Think First, Code Later

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.

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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!

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I’m pleased to announce that version 1.1 of Thor has been released. Here’s a summary of what’s new in this release:

• Specify whether or not to display the subject of appointments on a calendar
• Specify whether or not to use a booking agent on a calendar by calendar basis
• Specify whether or not a calendar requires authentication to view and/or book appointments
• Specify whether or not to display a given timeframe for a calendar
• Highlight the current time in a calendar
• Only passwords are encrypted when persisted to storage
• The logo for the website was changed from a .png to a .jpg to accommodate Windows Mobile
• The provider assembly dropdown only displays assemblies that contains type that implement ICalendarProvider
• The provider type dropdown only displays types that implement ICalendarProvider

You can dowload all the goodness here.

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I’m pleased to announce that version 1.0 of Thor was released on February 15th, 2010. The release includes the following downloads:

• thor.deploy
  • Contains the necessary deployment package and service configuration file required for deploying Thor to Windows Azure.
• thor.exchange.interop.exchange2007
  • Contains the assemblies required for enabling Thor to communicate with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 via the Exchange Web Services Managed API.
• thor.exchange.interop.exchange2010
  • Contains the assemblies required for enabling Thor to communicate with Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 via the Exchange Web Services Managed API.
• thor.exchange.webservices
  • Contains the assemblies required for enabling Thor to communicate with Microsoft Exchange Server via Exchange’s native web services.
• thor.source
  • Contains the source code (Change Set 43071) for version 1.0 of Thor.

You can download the bits here.

Check out the screencast below (brought to you by Silverlight and the Simple Silverlight Media Player) on how to deploy, configure and run Thor in Azure:

I’ve also stubbed out some documentation here. There’s no content, yet, but I promise it will be coming over the next couple of weeks.

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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:

• Visual Studio 2008 SP1
• SQL Server 2008 Express Edition (or higher)
• Windows Azure Tools for Microsoft Visual Studio (November 2009)

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.

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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.

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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:

•  adam.grocholski @rbaconsulting.com
• http://twitter.com/agrocholski

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:

1. Request an invitation code for a Windows Azure Account here: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=129453. Do it now, I’ll wait. There is a waiting list, so once you make the request, send me the email address you used to request the invite code. I may know of someone who can expedite the process for you.
2. If you want to work with SQL Azure, you’ll need to request and invitation code for that as well. You can make the request here: https://connect.microsoft.com/Survey/NominationSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=5719&ProgramID=2089&SiteID=547.
3. Sign up for an account on CodePlex.com. Once you have your CodePlex username, email it to me so I can add you to the project.
4. Download the design document from the project’s website (http://thor.codeplex.com). Keep in mind, this is a first cut document, and will undoubtedly will be modified greatly in the coming days.

You’ll also need to get your development environment set up. Here’s what you’ll need:

1. Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, or Windows Vista w/SP1
2. IIS 7.0 (with ASP.NET, WCF HTTP Activation, and optionally CGI)
3. Visual Studio 2008 SP1 or Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition with SP1
4. SQL Server 2005 Express Edition (or above)
5. If you’re going to be doing PowerShell development on Windows Vista you’ll need to download the PowerShell 1.0 Installation Package here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C6EF4735-C7DE-46A2-997A-EA58FDFCBA63&displaylang=en

Here’s a list of resources that you may find useful during the development process:

• Windows Azure Platform Training Kit http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=413E88F8-5966-4A83-B309-53B7B77EDF78&displaylang=en
• Powershell Windows Azure Service Management CmdLets http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/azurecmdlets
• Exchange Web Services Reference: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb204119.aspx  

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.

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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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In my last post in this series I did two things. First I showed you a prototype version of the mobile piece of project Thor. Second, I told that my next post would include architectural/design documents. Well, I changed my mind a bit. Before we can really discuss design, I wanted to be able to give you a way to play around with the UI components of Thor, so you can get a real hands on feel for what we’re trying to accomplish.

There are two UI components:

1.  Admin. Users utilize this component to specify which calendars they want to expose via the website. Once a calendar is setup, backend processes (i.e. Azure Worker Roles) will query the Exchange for the calendar’s appointment data and update a cache that will then be utilized by the mobile component.
2. Mobile. Users will be redirected to this component after they use their mobile devices to capture the tag associated with the calendar. Users will then be able to book an appointment on the calendar.

I used SketchFlow to create a prototype that will allow you to explore the two components using. There are a number of notes on each screen to explain intent. Take a look, play around, read the notes, and let me know what you think.

You can view the prototype here.

Next up, architecture/design docs, I promise! Stay tuned…

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In the first three parts of this series I laid out the problem statement, assumptions, business requirements, and technical requirements. In this post I want to demo the functionality we’re trying to achieve. Check out the screencast below (brought to you by Silverlight and the Simple Silverlight Media Player.)

A few notes about the demo:

1. The website shown in the demo is not currently hosted in Azure. The current prototype is, um, somewhat, how would you say, INSECURE. Thus, there is no way I would release it to a production environment. However, the code is running on my local Azure development fabric and was created the Azure tools for Visual Studio 2008 SP1.
2. Thor is supposed to show schedules for conference rooms. In the demo I show my calendar from RBA. I didn’t want to expose unnecessary data regarding RBA’s Exchange setup.
3. Part of the demo includes using a jailbroken iPhone. The jailbreak was done to allow VNC connections for the purpose of the screencast. Keep in mind the end product of Thor will not not require a jailbroken iPhone. Thor will work on an iPhone, an Android phone, an oh, yeah, a Windows Mobile Device :).

Here’s the screenast:

Alternatively, you can download the .wmv file for offline viewing here.

(P.S. - Sorry about the audio quality, still working on getting that  better mic).

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