The Developer & Platform Group at Microsoft are pleased to announce a series of technical briefings, targeted at ISVs and Start-ups, focused on the cloud based Azure Services Platform, first announced at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference in Los Angeles in October 2008. This event will cover:

·        Windows Azure – The operating system for the Cloud

·        .Net and Live Services – Mesh, Service Bus, Access Control and Workflow.

·        SQL Data Services and data access

·        Next Steps

The briefings will consist of technical discussion, demos and interactive discussion and will focus on how Azure can be used as a platform for development. The sessions will be small, typically less than 25, to keep the flow of conversation going, and are suitable for Technical Decision Makers, Application Architects, Senior Developers and CTOs. There will be time after the event for more detailed one to one discussions on any topics related to this session.

For more information about Azure, please visit http://www.azure.com/  

For any questions about the event and its format and content, please email ukdev AT microsoft.com

Dates

20 January 2009, Reading:

22 January 2009, London:

The KickStart courses have been so popular with partners, we’ve scheduled even more dates to meet the demand. Make sure you forward this email to your partners and ensure they book on. Feedback from previous courses showed 100% of the attendees were satisfied and benefitted from investing the time to attend:

“I could have done with this course 12-18 months ago when we first became a gold partner!” Alliance Systems, MBS Gold Partner.

“A very informative and worthwhile training event...I found it extremely useful, making over 5 pages of notes” MidlandHR, Certified Partner

The half-day course covers the following:

Using the Partner Portal

Navigating the Partner Membership Centre

Managing Your Competency Information

Making the most of your Programme Benefits

How to find Information more Easily

Ask the Expert

Renewals Clinic

Given that the start of the year is our peak renewals time we have also plan to support your Partners by combining the Kick Start sessions with an opportunity to provide individual renewals support and guidance, the Kick Start + Renewals clinics training provide the opportunity for your Partners to talk through any renewal questions directly with the MSPP UK team. They will be able to log into your Partners account and help resolve any issues, along with explaining the process. The renewals clinic will run immediately after the Kickstart course, so encourage your Partners to come along to learn more about MSPP and get the support they need.

Visit www.microsoft.com/uk/partner/kickstart for further details and to register

Intended Audience:

Key partner dedicated administrators/partner managers within the business.  Any other personnel who would like to be trained up on the tools and resources we offer on our partner sites, and the renewals process. All content will be aimed at Certified and Gold Certified partner levels.

Training Dates for 2008:

• 21st January 2009, 9:30am, Microsoft Edinburgh
• 28th January 2009, 9:30am, TVP, Reading
• 26th February 2009, 9:30am, TVP, Reading
• 24th March 2009, 9:30am, TVP, Reading

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