDA) in SCCM 2012 treats users as first-class citizens within the SCCM environment, and gives administrators new and innovative abilities to target users, devices and groups and deploy applications on an as-needs basis, intelligently enabling and supporting business workflows. Come along and discover how it works under the hood, and how you can give your users every reason to sing your praises!

Virtualization Monitoring and Management with Veeam

Frederique Dennison, Charles Clarke — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Learn how Veeam Software helps simplify and standardize virtualization management by enabling organizations to consolidate monitoring and business continuity. The nworks Management Pack provides scalable, fault-tolerant and agentless Vmware infrastructure monitoring and management directly in Microsoft System Center, eliminating the need for a separate monitoring framework. Together Veeam and Microsoft provide a single point of monitoring for both Hyper-V and vSphere workloads, as well as representing the inter-relatedness of associated guest virtual machines. This helps organizations protect their investment in System Center and manage physical and virtual environments from one console. The session will explore the benefits of monitoring unity, offer best practise tips, real-world examples and provide a demonstration of monitoring virtualization workloads in System Center Operations Manager. Also, get some insight into the next release of Veeam's award-winning Backup and Replication solution which provides support for Hyper-V. Leveraging capabilities like changed block tracking, compression and in-line de-duplication, protecting VMware and Hyper-V workloads together has never been easier.

Using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit in the Real World (Notes from the field)

Rhonda Layfield — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

The MDT can be a comprehensive, reliable and easy to use tool when you know how to set it up properly. Rhonda provides consulting services to many large agencies and has seen MDT set up incorrectly about every way you can. Many times she has to correct what people have mistakenly configured before even getting started taking them down the right road. In this session you’ll learn how to set up MDT in the real world from building a master image to deploying your working image and even more importantly maintaining those images and troubleshooting applications. Don’t waste valuable time setting up MDT incorrectly. Let Rhonda show you how to do it correctly.

Unleashing the Power of Consumerization: How We Can Help

Jeff Johnson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Consumerization is really about managed vs. unmanaged devices. If you want to know how to enable consumerization of IT, this session is for you. We will cover how to responsibly architect a consumerization of IT strategy on any device be it a phone, slate, or PC and still protect the companies intellectual property. This session discusses the use of UAG, IPSec, VDI, RDS and RDS remote applications and how those capabilities can be used for a successful deployment of Consumerization of IT.

Upgrading to Exchange 2010: Notes from Field

Colin Lee, Sofiane Behraoui — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

In this session Sofiane and Colin will provide notes from the field as they take you on a journey to upgrading your legacy Exchange environment. They will highlight the best practices you should consider as you plan your upgrade from Exchange 2003, Exchange 2007, as well as touch on migrating from alternative messaging platforms. Sofiane and Colin will cover the gotchas and pitfalls you are likely to encounter, and follow through with tips and tricks that experienced ITPros leveraged on a regular basis. Additionally they will look at some of the recommended tools, such as the Exchange Deployment Assistant, that will ensure you have a smooth upgrade to the latest version of Exchange.

What SharePoint consultants should know about SQL Server

Shashank Pawar, Shimron Shimla — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

SharePoint is becoming more popular around the world as a core business application platform. It is important to understand the close relationship between SharePoint and SQL server when you architecting a solution, looking at day to day maintenance and considering High availability and disaster recovery. Business intelligence as a solution, especially to highlight that with SQL Server and SharePoint the organisation also has access to a full Business Intelligence stack that is capable of delivering interactive reports, scorecards, dashboards, rich visualisation with Visio Services. Come and join us to understand how SharePoint leverage SQL’s rich functionality and what every SharePoint consultant should know about how SQL enterprise and SharePoint work better together.

What’s new in MDT 2012?

Michael Niehaus — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

The next version of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit will be released soon! Learn about all the new features and enhancements in this version, including support for Configuration Manager 2012; the ability to deploy to UEFI computers; integration with the DaRT tools; and much more.

Welcome to the Next Generation of Web Design

Thomas Lewis — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

Although CSS3 rendering varies between browsers and HTML5 hasn’t reached the candidate recommendation stage yet, they're already the hot, new buzzwords and some intrepid front-end developers are already creating sites with them. Are these new techniques ready for prime time on the web? What happens with older browsers? In this session, Thomas introduces Internet Explorer 10 Platform preview and the latest HTML5 structural elements. He then adds cutting-edge CSS3 features for easier implementation of visual effects and enhanced typography all with a focus on satisfying your cravings for tomorrow’s technologies through practical implementations today.

What's new for Windows Phone 7.5 Games Developers XNA and Silverlight

Chris Walsh — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

XNA is one of the underutilised powerhouses driving Windows Phone Application Development today. Primarily used as a game development framework but you as a developer can use it to create anything. In the upcoming “mango” release, we’ve made it even easier to create high performance and visually stunning games by mixing the use of Silverlight & XNA within the same project! In this session, we’ll show you just how this works and how you can use it to unlock a new world of game & application scenarios for XNA & Silverlight developers.

Visual Studio vNext Directions

Anthony Borton — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:29 GMT

This session offers early insights into the future of Application Lifecycle Management and agile development that are incorporated in the next release of Visual Studio. See some of the significant improvements in collaboration, agile management, stakeholder feedback and much more.

MVC 3 & Razor the new Swiss Army Knife

Daniel Beaty — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

With Microsoft's new ASP.NET MVC 3 you can start now to hyper accelerate your delivery of bespoke business applications. In this session you will learn to take advantage of MVC Scaffolding, HTML 5 templates for cross device support, the new Razor View Engine, jQuery Validation and JSON binding. These features and many more make up the Swiss Army Knife of your development kit. We will develop, in our code crazy session, a take home use now base framework for immediate implementation into your organisation. Don't leave Tech-Ed empty handed, come to this session and take with you source code to be productive the day you get back. Daniel will also be signing autographs in the expo area at 2pm every day.

Multi-tasking and Application Services in Windows Phone 7.5

Chris Walsh, Jake Ginnivan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Multi-tasking, TICK! Background Agents, TICK! Tiles, back and front, TICK! Notifications, TICK! Search, TICK! In this session you'll learn how to take you Windows Phone application to the next level with a selection of the new features coming in the release. We'll take a simple application and transform it to correctly handle fast-application switching and perform operations in the background. The application will come alive with multiple tiles, push notifications and search integration, demonstrating the richness of the Windows Phone platform

Modelling and Maintaining Virtualized Services in SCVMM 2012

Mikael Nystrom — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Private clouds enable abstraction of services from the underlying fabric. This abstraction delivers benefits to the enterprise for fabric management as well as service management. Come and see how Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) 2012 delivers industry leading service design, deployment and management for private cloud environments. See the power and benefits of using Server Application Virtualization and image based servicing. Learn how to create private clouds, design service templates and empower your end users to deploy and manage services in the private cloud. Attendees will gain an understanding of Virtual Machine Manager 2012 supported scenarios, along with an understanding of how to use these capabilities to build an on-premise private cloud.

More Efficient App-V Packages with the New App-V 4.6 SP1 Sequencer

Mohnish Chaturvedi — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

See how the process of application virtualization (Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.6) revolutionizes the traditional process of deploying applications in your organization. Understand how the sequencing process works, what the best practices and support tools, and how to determine which applications are good candidates for virtualization. Learn how this technology improves traditional desktop management, terminal server (RDS) and virtual desktops (VDI).

MVC - Lessons Learnt From Being Burnt

Malcolm Sheridan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

If you're an ASP.NET programmer, chances are you’ve dabbled in MVC. MVC is the latest newcomer to the ASP.NET world and the demo’s you see looks simple, but there are some hidden gotchas' that you’ll only learn from hours of blood, sweat and tears that have been soaked into the keyboard. In this session you will learn what these hidden pitfalls are and how to avoid them. The focus will be on real-world MVC which will include how to best use forms authentication, securing your controllers and actions, error handling the MVC way, filter ordering, Inversion of Control (IoC) best practices as well as how to best use routes and controllers. Don't think this session will be a walk in the park. These are real world problems and how to solve them.

Peeking at the Source of a Successful Windows Phone App

Jeffrey Wilcox — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Jeff Wilcox, developer of successful Windows Phone App 4th & Mayor will deliver a 300-level talk that looks into what it takes to create a large Windows Phone app, from dealing with the marketplace, solving common problems, and a look at a smart data caching and loading system for pulling down data from web services. Even if you are building small apps Jeff will show you how to polish it and make a difference by adding visual effects, addressing usability and design issues, as well as adding error reporting and other key app services.

Operations Manager 2012: New Features

Justin Cook, Noel Fairclough — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

SCOM 2012 provides a significant number of new features over its predecessor SCOM 2007 R2. This session will introduce you to these new features including the new SCOM topology which includes the removal of the single RMS, the extension of monitoring support to now include rich monitoring of network devices and .NET / J2EE applications, the vicinity dashboard showing contextual network maps, an enhanced web console, and finally the ease at which you can upgrade from SCOM 2007 R2 to SCOM 2012 at your own pace.

Office Deployment for the Elite

Yoni Kirsh — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Office 2010 deployment in large organisations can be a daunting task. Many tools exist to make life easier, but how do you get the most out of them? This session is a deep dive into the various Office deployment and compatibility tools, including; • Office Customization Tool (OCT) • Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) • Office Migration Planning Manager (OMPM) • Office Environment Assessment Tool (OEAT) • Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) You will learn how to use these applications effectively and efficiently, and wield them to your best advantage. We will demonstrate how you can script these tools to build on their functionality, providing superior reporting and consistent results.

PowerShell Above and Beyond: GUIs, Workflows, and More

Dean Corcoran — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Take PowerShell from being a command-line or scripting language to being an integral part of your management processes. Enable self-service functionality (perfect for private clouds!) by using PowerShell to create fully-functional GUI-based tools. Automate complex businesses processes by integrated PowerShell into standalone workflows. Create self-contained executables from PowerShell scripts. This session relies in part on commercially-available third-party tools, but also presents techniques that you can develop and use yourself. You'll also explore advanced PowerShell security concepts that help make self-service safe and effective.

Over the Fence - Designer Developer Worflow

Jordan Knight, Alex Knight — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Developers and Designers working together in harmony has become a crucial part of creating killer experiences on any platform. Expression Blend and Visual studio together allow us to create designer developer workflows like we have never seen before, which allows us to build better applications faster. Spend some time with the Knight brothers and check out how they work together in sync at lightning pace to build killer applications.

New Windows Phone 7.5 Application Platform Services

Chris Walsh — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

With the upcoming release of Windows Phone, comes with it some amazing new features for developers. This key update enables your applications to take advantage of more services available to you, the developer. Enhanced developer tools and API’s enabling you to maximise your applications potential . Come along to this fun and exciting session by Chris, where he will take you through transforming an existing application to use the new features in 7.5 to push your application above the rest.

Practical Consolidation

Rolf Tesmer, Carl Weibgen — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Two real-world experts will discuss practical approaches to SQL Server Consolidation. Carl Weibgen (Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited) was a pioneer in database-level consolidation, Rolf Tesmer (Dimension Data) has led many consolidation projects. They will discuss and contrast different approaches to consolidation, with an emphasis on the real benefits and hazards of each approach.

Reporting Services - What's New in Denali?

Carolyn Chau — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

With the coming release of SQL Server code name "Denali" Microsoft is releasing the next wave of SQL Server products. The new release will extend organisations beyond the database with a Cloud-Ready Information Platform that delivers mission critical confidence, breakthrough insight, and cloud on your terms. Join this session for an end-to-end introduction and demonstrations of all the new capabilities. We'll preview key features like Business Intelligence Semantic Model and specific focus will be on Reporting Services including SharePoint integration, data-driven alerting, rendering improvements, and end user reporting.

Scaling ECM on SharePoint 2010

Garth Luke, Elaine van Bergen — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Since the release of SharePoint 2010, enterprise customers have ramped up the adoption of SharePoint as the platform for enterprise content management. Large customers have pushed the technology beyond its original specifications, and Microsoft has responded by raising the bar for support of highly scaled environments. In this session, you will explore the business and technical considerations related to large document and records management workloads. Learn what it takes to implement cost effective, performant storage that scales with the growth of your content repository. Understand the issues that affect your architectural and governance decisions at each stage of content lifecycle. And ensure that content is available, recoverable, secure, and compliant with your information management and regulatory policies.

Private cloud data protection and recovery

Orin Thomas — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Just because you are using the private cloud doesn’t mean you can stop thinking about basics such as data protection and recovery. In this session you will learn how to use the system center suite, specifically data protection manager, to provide a comprehensive data, application, and service recovery platform for private cloud deployments. Includes how to use SCCM, OpsMgr, and Orchestrator to automate protection of private cloud components. How to use Orchestrator, DPM, and VMM to automate recovery of private cloud components.

Real World Windows Azure from GreenButton

Dave Fellows — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

See the GreenButton cloud-based High Performance Computing solution in action. The GreenButton leverages massive scalability in the cloud (Windows Azure) to dramatically reduce compute times on processor-intensive workloads such as Rendering movies, DNA sequencing, 3D Seismic analysis, Risk modelling, & Computation Fluid Dynamics – all at the push of a button. See how easy it is to GreenButton enable an application for HPC in the cloud using our SDK.

Processing the Future - War stories from the trading floor

Chris Hewitt, Martin Granell — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

The Reactive Extensions (Rx) provides a convenient way to create complex event driven, asynchronous applications. The framework makes it possible to elegantly address a wide variety of application scenarios. In this session, we’ll look at where it might (or might not!) make sense to use Rx, as well as discuss how the framework encourages thinking differently about application architecture. Drawing upon our experiences using Rx to build a high-volume, low-latency production algorithmic trading platform, we’ll identify both the highlights, as well as the lowlights of building asynchronous applications using the framework.

Responsive Design - The View of the World Depends on the Glasses I Wear

Thomas Lewis — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

There is no mobile Web, there is no desktop Web, and there is no tablet Web. We view the same Web just in different ways. So how do we do it? If you are a designer or front-end developer, come to this session to learn how to embrace the fact that the web doesn’t have the same constraints as the printed page, and how to design and develop for this flexibility.

Prototypes, Prototypes, Prototypes and the difference between them

Shane Morris — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Scope creeping? Vision dissipating? Stakeholders disengaging? Team splintering? Specification ballooning? User experience rehashing? Application prototyping can help with these ailments and more by creating a common vision for team members, stakeholders and customers. Prototypes can be high fidelity or low fidelity, interactive or static, speculative or definitive. This session covers the role of prototypes to explore, evaluate and communicate your vision at each stage of the project lifecycle . We'll talk about the pro's and con's of various prototyping techniques and tools, and how to save time, money and frustration by creating quick, early and visible prototypes throughout your project.

Setting Up and Deploying Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Edge Servers

Nathan Chapman, Vakhtang Assatrian — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Understanding the details on how to set up and deploy Edge Servers is a key feature to allow the customer investment to include different users: domain members, partners in a federated infrastructure and customers outside of the internal network in the Lync Server experience. This session discusses how to define the Edge infrastructure and requirements (server and infrastructure in the perimeter and internal networks) needed to deploy Lync Server Edge Servers. At the conclusion of the breakout, you will be much better prepared to answer customer questions and to plan and implement an Edge Server infrastructure for Lync Server 2010.

Server Virtualisation: Business Needs and Cost benefits.

Ryan England — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Ensuring the needs of the customer are considered in line with budget expectations is a delicate balance in any industry. When planning for future server upgrades The Barossa Council under the guidance of their ICT Manger, Ryan England looked to a virtualisation format to provide the efficiency and centralisation required. After developing a cost benefit analysis for migrating key council operations systems towards virtual networks, the benefits from both a management and cost perspective became very clear. Looking to the future with expectations of data management through Cloud interaction, this approach ensures The Barossa Council are well positioned to migrate information if and when required.

Server App-V, Sequencing and Deploying Datacenter Apps

Amit Pawar — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Server Application Virtualization (Server App-V), which ships with Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012, will dramatically simplify the deployment and management of datacenter applications without requiring a rewrite. Building on top of the shipping Desktop Application Virtualization codebase, Server App-V extends support for server applications that contain resource and settings such as: IIS, Windows Services, WMI Providers, COM+ and much more. This session offers a deep technical dive on how Server App-V works, discusses the types of applications and scenarios that will be supported along with a demo of deploying a multi-tier business application. See how Server App-V can help save time and effort in deployment, update and recovery of Services in your rapidly changing Dynamic Datacenter and Private Cloud Infrastructures. Gain an understanding of the Server App-V supported scenarios, application compatibility scope, along with an understanding on how to deploy applications using PowerShell Cmdlets and System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2012.

Science of Great UI

Mark Miller — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Explore the how and why of great UI. If you believe you’re not an artist, that UI is subjective, or that a great UI is not worth the effort, then this session is for you. We’ll learn how to measure UI quality, covering user models, entry points, orienteering and discoverability. Regardless of whether you’re building desktop, Web or Mobile applications, you’ll learn how to reduce visual noise, lower barriers to entry, enhance clarity and make your applications a pleasure to use. It’s all about improving your customers' efficiency, and this session will show you how.

SCVMM 2012 Fabric Lifecycle: Networking and Storage

Edvaldo Alessandro Cardoso Sobrinho — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

This session provides a scenario rich detailed walk through of new and more robust networking and storage features in VMM 2012. In this session you will learn how to discover, configure, and provision networking and storage fabric for use with the private cloud

SCVMM 2012: Deployment, Planning, Upgrade

Edvaldo Alessandro Cardoso Sobrinho — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

This session provides a scenario rich detailed walk through of VMM 2012 deployment, planning, and upgrade scenarios. Come and learn how to best plan your next VMM rollout

Solving Data Security with Hybrid Cloud Architectures

Rocky Heckman — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

This session will discuss how to create cloud architectures that address data security, and data sovereignty concerns while providing scalable, and cost effective cloud based solutions. We will discuss how hybrid cloud based systems can provide security boundaries and ne used as forward staging and filtering zones for your internet based applications. We will also look at how internet scale computing can be used to thwart DoS attacks. In another vein we will also talk about how you can design your applications to take advantage of local on-premise databases, while providing device independent delivery of services around the world from your cloud based services.

Supercharge your projects with 15 rules to developer heaven

Adam Cogan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Come on a journey starting with Scrum. Why is it the most popular development methodology around? How come 84% of agile projects use Scrum? Get abreast of the recent updates to Scrum (aka Scrum 2011) Step up from just TFS source control and into the testing tools… see you processes get super streamlined. Arrive into developer heaven with: - Project Server integration - Knowledge about the agile elements in TFS vNext - More Testing Tools and - The best 3rd Party Tools

Microsoft Office 365: From Simple Migration to a Hybrid Environment

Toby Knight, Chris Goosen — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Whether you’re looking to migrate all of your mailboxes to the cloud or planning to run a hybrid environment then this is the session for you. This presentation will cover how and when to take advantage of Simple Exchange Migration which supports migrating existing Exchange on-premise customers who want to move all of their mailboxes to the cloud with full data fidelity. You will also learn how rolling out an Exchange 2010 server in your current Exchange environment prepares you for seamless integration with Exchange Online. Whether you are piloting a few users or moving a large part of your workforce to the cloud, we give you the technical details on Exchange-to-cloud integration that you need to be successful.

Microsoft Office 365: The Future of Productivity

Ben Walters, Michael Mahoney — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

This session provides a preview of our next generation cloud productivity services, Office 365 (previously known as Business Productivity Online Standard Suite). Office 365 brings together cloud versions of our most trusted email, communication and collaboration software, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online with our familiar Office Professional Plus desktop suite. In this session we demonstrate how the messaging and collaboration capabilities in now Office 365 has evolved as the latest server technology is deployed in this collection of hosted enterprise software services. Join us for an interactive conversation and scenario-driven demos on the future of productivity and to learn more about Office 365!

Migrating to IPv6 with Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7

Freddie Louwrens — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

That IPv6 has arrived is a fact. There is a lot of media coverage about IPv6. It’s time to take a serious look at IPv6, but do you really need to migrate? - Which steps are involved in the migration? What are the pitfalls? - Are Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 7 ready for IPv6? - What do you need to do to make your internal network or IPv6 ready? - Are your applications and organization IPv6 ready? During this session we take a closer look at IPv6 migration. We will use Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 and IIS as a demo application to show which steps you need to take to check the IPv6 readiness of an application server. After this session you want nothing else than IPv6!

Migrating XP to Windows 7 using ConfigMgr 2007

Mikael Nystrom, Johan Arwidmark — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

So you want to be a Deployment master... This session provides you with tips & tricks on how to migrate your Windows XP machines to Windows 7 using Zero Touch deployments with ConfigMgr 2007 SP2. This session covers techniques for handling user state, backup, images and device driver handling. You can expect lots of live demos in this session.

Microsoft System Center Orchestrator 2012 Overview

Ana Gabriela Hernandez Garcia, Philip Duff — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

The next version of Opalis will be known as System Center Orchestrator. In this session,we cover the new capabilities that Orchestrator will bring to the System Center integration, orchestration and automation solutions,and how these align to the Microsoft Private Cloud offerings.

System Center Opalis meets Sharepoint, AD and ...

Glenn Morris — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

A journey into the world of managing Sharepoint, Active Directory and other environments using System Center Opalis. Integration Packs, (IP's), are already available to manage many technologies and this session will illustrate this for Sharepoint and Active Directory. In addition we will look at creating Intergration Packs for other technologies using the Quick Integration Kit (QIK).

Sneak peek at Microsoft System Center Service Manager 2012

Andrew McMurray, Justin Cook, Steven Bird — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

The upcoming version of Service Manager 2012 will deliver standardised, compliant, and automated IT as a Service. This session will deliver an early preview of the new Silverlight based SharePoint self-service portal, service catalog, service requests, release management, IT business intelligence, and many other improvements that are being added to Service Manager.

So IT’s Cloudy, Now What Do We Do

Wally Eastland, Bill Rue — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

The topic of IT’s Really Cloudy So Now What Do We DO is centred around cutting through all the hype and noise created by a swirling mass of emerging technologies, cloud-based services, generational issues and shifting paradigms that leaves IT leaders yearning for a clear way forward. The session will use examples of how one organisation found its way forward by focusing on some simple principles.

SQL Server Migration Done Right

Dandy Weyn — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

In this session you will learn how to migrate from Access, MYSQL, Sybase, Oracle to SQL Server and SQL Server Azure, using a series of tools that will make your life significantly easier.

Make The Move: Migrate from SCCM 2007 to SCCM 2012

James Bannan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

So you've invested heavily in SCCM 2007 and it's working just the way you like. Will you have to undo everything to move to SCCM 2012? What about all that precious data, client history and inventory? Fear not - SCCM 2012 has a fully-supported migration path, so come along and find out just how powerful and intuitive the migration process will be for your organisation.

Locknote

Norm Judah — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Microsoft Lync 2010: Lync and the Enterprise Network

Victor Kochetkov, Vakhtang Assatrian — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Everything you need to know about how Microsoft Lync works with the Enterprise Network. Learn all about new features like Call Admission Control and how the Lync media stack interacts with policy across the wide area network, improvements in Quality of Service tagging with DSCP and VLAN support and understanding bandwidth planning and requirements for enterprise deployments.

MAP & ACT – Predeployment planning for Windows 7 or Server 2008 R2

Mikael Nystrom, Johan Arwidmark — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

Every time you need to change something in your own infrastructure you would like to know the answer of a lot of questions, same goes for upgrading to a new OS. Or maybe you would like to virtualize your servers, or applications. Questions like “Will it work?” or “Can it be done?” These questions can be answered by using tools like Microsoft Assessment and Planning toolkit and Application Compatibility Toolkit. If you would like to know the answers before you begin, this session is for you

Microsoft Lync 2010: High Availability and Resiliency

Andrew Ehrensing — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

In this session we explore the new High Availability and resiliency offerings from Microsoft Lync Server 2010 including branch office resiliency, data center resiliency and intra-site high availability architecture and capabilities for Instant Messaging, Conferencing and Voice workloads.

Maximise .NET with C++ for interop, performance and productivity

Angel Hernandez — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

C++ remains as the favourite workhorse in thousands (maybe millions) of programming shops and it keeps getting better and better, specifically with the upcoming release of the new C++ Standard (C++0x), but nowadays in a managed world, how does C++ fit into it in terms of performance, productivity and most important, interoperability?. Come and join us on this session that will showcase some of the benefits of C++ development and how we can seamlessly integrate it into managed code applications.

Microsoft Lync 2010: How to go big with voice

Brendan Carius, Selvan Loganathan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:21 GMT

In this session, we start off with the critical phase of planning for Lync voice and designing for an architecture that allows enterprises to deploy Lync as an alternative to existing PBX systems. This session will also help you to design a solution to introduce Lync Voice as a Pilot in your organization integrating with your PABX and have a phased approach to replace your existing PABX with Lync.

Interoperability, Integration with Legacy Systems

Paul Dolley, Victor Kochetkov — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

The communications industry is undergoing a transformation from proprietary hardware-based communications systems to a more flexible software-based solution as provided by Microsoft. During this transformation, customers who have existing investments in infrastructure will need to ensure that these systems work well with Microsoft Lync 2010. In this session we show the different scenarios in which Microsoft Lync 2010 can co-exist with IM and Presence systems, PBXs and leading video infrastructure depending on the customer’s requirements.

Hyper-V server deployment - Using the right tools

Mikael Nystrom — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

Virtualization promises ease of deployment but there is a lot to think about when automating the process, or even doing it manually. In this session we will create a solution for Hyper-V host deployment using MDT and create the perfectly configured Hyper-V host. Areas you need to consider (and we'll be covering) include VLAN, teaming, NIC’s, storage, drivers, deployment, configuration, the needed KB’s, tweeks, agents and many other things.

Keeping the DBA out of the database

Peter Ward — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

With the regulations and compliance that many organisations are scrutinised with today, it is often no longer an option for a Database Administrator to be a member of the sysadmin Server Role. If you remove a DBA from the sysadmin Server Role then how do they manage the database platform and perform common administrative functions? In this presentation you will see how the Separations of Duties Framework can be implemented to assist in setting up a restrictive Microsoft SQL Server environment. The presentation provides practical demonstrations based on real-world experience working with classified information. Armed with this information you will be able to configure an environment that limits the processes a DBA can perform, whilst ensuring that they are kept out of the database and away from sensitive information.

Killer Real-World PowerPivot Examples

Grant Paisley — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

This session is jam packed with amazing PowerPivot report examples. This is *the* session to attend if you want to get the most out of PowerPivot visualizations. Essentially we look at multiple PowerPivot reports from different clients (Education, Retail, Banking, Airline) and show a variety of visualization techniques including sparklines, slicers, and charts. You will walk away with a plenty of ideas, whether for yourself or for your clients.

JavaScript with a view – advancing client side code

Jordan Knight — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

Take the latest in hardware acceleration, high speed JavaScript engines, jQuery and the latest client development patterns and you have the ability to make some of the most stunning web apps that appear and behave as if they were running natively – on desktop and mobile. In this session we explore the latest and greatest ways to build amazing applications that target the browser, using patterns like Model-View-ViewModel, client side templating, view selection, navigation, transitions and much more. Walk away from this session wondering how you ever managed before seeing these techniques in action!

iSCSI: Getting Best Performance, High-Availability and Virtualization

Rick Claus — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

iSCSI is a great protocol. With it you can leverage existing network equipment to connect servers to storage. Virtual environments also gain through the everywhere-for-everyone nature of iSCSI. But iSCSI also has its dark side. It’s easy to configure it incorrectly. It’s easy to configure for bad performance. Learn the best ways to aggregate iSCSI links for load balancing, failover, and increased throughput. Learn the differences between MPIO and MCS, and why you should care. And leave with some smart reasons why iSCSI can be a best-fit solution for your datacentre and virtualization needs.

How to Troubleshoot DirectAccess

Toby Alcock — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

Ask a group of people who have run through the DirectAccess step-by-step guides, and they will report different levels of success. If DirectAccess doesn’t work, then the normal recourse has been to start again making sure that none of the steps are missed. It’s magic when it works but when it doesn’t, how do you start troubleshooting? This highly practical session, with lots of demos, shows you what you need to know to troubleshoot and resolve issues successfully with DirectAccess. Whether the problem is with one of the IPv6 transition technologies, certificates, name resolution or network location, learn how to successfully resolve issues.

Heterogeneous Development with Visual Studio 2010

Mitch Denny — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

Does your organisation do more than just .NET development? Did you know that you can manage technology projects that use non-Microsoft technologies using Team Foundation Server? In this session learn how to plug Eclipse into TFS using the Team Explorer Everywhere plug-in and get some tips and tricks for tackling engineering disciplines such as continuous integration with platforms like Java, Android, iPhone and more! You’ll come away from this session knowing how to get end to end visibility across your projects regardless of the target platform.

High Octane Internet Sites on the SharePoint Platform

William Cornwill, Shyam Narayan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

With SharePoint’s rapid growth as a web content management platform, it is extremely important to have a thorough grounding on the core concepts and practices required to deliver websites which meets the needs of the web today; and are also capable to provide for the gruelling needs of the future. Come join William and Shyam as they bring along a decade of experience to provide you with insights on how to build and maintain high end public websites on the SharePoint platform.

Introduction to Windows Azure AppFabric Composite Applications

Lewis Benge — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

The Windows Azure AppFabric Composite Application service lets you easily build, deploy, run and manage applications that span application tiers and technologies. See how to build an application that composes multiple Azure services such as web roles, storage, Caching, SQL Azure, and ServiceBus, while leveraging familiar Microsoft .NET developer experiences in Microsoft ASP.NET, Microsoft Silverlight, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), and Windows Workflow Foundation (WF). Leverage the Composite Application service to easily provision, deploy, monitor, scale and manage this application as a cohesive unit throughout its lifecycle.

Impact of Cloning and Virtualization on Active Directory Domain Services

Pete Calvert — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

Customers are looking to further virtualize their environments: file servers, web servers, DNS servers, and even their domain controllers. It is clear that virtualization provides many benefits in areas such as deployment, disaster-recovery and lowering TCO. However, while virtualization offers many powerful capabilities and greatly simplifies repetitive tasks, it is a technology that must be handled with care when used in conjunction with Active Directory. In this session we review fundamental concepts within Active Directory and the impact of cloning and virtualization upon domain controllers, domain members and Windows in general. We also discuss how to best leverage virtualization and how to both mitigate problems and avoid occurrences in the first place.

Introducing Visual Studio LightSwitch

Andrew Coates — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:18 GMT

Visual Studio LightSwitch is the simplest way to build business applications for the desktop and cloud. LightSwitch simplifies the development process by letting you concentrate on the business logic, while LightSwitch handles the common tasks for you. In this demo-heavy session, you will see, end-to-end, how to build and deploy a data-centric business application using LightSwitch.

Dynamics CRM in the Microsoft Stack - ## Lessons Learned

Andrew Charlton — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

What actually happens in a complete end to end Microsoft Solution implementation. We’ll share with you our lessons learned getting it all to work together. Server 2008 R2, MS-SQL & SSRS 2008, Biztalk 2010, Sharepoint, Infopath, Dynamics CRM, Each Applications Web Services and SSIS. What to do, What not to do and other approaches we might have considered.

Developing with SQL Azure: Tools & Frameworks In Action

Lynn Langit — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

This session will be filled with hands-on demonstrations using SQL Azure with new and existing tools. First I'll show how to get started with a SQL Azure account (database and object), then I'll walk through the tools such as SQL Server Management Studio, to view or modify those objects. Next I'll show Visual Studio to connect to .NET applications with Entity Framework, OData, and SQL Server Developer Tools (Codename "Juneau").

Developing Windows Phone 7 Applications for SharePoint

Chris Johnson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Take your SharePoint business applications on the go with Windows Phone 7. Windows Phone 7 has great integration with SharePoint via the Office hub, but how do access your custom line of business applications on the phone? In this session you will learn how to build your first Windows Phone application for SharePoint. Learn the fundamentals that will give you a running start for your own applications

Diagnosing the Diseases of DNS

Rick Claus — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Network troubleshooters soon learn that the first place to look when the network stops working is DNS... and soon after that, they learn that the in-the-box DNS troubleshooting tool, nslookup, is a pretty basic answer. So if keeping DNS working is part of your job, don't miss this "beyond the basics" DNS troubleshooting session originally created by Mark Minasi. We start with "dig," the nslookup replacement that is a must-know for DNS techies. Then we see how to give your troubled DNS queries a thorough workup with Network Monitor (even if you've never used Netmon), where you'll be able to find out why those dynamic updates aren't happening. From there, get the scoop on "EDNS," a feature of DNS servers since 2003 that has been blamed - wrongly - for a host of DNS ills. After that, see how to take your DNS system's pulse with DNSLint, a free, not-to-be-missed utility. Then see how to understand what those DNS logs are REALLY saying. Attend this talk and you'll soon be known as "Doctor DNS!"

Domain Driven Development, Domain Events & Unit Testing

Mitch Denny — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

This is a demo orientated session with a few explanatory slides which shows how to build out a domain model which supports domain events and testability via TDD and BDD techniques. Topics covered will include (time permitting): •DDD Primer •What are Domain Events •Domain Events (3 different approaches) • What is TDD? • BDD is good TDD • DDD and TDD/BDD together! • Hooking in Entity Framework (Code First) • Hooking in NHibernate

Disposable Architecture

Daniel Beaty — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Are you architecting 10 year solutions? Is your architecture driving your business decisions? Are you aiming to integrate all your legacy systems? Without you does your organisation cease to operate effectively? If you answer yes to any of these then you need to come to my session on Disposable Architecture. We will explore how current architecture in many cases has become the legacy and not the business enabler it was expected to be. We will explore the tipping point in project spending and how current architecture can lead to future commitments in cost and choices that were never part of the original intent. We will also explore how you can set your organisation up for success by never implementing anything they can’t dispose of. This is not just for architects; this is for everyone who wants to understand more about the technology noose around their neck.

Extending Visio to enable a Business Process Modelling solution in SharePoint

Ed Richard — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

This session demonstrates how to build a Visio Add-in to make use of SharePoint based templates and Business Objects for realising an agile business process modelling site supporting a central process repository and enterprise assets. The solution presented covers the process of authors and business process owners collaborating on developing process maps and procedures as well as the publishing and consumption side for all business users. The presented solution is based real world experiences developed over the past year with 3 different medium to large businesses.

Exchange Virtualisation - Is it right for you?

Sandy Millar — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Many production Exchange Server deployments are virtualized. This is to achieve better hardware utilisation, provide operational flexibility or align with data centre deployment standards. As a business critical server application, it's important to understand the implications of virtualising Exchange Server and ensure that deployments are aligned to Microsoft's best practices and meet the ever changing business demands of a modern messaging service. This breakout session will cover what has been learned about the best ways to deploy Exchange Server in a virtual environment, the various virtualisation technologies that can impact Exchange Server user experience, and scenarios where virtualisation may not be the best choice. Also the differences between Exchange Server native data protection and the high availability and failover features offered by virtualisation stacks will be examined to help you make informed design decisions.

Extending Forefront Identity Manager

Phillip Whipps — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Successfully delivering on an Identity Management project within your enterprise will depend on how many applications you can successfully reach. In this session you will learn how Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager 2010 can be extended to integrate with applications both on premise and in the cloud. We will discuss a practical example of application integration with a case study of the Department of Health in Victoria. We will also look at how to build a Management Agent for integration with cloud based assets and use Twitter as a registration service !

Exchange Server 2010: High Availability Concepts

Scott Schnoll — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

This session covers the basics of the new technologies, concepts, terms and methods used to plan, design, manage and troubleshoot Exchange high availability. Learn how settings like AutoDatabaseMountDial and Activation Preference work. Get an understanding of the basic functions of Active Manager, learn the difference between the Witness Server and the Alternate Witness Server, and more!

Exchange Server 2010: High Availability Deep Dive

Scott Schnoll — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Go beyond the basics of Exchange High Availability and learn what's really going on under the hood in an Exchange 2010 database availability group (DAG). This session covers the inner workings of DAGs, including a deep dive discussion on how DAGs rely on quorum and how the DAG witness and witness server are used. You'll also gain a solid understanding of the inner workings of Active Manager and its best copy selection process.

Exploring the Office Developer Story in Microsoft Office 365

Ben Walters, Elaine van Bergen — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

With Microsoft Office expanding out to the cloud, you may be asking what is the developer story for Office 365? How is it the same, and how is it different? What does a developer need to do to get started and going in this environment? In this session we answer these questions and more by walking you through both the client-side and the cloud-facing developer story. Specific topics include client-side add-ins accessing Microsoft SharePoint data, client object model, cloud-programmability with Microsoft Excel and Visio Services, and much more. If you’re looking to understand the "Office client" in the Office 365 developer story, then you won't want to miss this session

Failover Clustering and Hyper-V

Harris Schneiderman, Philip Duff — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

This technical session discusses Hyper-V and Failover Clustering live migration, deployment considerations, licensing, upgrades, host clustering, guest clustering, disaster recovery, multi-site clustering, Microsoft System Center Virtual Machine Manager, hardware and validation. What are the pros and cons of each virtualization? What's right for my customer and their scenarios? What about combining physical and virtual machines in the same cluster? This session includes a live demo setting up a Hyper-V Cluster and performing a live migration from scratch.

Forefront Identity Manger 2010 R2 Deep Dive

Paul Conroy — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

This is a deep dive into the new features of the upcoming release of Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) R2. The session will cover: Web based user self-service password reset Enhanced Reporting, including integration with SC Service Manager Simplified deployment and troubleshooting tools Enhanced performance Enhanced MA connectivity

From Zero to Productivity with Office 365

Ben Walters, Lee Hickin, Chris Oconnor — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Office 365 is the ideal platform to get your business up and running with the best productivity suite on the market. In this session you will witness the birth of a full infrastructure offering watch as Exchange 2010, Lync and SharePoint are provisioned and configured ready for use right in front of your eyes. Attendees will take away key learning’s on how to get started with the Office 365 Platform from day one.

Finding the “Make It Faster!” Button and hitting it!

Ewan MacKellar — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Work with clients and servers long enough and sooner or later one of them is going to start running slowly. Whether you work in a data centre which is the mission critical hub for an international organisation or you support a few people with laptops, performance problems can hit any of us. And when the help desk phone rings, it can be hard to know where to start. The biggest challenges are what data to collect, what thresholds to use, and how to develop an action plan from this information. This session will help you move from break to fix quickly. The processes covered in this session have been developed by Microsoft Engineers and have been used globally to help IT Professionals in small businesses to large corporations troubleshoot performance problems on any version of Windows, regardless of what applications they have installed. This session will show you how to find the “Make It Faster!” button, and hit it!

Engineering a MED-V solution to unblock Windows 7 Deployment

Samesh Singh — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Understand how a Best Practice MED-V v2 solution is engineered to allow organisations to unblock Windows 7 deployment.

From Fast Track to Parallel Data Warehouse

Danny Tambs — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Parallel Data Warehouse (PDW) is Microsoft’s biggest and most advanced DW offering and utilizes MPP technologies to achieve scale to hundreds of terabytes. This session covers the DW offerings from Microsoft starting from Fast Track to Parallel Data Warehouse. This session includes s a deep dive into the technical aspects and architecture of PDW. The presenter is part of the PDW Center of Excellence (CoE) at Microsoft Corp driving WW projects and developing migration tools .

Governance: Information Management & Security Driving Your Architecture

Garth Luke, Dan Holme — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

You’ve read the white papers, you’ve “Binged” governance, but how, exactly, do you design a SharePoint implementation that will support governance, security, and information management? Join SharePoint MVP and consultant Dan Holme for a practical, nuts-and-bolts look at the close relationship between your information management requirements and SharePoint’s manageability controls, and the demands that relationship places on your design and infrastructure. This session is focused on architecting a logical design of SharePoint that effectively supports your information management requirements and governance plan—the “technical” side of governance. You will learn how to align your governance requirements with SharePoint farms, Web applications, and site collections. You’ll discover why some third-party applications are a “design poison pill” and what SharePoint 2010 offers to greatly improve the deployment of a governable design. Gain a deeper understanding of the intricacies and challenges of designing the logical structure of SharePoint, and take away practical, blueprint-like guidance to what a governed SharePoint model might look like in your enterprise.

Get Out of Dodge: Migrating to Windows Server 2008 R2 x64

Rick Claus — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

You can't wait any longer. Your infrastructure is still clinging to the 2003 x86 server architecture but with every day that goes by, you worry more and more that the other shoe will drop. You know you have to bite the bullet and get these critical services over to more modern hardware paired with the current supported revisions of the server platform. These are the services that keep the lights on, the servers running and most importantly: the users happy! This demo-intensive session covers how to migrate essential services like DHCP, DNS, File/Print, Certificate Services and more. But migration is only half the battle. In order to not leave you hanging - this session wraps up with how to manage and maintain these services using the new remote administration tools and Windows PowerShell v2.0. If you have customers stuck in the x86 to x64 migration frontier - show them the path to x64 2008 R2 nirvana.

Fujitsu’s User Initiated Windows 7 Migration

Charles Ponniah, Malcolm McCaffery — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Overview and live demonstration of Fujitsu's fully automated user initiated XP to Windows 7 migration.

Go Large with SQL Azure Federations

Chris Hewitt — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

SQL Azure provides sophisticated data storage options for your cloud applications. We will explore the patterns and practices that help you develop and deploy applications that can exploit the full power of the elastic, highly available, and scalable SQL Azure Database service. The session details scalable application design techniques such as sharding and horizontal partitioning and dives into future enhancements to SQL Azure Databases. The term ‘NoSQL’ may be mentioned, and we will look at how SQL Azure Federations can benefit specific real world applications.

Gamification: Swapping the old worn dentures for real bite

Luke Drumm — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:11 GMT

Do your customers love your application? Not just accept, survive or struggle with your application but actively seek out and enjoy using your application every chance they get? Do they chat excitedly with their friends about using your application? How about posting YouTube videos about their latest discovery of a feature in your app? Are they likely to queue for hours in eager anticipation of receiving the next version? Not so much? A lot of games enjoy this level of customer engagement. Why doesn’t your app? Tired of trying to comfort yourself with weak excuses about how games “by definition” are always going to be more enjoyable to use than your app? Join Luke Drumm, Senior Consultant for Readify, as he peeks under the covers of what makes games tick and how a lot of “serious business” is now learning how to make applications that are just as engaging and enjoyable as any game. Gamification: If banks, hospitals and even government agencies are able to do it, why can’t you?

Chasing the evolving web

Aaron Powell — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

It's been a long time since we've seen browsers evolving at the rate which they currently are with Microsoft, Mozilla and Google releasing preview versions of their future browser rolling every few months, not every few years. And with each browser release we see better HTML5 support, more CSS3 support and occasionally experimental features. But how do you hit the moving target which is the modern web? What libraries are out there that you should be using to ensure that you're not repeating the boring tasks of the modern web? How do you ensure that you're building sites that will also support older browsers?

Crossing the Rubicon - Integrating with the Cloud Is Here to Stay

Bill Chestnut, Dean Robertson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Cloud computing is here to stay and there's no turning back. But you have existing on-premise systems that can't or wont ever leave your data centre. This session will discuss how to integrate those on-premise systems with your new cloud-based platforms to ensure your business continues to operate.

Data Dashboards using Microsoft BI

Dheeraj Chowdhury — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

This is a customer presented session that will demonstrate how Microsoft Business Intelligence is enabling the NSW Department of Education and Communities to harness its usage data statistics from various online teaching and learning applications to guide decision making and future developments of online products and services.

Creating a user-centric experience with the Next Generation Desktop

Nathan Strong, Peter Menham — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Users are demanding a more dynamic and flexible experience from IT and want a true user centric experience. You are required to provide secure access to personal and organisational data seamlessly across a variety of end user devices. HP has developed a truly innovative approach to help you deliver this, partnering with Microsoft and Citrix. In this session you will learn how HP is able to provide secure, cross domain access for mobile and fixed workers, with a modern, dynamic, configurable user interface as well as how you can apply this to your environment. You will learn how the new access strategy seamlessly integrates both internally and externally provided resources such as cloud hosted application services, client virtualisation, streamed applications and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure.

Converged Exchange: A Blueprint for 2010 deployment

Tim Jones — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

With the myriad of new capabilities in Exchange 2010, organisations are looking to their solutions providers to help them not only deploy the new platform but help them manage it. In this presentation, Tim Jones investigates the challenges faced with moving to 2010, migration options, configuration of Disk Access Groups and archiving solutions. He also discusses how Microsoft and Hitachi Data Systems joint reference architecture delivers Exchange 2010 as a “converged solution in a rack”.

Cross Platform Mobile Application Development

Nick Randolph — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Which mobile platform should I build my application for? Why pick one, when you can have them all. In this session you’ll learn how you can use your existing .NET skills to build either rich client or web applications that work across Windows Phone, iOS and Android. The session will also look at some of the design differences and some other options for building your application to support multiple platforms.

Connecting Phone Applications to the Cloud

Nick Randolph — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Learn how to build Phone applications that are backed by scalable cloud components hosted in Windows Azure. This demo-focused session will cover the end-to-end experience and address how to tackle issues such as authentication, storage, and notification using the Windows Azure Toolkit for iOS, Android and Windows Phone.

Cloud Bursting using HPC and Azure for on Demand Analytics

Ward Britton — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

HPC and Azure are both emerging technologies which integrate together to provide a scalable, cost effective and on-demand compute power capability. This session covers using Excel to distrbute analytics to HPC, to provide significant compute power to the desktop and then goes on to describe the next evolution... Bursting to the cloud from HPC, to provide virtually unlimited, cost effective compute capacity to the desktop. This session is fact based. Drawn from a project that has recently been completed in a major Australian bank and covers refers to learnings gained from that iniative.

Denali SSIS and Data Quality Enhancements

Greg Low — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

In this session, Greg will show the enhancements that have been made to SQL Server Integration Services in SQL Server Denali. This will include visual and component enhancements, SSIS service and database enhancements, and project system enhancements including changes to the configuration system such as the introduction of project-level parameters. Greg will also introduce Data Quality Services and the Data Correction transform.

Creating "One Consistent Experience" across from PC to VDI Desktop

Shane Wescott — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

n this session, learn how user virtualization will enable you to realize the true potential of desktop virtualization and deploy a consistent desktop experience and synchronize desktops, apps and data across PCs, VDI deployments, laptops and tablets - and mobile devices too in the not too distant future. Windows XP to Windows 7 migration? No problem! AppSense User virtualization technology creates true user abstraction, enabling a consistent, high performance personalized desktop across platforms.

Denali Always On for Mission Critical Systems

Nicholas Dritsas — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Do you want to achieve maximum application availability and data protection? Attend this session for an overview of AlwaysOn, the new, integrated, flexible, cost-efficient high availability and disaster recovery solution that will be introduced in SQL Server code name "Denali." The key new features and capabilities enable businesses to achieve the high availability SLA for mission critical applications and supports configuring availability at both the database and instance level.

Creating Custom WinPE 3.0 boot images

Johan Arwidmark — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

This session gives an in-depth view of all the new features in WinPE 3.0 (Windows PE) architecture, tools and usage scenarios. It covers advanced techniques for building and customizing Windows PE as well as its integration with MDT 2010 and SCCM 2007. You will learn how add support for custom images, add components, ADSI, web services, as well as creating your own plugins. You can expect lots of tips & tricks and live demos in this session.

Connecting Cloud and On-Premises Applications

Chris Padgett — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Not all applications can be hosted in the cloud. Increasingly, cloud services must provide access to new cloud-based assets as well as support connectivity with existing on-premises resources, such as collaboration, database, and other line-of-business servers. Windows Azure Virtual Network allows you to securely connect computers in your on-premises environment with roles in Windows Azure. It also enables you to join roles to your Active Directory domain for Integrated Windows authentication, DNS name resolution, or other domain-wide maintenance tasks.

Configuration Manager 2012 Infrastructure Drill Down

Michael Pascoe — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Configuration Manager 2012 introduces a number of hierarchy, role, and architecture changes. In this session we will provide guidance on how best to design and deploy an optimised Configuration Manager 2012 infrastructure. This session covers topics such as site server roles, boundary management, discovery, inventory and client policy, and role-based administration. To get the most out of this session, attendees should have a good working knowledge of Configuration Manager 2007 or Systems Management Server 2003.

Deployment and User Profiles

Rhonda Layfield — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Migrating from XP and want your existing user profiles to work after Windows 7 is up and running? Learn how the User State Migration Tool (USMT) can easily migrate your user’s data, settings and application settings. Local profiles are only half the story, roaming profiles can be a pain area as well. Find out what really happens during deployment and how you can customize it to fit your needs.

Deploy Server OSes for Troubleshooting: Set up Re-Imaging

Rhonda Layfield — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

Too often we only consider deployment of the initial image, but re-imaging machines is a valid troubleshooting step today. Find out how the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit 2012 (MDT) includes a feature that allows you to identify machines in your environment and perform the exact same steps every deployment - all the way down to the IP address and computer name. Rhonda will show you how to set up the MDT database for server images. It’s a snap when you know the right steps to perform and which steps to avoid.

Developer Features in SQL Server 2008 R2

Lynn Langit — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

In this session, you will learn about new features of SQL Server 2008 R2 for Developers. Topics covered will include the following: use of Entity Framework, DACPACs (Data Tier Applications) for developer, using the Geospatial datatypes, understanding when and how to use T-SQL enhancements, working with XML data, working with Filestreams (BLOBS). Also you'll get information about using sparse columns, filtered indices and full-text search.

Deploying Windows 7 with Configuration Manager 2012

Michael Niehaus — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:08 GMT

System Center Configuration Manager 2012 is a significant upgrade. Learn how this new version affects the OS deployment process, and explore the new OS deployment capabilities provided in this release.

Beyond a 1000 virtual desktops with XenDesktop and Hyper-v

Gareth James, Tony Sanchez — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:07 GMT

Many of you may be confused about the complexity of setting up a large scale VDI properly. What do I optimize? Where are the bottlenecks I should think about? Tony Sanchez from Citrix Systems, Gareth James from Microsoft, and Nathan Strong from HP, will step you through a 2000 user end to end XenDesktop, Hyper-V, and HP server architecture. This session will not only cover alternative approaches to solving common VDI challenges such as storage, but also where the important architectural considerations are to ensure that your deployment works correctly the first time. The information from this session is a direct result of a large scale 2000 user scalability test conducted and will offer cutting edge solutions and LIVE technical demonstrations with prize giveaways. Be sure to bring your popcorn, drinks, and grab a seat early as space is limited.

Building a Fully-Functioning Deployment Environment for FREE

Yoni Kirsh, Alistair Speirs — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:07 GMT

Are you ready to update your desktop to Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2010? Not sure the easiest way to pilot? Looking for the best place to get started? This session shows an Office 2003 and Windows XP machine migration to Office 2010 and Windows 7 in less than 75 minutes. The session features a free VHD kit that gives IT a deployment server with all the tools to do basic app and file compat discover,using Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) to customize the image for Office 2010 and Windows 7 installs including GPO,language packs,and a virtualized Office 2010 package,finally pushing that image to the machine with light-touch methods while also migrating user data and settings. This session also looks at the challenges facing typical desktop deployment and provides best practices and tips.

BI and Reporting using Project Server and SharePoint

Brad Purdy, Marc Soester — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:07 GMT

One of the main challenges organisations face is giving users the flexibility to report against Project, Resource and Portfolio information. This session will give you the insight on how you can take advantage of the great reporting features in Microsoft Project Server 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010. By utilising Microsoft Project Servers build in Data Warehouse in combination with the SharePoint Business Intelligence tools, Project Server delivers what your Project team and your Executives require. Learn how users are able to generate their own ad hoc reports minimising the overall cost and effort to produce meaningful reports. This session will give you a deep dive on how to manage projects, Resource and portfolio dashboards by creating Key Performance Indicator (KPI) reports using PerformancePoint Services, Excel Services and Power Pivot utilising Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Analysis Services 2008 R2.

Building Hybrid Apps with Dynamics CRM & Windows Azure

Guy Riddle, George Doubinski — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:07 GMT

This session explores how you to leverage cloud technologies to develop advanced business solutions with CRM. Attend to see how to develop solutions that pull together Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011, Windows Azure platform and customer portals. This session will cover how you to architect business solutions that harness the power of the cloud regardless of whether you intend to deploy Microsoft Dynamics CRM as on on-premise server or a cloud service.

Building Office 365 Solutions with Azure

Chris Johnson — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:07 GMT

SharePoint Online moves SharePoint 2010 to the cloud. With that move, SharePoint developers are now empowered to build collaboration solutions that run in the cloud using Visual Studio 2010, Silverlight 4, JavaScript and Workflow using the SharePoint platform they know and love. In this session, you’ll learn how to extend these SharePoint solutions to include Windows Azure. We’ll cover how to call WCF services running in SQL Azure and how to access data in SQL Azure from SharePoint Online. We’ll also discuss how to access SharePoint Online lists and libraries from Azure. We’ll wrap up the session with a discussion on securing your solutions across SharePoint Online, Azure and on-premises.

Best Practices: Building the Perfect SharePoint Farm

Michael Noel — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:06 GMT

SharePoint 2010 has matured over the past year, with improvements in scalability, enterprise search, and administration. Best practices from SharePoint 2007 are no longer relevant, and new guidance has emerged from the last year worth of SharePoint deployments. In addition, new features such as SharePoint FAST Search capabilities and cloud deployment options can have a significant effect on how an environment is architected. In addition, the popularity of server virtualization technologies have created new design options for SharePoint administrators, allowing for new and unique high availability and provisioning options. This session goes right to the heart of the matter, providing for physical and virtual architecture guidelines and specific configuration settings that can immediately be used to construct SharePoint 2010 environments that can be used to replace existing SharePoint 2007 farms. Architectural specifics are based on best practices obtained from existing SharePoint 2010 environments of multiple sizes and performance metrics gathered from both physical and virtual SQL Server and SharePoint environments will help you to build the ‘perfect’ SharePoint 2010 farm for your organization.

Best Practices for Private Cloud Implementation

Gareth James — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:06 GMT

Want to build out a Microsoft Private Cloud solution? Want to learn the best practices for implementing, managing and growing your Private cloud topology? Come to this session to ramp up on the various private cloud best practices and lessons learned during industry and internal implementations of Microsoft's Private Cloud solution. This session helps you to get the most out of your Microsoft Private Cloud implementation.

Architecting real-world Azure applications

Bradley Smith, Doug Bower — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:05 GMT

This session explores some of the issues architects face when designing cloud applications for real world, line of business situations. Drawing on experiences moving MYOB’s flagship AccountRight application to Azure, we’ll drill into some specific issues encountered, including: how best practices can sometimes constrain your options, how performance issues manifest themselves in complex multi-layered cloud applications and what you should do about it, and various gotchas for teams new to the cloud. We’ll also spend some time on suggested approaches for scalability testing, and how you can constrain costs during the development lifecycle. Finally, we’ll finish with a discussion of what we’d do differently next time! MYOB is one of Australia’s largest ISVs, supporting over 1 million businesses in Australia and New Zealand. Doug Bower is the performance and UI architect for the Huxley Project, converting our .Net 4.0 desktop application to be cloud enabled. Doug has over 15 years experience in the software development industry. Bradley Smith is the performance lead developer for the Huxley Project, and has over 5 years of .NET experience, writing and tuning applications in client-server scenarios including ASP.NET and Azure.

Audio, Video and Web Conferencing Architecture and Experience

Andrew Ehrensing, Michael McLean — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:05 GMT

This session covers Lync 2010 meeting features and architecture in Microsoft Lync 2010 Client and Server, for both on-premise and Microsoft Office 365 Service deployments. This session helps you understand both the conferencing features and the infrastructure required to support conferencing scenarios. This includes conferencing architecture, topologies, administrative control, monitoring, archiving and integration with Polycom room based conferencing units.

Automating DaaS Desktops with Citrix Cortex

Tony Sanchez, Nigel Webster — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:05 GMT

Cloud hosting architects and system integrators are challenged by repetitive tasks, costs, and delegation associated with building customer portals with multiple layers of security and integrating provisioning of Microsoft products to use with XenDesktop. Learn how the Citrix Cortex technology, a front end control panel, automates the provisioning of key public cloud infrastructure components such as exchange 2010, SharePoint, and Citrix XenDesktop. This session will go in depth with LIVE technical demos and explain how to save time by solving those key challenges.

Architecting Microsoft Office for Physical,Virtual and Cloud Deployments

Paul Woods, Alistair Speirs — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:04 GMT

Desktop IT pros are faced with several methods to deliver Microsoft Office to client computers. Office offers a wide range of deployment options,ranging from the well proven setup program MSI installation to VDI,terminal services,and application virtualization. However,rarely does just one method meet the needs of an entire organization. This session discusses approaches to delivering Office 2010 to your users,from training considerations to deployment methods and extensibility. We show you how to merge on-premises,Microsoft Office 365 cloud and web services environments highlighting potential impacts to your network performance and data security.

Administrator's Idol: Windows and Active Directory Best Practices

Pete Calvert — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:03 GMT

Active Directory and all that you can do with it has come a long way in the last ten years. Unfortunately, many organizations rolled out Active Directory early on and never had the time or resources to revisit what *really* needs to be done to secure and manage the directory service in a dynamic enterprise. Are you really using everything that is in there to get the best bang for your buck? Learn how to make your life easier with things like the Active Directory RecycleBin to save you from those “oops” moments we’ve all encountered. Explore how the improved management interfaces including PowerShell support will make administration less time consuming and more automated. Implement multiple password policies and enhanced Group Policies to keep the security group and user community in harmony. On top of all that, architectural changes like Read Only Domain Controllers, Server Core implementations and Offline Domain Join capabilities can make you a hero, keep your organization more secure and save you time – it just gets better...

Adding Value to Software Projects with VSTO

Jake Ginnivan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:03 GMT

Office is everywhere and building on it is easy and powerful, but where do you start? In this highly engaging, demo-heavy session, Jake will cut to the chase and give you the 5 pieces of information that you must know about Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO). Jake has been working with VSTO for the past 3 years and is regarded as one of the leading authorities in Australia. He will bust the myths and show you why switched-on developers are using VSTO to add value to existing projects. This is a session that anyone looking to derive more value from their desktop and server investments cannot afford to miss.

An MMO in 45 Minutes: Developing for 2 screens and a cloud

Richard Banks, Aaron Powell — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:03 GMT

You want to produce software that is far reaching, compelling, scalable, on time and within budget? Don’t we all! So join our intrepid band of enthusiastic explorers; armed with an array of Microsoft’s latest technologies and a desire to make the “next big thing” as they show you how to build a consumer application for web, desktop and mobile users in 45 minutes! Interested in team development, cloud architecture and design, handling scale, kick-ass front-end or zen-like back end development? it’s all here. So whether you’re into gaming or not, this is a chance to see how technologies such as Azure, TFS, IE 9, XNA, Silverlight and Windows Phone 7 can put you on course for delivering above par experiences for your customers with less time, effort and risk than ever before. Avert your eyes, children! There may be blood as Aaron Powell (Internet Explorer Development MVP), Steven Nagy (Azure MVP), Luke Drumm (XNA MVP) and Richard Banks (Visual Studio ALM MVP) take you on a crazy ride of rapid development, spinning blades, great tips, bad jokes and a just a wee bit of lunacy. Who knows? You may just learn something as well!

Advanced Solutions with Visual Studio LightSwitch

Andrew Coates — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:03 GMT

LightSwitch is a new product in the Visual Studio family aimed at developers who want to easily create business applications for the desktop and the cloud. In this session we’ll go beyond the basics of creating simple screens over data and demonstrate how to create screens with more advanced capabilities. You’ll see how to extend LightSwitch applications with your own Silverlight custom controls and RIA services. We’ll also talk about the architecture and additional extensibility points that are available to professional developers looking to enhance the LightSwitch developer experience. We’ll also look at how easy it is to deploy your LightSwitch application to Windows Azure

Application Uncertainty to Application Readiness

Paul Schnell — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:03 GMT

Like it or not, application testing remains a critical part of all application transformations. If it is Windows 7, IE9, Windows Server 2008 R2 or a more comprehensive project around desktop virtualization, you still have to determine “will this application work on a new technology?” See automated application assessment to help model, remediate and deliver applications to your desired platform – regardless of the scope of the overall desktop transformation initiative. End user desktop computing is a fluid initiative that is often propelled by a desktop transformation like a Windows 7 migration. While this may work for the next 18 months, organizations are now exploring new delivery methodologies to get applications to end users. Are you prepared? Are your applications ready? Knowledge about applications – and the success they will have on new technologies – means more complete, more accurate, and faster testing. Save time converting applications to the formats desired for deployment, whether MSI physical packages or virtual App-V packages. See App-DNA automate the assessment, modeling, delivery and management of application migrations. Learn the ins and outs of application testing, application remediation and on-going application management -- and save months of manual testing, hours in remediation guesswork, and significant budget. Provide faster, more successful Windows 7, App-V, x64 and Windows Server 2008 implementations.

Application Lifecycle Management for Windows Azure projects

Tom Hollander — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:03 GMT

Mature ALM processes and tools are critical to help teams execute predictably across the application lifecycle. While many standard ALM processes apply equally to Windows Azure projects, there are some key differences around build, deployment, testing and operations. This session describes how to adapt your ALM processes for Windows Azure using tools available today.

Analyzing and Improving Windows Phone Application Performance

Jeffrey Wilcox — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:03 GMT

Have you been wondering how to tweak that extra bit of performance out of your WP7 app? Come learn how to analyze the performance of your Windows Phone application and make it faster using top techniques and the new profiling tools.

A Windows Azure Acid Test!

Matt Done — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:02 GMT

200,000+ transactions per minute, 10000+ concurrent users, sub 40 millisecond responses times, 4 continents. This track explores the architecture used, the nature of the load tests conducted and the tweaks / configurations required to achieve sub 40 millisecond responses times for a fully distributed, stateful architecture. Matt Done will demo live how Azure enabled him to quickly and cheaply spin up a world class load testing lab including real time statistics on deployed instances.

Abundantly "Crescent"

Carolyn Chau — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:02 GMT

What is the Microsoft project code-named "Crescent" really capable of? How can it address the needs of your business? This session covers a variety of demonstrations against REAL DATA, across various industry verticals, to enable you to see what's possible when deploying this new technology.

64-bit Windows 7: Is now the time to deploy?

Michael Niehaus — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:01 GMT

Are you planning to deploy Windows 7? If so, this is a great time to explore whether you should use the 32-bit or 64-bit versions of the OS. Explore the factors that should be considered as you try to make your decision, as well as the benefits and pitfalls. Learn what other companies are thinking too.

Technical Overview of Forefront EndPoint Protection 2012

Jamie Sharp, Harris Schneiderman — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

Forefront Endpoint Protection enables customers to use their existing System Center Configuration Manager infrastructure to deploy and manage endpoint protection. In this session, we will provide a preview of what is coming in the next version of Forefront Endpoint Protection. We will cover the new features of the product as well as changes to the underlying architecture. This session will include demonstrations of client deployment and management features as well as new enhancements included in the upcoming version of FEP 2012, which is compatible with Configuration Manager 2012.

Virtualizing Microsoft SQL Server with Hyper-V

Shashank Pawar, Reid Purvis — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

This session covers virtualization scenarios for SQL Server 2008 R2 and how the combination of Hyper-V and Microsoft System Center solves them. We perform a deep dive into SQL Server with Hyper-V. The session highlights examples of SQL Server performance under Hyper-V and best practices for a successful deployment. Finally, we also touch upon partner solutions, including the PRO packs and how these solutions enhance the benefits of running SQL Server virtually.

Modular Approach to Building the Private Cloud with HP

Louie Haviaridis, Paul Lamb — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

We are hearing a lot about Private Cloud and the next wave in IT. While it might be nice to swap in a whole new infrastructure, what most of us are looking for are modular solutions that deliver an optimised virtual server or virtual client environment today, and that allow us to seamlessly grow to a hybrid cloud when our business is ready. Converged Infrastructure from HP delivers a systematic approach to optimise solutions for virtualisation, cloud and next-generation apps on the Windows Server platform. In this session we will showcase how to standardise your architecture, tools and process to eliminate islands of IT in a CloudSystem environment. You will learn how to effectively manage workloads within a Converged Infrastructure environment designed to help you improve your capacity planning, and reduce your time to deployment of Hyper-V and System Center.

Microsoft Office 365: Identity and Access Solutions

Toby Knight, Michael Mahoney — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

This session provides a preview of the identity and access solutions in the next generation of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (Office 365). The session focuses on how authentication works for both web apps and rich client apps, how to enable single sign-on (SSO) using corporate Active Directory credentials and Active Directory Federation Services 2.0 to Office 365 services, and the different SSO deployment options for Office 365 services

Supercharging your SharePoint 2010 Solutions

Brian Farnhill, Elaine van Bergen — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

SharePoint 2010 brought with it some great tooling in visual studio 2010, and with all the online resources available its easier than ever to get started with SharePoint development. If you want a beginners guide to SharePoint development this is NOT the session for you! This session aims to give you the information needed to take your SharePoint development to the next level and create professional enterprise level solutions. It will cover many of the topics you need to think about when building customisations for large and/or complex SharePoint environments and includes tips gathered over years of SharePoint development experience. Come along and learn off experienced SharePoint developers how to supercharge your own SharePoint solutions !

Migrating your applications to Azure

Mahesh Krishnan, John Azariah — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

Have you got an existing project that you are thinking about moving to Azure and not sure how to get started? Watch Mahesh Krishnan, take an existing web application and move it to Windows Azure. In the process, he will also migrate the existing SQL Server database to SQL Azure, change the authentication to use ACS v2.0 and show you all the things you need to do when migrating it to the cloud. You will find this session useful even if you are thinking about creating a brand new project on Azure rather than move an existing one.

Load Balancing with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Andrew Ehrensing — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

Understand the Exchange 2010 requirements for load balancing. Review the pros and cons of current hardware-based load balancing solutions. Discuss the nuances of high-end/high-scale load balancing and the impact to Microsoft Exchange Server 2010.

Kinecting The Dots – Developing with the Kinect SDK

John OBrien, Bronwen Zande — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

The Microsoft Kinect holds the Guiness World Record as the fastest-selling consumer electronics device ever, selling 8 million units in the first 2 months. With the recent release of the official SDK, you are the controller, with the ability to change the face of future applications. Learn how to take advantage of depth sensing, skeletal tracking and sound source localisation in a sub $200 device in your next project using your current .Net skills.

Hitchhiker’s Guide To Technical Leadership

Norm Judah — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

Beautiful designs and architectures are all good and well, but is application architecture enough? To what degree are modern solutions architected around end user adoption or for operational excellence with great embedded telemetry? What are the characteristics of great architecture and the behaviors of a great architect and technical leaders? Join certified architect Norm Judah, Microsoft Services CTO, to discuss the development of architects and technical leaders within Microsoft Services.

Watch Norm introduce this session in this short teaser video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNA8o05VinE

HTML 5 - The useful bits

Alex Mackey — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

We’ve all heard HTML 5 is just around the corner but what can you use now? What’s likely to be useful? And when is it actually coming out? We probably won’t be able to answer the last question, however we will give the other two a good go! Come to this session to learn more about the new features in HTML 5, other emerging web technologies and what you can actually make use of today.

Watch Alex introduce this session in this short teaser video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFs_dHsYIEI

Customer experiences moving to the Cloud

Rab Thynne, Chris Howard, Michael Mahoney, Paul Black — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

Come hear from Spausnet, Ausenco and Microsoft on the theory and practice of why they bet their business's on the Cloud and why Microsoft Online Services. This will be an interactive session that will cover the decision process to review business alignment of Cloud Services and look at the ups and downs to implementing the change. Come hear their journey of the deployments and feel free to ask your questions of the panel. Regardless if you are just thinking about cloud, or in the process of moving to it, this is a session not to be missed

Building High-Performance Infrastructure for your Applications

Louie Haviaridis, Paul Lamb — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

There is often an interesting discussion back and forth between the application team and the systems engineers, especially around performance of applications. If you are tired of simply keeping the lights on and seek new ways of tipping the balance in favour of innovation then you can’t miss this opportunity to experience HP AppSystems. Join this session to learn how you can more effectively provide dedicated, highly-optimised, fully tested appliances delivering maximum performance for your application or application suite. In this session we will demonstrate how to set up server administration approaches to maximize application performance, uptime and SLA’s for business-critical applications such as Business Intelligence, Analytics and collaboration environments.

Ausgrid powers up "The Wire" using SP2010

Craig Hutchinson, Jon Barret, Tyson Nutt — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:35:00 GMT

When creating "The Wire", Ausgrid decided to create an intranet that stands out from the crowd. Pushing the boundaries of user centric design, integrated user profiles, multi-faceted search, and a redesigned interface shows what is possible with the SP2010 framework. This session steps you through the process undertaken by Ausgrid to create their new intranet, and shares a few twists and turns from along the way. Come along to hear a real world implementation of SP2010, and gain insight into key activities to make your next project a standout success.

10 most common deployment mistakes and how to resolve them using WDS

Rhonda Layfield — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 06:34:57 GMT

Deploying Microsoft operating systems using WDS is a snap if you know the most common mistakes and issues and how to resolve them. In this session you’ll learn about PXE boot issues… why they occur and how to fix them or work around them if necessary. The multicast protocol is supposed to help speed up your deployments but what happens when it actually slows them down? Find out which client is dragging down the multicast transmission. WDS requires some very intense infrastructure components - find out which components need to be configured and how. Join 30 year IT veteran Rhonda Layfield for this intense look into WDS and find out how to get the most out of WDS in your environment.