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by Chris Day @ Fully Managed™ After a whirlwind week in Washington, DC for the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2010, here are a couple of the key takeaways from the event:
I was pretty close in my predictions for WPC 2010. Microsoft’s future is cloudy indeed, with virtually all product offerings within Microsoft becoming cloud-enabled. It was very clear that this paradigm shift to cloud computing is inevitable and Microsoft wasn’t shy in letting partners know that they better figure out how to integrate their businesses with the cloud. Did Steve Ballmer's head pop off? Nope, but he certainly made an appearance:
Last year’s WPC 2009 in New Orleans prepared me for the overall structure and scale of WPC 2010. Washington, DC was a great host city, but we’re looking forward to the recently announced WPC 2011 in Los Angeles, CA - much closer to home.
As a team, we were able to divide and conquer the massive Walter E Washington Convention Centre, splitting our focus between the business leadership, sales leadership and technical tracks. We spent a lot of time looking at the future of cloud services within the Microsoft product offerings, and we definitely saw a consistent theme that Microsoft software and the cloud are destined to be together and as a combined force providing phenomenal value to us as a consumer.
The relentless dinners, gatherings, parties, meeting & nights out were fantastic (read: exhausting!). We managed to meet and hang out with many of the great people behind Microsoft Canada, many of which are now good friends. For me, this alone made WPC 2010 worthwhile.
We were honored to be featured during the opening keynote speech by Allison Watson, which depicted Fully Managed™ as a progressive, energized organization embracing the cloud and seeing significant success with Microsoft Online Services and the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) in Canada. Throughout the week, many people approached me and remembered me from the big screen. This provided a great opportunity to meet interesting partners and Microsoft folks. Thanks Allison, Corinne Sharp & Rob King for the opportunity! Here's a quick snap captured from the audience:
It was an emotional time for Allison Watson as the outgoing Corporate VP for the Worldwide Partner Group for over 8 years. This year, Allison handed over the keys to Jon Roskill and took a lateral step to the US subsidiary. It’s going to take some time for Jon to get up to speed and manage the group as passionately as Allison can. While this should be a good career move for Allison, it was certainly an emotional hand-off and I for one am sad to see her go.
I was lucky enough to participate as a speaker for an interactive session called “Winning the Cloud” with Thomas Rizzo (Microsoft), Martin Bald (Microsoft) & Domnick Parretta (Valorem Consulting). The session focused on providing other Microsoft partners across the globe answers with answers to questions on how to build a successful cloud practice. Based on the reviews, the session was a great success and I thank Microsoft for the opportunity.
My favorite keynote hands down was Kevin Turner’s presentation (not yet posted), specifically Microsoft as a competitive force in the marketplace. Kevin’s presentation gave me a lot of hope and energy knowing that Microsoft is not only moving in the right direction but truly worth betting on. I also thoroughly enjoyed Corporate VP Brad Brooks' presentation and discussion on the Personal Cloud - the idea that all the devices we work on can be part of our Personal Cloud. Take a photo on your Windows Phone 7, open up your laptop at home and the photos are “just there”. Bring it on! At a time when Apple is struggling with the release of their iPhone 4, I can’t help but smirk in anticipation of Windows Phone 7 coming later this year as a true competitor to Blackberry & iPhone smart phones (more choice for the consumer!).
Overall, we couldn't have been more pleased with direction Microsoft is headed. We're confident in the vision, and ready to make this next year one to remember. We also look forward to WPC 2011 in Los Angeles with great anticipation. What will be the hot topic next year? Probably Cloud "2.0", whatever that is! You heard it here first.
