Going back into the Zune software after the update I wanted to see what happened with the Update screen. Below you can see that in the process of running the update cycle and making the back up, there is actually a restore point created to which...

Today marked the first day of the Windows Phone 7 update cycle. You can read here more about the background to the update and the reason for this first one to be small but important to enable the bigger, more anticipated updates. Obviously I was as curious...

We’ve gone through some changes on the MSDN blog platform. I’m setting it up to post from Windows Live Writer again.

This post is taking on the next set of questions we have seen over the past weeks. What is the model for Interoperability The Windows Azure Platform is built for cross-platform interoperability, with a commitment to support SOAP and REST, XML, Java, PHP...

With PDC behind us and the actual commercial availability quite a few of the Service Providers (which in my world cover Hosters, Telco’s and Outsourcers) ask questions like: ‘Is this a thread to my business?’,  ‘How do we work with Windows Azure...

After having started with Twitter (@walschots) I must admit the blog has gone somewhat silent. The past 6 months my focus has slightly shifted away from the S+S Incubation Center program to planning the launch of Windows Azure for the Service Providers...

Good to hear the different views from the panelists on the Cloud and what it means to them. Good to hear the partners say “Partners, partners, partners”. Continuing to allow the partners to add value, as soon as the products and solutions are only...

Dan had a great metaphor with Cloud as the iceberg. The visible tip of the iceberg is what the end users see and all the underwater parts are the ‘enabling technologies’ that just the Service Providers see. Use of Cloud Computing Services April 2008 quick...

Doug is doing another example of 5 level leadership at the MS Hosting Summit. If you want to see more check this YouTube vid of his story on the Beatles. Watching the old Beatles TV material is showing of screaming girls, crying out loud. Doug is positioning...

Now on stage in the Bellevue Westin at the MS Hosting Summit is Eddie Amos, Server and Tools business. Balancing capex and opex is the reality of many business when it comes to investing in IT. Mixing on-premise with online services leads into the software...

Finally we’re revealing a program to help partners benefit from co-branding their expertise. The Microsoft Communication Services program will launch at WPC later this year. Demo’s and logos to help partners that invest in our platform. To get this you...

Managed hosting is still where the margins are. Partners should focus on being (or becoming) the trusted advisor and competing on value and ROI – not price. Tier1 data projects 25% segment growth from 2009 to 2010 and 24% for the year after. John also...

The kick off of the day was done in style… a story on survival of the fittest by Doug Keeley , CEO and chief storyteller. The amazing story of Shackleton illustrated the intro of managing and leadership in tough times. Martha Bejar on stage to outline...

Just back from a great session with the S+S Incubation Center partners that join us this week in Bellevue, WA for the MS Hosting Summit. Main themes of the discussion were around lead generation and promoting offerings. An interesting topic for discussion...

Back in Bellevue since Sunday. Couple of the observations of the last 2 days; 1) It’s still busy in the Bellevue Mall :-) maybe a few shops have fell over but most are still there and the Mall itself has had a nice touchup… recession???? 2) My strategy...

Made the bold move this week and wiped the Thinkpad T61P to do a clean install of Windows 7 x64 and have no regrets… it rocks! The main reason for the 64-bits version is to have access to all 4 Gigs of mem, being willing to give up some apps/devices but...

Posting from the Office…

Move over browser-based editing … here’s the brand new Windows Live Writer! It’s great to see how Software+Services as a vision is getting translated into new products in the Windows Live family. One of the examples is the offline Blog editor that comes...

What a great morning here at the Hosting Summit. Highlights from the presentations accross all is that SaaS or S+S is no longer just hype but a business reality. Particularly for the hosting provider business this is both a challenge as much (or maybe...

So, here we are in Bellevue, WA. It's the time of year again for the WW Hosting Summit . Our groups annual event where we focus on connecting our great community of hosting partners with the exec's and industry leaders who focus on the Software + Services...

BTW we officially went WorldWide today with the SaaS Incubation Center program. What started as an idea little over 8 months ago was kicked off in Europe in November and now covers 8 partners, 4 in the US and 4 in Europe. Mary Jo Foley was one of the...

SDDS has popped-up as a new web acronym today. At the Web2.0 conference in San Francisco a start-up by the name of BungeeLabs has launched their service today. They way they put it on their site "The Bungee Connect™ on-demand development environment dramatically...

I had a great meeting last week in Amsterdam with Treb Ryan, CEO of US based OpSource . They are one of the pioneer SaaS Enablement providers and Microsoft partner for the SaaS Incubation Center program. Treb and I actually met for the first time earlier...

Well, being busy is no longer an excuse to not post. Too many things happening, all too good not to talk about. One of them is the succesfull launch of the SaaS Incubation Centers throughout the world.With partners today in Europe covering UK, France...

Bummer, I have not even been able to use it since I have direct flights between Amsterdam and Seattle. Boeing announced yesterday they are phasing out the wireless internet service onboard flights. From Europe SAS (Copenhagen - Seattle) and Lufthansa...