While I was at MIX10 last month, I was interviewed by some various Microsoft folks. In these interviews I discussed building community around Microsoft’s cloud platform, specifically Windows Azure and Project Thor. The first interview with Social Wendy is up. You can view it below or check it out on Vimeo.
I just wanted to make you aware of the meetings planned for the Twin Cities Cloud Computing User Group for the next 4 months. These are some great topics and speakers that you’re not going to want to miss.
April 8, 2010
Dynamics CRM Online
Presented by Shikhar Agarwal, Sogeti
Register here
May 13, 2010
Custom Applications and SharePoint Online
Presented by Frank Shink, Magenic
Register here
June 10, 2010
SQL Azure
Presented by Mike Benkovich, Microsoft
Register here
July 8, 2010
Azure Storage
Presented by Brent Stineman, Sogeti
Register here
Hope to see you there!
I’m going to be speaking on Azure Deployment and Maintenance at the Twin Cities Cloud Computing User Group on February 11th. Here’s the abstract for the session:
So, you’ve created your first Azure application. Now what? In this session Adam Grocholski joins us to to help walk us through moving our Azure applications from our local development environments to the cloud. Areas to be discussed include:
You can register for the session here.
Hope to see you there!
Tonight I gave a talk on Azure to the Dubuque Iowa .NET User Group. The talk was an overview of Microsoft’s cloud platform with an emphasis on Azure. The demos show how to start developing with Azure, using Web and Worker Roles along with various storage mechanisms (i.e. tables, blobs, and queues).
To run this code you’ll need the following installed on your machine:
Optionally, you want to also install the Azure Storage Explorer to make working with Azure storage on your local machine a bit easier.
You can download the slide deck and code here.
Community, azure, cloud computing, presentations, windows azure
As you’re aware I’ve been working in conjuction with RBA Consulting and Microsoft to put together and event on December 8th entitled Backstage Pass: A Day in the Microsoft CLOUD. We’ve got some great speakers lined up, like Jack Calhoun, along with some great giveaways, including a Zune HD. However, I felt like something was missing. After all if this is a backstage pass event, shouldn’t there be band, a really great band? How about the biggest band in the world today! How about U2? That’s right U2!
I’m excited to announce that RBA Consulting is going to be giving away a pair of tickets to the U2 concert on June 27, 2010 at the TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus. These are field level tickets to what is going to be the biggest concert of the year.
If you want a shot at these highly sought after tickets you must be present at the event to win. Be sure to register here.
See you there!
There were a couple of Microsoft releases last week that provided updates to Windows Azure tooling that I wanted to make you aware of in case you hadn’t see the news.
First Microsoft released the November CTP of SQL Server 2008 R2. This is an important release on the SQL Azure front because SSMS now supports SQL Azure. There are a number of limitations (i.e. no designer support), but it’s a step in the right direction of making easier to work with SQL Azure.
You can download the CTP here.
Brent Ozar has a great overview of SQL Azure and SSMS support here.
Second the Cloud Computing Tools Team released Windows Azure Tools and SDK v1.0 last Friday. Highlights include:
You can download the tools here.
You can download code samples here.
You can read more about the tools on the team’s blog here or on MSDN here.
{I’ve been meaning to post a quick entry on this, but I’ve been swamped with other tasks the past couple of weeks.}
On October 25th, Microsoft released the Windows Azure Service Management PowerShell cmdlets. These cmdlets allow you to script out and deploy, upgrade, and scale your Windows Azure applications. this also allows you to build automation processes around your Windows Azure services. The Service Management CmdLets closes mirror the service API. However, given that this is PowerShell, you can use pipelining to significantly cut down on your script.
You can downlad the Cmdlets here.
An important note, during the free CTP, you’ll only be able to scale your services to 2 instances per role.
Several days ago I announced a special day long event in December focusing on Microsoft’s cloud initiative. I now have the pleasure of announcing that Jack Calhoun has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for the day. Jack Jack is a business process reengineering pioneer, author, and the Founder and CEO of Accelare. Jackwill be delivering an address entitled Are You Ready to be a “Plug-and-Play” Enterprise. Here’s a little more info on Jack:
Jack Calhoun is a leading expert in the role of information technology in modern business design, with extensive experience in business strategy, large-scale business reengineering, mergers and acquisitions, integration and turnaround projects. Jack was a contributor to the landmark work of James Champy and Michael Hammer including best-seller, Reengineering the Corporation. Recently, Jack co-authored the Harvard Business Review article, “The Next Revolution in Productivity”. With 20 years of practical experience in large project management, Jack has led a number of successful reengineering efforts. Prior to founding Accelare, Jack was a group director of Perot Systems. Jack had sold his previous company, Business Architects, to Ross Perot in 1997.
I’ve also updated the day’s agenda to reflect the addition of Jack along with the addition of Matt Milner speaking on .NET Services:
8:00 AM – 8:30 AM
Registration/Breakfast
8:30 AM – 9:30 AM
Keynote: Are You Ready to be a “Plug-and-Play” Enteprise
9:30 AM – 9:40 AM
Break
9:40 AM – 10:40 AM
Session 1: Architecting for the Cloud
Todd Van Nurden - Architect Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
10:40 AM – 10:50 AM
Break
10:50 AM – 11:50 AM
Session 2: .NET Services
Matt Milner - Chief Architect, M3 Technology Partners
11:50 AM – 12:30 PM
Lunch
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Session 3: Windows Azure
Mike Benkovich - Developer Evangelist, Microsoft Corporation
1:30 PM – 1:40 PM
Break
1:40 PM – 2:40 PM
Session 4: SharePoint Online
Phil Wicklund - Consultant, RBA Consulting
2:40 PM – 2:50 PM
Break
2:50 PM – 3:50 PM
Session 5: SQL Azure
Mike Jones - Practice Lead, RBA Consulting
3:50 PM – 4:00 PM
Closing Remarks and Raffle
Don’t forget, we’re giving away a Zune HD along with some other great prizes.
Be sure to register for the event here.
Last night at the Twin Cities Cloud Computing User Group we officially kicked off Project Thor. We had some great discussions about the project is, why we’re doing it, and what we hope to accomplish. At the end of the meeting a total of 12 people volunteered to help deliver Project Thor.
However, we don’t want to limit participation in the project to just people who attended last night’s meeting. If you’re interested in working on this project contact me via one of the following methods:
When you contact me, let me know which area you’d be interested in working on (i.e. UI, middle tier, storage, etc.) This will help me allocate resources for the project. Last night we mentioned there are a several things you should do now to get ready to start working on the project. Here’s the list:
You’ll also need to get your development environment set up. Here’s what you’ll need:
Here’s a list of resources that you may find useful during the development process:
We will be hosting a weekly status meeting via LiveMeeting. The idea is to open a LiveMeeting session up for a couple of hours one night a week where people can drop in and discuss what they’ve been working on and any issues they’ve run into. I’m working out the details now, but I’d like to have this meeting on Thursday evenings from 7-9. If there’s a better day of the week and/or timeslot let me know. We’ll use our first meeting next week to really dive into the guts of the various components. I’ll send out a meeting request later today/this weekend. Finally, if you know of anyone else who might be interested in working on this project feel free to invite them. The more people the better.
I’m pleased to announce that the Twin Cities Cloud Computing User Group’s December meeting is a special day long event at the Microsoft Office in Bloomington. We’ve got some great speakers line up along with some great giveaways (including a Zune HD!) Here are the details:
Backstage Pass: A Day in Microsoft’s Cloud is a one-day event providing developers, architects, business decision makers, and technical decision makers with information on Microsoft’s cloud computing platform. Given the breadth of the platform a wide range of topics are discussed including BPOS, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Windows Azure, and SQL Azure. Speakers will talk about how technologies differ in on premise versus cloud scenarios along with when and why organizations should consider moving their on premise solutions or new initiatives to the cloud.
Featured Products: Windows Azure, SQL Azure, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online
Recommended Audience: Developer, Architect, Business Decision Maker, Technical Decision Maker
Agenda:
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Registration/Breakfast
8:30 AM - 9:30 AM
Keynote: Overview of Microsoft’s Cloud Strategy - (Speaker TBD)
9:30 AM - 9:40 AM
Break
9:40 AM - 10:40 AM
Session 1: Architecting for the Cloud - Todd van Nurdern (Microsoft)
10:40 AM - 10:50 AM
Break
10:50 AM - 11:50 AM
Session 2: Exchange Online - Bradley Dupay (RBA Consulting)
11:50 AM - 12:30 PM
Lunch
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
Session 3: Windows Azure - Mike Benkovich (Microsoft)
1:30 PM - 1:40 PM
Break
1:40 PM - 2:40 PM
Session 4: SharePoint Online - Phil Wicklund (RBA Consulting)
2:40 PM - 2:50 PM
Break (with snack)
2:50 PM - 3:50 PM
Session 5: SQL Azure - Mike Jones (RBA Consulting)
3:50 PM - 4:00 PM
Raffle with Great Giveaways (Did I mention the Zune HD!)
You can register to attend here. Hope to see you there!!
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