TechDays is the technical event in Belgium that you should attend.

On March 30, you can participate in one of the four pre-conference tracks, while on March 31st and April 1st, TechDays will bring over 70 technical sessions divided in different tracks and delivered by some well-known industry experts.

Register before 29 January and get the Early Bird discounted pricing…

Pre-conferences:

Microsoft BI solutions delivered by Rafal Luckawiecki

• The Big Picture of Business Intelligence: Goals, Concepts, and the Platform
• The Knowledge Worker’s Perspective: Self-Service of BI
• The IT Perspective: Data Warehousing, Management, and Analytical Structures
• The Analyst’s Perspective: Ad-hoc Analysis with Microsoft PowerPivot and Office 2010 Excel

Exchange 2010 delivered by Ilse Van Criekinge and Scott Schnoll

• Exchange 2010 Client Side: What’s new talking about Client Access?
• Exchange High Availability
• Managing Exchange 2010
• Exchange Performance/Scalability

Visual Studio 2010 and .NET Framework 4.0

SharePoint 2010 Development

Find more details on sessions and agenda here!

Next to learning there is also the networking aspect of this conference. We give you the opportunity to connect with Product Managers from Redmond, meet your peers, talk to our user groups and much more. The names of confirmed speakers include Bart De Smet, Rafal Luckawiecki, Scott Schnoll, Bryon Surace, John Craddock, Rhonda Layfield, Ilse Van Criekinge and many more.

Get up to speed with the newest Microsoft technologies for developers like Visual Studio 2010, .NET Framework 4, Silverlight 4, SharePoint 2010, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 as well as ForeFront and System Center.

Get Ready sessions are 1 day level 200-300 technical trainings given by top level speakers, generally acknowledged as experts in their field.

The sessions are hosted by Microsoft Certified Partners Learning Solutions (CPLS), warranting a high quality learning experience for the trainees. The participating training centers are Devoteam/Guidance, Global Knowledge, InfoSupport, Ordina and U2U.

For the latest updates and session dates, please visit the MSDN Get Ready pages or the TechNet Get Ready pages.

Here is a brief (incomplete) overview of upcoming sessions:

• Windows 7 & Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (Guidance) – 19 Feb
• Windows Server 2008 R2, Hyper-V, System Center Virtual Machine Manager, … (Guidance) – 24 Feb
• Windows Server 2008 R2 (Global Knowledge) – 26 Feb
• Silverlight 4 and WPF 4 (Ordina) – 1 Mar
• Visual Studio 2010 ALM (Ordina) – 2 Mar
• ForeFront Stirling (Info Support) – 4 Mar
• Exchange 2010 (Global Knowledge) – 12 Mar
• SQL Server 2008 R2 Infrastructure (Info Support) – 16 Mar
• SharePoint 2010 (U2U) – 23 Apr
• and many more…

Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010 provides a unified IT management solution that enables you to simply and efficiently perform complex management tasks across virtual and physical servers, PCs, hardware, software and IT services from a single console. Download the Release Candidate version of System Center Essentials 2010.

Microsoft System Center Essentials 2010:

• Delivers single console monitoring and management with summary information, common tasks, alerts and reports, allowing you to quickly see and manage your IT environment.
• Provides rapid provisioning, importation, management and live migration of virtual servers.
• Simplifies complex management tasks like packaging and deploying software, and configuring Microsoft and third-party updates.
• Helps quickly solve problems using integrated alerting, expert knowledge and troubleshooting for servers, PCs and IT services running in your IT environment.

At the end of last year, ZDNet Australia posted a review of System Center Essentials 2010 Beta 1.

Impressive list of links on Microsoft unified communications. Collected by Dirk Gullentops. Thx. Dirk.

OCS 2007 R2 Homepage (incl How to buy) :

http://www.microsoft.com/communicationsserver/en/us/default.aspx

OCS 2007 R2 Glossary of Telephony Terms :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd819979(office.13).aspx

OCS 2007 R2 Workload Architecture Poster :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=af2c17cb-207c-4c52-8811-0aca6dfadc94

OCS 2007 R2 Technical Reference :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd572433(office.13).aspx

10 Predictions for UC in 2009 (Gurdeep Singh Pall) :

http://blogs.technet.com/uc/archive/2009/01/06/ten-predictions-for-uc-in-2009.aspx

http://www.nojitter.com/blog/archives/2009/01/microsoft_gurde.html

http://www.technotesblog.com/?p=24

PartnerNet Unified Communications :

https://partner.microsoft.com/global/program/competencies/msppunifiedcommunications

UC Program Membership : https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40029082

OCS Products & Solutions : https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40043916

UC FastStart Saleskit : https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40046284

UC Business Value Tool BVT v4 : https://partner.microsoft.com/global/40068903

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 How To (tutorials) :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=aba240af-b5ba-4e14-bc12-c98eae1f6d15

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Tools & Clients (download) :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/ocs/bb629431.aspx

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Documentation :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd440724(office.13).aspx

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Documentation (download) :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E9F86F96-AA09-4DCA-9088-F64B4F01C703&displaylang=en

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Resource Kit (MS Press) :

http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/book.aspx?ID=13113&locale=en-us

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Resource Kit Tools (download) :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9E79A236-C0DF-4A72-ABA6-9A9602A93ED0&displaylang=en

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=9e79a236-c0df-4a72-aba6-9a9602a93ed0

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 PreCallDiagnostics Resource Kit Tools :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F16AB4C2-353F-4C9B-B353-22A656C03C9B&displaylang=en

TechNet : UC Open Interoperability Program (OIP) :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/office/bb735838.aspx

TechNet : Phones and Deviced Optimized for Office Communicator :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/bb970310.aspx

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Planning Tool (download) :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=FDF32585-C131-4832-8E27-67E70636C1E8&displaylang=en

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Capacity Planning Tool (download) :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=F8CBDDD6-7608-4BBE-9246-16E96C62BEF4&displaylang=en

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Edge Planning Tool (download) :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=EC4B960C-3FE2-41BD-ABDF-AE89CFCB8C6C&displaylang=en

TechNet : OCS 2007 R2 Best Practices Analyzer (BPA) (download) :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1B90993C-072A-4C84-B385-B76D23B2F27C&displaylang=en

Client Virtualisation (Terminal Services, Citrix) :

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/951152

Server Virtualisation (Hyper-V, VMWare) (download) :

http://blogs.technet.com/ucedsg/archive/2009/05/13/ocs-2007-r2-virtualization-announcement.aspx

and

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0A45D921-3B48-44E4-B42B-19704A2B81B0&displaylang=en

www.startready.com

Integrating Voice with OCS 2007 R2 (download) :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=8CDE0C3A-042E-445B-A514-2D12ED5B2AC2&displaylang=en

Jochen Kunert - Voice scenario's with OCS :

http://blogs.technet.com/jkunert/archive/2008/07/30/voice-scenarios-with-ocs-2007.aspx

How Presence Powers OCS 2007 : Rajesh Ramanathan

http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-be/magazine/2008.02.ocsim(en-us).aspx

How Voice Powers OCS 2007 : Rajesh Ramanathan

http://technet.microsoft.com/nl-be/magazine/2008.07.ocs(en-us).aspx

How RCC Powers OCS 2007 R2 : Rajesh Ramanathan

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.03.rcc.aspx

How Voice Conferencing Powers OCS 2007 R2 : Rajesh Ramanathan

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2009.04.ocs.aspx?pr=blog

OCS 2007 Remote Connectivity Analyzer :

https://www.testocsconnectivity.com/default.aspx

Exchange 2007 Remote Connectivity Analyzer :

https://www.testexchangeconnectivity.com/

TechNet : Exchange 2007 UM via Media Gateway or IP-PBX :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc411323.aspx

OCS 2007 Audio Media Negotiation :

http://www.shudnow.net/2009/08/29/office-communications-server-2007-r2-audiomedia-negotiation/

Remote Access Configuration Guide for OCS 2007 R1/R2 :

http://cid-b6d0e1f9969eb052.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public/OCS2007R2EdgeConfigGuide

NATing of the Edge Server :

http://blogs.technet.com/rickva/archive/2009/04/03/Configuring-A_2F00_V-Edge-Service-for-NAT.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/rickva/archive/2009/04/09/ocs-2007-r1-r2-remote-access-configuration-guide.aspx

http://www.shudnow.net/2009/01/05/office-communications-server-2007-r2-enterprise-deployment-part-1/

OCS 2007 R2 Client Group Policy Documentation :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=5d6f4b90-6980-430b-9f97-ffadbc07b7a9&displaylang=en

OCS 2007 Enhanced Presence :

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=DF0BA247-3884-43C7-A1E1-791D64B8BFA8&displaylang=en

http://blogs.technet.com/jenstr/archive/2008/02/20/driving-presence-from-outlook-calendar-information.aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637122(office.13).aspx

3rd Party Integrations with OCS 2007 :

http://www.evangelyze.net

http://www.wortell.nl

http://www.bednet.be

SIP Processing Language :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb632061.aspx

OCS 2007 R2 Front End Script :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd572358(office.13).aspx

LCS 2005 Front End Script :

http://downloads.zdnet.com/thankyou.aspx?&tag=content;col1&docid=793823&view=793823&load=1&regSrc=dwld&authId=ZrFM8LKGisW0cIQzNmeRwz6eUnU8m4ip+Ka/EMsagQEkleMi1i4MYWebpj7cZp3D

OCS 2007 R2 SDK :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd146567(office.13).aspx

MSDN :

MSDN Libary :

MSDN OCS 2007 R2 : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb187367.aspx

MSDN Communicator 2007 R2 : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb187369.aspx

Office Communications Developer Center :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-be/office/aa905773(en-us).aspx

UC Developer Center :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-be/office/aa905374(en-us).aspx

UC Downloads :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-be/office/cc718982(en-us).aspx

UC SDKs :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-be/office/bb891953(en-us).aspx

UC Software :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-be/office/bb891952(en-us).aspx

UC Support :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-be/office/dd326838(en-us).aspx

UC Virtual Labs :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-be/office/bb986639(en-us).aspx

UC Webcasts :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/nl-be/office/bb932310(en-us).aspx

Non-DID deployments : Line URI; ext=

http://blogs.technet.com/jenstr/archive/2008/01/29/how-to-implement-enterprise-voice-in-a-non-did-scenario.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/jkunert/archive/2008/08/19/ocs-2007-dialplan-using-non-did-numbers.aspx

Exchange UM Auto Attendant :

http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2007/management-administration/managing-unified-messaging-auto-attendant-part1.html

http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2007/management-administration/managing-unified-messaging-auto-attendant-part2.html

http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2007/management-administration/managing-unified-messaging-auto-attendant-part3.html

http://www.msexchange.org/articles-tutorials/exchange-server-2007/management-administration/managing-unified-messaging-auto-attendant-part4.html

Import-Export Addres Book Contact Lists : DBIMPEXP.EXE

http://blog.insideocs.com/2009/07/06/importing-and-exporting-ocs-user-contacts/

Roundtable Management Tool :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637163(office.13).aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=a3089fa8-72fc-4f11-b81d-87f0d09a3a9a&displaylang=en

>Support on Windows XP !

OC/LM Client Group Policy and Registry Settings :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637155(office.13).aspx

GPO :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637120(office.13).aspx

Registry :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd637135(office.13).aspx

OCS R2 information on TechNet :

Main Page :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd440724(office.13).aspx

Internal Network Topologies :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd425287(office.13).aspx

Perimeter Network Topologies :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd425171(office.13).aspx

Server HW Specifications :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd572817(office.13).aspx

Capacity Planning :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd425159(office.13).aspx

Server Co-location :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd425201(office.13).aspx

(Beta : http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc816173.aspx)

Server Virtualisation :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd572860(office.13).aspx

Ports & Protocols :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd425238(office.13).aspx

Firewall :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd572754(office.13).aspx

External User Access :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd425160(office.13).aspx

Firewall for External users :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd441361(office.13).aspx

Windows Server :

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd572589(office.13).aspx

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd572378(office.13).aspx

Microsoft Certifications validate your training and knowledge on different products and technologies. The Second Shot program is back and provides you with a free retake if you fail first time at a Microsoft Certification exam.

Terms and Conditions apply and you must take both the first and second exam before June 30, 2010.