(This is part 4 of a 4 part series, you can read the first post here ) Here is the final part of my discussion with Shane Schick on the Myths & Realities of the IT Skills & Talent landscape in Canada.  This part is titled “Myth 4 – Certifications Aren’t Worth It” .   

(This is part 3 of a 4 part series, you can read the first post here ) Here is the second part of my discussion with Shane Schick on the Myths & Realities of the IT Skills & Talent landscape in Canada.  This part is titled “Myth 3 – I have to leave to stay employed” .  Check it out...

(This is part 2 of a 4 part series, you can read the first post here ) Here is the second part of my discussion with Shane Schick on the Myths & Realities of the IT Skills & Talent landscape in Canada.  This part is titled “Myth 2 - There aren’t enough Skilled IT people in Canada” . ...

Working in today’s IT industry comes with a variety of challenges, especially in these tough economic times.  Jobs are becoming more complex, employers expectations are high and employees need more than just technical skills to grow their careers.  I had a chance to sit down with Shane Schick...

This year we brought together the MSDN and Technet Canada awards to create the IgniteIT Awards .  This is a special award in Canada as it recognizes the hard work and innovation of the members of our IT community across Canada. The submission periods is close and now we are on to the Voting phase...

We’ve launched a great new set of webcasts called “ Ignite Your Career ”.  It’s all focused on helping Canada’s ICT professionals be a successful as possible.  So, it’s all about you.  We’ve pulled together 6 great topics and a set of awesome guest speakers.  If you head to the site...

Hello Canadian IT Pros and Developers, Current economic realities are putting pressure on all of us to utilize technology in new ways. From increasing productivity, reducing costs, and providing clear benefit to the business, each of you play a key role in making this real. Your ability to understand...

Techdays 2008 - our premier event for Canada’s Developers & IT Professionals – will soon be here.  Today I wrote this to be included in a newsletter we are sending out to the IT Professional audience.  I thought I would share it here on my blog as well: Techdays is a unique event in Canada...

Pierre has also posted information on the Infrastructure Track at Techdays 2008 . Wow!  27 days before the start of  Tech-Days 08 .  And the Infrastructure track is coming along great.  Across the country we will have a team of great professionals presenting and passing on the knowledge...

Rodney has a post over on the ITPRO Connection Blog about the great set of speakers he has lined up for the Virtualization Track at TechDays 2008 .  Wow!  I must say the biggest challenge I thought I was going to have was with finding speakers for the TechDays Virtualization track.  Well...

If you haven’t noticed, we have a bit of a theme behind our events and programs this year – developing your skills and career .  A major hit last year was our “ Ignite Your Career ” series.  These webcasts, featuring a great line-up of experts (both MSFT and not), focus strictly on skills and...

www.energizeit.ca This is our “capstone” event for the year (remember, when I say year, I am talking fiscal year – July – June). EnergizeIT is the premier event for Canada’s IT Technology Professionals.  This year's event takes place on Saturday, May 24, (the Saturday...

Canadian IT pros see few security best practices By: Rafael Ruffolo ComputerWorld Canada  (12 Feb 2008) The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance) has identified a lack of IT security best practices as one of the top challenges faced by IT security professionals, according to a new...

It is time again for the TechNet Canada Innovation Awards.  This is a really great program that was started a few years back by our IT Professional Team.  The concept is simple ->  the community nominates teams and individuals for their great work.  A team of judges narrows the...

http://blogs.technet.com/canitpro/archive/2008/02/04/community-connection-events-diamond-in-the-rough.aspx We've been getting a number of inquiries as to "What the heck is this event?", "Why should I bother going?" and "What's in it for me?".  I thought I'd spend a...

Checkout this article on echannelline.com about our new Podcast series. You can find all the podcasts here: http://www.microsoft.com/canada/technet/itmanager/podcast/default.aspx You should also check out the IT Manager Canadian blog at: http://blogs.technet.com/cdnitmanagers/

The launch of Office 2007 and Windows Vista was a major event for us here at Microsoft. As our fiscal year began, we set out to bring you, Canada's Technical Community, the best experience we could as we worked to show you how these new products could help solve your business needs. Your (Canada's Technical...

Rodney interviewed Chris from Microsoft Canada's IT Department on the latest IT Pro Podcast . Chris has been at Microsoft Canada for a decade and I bet he has some great war stories to share. :-) Check it out.

We had a great day in Vancouver for the Launch of Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office System and Exchange Server 2007. What a turnout!!!! 900 people at the technical tracks alone! We had two venues due to come tough logisitics in Vancouver right now. There is not a facility large enough for an event...

Today is the big day! The Launch events arrive in Toronto. We just finished the keynote and have begun the technical and business tracks. My teams are on stage right now dazzling the IT Pros, Developers and Architects! More info to follow! "Live" Photos From The Toronto Congress Centre!

If so, let me know. I'd like to hear from folks about your thoughts on Vista and Office. I'd especially like to hear about your success stories and innovations on the new platform. http://www.microsoft.com/canada/anewdayevent/resources/

First - thanks to everyone who came out. The attendance was just incredible - 1200 people! It was just great to be able to do an event of this size in a great city like Edmonton. Some of my pictures: We took back a lot of feedback for future events. Next stop: Toronto!