The holidays are just about to end, but there's still time to boost your knowledge or learn something totally new.

During these two weeks we'll be giving the fourth and final topic of these Architect summer issues their place in the sun, namely Windows Azure Platform Interoperability. Click through and you'll find all the best material about Interoperability, presented based on the amount of time you want to spend on it.

Explore and dive into the Windows Azure Platform Interoperability Journey

Microsoft is totally committed to interoperability and as such the Windows Azure Platform has been built from the ground up with interoperability in mind, offering various choices to architects.

It allows you to use multiple languages, runtimes (.NET, PHP, Ruby, Python or Java) and development tools (Visual Studio or Eclipse) to design and build applications that run on Windows Azure and/or consume any of the Windows Azure platform offerings from any other cloud or on-premise platform.

Are you ready to explore the interoperability choices offered by the Windows Azure Platform? Have a look at our website and discover a handpicked choice of articles, white papers and videos on the subject.

Speaker : Bart Vande Ghinste

Other interesting Summer Campaigns :

- For IT Professionals : Virtualisation(Part 1), Desktop Deployment, Virtualisation (Part 2), Best of TechDays 2011

- For Independant Software Vendors (ISV) : Leveraging the Cloud, Unlocking your Data, Mobility Scenarios, Leveraging the Web

- For Developers : Windows Phone 7 Mango, Visual Studio 2010 ALM, HTML5, Windows Azure Platform

Take advantage of this special about Cloud Patterns and Practices to dive a little deeper into one of the hot topics of the moment during the summer months. We have information geared to fit in with your busy schedule. Only have 30 minutes or half a day to spare? Choose from the basics through to the best tools and resources for getting to know these important patterns and practices like the back of your hand.

Cloud Patterns and Practices is the third topic that we're diving into this summer. You can expect one last topic by mid-August on the Windows Azure Platform Interoperability.

So keep an eye on your mailbox and dive in this summer with MSDN!

Explore and dive into Cloud Patterns and Practices

When designing and building architectures, architects need to be able to rely on a repository filled with commonly used patterns and best practices. Not only for avoiding pitfalls made by their predecessors, but also for saving time in building the solution and delivering value to their customers.

Building cloud-oriented solutions is not different as such. The paradigm is different and the patterns and practices used might be different as well, but the objectives are still the same: avoiding mistakes, maximizing the potential
of the architecture and delivering cost-effective value to customers.

Are you ready to explore the different Cloud Patterns and Practices? Have alook at our website and discover a handpicked choice of articles, whitepapers and videos on the subject.


Speaker : Bart Vande Ghinste

Other interesting Summer Campaigns :

- For IT Professionals : Virtualisation(Part 1), Desktop Deployment,Virtualisation (Part 2)

- For Independant Software Vendors : Leveraging the Cloud, Unlocking your Data, Mobility Scenarios

- For Developers : Windows Phone 7 Mango, Visual Studio 2010 ALM, HTML5

Summer's here and for the most of us this is the time we take that well-deserved rest and stand back a little from
the daily grind. It's also a time for some reflection, a time to think about the things that we would like to do during the next couple of months. 
This is why we will be serving you up with such a refreshing cocktail of new things to enjoy in 4 special issues of the Architect newsletter.

The second topic of this summer edition lets you dive into the Windows Azure Platform.

Explore and dive into  the Windows Azure Platform: Focus on the application, not the infrastructure.

The Windows Azure platform is an Internet-scale cloud computing services platform hosted in Microsoft data centres.

The Windows Azure platform provides architects with an Internet-scale hosting environment with a runtime execution environment for managed and unmanaged code. With geographically distributed data centres, Windows Azure compute provides architects with the functionality to build, host and manage complete and compelling applications across the world.

Are you ready to explore the Windows Azure Platform? Take a look at our website and browse through a handpicked choice of articles, white papers and videos explaining what the Windows Azure Platform has to offer.

Speaker : Bart Vande Ghinste

Other interesting Summer Campaigns :

- For Developers : Windows Phone 7 Mango, Visuals Studio 2010 ALM

- For IT Professionals : Virtualization, Desktop Deployment

- For Independant Software Vendors (ISV) : Leveraging the Cloud, Unlocking your data

Summer's here and for the most of us this is the time we take that well-deserved rest and stand back a little from the daily grind. It's also a time for some reflection, a time to think about the things that we would like to do during the next couple of months.
 
For this very reason, MSDN is highlighting a number of topics that might be of interest to you. Topics that allow you as architects to build great solutions once the summer months are but a distant memory and the pressure is back on,
pushing you to be even more effective in what you are doing.

How does it work? There's a short introductory video, after which you have the chance to learn more about the topic at hand, depending on the time you have available or want to spend on it: half an hour, half a day or a full day. That way you can explore the presentation content to suit your personal timetable.

Explore and dive into Microsoft's Cloud Power

Microsoft is committed in leading the cloud story by having all its products aimed at the same cloud vision, effectively creating a whole spectrum of cloud solutions, aligned and integrated into a larger 'cloud continuum'.

Cloud Power is the key name in driving the Microsoft cloud vision across our solutions towards our partners and customers, It's the vision that sparks innovation with tools and solutions that lets you develop and deliver applications while using the tools, languages and products people already know. It gives your IT organization the power to focus on business instead of worrying about the plumbing behind it, saving you money, resources and enabling time to be spent elsewhere.

Are you ready to explore Microsoft's Cloud Power? Take a look at our site and browse through a handpicked choice of articles, white papers and videos explaining what 'cloud' means from a Microsoft perspective.

Speaker : Bart Vande Ghinste

Other interesting Summer Campaigns :

- For IT Professionals : Virtualization

- For Developers : Windows Phone 7 Mango

- For Independant Software Vendors (ISV) : Leveraging the Cloud

With the growing interest in "cloud computing", the subject of Identity is
moving into the limelight. Kim Cameron is a legend in the identity architecture
and engineering space. He is currently the chief architect for Microsoft's
identity platform and a key contributor to the field at large.

Traditionally, the identity stops at the edge of a domain - it works within a
closed boundary and that's it. If all your computing resources are local, then
they can be within that boundary, and all is fine.

However, as you move into a world where we want to take advantage of
resources and services within the cloud - we don't control aspects of this - so
we need identity that can reach beyond the edge of our own domain. Kim talks
about how they create an infrastructure that allows claims to be made both
within and outside of the domain, and be shared between them. He will also begin
a conversation about the future of Microsoft’s directory
technology.

by Kim Cameron

Hear about key problems that the Windows Azure Platform is adressing and it
fits into the Microsoft cloud computing initiatives. Learn about the pillars of
the Windows Azure Platform, its service lifecycle, and see how they fit with
both Microsoft and non-Microsoft technologies. Also, hear about the platform
services roadmap over the next few years.

by Rudy Van Hoe