Cloud Intelligence Conference: Seattle 2012

It’s time to accept the hype – “the cloud” is a component of applications going forward. This will be a code-heavy session were we’ll walk through building and deploying a Windows Azure application. What new tools will you need? What new skills will you need? What are the best resources to keep at the end of your mouse? In this session we’ll discuss all these points and more. We will see how easy it is to build on existing skillsets to develop an application that takes advantage of several of the services available on the Windows Azure platform.

• Getting started building a Windows Azure application
• Tools you’ll want to use.
• Tips & tricks for deploying applications to and managing application in Windows Azure.

With all the media hype around cloud computing today, I'm sure there is also quite a bit of confusion around what cloud computing really is. In this session, I will fully explain the difference between an organization's datacenter and a private cloud as well as how these relate to the public cloud and where exactly a hybrid cloud comes into play. After this session, you will be armed to make the correct decisions for your organization (and your own personal future) on when and how you adopt cloud computing.

If we look at the Enterprise today, mobile and cloud technologies are powerful forces at work. Mobile computing is redefining the definition of “the platform”. With 4.5 billion mobile devices blanketing the planet, a smartphone, tablet or touch screen device and for some this is their primary form of interaction with technology. The lines are blurring between consumer and employee, since the expectation is that technology works the same way at home as it does at work. This is what is driving the so-called “Consumerization of IT.”

This session is focused on demonstrating these architectures through concrete examples. We will present an implementation of a RESTful web service hosted in Windows Azure. In addition, we will build 3 mobile clients (iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7) that connect to this RESTful web service. Three development environments (Xcode, Eclipse, Visual Studio) along with the corresponding programming languages (ObjectiveC, Java, C#) will be demonstrated. Attendees will leave the session with some clear guidance on architecting for the “Consumerization of IT.”

You can break free from the constraints of your on-premise network system in a highly structured manner in less time with less hassle than you thought. Niv Dolgin, Director of IT Services for one of the premier Microsoft Cloud IT consulting firms in the Western United States, extols the virtues of the cloud and talks about the top 10 concerns any business needs to take into consideration before making the leap. The appropriate time for companies to move to it. He will address common (and uncommon) best practices, questions and concerns about Office 365 using SADA's extensive cloud client case studies as examples.

Join Buck Woody, a Senior Technology Specialist with Microsoft and a teacher at the University of Washington, as he explains the new options for business and organizational computing. He'll explain the emergence of a "data-centric" approach to distributed computing, and the functions within cloud providers that you can use to enhance your current architecture rather than replacing it. Buck will also cover the strategies around "Big Data", specifically covering Hadoop, NoSQL and using an RDBMS in the cloud

This session will focus on how SADA Systems helps companies like yours leverage Microsoft cloud solutions. SADA will highlight a customer that has recently transitioned to Office 365 and discuss the evaluation, migration and implementation process that should resonate with all companies in attendance. Key takeaways include:

• Key considerations before migrating to the cloud
• Best practices in deploying key Microsoft Cloud solutions (Office 365, Dynamics CRM)

Understand the powerful capabilities of SharePoint and learn how to expand its Enterprise Content Management (ECM) capabilities beyond collaboration for your organization. KnowledgeLake extends SharePoint's core ECM functions to provide organizations with a low cost high value document imaging solution. You'll also learn about various methods of capturing paper and electronic documents, leveraging workflow, and why many companies are migrating their legacy ECM systems to SharePoint. This session will also incorporate case studies discussing how our customers are realizing an ROI of less than 5 months by leveraging their SharePoint investment!

This session will demo EveryPenny an innovative azure-based fundraising solution built for K-12 schools that provides complete administrative control over fundraising activities and significantly enhances a school’s ability to raise money. Then we will discuss the thought process and reasons why Neudesic choose to build this web base solution using Azure verses other transitional software development methods.

Stay ahead of today’s competition and leverage the IT solution of the future: Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft Office 365 takes industry-recognized productivity and collaboration tools and delivers them as a web-based subscription service. Lift your business off the ground, and into the cloud: Niv Dolgin, Director of IT Services for SADA Systems, will discuss how Office 365 can be used to drive collaboration, innovation and productivity in your workplace. Learn more about a suite of highly available, secure office solutions that simplify IT management while reducing overhead costs from a Microsoft cloud expert with over 15 years of experience delivering IT solutions.

Building a private cloud can be "simple" or it can be near impossible. Everyone talks about the private cloud, but until you actually build one yourself, it never really hits home. In this session, I will share my experiences (and lessons learned) as I worked with my team to build out our own Private Cloud.

What’s it like to develop for the cloud? In this session, you’ll see what the development experience is like for Windows Azure. We’ll start with “Hello, Cloud” in Visual Studio, running it first in the local simulation environment and then deploying to a data center in the cloud. We’ll progressively add more features to the application to illustrate the use of different cloud services. Both the local simulation environment and deployment to a cloud data center will be shown. We’ll also discuss the software development lifecycle and share best practices for cloud development. You’ll leave with an understanding of the differences and similarities between cloud development and enterprise development.

• See the Windows Azure developer experience demonstrated
• Understand the cloud software lifecycle
• Know how to get started with Windows Azure development

We live in a digital world with a proliferation of digital assets. Ingesting, annotating, cataloging storing, and retrieving digital assets from anywhere in the world at any time is challenging. In this session you will learn how to integrate SharePoint and Azure to build a Digital Asset Management System. We will show you how the Azure Blob Storage coupled with CDN capability is a perfect place to store your digital assets and keep them close to your users for quick retrieval. We will also show you how to leverage SharePoint’s excellent search capabilities and rich Enterprise Metadata Management feature to deliver digital content efficiently.

• Integrating SharePoint and Azure
• Large file ingestion into the cloud
• SharePoint Enterprise Metadata Management (EMM)
• Configuring the Content Delivery Network (CDN)

Businesses are looking to the cloud to support their application and storage needs, but relying on the Internet for access creates security and predictability issues. The network often gets overlooked amid the talk about servers, storage, and software-as-a-service, but it is critical to manage and control your user's experiences. In this session tw telecom will discuss the importance of building the right network foundation of visibility, flexibility and control which are key to a successful enterprise cloud strategy.

Over the last three years, Microsoft has refined their engagement model for migrating customers to Office 365. A key part of these engagements are two important events produced for the customer. The Office 365 Technical Briefing is a ½ to full day presentation designed to surface big issues early in the engagement. Later in the planning process they produce the Solution Alignment Workshop to dive deeper specific issues for all Office 365 services. Recently, Microsoft released the finished PowerPoint tor Microsoft Partners to use in their own Office 365 practice. In this session, Brett Hill, Office 365 MVP who was involved with creating this content for Microsoft, will review how you can use these valuable decks for your own education and planning. These decks include the 10 Cloud Principles that Microsoft always reviews with every customer to insure they are a good candidate for the cloud services. Don’t miss this session on these important decks that are a centerpiece for Office 365 migration engagements.

Determining a user's identity in a "traditional" on-premises application is often easy. We can rely on Active Directory and integrated Windows authentication, or even a custom membership provider to help us. The game gets more difficult when you start trying to integrate multiple identity providers, especially those outside our direct control. Now we have to worry about dealing with multiple APIs, any updates to those APIs, or the addition of new identity providers. Windows Azure Access Control Services offers a better way! ACS allows for federated user authentication via popular social networks and Active Directory. In this session we'll provide a crash course in claims as they relate to identity management. We'll discuss why claims are important and how to add additional claims beyond what is provided by the identity providers. We'll also demonstrate how to configure ACS for development, as well as production environments. We'll wrap up by showing you how to bring you're new found love of claims and ACS to your mobile applications as well.

When should you migrate? How do you migrate? How do you prepare your systems and organizations for the change? These are questions that we all ask ourselves when we are considering the move to the cloud. Let SADA, a leading award-winning Microsoft Partner, educate you on how to get ready for the Cloud.

Microsoft Office 365 takes the industry's most recognized set of productivity and collaboration tools and delivers them as a subscription service. With Microsoft’s cloud services, your organization can lower overall costs and deliver the right set of tools for the right users, all with appropriate layers of security and compliance. And, Office 365 includes a financially-backed service level agreement, allowing you to feel confident that you choose the best cloud solution. There is also an opportunity for Q & A so bring your questions!

Office 365 is frequently update dated service and keeping up with the changes is important! A new feature or solution can open valuable new business scenarios for Office 365 customers. In this session, we will review new features added to Office 365 including increased capacity, troubleshooting tools, client capabilities, and useful 3rd party tools created by Partners and MVPs. For example, did you know that you can talk to any user in the world that using Office 365 via Lync Online? But how do you know who in your contact list is using Lync?. Did you know you can share your calendar with any other Office 365 user in the world? But who in your contact list is using Exchange Online? In addition, there are updates including Lync Mobile, expanded support for PDF in SharePoint, increased capacity for delivering messages, allowing more users in an online meeting, release of PST management tool, and many troubleshooting tools. Don’t miss this session to find out how the value of Office 365 keeps getting better all the time.

An overview of lessons learned while designing and building a generic Hybrid Cloud Application Platform that seamlessly spans cloud and on premises infrastructure. While most of the focus in the cloud space is on the benefits of virtualization and IaaS, the real challenges are with building a new generation of applications that are designed to address rapidly evolving business needs. We will review the reasons that drive the rising popularity of hybrid cloud applications, configurations and architectures of hybrid cloud applications and the roles Windows AZURE can play in these implementations. In this session you will learn practical approaches to deal with the oncoming demand for hybrid cloud systems.

With the recent release of Office 365, Microsoft brings its powerful Office productivity tools to the cloud. In addition to explaining the products included in Office 365, we’ll do a demonstration of the features that customers are using most in their businesses. Further, we’ll explore the value of Office 365 over the other guys! Finally, we’ll share stories about specific customers who have tried the other guys but come back to Microsoft.

This session will detail the typical paint points companies are faced within IT and Telecommunications. These include issues around security, disaster recovery, reliability, leveraging new technology, and reducing costs. The session will then detail how leveraging the cloud for messaging, collaboration, and communications on a Microsoft platform can help address some of these common issues. Finally, the session will present a common roadmap for how to migrate to the cloud in a phased approach that minimizes user disruption. An approach that gradually phases in changes while having an immediate positive impact on the business by providing more effective communications at reduced costs.