Microsoft Australia’s annual technical education conference, Tech.Ed 2011 – where more than 2,500 Australian IT professionals and software developers learn about the latest computing innovations – kicked off today at the Gold Coast Convention Centre.
In a change from tradition, Tech.Ed 2011, which this year is themed around “The Future is NOW”, began with two plenary sessions to set the scene – one for developers and the other for IT professionals.
Developers explored the latest technologies in the ‘Creative Development across the Platforms’ plenary which included a first look at Microsoft’s next version of Visual Studio and a demonstration of the Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit (SDK). During the session Dave Fellows, CTO of supercomputing start-up, GreenButton, showcased their software which provides customers with on demand bursts of power for complex, compute-intensive processes using the Windows Azure platform. Primary industries served include biotechnology, financial services, digital media, engineering, and oil and gas.
“Our adoption of the very latest in robust and scalable Microsoft cloud technology enables us to open our software up to global opportunities. The technology has been utilised by companies including Pixar animation studios, whose RenderMan product is behind some of the world’s most processor-intensive movies such as Cars, Lord of the Rings, and Avatar”, said Dave Fellows, CTO, GreenButton. “Windows Azure gives us the scalability we need to ensure our software meets the needs of the most demanding customers and it can be used by anyone, regardless of where they’re based.”
For IT professionals, the ‘Private Cloud – from Servers to Services’ plenary examined how customers and hosters are experiencing real advantages now, by building private cloud environments on existing data centre investments. Phil Goldie, director of server and tools, Microsoft Australia, also discussed that the growth in demand for Windows Server, Hyper V and System Centre would mean higher demand for skills from IT professionals.
“We’re still seeing strong growth in Windows Server, but we’re now seeing deployments of our Hyper-V hypervisor grow twice as fast as the virtualisation market in Australia,” said Goldie. “One of Australia’s largest supermarket chains, Coles, is currently deploying Microsoft’s Hyper-V across 750 stores. This is just one example of how the private cloud is delivering big business, the results and scale they need on a day-to-day basis.”
Later today, the keynote is set to focus on promoting thought, creativity and innovation, as well as celebrating the curious and creative geek. Host Adam Spencer introduced Jarod Green, who created the viral YouTube video, ‘Beached Az’, and Jane Cockburn, senior product manager at Cochlear, who showed the extraordinary impact that the Australian technology and IT community has on people’s lives. Tech.Ed 2011 will continue tomorrow with 160 sessions across various topics.
This year’s hardware sponsor is HP, the major sponsor is AvePoint and the premier sponsor is Telstra. Other sponsors include App-DNA™, AppSense, Citrix Systems, CommVault, Hitachi Data Systems, Polycom and Veeam Software. For more information on Tech.Ed 2011 sponsors, please visit: http://australia.msteched.com/sponsors
About Microsoft: Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential. For more information about Microsoft Australia please visit www.microsoft.com.au.
For further information, images or interviews please contact: Marie-Claire Suter, Howorth, PH: 0414 789 605, [email protected]
