Microsoft Learning hosted the second new and exclusive “Jump Start” virtual training event on December 15-17, 2010. The course was titled “Building Cloud Applications using the Windows Azure Platform” and included 12 hours of expert-led training tailored for application architects and developers interested in leveraging the Cloud.

We are now pleased to announce that the professional videos recorded during the online class are available on Channel 9.

Who is the target audience for this training?

• Application Architects and Developers
• Customers and partners already building a Windows Azure pilot project or planning to migrate an application to the Windows Azure Platform
• Companies searching for real-world answers as they consider whether or not the Windows Azure Platform fits their needs.

What’s the high-level overview?

• The entire course is 12 hours long.
• Every section is about an hour length, so it’s easy for you to find just what you need.
• Every section is led by two of the most respected authorities on Microsoft development technologies, David S. Platt (popular Microsoft Press author from Rolling Thunder Computing ) and Manu Cohen-Yashar (Professor and Senior Consultant, SELA Technical College, Tel Aviv, IS) plus their dialog and banter is quite engaging!

Sessions:

• Session 01: Windows Azure Overview
• Session 02: Introduction to Compute
• Session 03: Windows Azure Lifecycle, Part 1
• Session 04: Windows Azure Lifecycle, Part 2
• Session 05: Windows Azure Storage, Part 1
• Session 06: Windows Azure Storage, Part 2
• Session 07: Introduction to SQL Azure
• Session 08: Windows Azure Diagnostics
• Session 09: Windows Azure Security, Part 1
• Session 10: Windows Azure Security, Part 2
• Session 11: Scalability, Caching & Elasticity, Part 1
• Session 12: Scalability, Caching & Elasticity, Part 2, and Q&A
• Links to course materials and code samples

Once completed you can start building your application on Windows Azure in 3 simple and easy to do steps:

1. Download the Tools:

Get Visual Studio Express and the Windows Azure Tools for Visual Studio to start building and debugging applications for the Windows Azure Platform http://tinyurl.com/learnaboutazure. If you have already Visual Studio installed you can download the tools directly from http://tinyurl.com/toolsforazure.

2. Setup an Account:

Set up an account and obtain a free subscription for accessing the online portals for Windows Azure, SQL Azure and Windows Azure AppFabric. You can learn more about the accounts http://tinyurl.com/getazureaccount or you can sign up directly http://tinyurl.com/signupazureaccount.

3. Create your First application and Deploy it on the Windows Azure Platform:

First learn how to create a simple ASP.NET application in Visual Studio for Windows Azure on your local machine http://tinyurl.com/localazureapplication. Once successfully created, learn how to deploy this application on the Windows Azure Platform http://tinyurl.com/deployazureapplication.

When all steps are executed successfully you should have running your first application on the Windows Azure Platform!