Even though Office and SharePoint 2010 haven’t been released yet, there are a number of Canadian companies piloting early adopter projects using the beta applications to enhance corporate collaboration, enable management of content and use business intelligence to drive better company decisions. And there are a number of Microsoft Partners helping them design, plan, pilot and deploy these solutions.

On the AlignIT cross-Canada tour, Damir and I were joined by local Microsoft partners in 7 of the 8 cities we visited and took the opportunity to showcase their expertise and the SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 client projects they’re working on. In addition, we recorded the Q&A discussions where a panel of partners plus a few Microsofties took questions from the audience.

Below are links to the recordings from each city along with an outline of the topics covered. Each recording is between 20 – 30 minutes long. Have a listen!

Halifax

Unfortunately, we didn’t think to record the Q&A sessions until after our Halifax stop. However, these are the local partners that joined us and shared their expertise with the audience.

Partners:

Panelists:

Fred Yeomans, T4G
Amanda Perran, InfoTech

Winnipeg

Click to download MP3 (20 min)

During this Q&A session, we cover the following topics:

Release date for Visual Studio 2010
Cutting and pasting from a document that has been made into a record
SharePoint security and Active Directory – how documents secured and managed
The framework used for Imaginet’s records management project with Manitoba Hydro
The infrastructure for the Manitoba Hydro project
New advancements in SharePoint & Office 2010: the ribbon interface, multiple Exchange accounts in Outlook, SharePoint integration with Visual Studio 2010, Silverlight development with SharePoint, the Outlook social connector
Options to evaluate SharePoint 2010
Pricing & licensing for SharePoint 2010

Partner:

Panelists:

David Wood, Imaginet
Damir Bersinic, Microsoft
Jason Brommet, Microsoft
Moderator: Ruth Morton, Microsoft

Calgary

Click to download MP3 (18 min)

During this Q&A session, we cover the following topics:

Bug tracking software solutions
Using Office Communications Server in conjunction with old phone systems
Scheduling document change notifications for users in SharePoint
Release dates for SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010
What people are excited about with the 2010 products: Silverlight applications and VS2010 integration, updated Web Parts, document search, ribbon interface, new logging features in SharePoint 2010, social enterprise features, fast search capabilities
SharePoint 2010 sandbox functionality
Browser support for SharePoint and Silverlight
Functionality and compatibility with earlier versions of Office
Compatibility view for determining best upgrade path

Partners:

Panelists:

David Wood, Imaginet
Jason McIntyre, Habanero Consulting Group
Ron De Giusti, KnowledgeTech
Jason Brommet, Microsoft
Damir Bersinic, Microsoft
Moderator: Ruth Morton, Microsoft

Vancouver

Click to download MP3 (22 min)

During this Q&A session, we cover the following topics:

What about SharePoint 2010 and Office 2010 is most compelling for organizations: enterprise social networking, merging of business needs with IT needs, self-service environment, use of Office as familiar front-end to SharePoint capabilities
How Branch Cache works with SharePoint server
Migrating capabilities to move from SharePoint 2007 to SharePoint 2010
The availability of Office 2010 Web Apps as a cloud service
Sandboxing for SharePoint
Faxing capabilities in Office Communications Server
Release dates
Options for auto-tagging documents
The future of ProClarity (PerformancePoint) in SharePoint
Access services in SharePoint 2010
Workflows
Office document version compatibility moving from Office 2003 to Office 2010
Collaborative co-authoring of documents

Partners:

Panelists:

Brian Edwards, Habanero Consulting Group
Richard Kunz, T4G
Shaun Roberts, Softlanding Network Solutions
Jason Brommet, Microsoft
Moderator: Ruth Morton, Microsoft

Ottawa

Click to download MP3 (25 min)

During this Q&A session, we cover the following topics:

Multi-lingual user interface in SharePoint 2010 and the differences with SharePoint 2007
Roadmap for Silverlight with regards to HTML5
Backend infrastructure needed to support PowerPivot
SharePoint 2007 migration to SharePoint 2010
Document management systems and integrating LiveLink with SharePoint
What organizations need to think about before jumping into an business productivity implementation project
Product release dates
Upgrade path from beta to release product
Ways to control where documents are being stored by end users
Advances in SharePoint 2010 development such as the integration with Visual Studio 2010

Partner:

Panelists:

Mike Maadarani, Orangutech
Damir Bersinic, Microsoft
Matt Wolodarsky, Microsoft
Moderator: Ruth Morton, Microsoft

Montreal

Click to download MP3 (19 min)

In Montreal, we didn’t have the opportunity to have local partners join us, however, we did have a lively Q&A panel session with Matt and Damir. In this Q&A session, we cover the following topics:

Incorporating live data into documents
Communication methods using notes in SharePoint 2010
Best practises for incorporating the different capabilities
How to incorporate users that are mobile or remote (for example, at customer sites)
Project management processes that Project Server 2010 supports
The future of business productivity technology
Licensing for Office Web Apps
Workflow design
Hidden games or Easter eggs in Office 2010
Accessing Access databases simultaneously

Panelists:

Damir Bersinic, Microsoft
Matt Wolodarsky, Microsoft
Moderator: Ruth Morton, Microsoft

Mississauga

[updated April 19, 2010 with recording and discussion details]

Click to download MP3 (30 min)

During this Q&A session, we cover the following topics:

The search-ability of SharePoint notes and other social aspects
What happens when you make changes to files marked as records
Using SharePoint and file shares at the same time and how to manage documents in that situation
Advice for organizations looking to start a business productivity platform
How quickly you can see benefits from a document management solution
How IT can influence top-down executive buy-in
What can be done to make BI implementation projects effective
Creating triggers in process workflows
The opportunities for small businesses
Out of the box capabilities for auditing for corporate compliance requirements
Co-authoring and other capabilities with older versions of the Office clients

Partners:

Panelists:

Rob Munro, T4G Limited
Hugo Bernier, NetDexterity
Peter Carson, Envision IT
Jason Brommet, Microsoft
David Remmer, Microsoft
Moderator: Ruth Morton, Microsoft

Markham

Click to download MP3 (30 min)

During this Q&A session, we cover the following topics:

Global file type standards
Business intelligence technology compatibility and integration
GreatPlains integration with SharePoint
What capabilities are included in SharePoint Foundation (previously called WSS) and what is included in full blown SharePoint
The migration path to SharePoint 2010
Integration of Dymanics CRM and SharePoint
Why customers are looking at using SharePoint 2010: integration with Office Web Apps, future business needs, being able to work at home, better blogging and my sites integration, search capabilities
Business Connectivity Services and Excel Services
The future of BizTalk
Cloud computing services from Microsoft

Partners:

Panelists:

Greg Larnder, Compugen
Shannon Ryan, non-linear creations
Richard Carson, Concept Interactive Inc
David Remmer, Microsoft
Moderator: Damir Bersinic, Microsoft

For additional AlignIT tour resources including the presentation slides and other supplemental materials, check out www.microsoft.ca/alignitresources.