Local IT professionals gathered to learn expert tips and techniques from the world’s top engineers of Microsoft Cloud
Hong Kong, March 16, 2016 – Microsoft successfully hosted the first ever Cloud Roadshow in Hong Kong, a free two-day technical training event for IT professionals and developers that provides best practices and insight directly from the experts who build and run the cloud services across Office 365, Microsoft Azure, Windows 10 and more. Microsoft has flown in top engineers and experts from Redmond to this two-day training event, one of the biggest in the local IT industry, offering a truly unique opportunity for local IT professionals to build and develop their technical groundwork for Microsoft cloud based strategy and products. With a total attendance close to 2,200, including physical check-ins and online live streaming viewers, the event reached maximum capacity and attracted cloud users of all experience levels and left them ready to apply theory into practice.
Horace Chow, General Manager of Microsoft Hong Kong kicked off the Cloud Roadshow with an opening keynote session by highlighting Microsoft Cloud progress in Hong Kong, the growing local business demands for Cloud solutions, and also thanked Microsoft Hong Kong’s 660 cloud partners who play an important role to Microsoft’s business. “We have achieved great success on our Cloud First, Mobile First journey since last year. Microsoft Hong Kong has had significant growth year on year in cloud adoption and over one third of local SMBs are now modernized with MS Cloud, Office 365 and CRM online to power their business. Whether you know your way around the cloud and are trying to stay current, or are just getting started and figuring out the best path forward – having access to best practices and training is now more critical than ever. This is why we chose to host the Microsoft Cloud Roadshow here in Hong Kong,” he said.
Arpan Shah, Senior Director Product Marketing, Cloud, also discussed the different ways businesses can leverage Microsoft’s latest innovations to reinvent productivity, whether it is through SaaS apps, cloud infrastructure or machine learning. “Cloud is helping organizations worldwide turn the digital disruption into their advantage. The cloud can help you deliver more business impact, faster – ultimately helping you drive your skillset and career forward. The journey to the cloud is different for everyone but Microsoft gives you the ability to choose your path regardless of what your business needs are,” he said.
After the Cloud Roadshow overview sessions, attendees attended specific breakout sessions covering a wide range of topics like mobility, security, data, infrastructure (cloud and hybrid), and communications. To facilitate their understanding, IT Professionals were given access to Hands-on Labs that are specific and supportive of the sessions they have attended. These Hands-on Labs were “take home” so that IT professionals can experience them when they returned to the office. Attendees also had the opportunity to meet with the speakers, ask in-depth questions and network at the post event reception to further develop their IT knowledge.
Microsoft Hong Kong has heavily supported the development of the local IT industry since its inception in 1991. Now bigger and better, Microsoft Cloud Roadshow is sharing new ways to reinvent productivity for businesses of all types. Microsoft Cloud Roadshow is a global showcase that is being run in 16 cities worldwide, including New York, London, Toronto, Dubai and more. This year, Hong Kong was added to the growing list of Cloud Roadshow cities highlighting Microsoft’s growing investment in Hong Kong’s IT development.
Microsoft is also committed to helping the local IT industry and Hong Kong become more competitive through innovation, evident from Microsoft BizSpark’s continued investment in nurturing entrepreneurship. In recent years, the Hong Kong startup ecosystem has grown more than 45% to a total of 1,558 startups according to the latest InvestHK survey. Celebrating the growth of the local start-up community and Microsoft’s dedicated involvement, a Microsoft BizSpark Connect event was held alongside the Cloud Roadshow and more than 130 startups participated. Microsoft was honored to have Herman Lam, CEO of Cyberport, and Andrew Young, CCO of HK Science and Technology Parks Corporation kick off the event with opening speeches alongside Horace Chow, General Manager of Microsoft Hong Kong.
The BizSpark Connect kickoff was followed by a Panel Discussion that featured Startup Accelerator Partners Peter Dingle, Director of Nest; Tony Verb, Director of Metta; Renu Bhatia, Managing Director from SuperChargers and Atin Batra, Accelerator Lead of Blueprint who all shared strategies on how to nurture start-ups. The event concluded by inviting several prominent start-up founders to share their insight and experiences at the event, and a Microsoft representative introducing Microsoft’s Go-to-Market support to the attending startups.
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About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential. Microsoft Hong Kong was established in 1991.
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