Azure & Cloud

  • Overview of the Windows Azure Marketplace DataMarket

    * * * * -

    Whether it is buying clothing, food, or software, consumers like the simplicity of the one-stop shopping experience. Product producers also benefit greatly by being a part of a community marketplace. These rules of commerce apply to data just as much as physical goods and mobile apps. The Windows Azure Marketplace DataMarket is the marketplace for data set distribution in the cloud. In this session we will explore the benefits of the marketplace and the cloud for distributing data. Next, we will review the features and capabilities of Azure DataMarket. We will then walkthrough subscribing to, consuming and paying for data from Azure DataMarket. And finally, we will explore what this means for data publishers and how you can get data into the Azure DataMarket.

    Level: 100

    Speaker: Eric Boyd

    Topics: Azure & Cloud, Database Development

  • Architecting for Massive Scalability

    * * * . - -

    The Cloud now makes seemingly infinite amounts of computing power accessible to everyone. However, to maximize this power, your applications need to scale. In this session, we will explore patterns that enable massive scalability. We will examine Brewer’s CAP Theorem and contrast it to the ACID principles that guide traditional LOB applications. And finally, we will explore how to apply these patterns when building applications for the Cloud using Windows Azure.

    Level: 300

    Speaker: Eric Boyd

    Topics: Architecture, Azure & Cloud

  • Consuming Data From Many Platforms: The Benefits of OData

    * * * * -

    The amount of data stored today is growing at a rapid rate. However, data is only valuable if it is accessible and can be consumed by people and systems. OData is an open protocol for sharing data that is positioned to solve this problem. OData uses the standard HTTP protocol using REST principles to make data accessible and has huge industry momentum with rapid adoption growth. In this session, we will explore what OData is all about and how to expose relational and non-relational data as OData using WCF Data Services. We will then walkthrough developing apps to consume the OData feeds from multiple clients including mobile devices. Finally, we will take a look at how you can benefit from using Azure to publish your data with OData services.

    Level: 200

    Speaker: Eric Boyd

    Topics: Azure & Cloud, WCF

  • Rock Paper Azure

    * * * * *

    Did you play Rock, Paper, Scissors as a kid? Does it still determine who makes the afternoon coffee run? Then you already know how to play the game. Now's your chance to code your own player "bot" and test your skills by taking the game to a whole new level in the Cloud. In this session we explore how the competition works and what you need to know to come out on top.

    Level: 100

    Speaker: Mike Benkovich

    Topics: Azure & Cloud

  • Exploring Scalability and Roles

    * * * * . -

    Handling a spike in demand or just ramping up for the end of the month demands that we are ready to scale up our processing capacity to meet that demand. Here we will take a look at how to plan for and design into our solutions the ability to scale out our systems. This last session explores multi-tenancy, message queues, worker roles and more to see how you can get the most out of your investment in the cloud.

    Level: 100

    Speaker: Mike Benkovich

    Topics: Azure & Cloud

  • Hello Azure

    * * * * *

    You’ve heard the buzz, now explore why the cloud is important and how you can take advantage of the elasticity, performance and availability offered by Windows Azure. This session will start by exploring how cloud computing will change the way developers build and deploy systems, the dive into the Windows Azure Platform and how it works, and wrap up with how to take your existing site and take it to the cloud. If you’re new to cloud computing this is a session for you!

    Level: 100

    Speaker: Mike Benkovich

    Topics: Azure & Cloud

  • Introducing Office 365

    * * * * . -

    Instead of having to worry about the plumbing, Office 365 gives IT the power to focus on the business, and the ability to scale up or down resource capacities based upon business demands. With a pay-just-for-what-you-use business model, IT won’t be wasting money on providing services you once thought you might need but never got around to using.  This session introduces you Office 365, Microsoft’s subscription-based online suite of it’s world-class business productivity suite: Exchange 2010, SharePoint 2010, Lync 2010, and Microsoft Office Professional Plus.

    Level: 100

    Speaker: Kevin Remde

    Topics: Azure & Cloud, Project Management

  • The Transformation of IT: From Virtualization to the Cloud

    * * * * *

    Cloud computing is emerging as a promising IT service delivery vehicle. For IT professionals and for the businesses they support, it is crucial to recognize the opportunities, and to play a key role in the transformation from existing infrastructure-focused IT into a more service-oriented, user-centric, and IT-as-a-Service environment. Are you ready for the challenge to lead and transform your IT organization? And will this mean a personal transformation in your job or career as well?

    Level: 100

    Speaker: Kevin Remde

    Topics: Azure & Cloud

  • Windows Phone and Windows Azure, Better Together

    * * * * -

    Microsoft is all in when it comes to the mobile and cloud computing markets. Windows Phone and Windows Azure are currently two of their biggest initiatives. In this session you'll learn how to bring these two platforms together by building Windows Phone 7 applications that are backed by scalable cloud components hosted in Windows Azure. This demo-focused session will cover the end-to-end experience and address how to tackle issues such as authentication, storage, notification, and data synchronization.

    Level: 200

    Speaker: Adam Grocholski

    Topics: Azure & Cloud, Windows Phone 7