Doug McBlog - Doug McCutcheons blog

Looking forward to seeing you at the Ignite Plus tomorrow

Doug McCutcheon at Microsoft — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 01:45:51 GMT

The rooms are set, the coffees is ready for brewing. Looking forward to meeting you, if you are attending the Ignite Plus partner readiness event tomorrow, 22nd January 2013. We have lots of great sales & technical sessions for you to attend.

Ignite Plus agenda

New Year, New Challenges and an Invitation to see the future–Farewell Project , Hello Office 365 (which soon includes Project)

Doug McCutcheon at Microsoft — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:24:00 GMT

Firstly Happy New Year to those who celebrate off the Gregorian calendar.

I am excited to be back on this blog in a new role, I am now looking after Microsoft's all up Office 365 enterprise partnerships, strategy, programs and enablement covering marketing, services & sales.

I will be offering an invitation to join and come and learn about the next new Office 365 services to offered to our customers.

This blog will be dedicated to Microsoft enterprise partners seeking to exploit the great new opportunities presented with the Office 365 services.

Having developed the new Project Online business strategy and service offering over the last 3 years, which can currently be seen under customer preview, I have heard first hand the worldwide enthusiasm by customers for this and the other Office 365 services. This evidence for this continues as customers move their business to Office 365 services today.

So what about partners? In Office 365 it is should be no surprise that Microsoft continues is commitment to partners and the development of partner based business models. It came as a great learning to me, when joining Microsoft in a sales role. how critical partners are to Microsoft's success (and my personal quota).

Jon Roskill best summarized the crucial role and business relationship partners hold with Microsoft at the Worldwide Partner Conference 2011.

“ We enable partners. Every one of those platforms enables profitable partner business models, and we are the only company out there that does this while generating 95 percent of our revenue with and through partners. 95 percent plus…”. Jon Roskill , Corporate Vice President, Worldwide Partner Group

So how to jump start an understanding of the new Office 365 services from a sales and technology perspective? Come join us at Ignite Plus for the latest sales and technical readiness training.

Invitation for Ignite Plus

Technical and sales readiness topics on the agenda will include

IGNITE - Get Ready for the next Office 365 Overviews	PLUS - Grow your business with the new Office	PLUS - Understand the new Office
Office 365 for I.T. Pros	Partnering with Microsoft	The New Office
Identity and Access Management	Understand the Microsoft Office 365 Sales Process	The New Office Web Apps
Exchange Online	Winning in a competitive services market place	Project Online
Migrating to Office 365	The Customer Immersion Experience, a selling tool	Visio
Exchange Online Protection	Understand and optimize for the Microsoft Sales Organization	Office Telemetry and application compatibility
Lync Online	Solution Selling, how Microsoft does it	Office 365 Pro Plus
Data Loss Prevention	How to run an O365 Proof of Concept	The new opportunities for developers and custom apps
Business Intelligence	Helping customers with their regulatory compliance (invitation only)
SharePoint Online	How we joint sell with partners to our large customers
Yammer	Understand the advantage of becoming a Cloud Deployment Partner
Archiving & E-Discovery	Learn about the dedicate partner investments for you

So to finish where next?

“And we have a lot of work left to do, we Microsoft and we together, with our 640,000 partners around the globe, but there's no question the path is clear and inevitable. There's no question that Microsoft has chosen to embrace that path together with all of you, and there's no question that we still have more to do to develop the mutual opportunities in the cloud.” – Steve Ballmer, Worldwide Partner Conference 2010

Changes afoot

Doug McCutcheon at Microsoft — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:23:47 GMT

Hi there,

Doug McBlog will be going quiet for a little as the author changes role. In the meantime , I can recommend the following blog.

Microsoft Project main blog

http://blogs.office.com/b/project/

Project Online, Project Server 2013, the new Project TechEd Slides

Christophe Fiessinger — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 11:03:05 GMT

Getting access to the new Project slides is in hot demand these days and voila! (see expect a lot more in the future…) http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Australia/2012/OSP216 Microsoft Project Online Overview http://channel9.msdn.com/Events...(read more)

Project Server 2007 Mainstream Support Ends on October 9, 2012 UPGRADE TODAY!

Christophe Fiessinger — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 09:35:29 GMT

Dear community, important reminder that the Project Server 2007 mainstream support ends in a few days on October 9th 2012 to be precise! See for yourself on the official Microsoft Product Lifecycle site: http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/search/default...(read more)

Recent content about the new Project, Project Online, Project Professional, Project Server

Christophe Fiessinger — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 01:40:46 GMT

Following recent webcasts, sessions and articles during the past month about The new Microsoft Project please find key content I’ve noticed. If I’ve missed any please let me know and I will gladly add to this list. In the meantime happy reading and watching...(read more)

Register to Project Ignite Training to Ready Yourselves to the new Microsoft Project!

Christophe Fiessinger — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 19:20:46 GMT

As announced by my colleague Jan Kalis: Don’t miss the unique opportunity – register for the new Project Ignite now! we have a great 3 day agenda for you at three locations (Sydney, Australia; Reston, Virginia, USA and Warsaw, Poland) in the coming month...(read more)

Visual Studio 2012 and Team Foundation Server 2012: Hello World!

Christophe Fiessinger — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 01:08:56 GMT

As announced last week: Visual Studio 2012 released to the web! Start your download today of Visual Studio 2012 and Team Foundation Server 2012 (see this post Team Foundation Server 2012 and Project Server 2010 Integration ). What to learn what’s new...(read more)

See you in Australia for Tech.Ed and Project Server 2013 Ignite training next September

Christophe Fiessinger — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 06:49:20 GMT

I’m looking forward to see many of you next month at Tech.Ed Australia #auteched, September 11-14 on the Gold Coast and at the next Project Ignite training in Sydney September 18-20. First Brad Purdy and I will be delivering my favorite topic these days...(read more)

Team Foundation Server 2012 and Project Server 2010 Integration

Christophe Fiessinger — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 16:27:15 GMT

Following last week’s RTM announcements for Windows 8 and Visual Studio 2012 I have been upgrading a few PCs including one of my favorite demo virtual machine: Visual Studio Team Foundation Server 2010 and Project Server 2010 Demo Virtual Machine (patience...(read more)

London 2012 Timeline

Christophe Fiessinger — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 22:29:10 GMT

Have you leveraged Project Online and the new timeline sync capabilities yet? Try it today. See this for more information: Project Online: In the cloud with Office 365! ...read more...(read more)

Hello World, Hello The new Microsoft Project

Christophe Fiessinger — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 06:19:45 GMT

Following a week of staged announcements (and in case you missed it), we have disclosed the next version of your beloved project portfolio management (PPM) solution during the past week, a must read: The new Microsoft Project . It’s exciting to finally...(read more)

Microsoft Project & Project Server Presence at TechEd North America & Europe 2012

Christophe Fiessinger — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 23:57:34 GMT

Please find below a summary of the Microsoft Project and Project Server presence at both the upcoming Microsoft TechEd North America 2012 in Orlando June 11-14 and at Microsoft TechEd Europe 2012 in Amsterdam June 26-29. Beside sessions listed below,...(read more)

ANNOUNCING: Microsoft Project Server 2010 Burn & Forecast and Spend Report Solutions

Christophe Fiessinger — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:34:25 GMT

I am pleased to announced the release of two Microsoft Project Server 2010 reporting solutions on TechNet Gallery: Project Burn and Forecast Report and Project Spend Report . Both solutions can be deployed and tested with the Microsoft Project Server...(read more)

100 hours of free Microsoft PPM Content from customers, partners, MVPs and Microsoft!

Christophe Fiessinger — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:08:00 GMT

Following yesterday’s announcement on the main Microsoft Project blog: Microsoft Project Conference 2012 Session Recordings Are Live! please find below the full list of sessions (by code, presenter’s company and title). I have also attached...(read more)

Microsoft Project Server 2010 Demo VM with SP1 and April 2012 CU

Christophe Fiessinger — Mon, 07 May 2012 19:16:41 GMT

Now that Project Conference 2012 is behind, I’ve just deployed he recently released April 2012 Cumulative Update (see this post from Brian Smith: Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint Server 2007 and 2010 April 2012 CU Announcement ). I’ve put below...(read more)

Microsoft kicks off Project Conference 2012

Christophe Fiessinger — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:55:19 GMT

Following an awesome Project Conference 2012 (#mspc12) first day yesterday in Phoenix, please visit the Project Conference virtual press room. There are lots of great stories I’d like to share with you regarding this week, so please stay tune for...(read more)

From ARM to Windows 8, see Microsoft Project Server in action at Project Conference 2012 next week! #mspc12

Christophe Fiessinger — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:24:08 GMT

With less than a few days away, it’s hard to share my personal excitement for next week’s Microsoft Project Conference 2012 in Phoenix, Arizona. It’s been a busy past few weeks and days preparing for this event, and it’s now almost showtime! It will be...(read more)

Hello Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Christophe Fiessinger — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 14:56:54 GMT

Exciting day, a few links to get started: Microsoft Announces Availability of Windows 8 Consumer Preview (press announcement) Welcome to Windows 8 – The Consumer Preview (building Windows 8 blog) http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview...(read more)

IT Professionals and Developers Content at Project Conference 2012 #mspc12

Christophe Fiessinger — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 16:48:46 GMT

Following a recent discussion with a consultant, I wanted to re-iterate the quality, depth and number of technical session dedicated to IT Professionals and Developers at Microsoft Project Conference 2012 next month in Phoenix (March 19-22). One easy...(read more)

More than 100 Reasons To Attend Microsoft Project Conference 2012

Christophe Fiessinger — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:57:04 GMT

With less than a month away before the start of the Microsoft Project Conference 2012 (#MSPC12), March 19-22 in Phoenix Arizona, I wanted to take a moment and re-iterate why this is the event you cannot miss next month. As the all-up content owner for...(read more)

Microsoft Project Server 2010 and Dynamics CRM 2011 Integration

Christophe Fiessinger — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 07:40:30 GMT

I have seen a few questions recently in the Microsoft Project Server Forum and other in other social platform about the integration of Microsoft Project Server 2010 and Dynamics CRM 2011, and since I delivered a session on this topic at an event a few...(read more)

Upcoming Microsoft Project & Project Server Event Presence–March to July 2012

Christophe Fiessinger — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:21:17 GMT

Happy new year! Yes I’m sure you are all actively making travel arrangements to attend Microsoft Project Conference in Phoenix next march, specially after this key announcement today: Microsoft Project Conference 2012 Full Session List Announced! Since...(read more)

Microsoft Project Server 2010 Demo VM with SP1 and December 2011 CU

Christophe Fiessinger — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:18:29 GMT

Right before the holidays and following these two recent announcements from Jan Kalis: Project 2010 Demo Pack Version 2 NOW available to Microsoft Partners! and Brian Smith: Microsoft Project Server and SharePoint Server 2007 and 2010 December 2011 CU...(read more)

Microsoft Project Conference 2012: Free Instructor-Led Training Sessions, More Customer Sessions and the Wednesday Evening Event

Doug McCutcheon at Microsoft — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 17:35:29 GMT

Free Instructor-Led Project 2010 Training Sessions for Conference Attendees
We are excited to announce Instructor-led training sessions by our three validated training partners:

Milestone Consulting Group
Global leaders in providing Microsoft Enterprise Project Management (EPM) services, Milestone Consulting Group can help your organization gain visibility, insight and control across all work. With the launch of Project 2010, Milestone expanded their training offerings to include Microsoft’s Certification exams, had them validated by a third party, and made them available through your local software training center. Make plans now to attend Project Conference and deepen your knowledge on Project 2010 desktop and prepare yourself to take the Microsoft Project 70-178 exam.

MSProjectExperts
MSProjectExperts is a Microsoft Certified partner and the global leader in Microsoft Project 2010 and Microsoft Project Server 2010 training, courseware and reference books. MSProjectExperts maintains both the Gold Microsoft Project and Portfolio Management and Silver Microsoft Learning Systems competencies, a rare combination that certifies both its depth in Microsoft Project 2010 and Microsoft Project Server 2010 and its ability to deliver quality training, eligible for Microsoft Software Assurance training benefits.

The Versatile Company
The Versatile Company provides expertise in project management, Microsoft Project and Project Server, delivering training, consulting and Project Server deployment. Company founder Eric Verzuh is recognized worldwide for his bestselling book, The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management, the fourth edition which was just released last December. Sam Huffman, a Microsoft Project Most Valued Professional (MVP), will integrate proven best practices, industry standards, and hands-on learning to create high impact learning experiences.

We've got Over 110+ hours of Sessions!
We've added more content since our last blog post - more customer-led sessions! To recap, here are some content highlights over the three tracks (Business Value & Insights, Product Sessions, and Deployment, Administration & Developer):

19 customer-led sessions (representing 10 industry verticals) where customers share personal success stories using Microsoft Project and Portfolio
Management (PPM), and upgrading to the latest 2010 solutions from prior PPM versions and competitive solutions.
Project desktop best practices for scheduling, program management, Earned Value, and more.
Project Server best practices for Demand Management, Portfolio Analysis, Resource Management, Time Management, Business Intelligence, and more.
Key solutions overviews and case studies for Application
Lifecycle Management, Innovation Process Management, Product Lifecycle Management, Dynamics AX integration, ERP integration, and more.
Technical best practices for IT Professionals and Developers.

A full list of session titles and abstracts will be available in mid-January on the official conference website.

Wednesday Event at the Arizona Science Center
Spend an unforgettable evening at the Arizona Science Center! Take a trip to the stars in the state-of-the-art Dorrance Planetarium, soar high above the ground on the exhilarating Sky Cycle, climb your way to adventure on the Rock Wall, and immerse yourself in over 300 hands-on exhibits while nestled in the picturesque setting of Heritage and Science Park in historic downtown Phoenix. Do your own star-gazing on any of the beautifully situated terraces as you sip handmade specialty cocktails and dine on an array of mouth-watering gourmet fare all while you explore the wonderful world of science! This will be a fantastic venue to connect with other Project Conference attendees!

Tell us what excites you about the event on Twitter or facebook.