http://mssalesdemos.com now includes a demo machine for SQL Server 2012. This includes the Telco demo that was present in the BI X demo machine as well as new demos on SQL Server 2012 functionality. There's a set of demos on PowerPivot, including the...

If you're a Microsoft partner and you've tried to find training courses and online learning offered by us, you'll probably be familiar with the joys of the Partner Learning Center. The Partner Learning Center stores information on what sometimes feels...

I've been playing around with Power View (formerly codename Project Crescent). I started with a simple PowerPivot file I'd created to analyse the transactions of a small dog grooming salon (I wanted something different from the usual Contoso demos). It...

I'm organising an event in Microsoft's London office on 5th December. The name of the event is SharePoint: The Bigger Picture and the aim is to talk to partners who do some work with SharePoint but who aren't taking advantage of all the capabilities....

These guys at SQL PASS presented on using Kinect to interact with SQL. Create databases by raising your arms. Delete databases by kicking them away. Back up databases by bringing your arms back. Awesome!

SQL Server 2008 R2 comes with a lot of features and functionality. Even the Standard version has a long list of capabilities to set DBAs drooling. But then there’s the Enterprise version. A question that comes up, more often than we’d like...

Like a lot of people around the world, I've been watching the Build Keynote . During this opening of the Build Conference, Steven Sinofsky presented about the upcoming Windows 8 and there were a lot of demos. The first lot of demos focused on the new...

SQL Server codename Denali is in beta and the third preview has been available for a little while, which is great if you have the time and inclination to install, configure and run Denali for yourself. If you want to make use of a demo machine that someone...

Registration is open for the 9th SQL Bits, this time being held in Liverpool. The conference runs from 29th September to 1st October and includes some top speakers talking all things SQL Server. Find out more or register here: http://www.sqlbits.com...

There is a new Product Guide available for SQL Server Codename Denali, the next version of SQL Server. This product guide includes PowerPoint decks, technical whitepapers, datasheets, demonstrations and more. If you want to see what's coming in the...

There is a new training offering for partners on Business Intelligence. The Practice Accelerator is a technical learning offering, delivered in a series of webinars over 4 days, giving 16 hours of online training in total. As well as this, the offering...

BI is a big opportunity for partners. Gartner recently released analysis of the BI market and found that spending on BI and analytics software had increased by 13.4 per cent in 2010. This is a huge jump, particularly considering the tight budgets worldwide...

This isn’t nearly as common a myth as some of the others I’ve described so far in this series. Compared to most of the big players in this space, SQL Server is very low priced. The list prices for our competitors in this space tend to be about...

In terms of big customers, Microsoft have been playing catch up with regard to databases. Some of our competitors have had a much stronger foothold into the enterprise space, with huge deployments in huge customers. That’s probably where this myth...

This is a myth that Microsoft have been fighting against for years. Some bad history has left us with a reputation that we’ve been struggling to overcome ever since. To get over this history, Microsoft have come up with procedures around security...

I started this series of posts talking about scalability and now I’ll talk about reliability. This is another IT term that might have different meanings to different people. For the sake of this post, I’ll assume that reliability means that...

There are some stories and myths around SQL Server. Like a lot of myths, these stories may have some origins in truth, but that doesn’t mean they are true now. This series of blog posts will address some of the key myths and give you the facts around...

Yesterday, I received my advanced copy of the new edition of Designing Electronic Forms for SharePoint and InfoPath. This is a 1000 page book which does exactly what the title suggests. It's a guide on how to use InfoPath to design electronic forms, both...

The Escher museum Exploring the Hague Toasting stuff over the fire. Unfortunately, we've got to come home tomorrow.

Playing board games until 2am. Exploring Delft by canoe. Translating the menu. Exploring by foot. On the train to Amsterdam for Queensday. Funfair in front of the palace. Starting to get busy. ...

Hacking is tiring work. Coding with chords. Hacking the bike. Playing with rafts again. It was bound to happen sooner or later. The bike hack in action. Prizes for the hacks - including wedding China

Playing on the assault course. Spotting a suspiciously familiar building at the university (it looks very much like the Central Hall where I went to uni - just stretched) The view from the tallest building in Delft. Geeks in...

Checking in at every station between St Pancras and Delft The girls' room. The smallest of the rooms and we still have two beds each. We discovered why this was a geek camp and not a jock camp. Apart from Mel, who scored five times....

This demo shows how to create and edit a custom Document Information Panel for SharePoint documents using InfoPath 2010. It also shows how to filter drop down lists so that a second list displays different values based on those selected in the first.

The Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2011 is open for registration. This is a major Microsoft event allowing experts to share their experience and knowledge. Sessions will range from the high level business presentations to deeply technical discussions...