A quick update from on the road… I've been traveling a lot recently to both help Microsoft plan for our upcoming fiscal year, as well as meeting with customers as the school year winds down in parts of the world. I just had a very interesting visit in three countries that all have very different...

As some institutions around the world prepare to embark on a new school year, there is chatter in both K-12 and higher education about the reality of the challenges of managing computer labs. Schools are looking to optimize costs or optimize budget and save costs…tools to manage labs more effectively...

I spent two days this week in Redmond at our 8th annual U.S. Public Sector CIO Summit . I like these annual events because they provide us with the opportunity to deeply connect with customers. I also love them because the event serves as an annual reflection point, so we can see year-over-year what...

As I reflect on 2009…what did and did not come to full fruition since I wrote this post last year …and what lies ahead for the year 2010, many different trends and topics come to mind. I’ll try to distill my list down to a handful of key themes and thoughts I’ve developed from being on the road this...

I had the pleasure of attending the National Educational Computing Conference ( NECC ) in DC earlier this month...and as I’ve said before…these big signature education events are a good occasion for me to connect with our customers and partners in one place. It’s also an opportunity to see broader industry...

As economic conditions continue to deteriorate, and many school districts and institutions are learning their budget downfalls are now even steeper…the pressure is on to cut costs and services. I believe information technology can play an important role in helping you respond to this rapidly changing...

In addition to growing concerns over schools’ carbon footprint, our higher education and K12 institutions are facing rising electricity and gas costs - upwards of 150% increases in some institutions. In our current economic climate, the need to optimize expenses is paramount. However, by leveraging some...

As we turn the page on 2008 and consider how much has changed in the last few months, it is clear that 2009 will be a year of profound changes. Certainly our current economic crisis has and will continue to have broad implications for our students, teachers and institutions. In my travels across the...