The new Front Runner program for Windows Azure is the best way to get ahead in cloud computing. It's designed to get your application compatible quickly and to market more effectively. Plus, you'll enjoy early access to new Microsoft products, one-on-one tech support from experts, training and special promotions that keep you ahead of the curve.
Sign up today and be one of the first to get your app in the cloud.
Windows Azure programs joins Front Runner programs for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. You can still sign up for them too for a limited time.
Front Runner Benefits
When you join the Front Runner program, you’ll get access to one-on-one technical support from our developer experts by phone or e-mail. Then, once you tell us that your application is ready, you’ll get a range of marketing benefits to help you let your customers know that you’re a Front Runner.
Virtual Lab
Get your application in the cloud with hands on learning by taking the Windows Azure virtual lab.
Technical Benefits
- Get application support from our development expert by phone and/or e-mail.
- Access technical Windows Azure Platform resources in one central place.
Marketing Benefits
- Promotional tool kit including a Front Runner stamp and press release you can include in your marketing materials to showcase and announce your early adopter status.
- US$500 discount on Ready-to-Go Campaign costs — such as list rentals, printing, or shipping — or a $500 rebate on Ready-to-Go Services if you finish Front Runner Azure by March 31, 2010.
- Assistance creating a Solution Profile that will be featured in a special Microsoft Pinpoint directory of Windows Azure Platform solutions.
Join Front Runner.
Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation
Access unlimited online technical support for Microsoft products and technologies as part of your Microsoft Partner Network benefits—at no charge. All partners are guaranteed a response to your break-fix, developer and presales questions from Microsoft engineers.
To enter the Partner Online Technical Community Forums, choose an area and login when prompted. NOTE: ALL partner forums are designated with “(Partner)” on the category titles.
New Windows 7 Communities
Break-fix. After the sale, obtain answers to technical questions, including product installation issues and feature/function problems. Get responses from a Microsoft engineer within four business hours, eight business hours, or one business day, depending on your partner level.
Developer. Entitled partners (see Response Times table) will receive responses to advisory questions related to Microsoft ASP.NET, Microsoft Silverlight, Microsoft Expression, SQL Server, Windows Presentation Foundation, Microsoft Visual Studio, C++, and C# within eight business hours. Find sample code, learn about best practices, and receive advice about Microsoft platform design and development.
Presales. Get responses to your technical sales-assistance questions for any Microsoft product within eight business hours. Find reference materials, proof points, research, related collateral, and more. Available only to Gold Certified and Certified Partners.
For more information about the benefit, see Partner Online Technical Communities.
How to Sign Up for Microsoft Partner Network
Enroll your company to become a Registered Member of the Microsoft Partner Program.
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If you do not have a Windows Live ID, create one now.
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Sign in to the Partner Membership Center using a Windows Live ID.
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Answer a few questions about yourself and your company.
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Click I Accept to accept the Microsoft Partner Program Agreement.
For more information about how to sign up, see the video How to Enroll as a Registered Member.
Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation
At Professional Developers Conference 2009 (PDC09), Microsoft announced Pinpoint will evolve to become a marketplace that supports the full sales and delivery life cycle, including purchase, fulfillment and post-sale business services. This will provide a complete e-commerce solution for developers, easy delivery and customer access management, and integrated customer relationship management.
Pinpoint is where business customers find Microsoft partners.
Companies listed on Pinpoint are part of the Microsoft Partner Network. Applications listed on Pinpoint must be built on or work with Microsoft technologies. They can be distributed and delivered as on-premises, hosted, downloadable or shrink-wrapped programs. These include Windows client and server and Windows Azure applications.
Pinpoint is the largest directory of qualified IT providers and their software solutions built on Microsoft technologies,
Today, you can list your application on Pinpoint. Your succinct, well-written Pinpoint profile can significantly increase the likelihood of making important customer connections on Pinpoint.
For more information about how to get started, see Microsoft Pinpoint Get Listed.
If you have your application listed in Front Runner, you can get assistance in writing up your Pinpoint listing.
Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation
Our team has put together a list of videos from Professional Developers Conference (PDC09) that we think are important for ISVs. All the videos are online. You can access the video itself or just the slides. The videos include the screen and a video of the speaker giving the presentation.
You can get a list of all the recorded sessions at PDC09 Videos.
Here are the list of some of our team’s picks:
Evolving ADO.NET Entity Framework in .NET 4 and Beyond. See how the ADO.NET Entity Framework enables new capabilities to leverage multiple development approaches, for example the use of code-first, model-first, and database-first. Hear how, regardless of the development approach, developers will benefit from the Entity Framework and the deep integration with the rest of the Microsoft .NET Framework 4, such as the Microsoft ASP.NET MVC, Dynamic Data, and Windows Presentation Foundation
Building Amazing Business Applications with Microsoft Silverlight and Microsoft .NET RIA Services. Learn how to build n-tier Rich Internet Applications (RIA) on Silverlight by tapping the power of .NET RIA Services. Walk you through an example of building an application from scratch using the pattern run-time components and tools provided by .NET RIA Services. See how it helps you write application logic to expose data and operations in a carefully controlled fashion using tools integrated into Visual Studio with support for validation, authentication, authorization and handling units of work.
ADO.NET Data Services: What’s new with the RESTful data services framework, Join this code-heavy session to discuss the upcoming version of ADO.NET Data Services, a simple, standards-based RESTful service interface for data access. Come see new features in action and learn how Microsoft products are using ADO.NET Data Services to expose and consume Data Services to achieve their goals around data sharing.
Workflow Services and Windows Server AppFabric. Learn how to use Windows Workflow Foundation (WF) 4, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) 4, and Windows Server AppFabric (formerly code name “Dublin”) to build and manage scalable, reliable, and highly-available applications. Discover the power of WF to build and coordinate WCF services and implement logic on the middle tier. Enable sophisticated messaging patterns with correlation, enhanced transaction support, durable services, and config-based activation. Learn how AppFabric makes it easier to deploy, manage, and monitor WCF and WF applications.
Windows Touch Deep Dive. Windows provides applications a default experience for gestures and touch interaction. Applications that want to go beyond that basic experience have a powerful platform to build on top of. This session is targeted at developers interested in building touch-optimized experiences. We look closely at some of the more powerful portions of the Touch platform, like manipulation and inertia processors, as well as cover real-world problems that developers have encountered and overcome. Come help build the next generation of user experiences!
ASP.NET MVC 2: Ninjas Still on Fire Black Belt Tips. Having the customer on your back to deliver features on time and under budget with tight deadlines can make you feel like you’re being chased by ninjas on fire. Join Scott Hanselman and he’ll walk through lots of tips and tricks to get the most out of the ASP.NET MVC 2 framework and deliver work quickly and with style. Come see ASP.NET MVC 2’s better productivity features as we make the most of several key features
Patterns for Building Scalable and Reliable Applications with Windows Azure. Learn common patterns that will help you build applications that seamlessly scale. This session will cover topics such as data access, parallel processing, and managing work using queues.
Development Best Practices and Patterns for Using Microsoft SQL Azure Databases. SQL Azure provides a fully relational database service that is based on Microsoft SQL Server and familiar concepts such as T-SQL, schema-based tables, and stored procedures. Learn patterns and best practices for developing resilient applications that allow you to take full advantage of the scale and elasticity of SQL Azure Database Service.
Overview of SharePoint 2010 Programmability. See how SharePoint 2010 has undergone a major shift with the addition of many new programmability features. Learn about these exciting new capabilities of the SharePoint 2010 developer platform including ‘in-box’ features, services, APIs, and a powerful set of developer tools. Also explore the new Visual Studio 2010 capabilities for SharePoint including template support, data and services programmability, UI extensibility, and much more.
Developing xRM Solutions Using Windows Azure. Learn how Microsoft Dynamics CRM can be used to rapidly develop on-premises or services-based "anything" Relationship Management (xRM) applications on the Microsoft platform. See how to develop high scale, connected business solutions that extend to the cloud using current and future versions of the xRM platform and Windows Azure.
Windows Identity Foundation Overview. Hear how Windows Identity Foundation makes advanced identity capabilities and open standards first class citizens in the Microsoft .NET Framework. Learn how the Claims Based access model integrates seamlessly with the traditional .NET identity object model while also giving developers complete control over every aspect of authentication, authorization, and identity-driven application behavior. See examples of the point and click tooling with tight Microsoft Visual Studio integration, advanced STS capabilities, and much more that Windows Identity Foundation consistently provides across on-premise, service-based, ASP.NET and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) applications.
Microsoft Silverlight 4 Overview. Take a tour of the new features in Silverlight 4 including a dive into some of the new ready for business features like printing, rich text support, and expanded databinding support. Also hear about exciting Silverlight additions to the media stack, and get an introduction to the Silverlight 4 elevated trust out of browser model.
It's All about the Services: Developing Custom Applications for Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 Using Microsoft ASP.NET, WCF, and REST. Many developers use services to build and integrate applications and line-of-business systems with SharePoint. With SharePoint 2010, developers now have a wider array of options that include ASP.NET, Windows Communication Foundation (WCF), and RESTful services. Come get a demo-rich walkthrough of each option and discuss where each of the services might be appropriate and what you stand to gain by using them.
Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation
See the video of Alan Cooper, Father of Visual Basic, as he talks about computer languages and what’s coming for the industry at The Visual Studio Documentary - Alan Cooper, the Father of Visual Basic.
For over 30 years Alan Cooper has been a pioneer of the modern computing era. His groundbreaking work in software invention, design and construction has influenced a generation of programmers and business people—and helped a generation of users. Alan is the author of two best-selling books, About Face: The Essentials of User Interface Design and The Inmates Are Running the Asylum, and his visionary ideas and outspoken style make him a popular speaker. Whether you know him as the "Father of Visual Basic," the inventor of personas, or the guy who thinks software should be spanked, we know him as the man whose ideas are the foundation of what we do.
Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation
BizSpark is celebrating its first anniversary. BizSpark, a global program designed to catalyze the success of entrepreneurs by making Microsoft’s end-to-end software solutions available to early-stage startups with no upfront costs.
More than 25,000 startups in over 100 countries have joined BizSpark. One year out, this community is starting to become a self-sustaining entity — BizSpark partners are cross-pollinating and developing their own networks and connections, all aimed at helping startups achieve their dreams of success.
Announcing BizSpark One
Last week at Professional Developers Conference (PDC09), Microsoft announced the launch of Microsoft BizSpark One, the latest expansion of the BizSpark program.
BizSpark One has been designed to catalyze the growth of selected high-potential startups through a one-on-one relationship with Microsoft and a global community of advisors, investors and peers. At the time of launch, BizSpark One will be available in 10 countries: Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S.
“The idea behind BizSpark One is to cast a finer net using Silicon Valley best practices, and then lift the net up to find the startups that are most likely to succeed in the market and shape the industry’s future,” says Dan’l Lewin, corporate vice president for Strategic and Emerging Business Development at Microsoft. “Following the filtering process, our local subsidiaries in 10 countries will partner with the corporate team to help these startups to become the ‘ones to watch’ within the BizSpark program.”
What BizSpark Offers Startups
Another announcement at PDC 2009 is the offering of free Windows Azure platform cloud computing use. To kick-start development on this platform, BizSpark partners will receive 750 free compute hours per month for eight months.
BizSpark is designed to give startups access to the tools, support and visibility they need, when they need it the most. Through BizSpark you gain access to:
- Software. Receive fast and easy access to current full-featured Microsoft development tools, platform technologies, and production licenses.
- Support. Each of your developers will get access to a MSDN Premium subscription. You'll also get connected a global community of technical and business development experts.
- Visibility. Achieve global visibility to an audience of potential investors, clients and partners.
Check to see if you qualify – most privately held software development startups in business for less than 3 years that are generating annual revenue under USD $1 million can join.
Join Microsoft BizSpark.
- Get current full-featured Microsoft development tools and production licenses
- No upfront costs and minimal requirements (Enrollment is free, just pay a USD $100 program offering fee at program exit.)
- Get support, training and marketing visibility
- Get guidance and mentorship from Network Partners
Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation
Video Link - FandomU brings worldwide enthusiasts and passionate individuals closer via events/conferences
Larry Gregory talked to Christopher Stuckey, Stephen Reid, Jessica Merriman from FandomU at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week @ Atlanta, hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort FandomU developed a prototype on Windows Azure.
John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
(t) http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel
Video Link - http://channel9.msdn.com/posts/jodonnell/Linxter-brings-MonitorGrid-to-manage-servers-from-cloud/
Larry Gregory talked to Jason Milgram, Ryan Parsley from Linxter at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Atlanta, hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort Linxter created an Agent based System Monitoring solution to watch the health of servers. Enjoy the show!
John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
(t) http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel
Video Link - LessMeeting improves the productivity and efficiency of enterprise meetings
Larry Gregory talked to Blake Byrnes, Ryan Connelly, Richard Makerson from LessMeeting at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Atlanta, hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort LessMeeting converted an innovative idea to a working prototype on Windows Azure.
John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
(t) http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel
Video Link - Izenda brings the power of self-serve BI from cloud
Larry Gregory talked to Sanjay Bhatia from Izenda at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week In Atlanta hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort Izenda ported their hosted web application on Windows Azure.
John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
(t) http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel
Video Link - CoreMotives combines the power of Dynamics xRM and Windows Azure Platform to offer new Marketing Automation solution
Larry Gregory talked to Rhett Thompson, Jeremie Desautels from CoreMotives at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Atlanta hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort CoreMotives ported their Microsoft Dynamics xRM application to Windows Azure.
John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
(t) http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel
Video Link - EyeMail delivers personalized audio/video emails from Windows Azure
Larry Gregory talked to Lisa Jones, Robert Joseph, Vincent Thomas from EyeMail at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Atlanta hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort EyeMail ported their Audio/Video content to Windows Azure.
John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
(t) http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel
Fellow Office development enthusiast Frank Rice has posted a really great list of resources for Office developers. He’s got stuff on customizing the Office 2010 Backstage View, Office 64-bit as well and much more!!! Be sure to check out Frank’s blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/frice
I’ll be starting a video series on SharePoint 2010 and all the great new stuff in SharePoint in the coming weeks so be sure to watch for it if you are, or want to be, a SharePoint developer.
Developers got a sneak peak at Internet Explorer 9 at Professional Developers Conference (PDC09).
Steven Sinofsky, president of the Windows and Windows Live Division, shared an early look at some of the work under way on Internet Explorer 9, highlighting advancements in performance and interoperable standards, as well as advancements such as using DirectX to bring the full power of the PC to the Web experience.
In a blog posting, An Early Look At IE9 for Developers, the IE 9 team details some of the advances.
- Performance. Different sites – and different activities within the same site – place different loads and demands on the browser. The post details how each load is affecting the browser. “We’re looking at the performance characteristics of all the browser sub-systems as real-world sites use them. Our goal is to deliver better performance across the board for real-world sites, not just benchmarks,” writes Dean Hachamovitch, General Manager of the Internet Explorer team.
- Standards Support. Ultimately, we want to work with the community and W3C and other members of the working groups to define true validation test suites, like the one that we’re all working on together for CSS 2.1, for the standards that matter to developers. For example, this link tests one of the HTML5 storage APIs; some browsers (including IE8) support it today, while others don’t.
- Graphics Rendering. We’re changing IE to use the DirectX family of Windows APIs to enable many advances for web developers. The starting point is moving all graphics and text rendering from the CPU to the graphics card using Direct2D and DirectWrite.
Three videos on Channel 9 detail Microsoft commitment to Internet Explorer:
Bruce D. Kyle
ISV Architect Evangelist | Microsoft Corporation
Video Link - ChasingSavings.com adopts the Windows Azure Platform to meet the needs of their growing business
Larry Gregory talked to David Bailey, Jessie Hill from ChasingSavings.com at a recent Microsoft BizSpark Incubation Week in Atlanta hosted by Sanjay Jain. With a few days of design and development effort ChasingSavings.com ported their hosted application to Windows Azure.
John O'Donnell
Microsoft Dynamics ISV Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/jodonnell
(b) http://blogs.msdn.com/usisvde
(t) http://www.twitter.com/jodonnel
