UK ISV Developer Evangelism Team

Free Windows Azure Fasttrack Architecture Review for partners

Our team - the Microsoft Developer and Platform Group - are offering a limited number free half day Fasttrack Architectural / developer Reviews focused on the Windows Azure platform for partners. These will take place at the Microsoft offices in Reading, and will run from Monday 30^th November to Friday 4^th December, 2009.

What does a Windows Azure Fasttrack Architecture Review consist of?

A fasttrack review is an opportunity for a partner to lay out their technical, business and architectural problems in front of some Microsoft experts, and gain advice and guidance on choosing the best path for their future development. These are interactive, conversational engagements which typically last for around 3 to 4 hours, and have proved very successful and useful for participants in the past. For these specific sessions, the focus is on Cloud computing, and in particular Windows Azure, SQL Azure and the Azure platform.

The format is that of an informal meeting - some chairs, a table, a couple of whiteboards and a lot of imagination and honest speaking. The conversations are all about problems and solutions, and if you come with an open mind then you should leave with a lot to digest and think about, and a good idea of your next steps.

If you think it would help to give us demonstrations of your products, then come along with it (but not PowerPoint, please), then that's what we can do. If you'd rather draw diagrams, or talk, or listen, or sit in silence for the entire length of the session, then that's what we can do. The experience is totally driven yourselves - though obviously we have some suggested structures developed out of experience that can help things flow best, if you'd rather fall back on those.

What makes a good Fasttrack Architecture Review?

The best Fasttrack Architecture Reviews tend to happen at the stage when a partner is looking at a specific upcoming new project or software release, and is starting to think about what features or capabilities around Cloud Computing and Azure might influence their own plans (e.g. "Can we offer both on-premise and off-premise solutions?", “How do make sure we can scale up?”). An open mind and a willingness to discuss ideas are essential.

Conversely, a few things can prevent a good Fasttrack Architecture Review session. If you have already made your mind up and are simply looking for more detailed discussions, then this is possibly not the right forum - let us know and we can suggest the best routes forward. Similarly, if management are not behind the changes, or you are unable to bring a senior decision maker to the meeting, or there are no specific time scales for a new version, then these sessions can be less then optimum, and we urge you only to apply when the time is right for you.

How to apply for a Windows Azure Fasttrack Architecture Review

If you have been looking thinking about Windows Azure and cloud computing, and you think your company has a great idea, or interesting problem that would benefit from one of these sessions, then please get in touch with us, and we'll let you know if we think a fasttrack review session would be suitable. Please note that we mainly deal with architectural discussions, rather than deep technical support.

We typically get more applications than we have space for, so to make sure we get the right companies at these session, please take a little time to tell us about yourselves, and what you want from the session. You *must* provide us with a 'draft agenda' for the fasttrack review by emailing details about the following topics for discussion:

Azure Fasttrack review

1 - What are the top one or two key things you want to get out of the meeting?

2 - Are there any specific problems, issues or opportunities are you currently facing?

3 – In addition to Azure, are there any other key technologies will you want to cover in the review – e.g. SQL Server, Silverlight/WPF, SharePoint, etc?

4 - Who do you plan to bring along to the reviews (2 to 4 people is typically ideal, at least one technical person)

Technology background

5 - What technologies are you currently using?

6 - What are your timescales for considering Azure? What are your experiences with Azure to date? Are there any specific aspects of Azure you anticipate using?

Company background

7 - The size of your company and the development team

8 - Company/Product URLs

To get in touch, just email this information to ukdev@microsoft.com and state any dates that week that you would be unable to attend. If we're unable to help with a review, we'll try to point you towards some useful resources that should help to some degree.

Windows Azure: An Exclusive Cloud Perspective for ISVs with David Chappell, Tuesday 6th October, London

14:00 – 16:00  Tuesday 6^th October 2009, London.

Cloud computing is here, and that has important implications for your business. Join us to hear from new-technology expert, David Chappell (www.davidchappell.com), what cloud computing and the Windows Azure platform means for ISVs, custom software development firms and enterprises.
David Chappell, is an industry thought leader in cloud computing who has helped software developers around the world think through the challenges and opportunities this emerging technology brings to their business

According to many, Cloud computing looks like the biggest change to hit our industry in many years. The advent of cheap, scalable compute power available over the Internet will affect almost everybody who works in IT.  But what is cloud computing and how does one take advantage of this new approach?

In this session, aimed at both technical and business decision makers in Microsoft partners, David Chappell looks at the Windows Azure platform and what it means for ISVs and custom software development firms.

The topics he’ll cover include:

- An overview of the Windows Azure platform: Technology and business model

- The cloud platform context: Google, Amazon, Salesforce.com, and more

- Using the Windows Azure platform: Scenarios for ISVs and custom software development firms

The goal is to provide a foundation for thinking about the Windows Azure platform, then offer guidance on how to make good decisions for using it.

About David Chappell

David Chappell is Principal of Chappell & Associates (www.davidchappell.com) in San Francisco, California. Through his speaking, writing, and consulting, he helps software professionals around the world understand, use, and make better decisions about new technologies. David has been the keynote speaker for many conferences and events on five continents, and his seminars have been attended by tens of thousands of developers, architects, and decision makers in forty countries. David’s books have been translated into ten languages and used regularly in courses at MIT, ETH Zurich, and other educational institutions. In his consulting practice, he has helped clients such as Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, Stanford University, and Target Corporation adopt new technologies, market new products, train their sales staffs, and create business plans.

How to Register

This event has a restricted attendance, so please register now either by following below link (and Invite code) or calling

Phone Number: 0870 166 6680 ref: 5572

Link to Registration Site

Using Invite Code: 702DFE

Venue Address & Location

Microsoft London (Cardinal Place)
100 Victoria Street
London SW1E 5JL
Tel: 0870 60 10 100

Link to Directions

Windows 7 Application Compatibility Resources

There are a plethora of Windows 7 Application Compatibility resources available to ISV’s, but knowing where to find them and in what order to use them can be a daunting task, so I’ve linked to the best ones that I know of, categorized them, and put them in some sort of order.

Preparation

· Install a copy of Windows 7

· Download and Install Windows 7 SDK

Training

· Attend a Windows 7 Application Compatibility briefing

· Read the Windows Application Quality Cookbook

· Watch Windows 7 on-line Application Compatibility training

· Install Windows 7 Training Kit for Developers

Install Application Compatibility Tools

· Application Verifier

· Application Compatibility Toolkit including Standard User Analyzer

· Windows 7 Software Logo Toolkit

Testing

· Use tools from AppDNA, Camwood and Changebase to carry out static application analysis

· Attend a 2-day Application Compatibility Remediation Lab to test your application

· Use Standard User Analyzer to check that your application is compliant with UAC

· Use Application Verifier and Windows 7 Logo Toolkit to check your application is compatible with Windows 7

Remediation & Help

· Add a Windows 7 Application Manifest to your application

· Visit the online Partner technical communities

· Use the MSDN Windows 7 Application Compatibility Forums

Adding a Windows 7 Application Manifest to your application

One of the most important things you can do to make an application compatible with Windows 7 is to add an application manifest to it. When you do this, you are telling Windows that you have tested your application on Windows 7 and that there is no need for it to run application compatibility ‘features’ such as UAC virtualization and the Program Compatibility Assistant.

There are a number of ways to add a manifest, you can do it from within Visual Studio 2008 by simply selecting Add -> New Item… to the project, and selecting Application Manifest File, and for earlier versions of Visual Studio you can simply add it as a resource of type RT_MANIFEST, or you can use the mt.exe tool in the Windows SDK to add it to the compiled executable – before you have signed it of course.

If you are using the mt.exe tool it’s best to extract any existing manifest first, as one may already be included for XP Styles or Side-by-Side COM components.

You can extract an application manifest from an executable by running the following command: mt -inputresource:myapp.exe;#1 -out:myapp.manifest

You can then add the Windows 7 manifest shown below back into the executable using the following command:  mt -manifest myapp.manifest -outputresource:myapp.exe;#1

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<asmv1:assembly manifestVersion="1.0" xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" xmlns:asmv1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1" xmlns:asmv2="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <assemblyIdentity version="1.0.0.0" name="MyApplication.app"/>
  <trustInfo xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v2">
    <security>
      <requestedPrivileges xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v3">
        <requestedExecutionLevel level="asInvoker" uiAccess="false" />
      </requestedPrivileges>
    </security>
  </trustInfo>
  <compatibility xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:compatibility.v1">
    <application>
      <supportedOS Id="{35138b9a-5d96-4fbd-8e2d-a2440225f93a}"/>
    </application>
  </compatibility>
</asmv1:assembly>

A Free Windows Azure Platform Technical 2 Day Accelerated Training Workshop, for Microsoft Partners

The Microsoft Developer & Platform is pleased to announce a free two day “Accelerated Training Workshop” covering the Windows Azure Services Platform, for Microsoft Partners. Delivered through workshop style presentations and hands-on lab exercises, the workshop will focus on the three key services of the Windows Azure Platform – Windows Azure, SQL Azure and .NET Services.

The topics covered over the two days will be:

- An introduction to Windows Azure

- Working with Windows Azure storage

- An introduction to SQL Azure

- Building applications with SQL Azure

- An introduction to .NET Services

- Building solutions using the .NET Service Bus

This workshop is aimed at developers, architects and systems designers with at least 6 months practical experience using Visual Studio 2008 and C#.

The workshop will be run 19^th & 20^th October (Monday & Tuesday) and again on 21^st & 22^nd October (Wednesday and Thursday), and is targeted at partners who have projects that they are potentially looking to move to Azure. Places are limited to one person per company, and you will get an email acknowledging your request, and spaces will be allocated closer to the event.

To apply for one of the limited places on this workshop, please email ukdev@microsoft.com with the following information:

- The workshop date(s) you are interested in

- Attendee details (Name, job position, company)

- Any prototypes, projects or feature areas that are relevant

Full Course Outline:

Getting Started with SQL Azure

The recent release of the the CTP (Community Technical Preview) of SQL Azure seemed a ideal opportunity for Keith Burns and David Gristwood to grab the whiteboard and have a chat about this new ‘cloud’ version of SQL Server, what it means for developers and systems designers, and how to get started:

Technorati Tags: David Gristwood,Keith Burns,Azure,SQL Azure,Microsoft

People are doing some interesting things with Windows Azure in the UK

Eric Nelson and I were involved in a Microsoft UK Azure day recently, where we invited press and analysts to meet some companies that were doing interesting things with Azure and find out a little more about why the chose Azure, and what their experiences had been. I took my camera along so we could share some of those conversations with you . .  enjoy!

AWS have been working with Windows Azure since before its official unveiling at the 2008 PDC in LA, where they had been working on an RNLI safety of life system. Here Richard Prodger talks about how the RNLI system has progressed, and some of the other work with Windows Azure, such as “SocketShifter - Warping the Internet Space Time Continuum with the Azure .NET Service Bus”
Bert Craven from EasyJet is on a mission to make travel better by reducing much of the queuing we all have to do at airports, through the use of Windows Azure for mobile passenger services.
Dot Net Solutions have done a number of interesting projects with .NET and Windows Azure. Here Dan Scarfe and Marcus Tillett talk about one of their projects, Scrumwall, and how they moved it to Windows Azure.
Richard Burrill of PensionDCisions describes how the company has taken a new and innovative approach to help companies and individuals really understand their pension, using sophisticated software to calculate and process this data, and how they turned to Windows Azure to help them achieve this.
Jon Poynton and Dan Sadler talk to Matt Deacon about TBS, and how company delivers mobility solutions, and in particular how their adoption of Windows Azure is helping them create a new generation of off-premise solutions.

. . . and if you want to read some of the reviews that came out of the day, check these out:

http://www.v3.co.uk/computing/news/2246103/easyjet-flies-clouds-azure

http://www.v3.co.uk/computing/analysis/2246022/q-mark-taylor-microsoft-uk

http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/07/14/236876/microsoft-azure-goes-online-priced-to-compete-with-amazon.htm

http://www.cio.co.uk/opinion/veitch/2009/07/14/microsoft-lays-out-ts-and-cs-for-windows-azure-cloud-vision/?intcmp=ARP4

http://www.itpro.co.uk/612736/need-to-know-windows-azure 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2009/jul/14/microsoft-azure-prices

Cool Technology, Cool Projects - National Rail Enquiries

Our DPE team here at Microsoft in the UK get involved in some cool projects, and here is one of them, which I have just posted up:

Windows 7 Application Compatibility briefings and drop-in clinic

With the recent release to manufacture (RTM) of Window 7 and it’s the expected high take-up following a number of excellent reviews by IT columnists, commentators and bloggers, and with Windows XP no longer benefiting from free support as it enters its extended support phase, now is the time to make sure your applications are ready for Microsoft’s latest version of Windows.

The Microsoft UK DPE ISV Team are running a number of it’s very successful Application Compatibility briefings and remediation labs, where we have a very high success rate of taking applications that don’t work on Windows Vista or Windows 7 and making them compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7. At our lab in May we found problems with most of the applications that we tested, and by the completion of the lab most applications worked with Windows 7 or it had been identified what needed to be done in order to make those applications compatible. All of these events are free of charge.

To make the best use of your time and allow you to choose when to attend, we have broken-up these events into 1-day briefings that cover the changes that are most likely to cause compatibility issues and how to correct them, plus separate 2-day remediation labs where you may bring in your applications for testing.

1-Day briefings

Wednesday 26th August: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in London – limited to 14 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV – Waitlist ONLY

Thursday 3rd September: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Manchester – limited to 6 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV – Waitlist ONLY

Monday 7th September: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV – Waitlist ONLY

Wednesday 23rd September:  Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Edinburgh – limited to 14 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV - Cancelled

Tuesday 29th September: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in London – limited to 14 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV - Cancelled

Monday 5th October: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Thursday 12th November: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Tuesday 17th November: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Stockport – limited to 16 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Thursday 26th November: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Birmingham – limited to 16 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Thursday 3rd December: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Edinburgh – limited to 14 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Thursday 10th December: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Thursday 17th December: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in London – limited to 14 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Monday 11th January 2010: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Bristol – limited to 16 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Monday 25th January 2010: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

Monday 15th February 2010: Training Day on Windows 7 Application Compatibility in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV

During this 1 day briefing we will cover the major changes that may cause an application to be incompatible with Windows 7, including:

• User Account Control (UAC)
• New folder locations and directory virtualization
• Windows Resource Protection
• Mandatory Integrity Control
• User Interface Privilege Isolation
• Session 0 Isolation
• Internet Explorer 8
• Windows 7 Software Logo Program

The training will begin promptly at 10:00am and registration will be available from 9:30am onwards.

Registration for the 1-day briefings can be found here.

2-Day remediation labs

Tuesday 26th January – Wednesday 27th January: Windows 7 Application Compatibility remediation lab in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV. Please register here.

Thursday 28th January – Friday 29th January: Windows 7 Application Compatibility remediation lab in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV. Please register here.

Tuesday 16th February – Wednesday 17th February: Windows 7 Application Compatibility remediation lab in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV. Please register here.

Thursday 18th January – Friday 19th February: Windows 7 Application Compatibility remediation lab in Reading – limited to 20 attendees with a maximum of 2 attendees per ISV. Please register here.

The lab will be open from 9:00am – 5:00am each day.

During these 2 days you may test, debug, and fix any application compatibility issues you may have with the assistance of Microsoft Application Compatibility experts. We will provide Windows 7 PC’s with SQL Server, Visual Studio, and a number of application compatibility debugging tools. We can also provide most other Microsoft software that you may need – please ask before attending.

We can identify and fix most applications within 2 days, but if you have a particularly complex application, or you think that you will require more than 2 days then please let us know and we will make the lab available to you for 4 days if places are available.

All client applications are welcome, whether they are written in .NET, C++, VB6, etc. Please bring with you an installable version of your application(s) and the symbols (PDBs) if possible.

If you have any questions please contact us at ukdev@microsoft.com

Microsoft at the FOWD event in London, 2009

I had my video camera with me at the Future Of Web Design (FOWD) event last month in London to video the new Microsoft stand, interview some of the speakers and attendees, and of course, chat with my fellow Microsoft colleagues

A look behind the Microsoft and Shoothill “Intelligent City” Proof of Concept project

We have just made a video about a Proof Of Concept (PoC) project that our DPE team have been involved with. Its about Birmingham becoming the UK's first Intelligent City, and shows how digital technology could be employed to make it easier to get round Birmingham. Involving a consortium of partners, including the council's Digital Birmingham partnership, Coventry University Enterprises, Microsoft and Virtual Earth developer Shoothill, it focuses on bringing together two of the region's strengths - digital media and transport technologies.

Check out the video:

Announcing free Microsoft Web & Cloud Computing technical event in Swansea, June 10th 2009

Microsoft are pleased to announce a free one day technical briefing focused on Microsoft platform, tools and software can be used to build great applications, with a particular emphasis on web and cloud computing based solutions.

The day will consist of lots of demos and lively discussion, with the aim of exploring these technologies at a high level - it’s all about the “art of the possible” rather than detailed code walkthroughs. The sessions audience size will be small to keep the conversation flowing, and these sessions are suitable for Technical Decision Makers, CTOs, Application Architects, Developers, etc.

The briefing will include the following technologies and topics:

• Building rich, interactive and scalable web applications with ASP.NET and Silverlight
• SQL Server, Data Mining, Business Intelligence, and designing high performing data access systems
• Windows Azure and Microsoft’s utility cloud computing platform

The day will also include details of the new Microsoft BizSpark program, which is designed to accelerate the success of early stage technology startups, and provides entrepreneurs fast and easy access to current full-featured Microsoft development tools and productions licenses of server products, at minimal and no upfront cost. BizSpark provides high-potential startups with:

• Microsoft Software
• Support and Guidance
• Visibility

You can find more information about BizSpark at http://www.microsoft.com/bizspark/ 

If you wish to attend this event, please email ukdev@microsoft.com to secure your place.

The event will take place at:

Conference Centre, Technium 2, Kings Road, Swansea, SA1 8PH

multiMap link http://www.multimap.com/s/lqXuBNK2

IE8 Net History Video

I love this IE8 Net History - Internet Explorer 8 video. It’s a great way to kick off an internet briefing :-)

The slides from the Azure for Education Partners event now on SkyDrive

The slides from the “Azure Technical Briefing for Education Partners” on April 28th, 2009  are here.

Our team’s first ever YouTube video

We’re now all living in the on-line, on-demand, on-camera era, so it seemed only right and proper that our team join in all the fun, so our team have created a video featuring one of my colleagues Keith Burns where we talk about how Microsoft partners can get the most from valuable data locked away in their databases, using Business Intelligence, SQL Server, Reporting Services, Excel, SharePoint Dashboards, etc.

You can watch it here.