Christian Longstaff's Blog

It's been a while since I've blogged with lots happening at work and home becoming a Dad. Another fiscal year has come and gone and my first year in Australia has come to an end. I'm pleased to say they haven't asked me to leave yet so I'm around for FY09.

Our next big event for the Partner Team is the Australia Partner Conference in Port Douglas, which as you'd expect, I'm excited about. 

I'm running an ISV Pre-day focusing on reading partners for our Software+Services vision.  If you are interested in attending, please review the agenda below and email me and I'll register you.

Proposed agenda for Mon 4 Aug Pre-Day: Get ready for Software+Services: 

• 09.00 - Registration & Arrival
• What is Software + Services?
• What are the Business Opportunities for SQL Server?
• “How to workshop” #1: raising funding
• Segment presentations
• “How to workshop” #2: Setting up Internationally
• The ISV Royalty and SPLA Licensing Partner Opportunities
• “How to workshop” #3: Overcoming Challenges for Growth
• Business Opportunities for APO
• 17.00 - Close

Hope to see you there.

The Microsoft REMIX and Partner teams have joined forces with TekSkin to give away 100 free laptop skins... all you have to do is create your design, upload it to the site and the best 100 designs win a laptop skin... easy.

5 top reasons to buy a TekSkin:

• Protects your notebooks, keeping it looking new
• You can have your own design on the cover of your laptop
• Durable & long lasting and made in Australia :)
• Easy application
• Fits all note books

Terms and conditions apply including to be eligible to enter, you have to be an Australian Certified, Gold Certified or Registered Member of the Microsoft Partner Program who attended either the REMIX08 Australia conference at either Sydney on 20 May or Melbourne on 22 May.

Steven Martin announced another important update for our customers & partners: we’ve come to an agreement with our partner Covast to acquire their advanced B2B capabilities.  This will be incorporated into a new feature pack which will be available as part of Software Assurance benefits to customers who licence BizTalk Server (for context on BizTalk Server 2006 R3, see Steve’s previous post). 

Why is this important? It builds on the most recent B2B improvements in BizTalk Server.  Some highlights include:

• New standards for specific retail segments such as warehousing, grocery, energy, automotive and air freight
• B2B metadata management for EDI ‘super’ interchanges, deeper integration with SQL Server repository/Visual Studio (EDI Explorer) and new reporting capabilities
• Advanced B2B transports include new file adapters and transports and VAN connectivity
• B2B operations monitor that enables role-based viewing, end-to-end tracking/tracing and automatic archiving

For our ISV partners, this increases the breath of B2B solutions that partners can build on top of BizTalk Server.  They can now take advantage of both industry-specific protocols in their own vertical solutions as well as advanced B2B scenarios for their customers.  Over the past year, this has been a specific customer request and adds the growing set of capabilities BizTalk Server brings to businesses.  This will make it easier to address the individual needs of a broad set of customers.  As an example, auto component makers need info about parts, sales, customers, employees and branch offices to store, track and use to execute transactions.   Meanwhile the grocery store down the street needs unique templates, workflows, rules, etc that save development time and work automatically.   These new capabilities will help both of them.

We have had a lot of great news about the BizTalk family recently (BizTalk RFID Mobile, BizTalk Server 2006 R3, etc.).  I can’t promise that we will have big updates like this on a weekly basis but it gives you a sense for the investments we are making to continue to improve technologies on which customers heavily rely.

What? PHILIPPINE IT SERVICES ROADSHOW TO AUSTRALIA

When? 29-30 April 2008, Melbourne & 1-2 May 2008, Sydney

Objective: Make the Philippines part of your growth strategy

Bit more detail:

• The Philippines presents itself as the ideal Partner for Australian businesses wishing to stay competitive and grow globally
• The Philippine IT services industry has been growing phenomenally at a rate of 45% annually, and is developing a reputation for excellence in Contact Centres, Back-Office Outsourcing, Medical & Legal Transcription, Software Applications, Development and Maintenance, Animation, Engineering Services and other allied support services. Backed by strong government support, business-friendly policies, reliable supply of managerial talent and knowledge workers, a strong telecommunications
  infrastructure and competitive operating costs, Philippine IT industry players invite you to explore synergies with them at the following events

Where? PHILIPPINE IT SERVICES BUSINESS FORUM
Level 47, MLC Centre (NSW Trade and Investment Centre)
19 Martin Place, Sydney NSW
01 May 2008 (Thursday), 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm (Registration opens at 2:40 pm)

Agenda:

• Presentations
• Philippine Economic Overview and Policy: Sr. Undersecretary Thomas G. Aquino (Department of Trade and Industry)
• Opportunities in the BPO and IT-enabled Services Industry: Mr. Oscar Sanez, CEO, Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P)
• Panel Discussions
• Industry players (including Australian investors) to discuss practical experiences in the Philippine setting on issues such as Talent Quality and Sustainability, and the Business Environment and Infrastructure
• Q&A
• One on One Meetings: There will be opportunity to have one-on-one Business Meetings with the members of the Philippine delegation right after the Business Forum of 01 May and also on 02 May. Please select which companies you wish to meet with from the attached list of participants.

To register: Please confirm your participation in the Business Forum and request for Business Meetings with Philippine Trade and Investment Centre – Sydney:
Suite 302, Level 3, Thakral House, 301 George Street, Sydney NSW

Tel. No.: +612 9299 0002 Fax No.: +612 9299 0007 E-mail: dtisydney@bigpond.com

Organized by: Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI); Business Processing Association of the Philippines (BPA/P); Supported by: NSW Trade and Investment Centre & Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA)

As Nick mentioned in a recent posting, we're planning the content for the Australia Partner Conference held between 5-7 August 2008 at Port Douglas at the Sheraton Mirage between 5-7 August 2008. Click here to pre-register (you will need your partner ID and a LiveID account).

I am holding an ISV pre-day, likely to be on 4 August, before the conference starts. As this day is for you, I'd like your input in what the agenda should look like. 

Please let me know by 4th May using the poll below; send me blog comments or via email (chlong at microsoft dot com). For RSS readers, click here.

As a major partner and media sponsor of the show, ZDNet Australia is again teaming up with CeBIT to host the ZDNet Australia and CeBIT 2008 Emerging Innovation Award. The award seeks to recognise and applaud stand-out technological innovations that have had a significant impact on the Australian landscape and are helping companies transform their businesses.

The deadline for award submissions has now been extended until Tuesday, April 29. Eligibility and entry details can be found below and full selection criteria is outlined on the submissions Web page.

• Eligibility: It can be any product or service developed over the past 12 months, from any technology area – whether mobile communications, internet hosting and IT support, to storage or perhaps enterprise software. 
• When? Nominations for this award are open until 29 April 2008
• Who can enter? Any companies exhibiting at CeBIT 2008
• How?  Enter via www.zdnet.com.au/comps/cebit2008

All finalists will be announced at the official presentation ceremony to be held at CeBIT, details to be announced closer to the event.

Hosting Days is hitting the road. Choose from two tracks, Services or Solutions, before coming together for an afternoon of Business focused content.

Visit https://partner.microsoft.com/australia/40048707 to see both sessions and register.  Solution track links are below.

Nick and I are on the look out for Aussie Partners creating Green and/or Indigenous solutions to create a bit of a list. 

Keep an eye on Nick's blog for the latest list, but expect to see this at our Australia Partner Conference.  To add your company, please either like a comment on Nick's blog here or by emailing me.

The list as of 7/3/08 is:

1. Ecodriver. 3 solutions, built in Australia. Helping organisations, commercial and schools, reduce their environmental footprint.
2. Prima Consulting "Sustainability SCO2recard": a solution based on Microsoft BI platform to help organisations with reporting on their environmental footprint.
3. SDM's 'clever emissions calculator'. A public facing web-based emissions calculator, based on ASP.NET. Go here to see it in action: Climate Clever Emissions Calculator
4. Envision IT. Has several Microsoft-based solutions in this space, including Car Pooling and Car Parking Software and others.

Please get in touch...

PS - if you are interested in attending the Listen Up event, which is a forum to address the issues faced by Corporations who are /or have the desire to work with indigenous organisations.

When? 11 April 2008, 9.30am - 2pm

Where? The Australian Museum, College Street, Sydney

Facilitated by Jeff McMullen, Listen Up is a forum to address the issues faced by Corporations who are /or have the desire to work with indigenous organisations.  In brief, this “Town Hall” style forum will bring together interested leaders of business and Indigenous communities, to openly discuss aspects and issues related to the formation and operation of business / Indigenous collaborations, and form a clear understanding of the most effective way to develop those collaborations.

To Register:
Please feel free to give Paul Clark (details below) a call if you have any further questions or call Sonal Kering on 9265 7600 to RSVP.

Objectives:

• To encourage honest discussion between business and Indigenous groups on how best to engage with, and support aspirations of, Indigenous communities;
• Particular focus on youth: how to engage, and encourage the development of, this enormous talent pool;
• To exchange information and learnings;
• To break down barriers of understanding;
• To identify specific action points.

Ultimate goal: to come to an understanding of, and commitment to, Indigenous youth: how best to build confidence and a passion to pursue educational / employment / social engagement goals and leadership.

To RSVP or for further information, contact Sonal Kering, Listen Up Event Manager on (02) 9265 7600.

More detail here http://blogs.msdn.com/chlong/archive/2008/03/28/listen-up-business-indigenous-collaboration-forum.aspx

Popfly has been nominated for a CNET Webware 100 award. Right now, we’ve been selected as one of the 300 finalists by CNET editors. As you can imagine, we’re pretty pleased just to be nominated, but we’d be more pleased if we actually won and to do that, we need your help: we need you to vote.

They’ve made it pretty simple: just click on this link and you’ll be directed to a page where Popfly is automatically checked. Voting runs from now until April 21, so tell your friends and get them to vote also. The competition is pretty stiff, so it’s going to take a lot for us to win.

Our Scott Guthrie (who heads up the Silverlight development team) was interviewd by Knowledge@Wharton.  Visit the site to download/play the audio.  Questions from Knowledge@Wharton include:

• Microsoft just launched the first beta of Silverlight 2. Why is this important?
• What's Microsoft's revenue model for Silverlight?
• How will you decide when to go with Silverlight versus other web technologies?
• I note you've adopted the term "rich Internet application" rather than "rich interactive application" -- you're not going to fight that battle?
• How do you differentiate yourself from Flash? Why is Silverlight something that we need? Why not just use Flash if you're building an interactive web app?
• when will we see Silverlight on the iPhone?

Visit the site at http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1920

One of the first Silverlight-enabled development centres for Visual Studio 2008 has been launched.  Some of the features include:

• Animated landing page that highlights some of the features of each of the Visual Studio 2008 Express products
• Interactive menus to explore by interest and by product sections
• Interactive product feature tours for each of the SKUs

Check it out at http://www.microsoft.com/express

I came across Daniel's Top 15 things to love about Visual Studio 2008...

Just seen this blog posting from Bruce Rasmussen who found this great blog summarising recent analysts reports which ultimately links here.

Some of the really interesting ones for me include:

• IDE Usage Trends (Forrester Research, Feb 12, 2008, .pdf file, 560 kb) This Forrester report examines IDE usage trends via a survey of more than 700 application development professionals who are actively involved in .NET or Java development. Results of the survey shows that Microsoft Visual Studio is a leading integrated development environment (IDE) in the market today, with nearly one half of all respondents noting that Microsoft is their primary IDE provider. Among .NET developers in particular, Microsoft Visual Studio is the primary IDE of choice, with 97% usage – “nearly a clean sweep.”
• Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms, 2008 (Gartner, February 1, 2008) Gartner positions Microsoft in Leaders Quadrant in the 2008 Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence Platforms.
• Microsoft Pushes Virtualization Frontier (Enterprise Management Associates, February 2008, .pdf file, 182 kb) This impact brief covers recent announcements by Microsoft around its virtualization strategy. In particular, this paper discusses the acquisition of Calista Technology and a recently-announced expanded partnership with Citrix. This paper includes a brief introduction to current virtualization challenges and concludes with Enterprise Management Associates’ (EMA’s) favorable perspective on the announcements and Microsoft’s strategic virtualization vision.
• Magic Quadrant for Software Change and Configuration Management for Distributed Platforms, 2008 (Gartner, Inc., January 23, 2008) This vendor evaluation looks at the Software Change and Configuration Management (SCCM) market. Gartner states that “the control of code configuration and the changes made to it are key to successful development” and “this sector has seen substantial activity during the past several years.”
• SharePoint Redefines Document Management (Forrester Research, Jan. 3, 2008, .pdf, file 115 kb) This independent Forrester survey examines buying trends in team collaboration software and document management. Based on a survey of 216 decision makers at North American and European enterprises, Forrester found many organizations will invest in Microsoft for their ECM solution in 2008.
• Magic Quadrant for Integrated SOA Governance Technology Sets, 2007 (Gartner, Inc., December 31, 2007) This Gartner Magic Quadrant by L. Frank Kenney and Daryl C. Plummer evaluates those vendors in the Integrated SOA Governance market focused on supporting heterogeneous environments. Gartner positions Microsoft in the Challengers quadrant.
• SOA: The State of the Market (AMR Research, Dec. 18, 2007, .pdf , 705 kb) In this market roundup, AMR defines the structure of the SOA market, identifies the most influential players, and makes some predictions about the future. “The mega-vendors, Microsoft, IBM, SAP, and Oracle, are exploiting their deep pockets to build broad product suites. They also use their powerful relationships with customers to actively direct the market.”
• Microsoft: Software Development and Delivery Has Never Had It So Good (Ovum, Oct. 31, 2007, .pdf, 200kb) This Ovum report discusses Microsoft’s role in the recent industry focus on the software development and delivery process, especially in relation to successfully managing the wider and more strategic application lifecycle. Ovum writes that “the last 24 months for Microsoft have been a period of strategic activity with no uncertain amount of innovation, the launch of new product strategies, new product releases, unnerving key competitors in important markets, and better clarity in the company’s future direction.”
• The Impact of Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 in CPM (Gartner, October 25, 2007) In this report Gartner evaluates Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007.
• Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse Database Management Systems, 2007 (Gartner, Oct. 10, 2007) Microsoft is positioned in the leader’s quadrant for Magic Quadrant for Data Warehouse Database Management Systems, 2007.
• Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Content Management, 2007 (Gartner, September 21, 2007): This Gartner Magic Quadrant by Karen Shegda evaluates leading vendors in the Enterprise Content Management market which includes web content management, records management, document imaging, document management, workflow and document-centric collaboration. Gartner positions Microsoft in the Visionaries quadrant.
• What’s the Point of SharePoint? (IBRS, August 2007, .doc, 547 kb) With business units and end users calling for, if not demanding, IT managers to deploy Microsoft SharePoint, IBRS explores the product’s many functions and how organizations can implement them effectively by educating stakeholders, setting proper expectations and making sure the right skills are deployed internally.
• Microsoft Securing the Future of .NET in Asia Pacific (Longhaus, June 1, 2007, .pdf) With the recent release of the SoftwareAP.net initiative in conjunction with Intel, Red Herring, Group Intelligence and Asia Venture Capital Journal, Microsoft is aiming to take the lead in incubating emerging independent software vendors (ISVs) across Asia Pacific. Previous .NET initiatives, such as Victoria.net, have offered application developers training and a market for the commercial purchase of their technologies. In contrast, this latest incarnation offers advice and partnering with VC’s and regional governments. As Asia Pacific continues to develop as a service dominated market, Longhaus undertook to evaluate this latest effort towards the development of a local software economy.
• Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 Coming Soon to a Desktop Near You (Gartner, June 1, 2007) Gartner evaluates Microsoft’s entry into the CPM suites market with Office PerformancePoint Server 2007.
• Magic Quadrant for Application Infrastructure For New Service Oriented Business Application Projects, 2Q07 (Gartner, May 31, 2007): This Gartner Magic Quadrant by Yefim Natis evaluates those vendors within the Application Infrastructure market who proved the end-to-end enabling technology for building new service-oriented business applications. Gartner positions Microsoft in the Challengers quadrant. According to Gartner, “Challengers excel in their ability to attract large user following, but owe that ability to a relatively narrower focus on a particular usage pattern or user type.”
• Forrester Wave: Software Change and Configuration Management, Q2 2007 (Forrester Research, Inc., May 23, 2007, .pdf, 564 kb) Microsoft was rated a Strong Performer in this Forrester Wave. Forrester analyst, Carey Schwaber, noted that while “Team Foundation Server is just a year old, it’s mature beyond its years” and “ready for prime time.” Additionally, she highlighted that “Microsoft’s strategy of focusing on the platform while letting the community develop add-ons like process editors and form editors has paid off handsomely.”
• SPLA - blah, blah, blah? (Ovum, Nov. 2006, .pdf, 44K) This report is a result of announcements made at Convergence EMEA 2006 about Microsoft’s extension of its Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) to the Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions, which allows partners to pay for the licenses they use on a monthly basis. According to David Mitchell, this radically improves the cost model for Microsoft partners offering software as a service (SaaS), either as a standalone offering or embedded in a wider business offering, such as managed services, BPO or newly created products and services. In this report David Mitchell examines the announcements and the positive impact it will have in the market.
• Microsoft SQL Server Runs the Security Table (Enterprise Strategy Group, Nov. 2006, .pdf, 78K) This recent Enterprise Strategy Group research note compares the security of Microsoft’s SQL Server to industry competitors. “ESG considers Microsoft, with proper execution, to be years ahead of Oracle and MySQL in producing secure and reliable database products.”
• The Forrester Wave: BI Reporting and Analysis Platforms, Q1 2006 (Forrester Research, Feb. 8, 2006, .pdf, 410K). Forrester evaluated 10 leading business intelligence (BI), database, and application vendors across 92 criteria.

Just came across this Technical Rollup blog from the Premier Field Engineering team listing the latest news; documents; whitepapers; downloads; event & webcasts and new knowledge based articles every IT administrator should know about :)

http://blogs.technet.com/trm/archive/2008/04/01/april-2008-technical-rollup-mail-sql.aspx

Other rollups exist for Security; Platforms; Internet and Unified Communications.

When? 11 April 2008, 9.30am - 2pm

Where? The Australian Museum, College Street, Sydney

Facilitated by Jeff McMullen, Listen Up is a forum to address the issues faced by Corporations who are /or have the desire to work with indigenous organisations.  In brief, this “Town Hall” style forum will bring together interested leaders of business and Indigenous communities, to openly discuss aspects and issues related to the formation and operation of business / Indigenous collaborations, and form a clear understanding of the most effective way to develop those collaborations.

Please feel free to give Paul Clark (details below) a call if you have any further questions or call Sonal Kering on 9265 7600 to RSVP.

Objectives:

• To encourage honest discussion between business and Indigenous groups on how best to engage with, and support aspirations of, Indigenous communities;
• Particular focus on youth: how to engage, and encourage the development of, this enormous talent pool;
• To exchange information and learnings;
• To break down barriers of understanding;
• To identify specific action points.

Ultimate goal: to come to an understanding of, and commitment to, Indigenous youth: how best to build confidence and a passion to pursue educational / employment / social engagement goals and leadership.

To RSVP or for further information, contact Sonal Kering, Listen Up Event Manager on (02) 9265 7600.

Details on ReMix Australia have been announced.  The details are:

• 1 day in 2 cities
• 20^th May in Sydney
• 22^nd May in Melbourne
• Opening Keynote followed by 2 streams (technical track is owned by Michael Kordahi and the creative track is owned by ShaneMo so give them your feedback on what you need)
• Tickets will be $199 incl GST (includes a copy of Expression Studio Version 2 – NFR, valued at over $1,000)
• Registration will open 7^th April
• We will host the Imagine Cup Finals again
• If you are interested in being a sponsor, please let Finula or myself know