Connectionz offers an impressive variation of sessions and speakers from around the world, ready to share their in-depth knowledge and experiences to Partners. Each session falls into one of six tracks, colour coded as illustrated in this legend: Industry | Product Solutions | ISV/Developer | Market Segments | Soft Skills | Other |
Please note that this agenda is subject to change.
Day One - Wednesday 19th September
| 07:30 - 19:00 | Registration | | 08:00 - 09:00 | Arrival Tea & Coffee | | 09:00 - 11:00 | Keynote Day One
Mike Moore
| | 11:00 - 11:30 | Morning Tea | | 11:30 - 12:30 | Desktop Optimisation
Speaker: Mike Taylor
Discover the value of an optimized desktop solution, providing core capability and centralized management for your customers, how to maintain and deploy a new desktop while reducing management costs.
Increase the value of your customers infrastructure, deliver a solution that will meet their needs for today and tomorrow.
This session will provide insight and an overview of the Microsoft Optimized Desktop - Windows Vista, Virtualized Applications, MDOP and so much more.
| Optimising investments for future growth
Speaker: Steve Sweetman
Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is designed to deliver increased protection for your business and give anywhere access for your employees, while being operationally efficient to deploy, manage and maintain.
Also put your mind to rest by finding out how your customers can be more compliant with specially designed features around corporate, regulatory and legal requirements.
| Software + Services - ICT’s next major evolution
Speaker: Sean McBreen
The ICT marketplace continues to evolve creating a landscape overflowing with challenges and opportunities. In many cases, these evolutions have driven the deployment of new technologies and the adoption of new behaviors, adding multiple layers to an already complex set of issues. Our customers are searching for solutions to assist in managing this complexity. SOA, ESB, SaaS and Web 2.0 are all elements of the solution, but are they the complete picture? Can they be used together in a productive and efficient fashion? Now is the time to think about what the environment of the future looks like; as leaders in the ICT community we need to take a step back and to forecast what lies over the horizon for our customers. This presentation discusses the business, social and technical drivers causing these changes and examines how Microsoft is responding. It covers both the present state of services, and the vision for the future.
| Co-opetition and Interoperability: Next generation competitive advantages
Speaker: Brett Roberts
Learn and understand how ‘co-opetition’ and interoperability will be competitive advantages for Microsoft going forward. This session will also cover The Novell Deal and why it matters to you. Also gain insight into how your customers think about Microsoft and its competitive strategies through looking at recent competitive research findings.
| | 12:30 - 12:40 | Stretch break | | 12:40 - 13:40 | Action Orientated Business and Marketing Planning
Speaker: Bruce Rasmussen
This 1 hour session provides Partners with a high level template, processes and exercises to develop a basic marketing plan for their business. The session is aimed at Partners who want to become more successful with their marketing – but who lack internal dedicated marketing expertise.
| Topics covered include: | - key goals of any marketing plan
- differences between “marketing” plans and “promotional” plans
- the key roles for the marketer within a Microsoft Partner
- high level template for a basic marketing plan
- the importance of “brand”
- determining the best way to “get the message out”
- overview of why marketing plans fail
- overview of Microsoft’s requirements of a Partner marketing plan to consider providing funding and/or support
- key aspects of services marketing
|
| Making Licensing Simple (Yeah Right)
Speaker: Carlos Martinez
In this session you will learn how you can optimise your customers to make their purchasing simple and cost effective, thus helping them to maximize the value that they can get from their IT investment. This session will also help you to discover ways in which you can increase revenue with your customers.
| Betting the Farm on Longhorn
Speaker: Tovia Va'aelua
With the release of Windows Server 2008 later this year, the market will see the Microsoft Platform in a whole new light. This session will cover off the key business technologies our customers will see from Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and how you as our Partner will be able to reap the benefits.
| Don’t let your content manage you.
Speaker: Jonathan Stuckey
Find out how to find solutions to end to end content management with Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007, Microsoft Office Forms Server 2007, and Microsoft Exchange 2007. Also learn how to automate business processes to bring down the cost of IT deployment and management costs.
| | 13:40 - 14:20 | Lunch | | 14:20 - 15:20 | Towards More Effective Sales & Marketing Recruitment
Speaker: Bruce Rasmussen
This 1 hour session provides the opportunities for Microsoft to share some of its successful recruitment tools and processes with Partners to increase Partners’ effectiveness in successfully hiring sales and marketing professionals.
| Topics covered include: | - how to attract talent
- when to outsource – what to outsource
- tips and tricks in relation to successful hiring (from writing a job description and advertising it through to interview process, reference checking and onboarding)
- how to retain talent
- how Microsoft can help you
|
| Create a competitive advantage and improve your bottom line with business intelligence
Speaker: Scott Allen
Microsoft Business Intelligence (BI), a complete suite of server, client, and developer products, supports decision makers in developing deeper knowledge and insight that helps you make better business decisions, faster. The 2007 Microsoft Office system is integrated with the proven and scalable Microsoft SQL Server 2005 platform. Find out how Microsoft BI will deliver throughout your organization a fully integrated, centrally managed environment.
| 30 Demos in 60 Minutes
Speaker: Nigel Parker and Nathan Mercer
Quick fire demos to showcase some of Microsoft’s newest and most innovative products and technologies to the NZ Partner Community.
| Everything you need, everywhere you go - Welcome to Windows Mobile 6
Speaker: Mauricio Freitas
As the latest edition of Windows Mobile hits the streets the ability to securely and easily deliver real time information to you, interact with office applications and communicate back to your organisation has reached a new heights. Come to this session and hear Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone and Windows Mobile MVP) talk about what’s new in Windows Mobile 6, why it is so compelling versus competing products and why you should be building Windows Mobile competency into your business.
| | 15:20 - 15:45 | Afternoon Tea | | 15:45 - 16:45 | Improving Pipeline Managment
Speaker: Bruce Rasmussen
| This 1 hour session will assist Partners to | - maximise the ROI they can receive from their investment in expensive sales resources
- work on fewer opportunities, but with dramatically increased chances of success
- convert opportunities more quickly
- align more closely with Microsofts pipeline management processes
|
| Topics covered include: | - how to look beyond the solution the customer is asking you to provide
- process to evaluate opportunities prior to deciding to work on them (ie “bid/no bid”)
- tool to regularly qualify opportunities throughout the sales cycle (ie "do we keep working on this or not")
- tips to ensure the prospect is “buying in” to the sales process
- overview of Microsofts sales and pipeline management processes
- common mistakes in pipeline management.
|
| Engaging Your Customers – Beyond IT
Speaker: Carlos Martinez
Increasingly IT investments are being determined by business stakeholders outside of IT. This session will explore ideas for how to make the connection beyond IT, to help you be successful and more profitable with your customers.
| Microsoft Dynamics CRM - new choices for customers, new opportunities for partners
Speaker: Paul Bowkett
Get a preview of Microsoft CRM soon to be released "Titan". Specifically designed to open up new opportunities for Microsoft’s global community of value-added resellers, independent software vendors, hosting providers and system integrators, as well as to provide a new platform for on-demand solution partners to plug into. With “Titan” you will be able to deliver innovative solutions across on-premise and partner-hosted environments.
| De-Risking large Software development projects - NZ Census on-line - a case study
Speaker: Mark Carroll
After an initial proof of concept was produced by the Microsoft Innovation centre partner Datacom worked with Statistics New Zealand to produce the first census in the world that had an on-line option available for all participants. The risks associated with a web facing project like this are enormous, for example how do you build a scalable application that will handle the extreme loads produced on Census night ? How do you ensure that you can stress test such a solution with confidence because there is only one census night every 5 years there are no second chances !
| | 16:45 - 18:00 | Networking Drinks in Marketplace |
Day Two - Thursday 20th September
| 08:00 - 18:00 | Registration | | 08:00 - 09:00 | Arrival Tea & Coffee | | 09:00 - 10:30 | Keynote Day Two
Tony Lendrum & Rod Drury
| | 10:30 - 11:00 | Morning Tea | | 11:00 - 12:00 | How Innovation Drives Revenue
Speaker: Brett Roberts
Innovation comes in many forms and is critical to the long term success of our industry. Join Brett Roberts as he discusses how Microsoft innovates, what goes on in Microsoft’s R&D labs and how this can help drive your business success.
| Bridging the Communications Gap
Speaker: Steve Sweetman
Come and experience how Microsoft Unified Communication tear down the walls that separate telecommunications and computing, while using software that leverages your existing telecommunications infrastructure.
| Microsofts Focus on Public Sector
Speaker: Mark Woods
The New Zealand Public Sector is an area in which Microsoft and its partners can provide significant value through a combination of products and services.
Microsoft has identified key focus areas within Public Sector for 2007/2008 that, in conjunction with our partners, will help many Public Sector clients address the challenges they are most likely facing.
|
Key Solution Areas include:
| - Public Records Act
- Citizen Centric Government
- Emergency Response
- Business Intelligence
|
This presentation will describe how Microsoft is addressing these solution areas for our Public Sector customers and a brief overview of Microsoft New Zealand’s Public Sector team.
| Industry Trends and Building Your Competitive Edge
Speaker: Craig Baty
Not only has the IT market become a solutions market, but it is also seeing the introduction of technologies and trends that will change the way IT is delivered in the future. What do these trends mean to your business? What should you do today to be ready for tomorrow? Get IT forecasts and predictions first-hand from Craig Baty one of Gartner Australasia’s group vice presidents and distinguished analyst in Gartner Research.
In this session you will also hear top priorities of CIOs in 2007, key changes in the industry and channel over the next five years, what opportunities these changes present, and what you need to do to leverage these trends for future success. | | 12:00 - 12:10 | Stretch break | | 12:10 - 13:10 | Realising Platform Value
Speaker: Bruce Rasmussen
This 1 hour session will introduce Partners to key concepts and techniques in understanding and communicating a coherent, comprehensive Microsoft value proposition that encompasses all the assets of Microsoft (technologies, people, and Partners) in a united way.
The “Microsoft Platform” is a powerful differentiating infrastructure in the marketplace, and Partners that are able to demonstrate to their customers how those customers can generate maximum value from their investment in Microsoft technology will generate significant sales opportunities and customer loyalty.
| Export Essentials – Working with New Zealand Trade & Enterprise and Others
Speaker: Brian Cadzow - CEO Vista Entertainment, Michael Whitehead - CEO Wherescape and Hans Frauenlob - ICT Sector Director NZTE
Understand why New Zealand needs to export, where we export to and what the future looks like for exporting in New Zealand. NZTE will also present strategies to increase your chances of success in exporting, including tools and resources that are available to you from NZTE and others. Also hear some inspirational success stories from the exporting industry.
| A business productivity solution which creates extended opportunities
Speaker: Stewart Gibbs & John Young
Discover how Microsoft Dynamics ERP solutions will enable your customers to solve complex business problems and improve business productivity. Microsoft Dynamics ERP provides you with an opportunity to gain a deeper level of engagement with your customers, expand your Microsoft footprint and drive services revenue.
| Microsoft Services: Support Offerings and Consulting
Speakers: David Downs and Aynsley Guerin
In this session, learn about the types of support available for Microsoft Partners, both paid and unpaid. You can also learn how and when to engage with Microsoft Consulting and how this can benefit you and your customers.
| | 13:10 - 13:50 | Lunch | | 13:50 - 14:50 | Event Marketing for your Business
Speaker: Bruce Rasmussen
The art of “professional services marketing” is critical for all Microsoft Partners. Whilst we may sell “hardware and software solutions”, it is ultimately the professional skills of our staff that make the difference. So what, then, is the best way to market professional services?
Marketing theory says that 1 of the best way to market services is to run “events” – seminars, workshops, presentations etc – where prospects get to experience the expertise and empathy of the individuals with whom they are about to do business.
This session will explain how to plan and execute event marketing to obtain maximum results.
Topics covered include:
| - how services marketing is different to product marketing
- why events are a superior way of marketing Partner capabilities
- tips and tricks in planing and running events
- how to choose an event topic to attract the right kinds of prospects
- how to structure the ultimate customer and prospect event presentation
- the key rules of event follow up
|
| Partner attendees will be able to download a number of templates after the presentation to adapt and use within their organisations. These templates will include: | - event planning and follow up checklist
- invitation
- tele-marketing follow up script
- reminder notice
- agenda
- evaluation form
- follow up notice.
|
| Industry Trends and Building Your Competitive Edge
Speaker: Craig Baty
Not only has the IT market become a solutions market, but it is also seeing the introduction of technologies and trends that will change the way IT is delivered in the future. What do these trends mean to your business? What should you do today to be ready for tomorrow? Get IT forecasts and predictions first-hand from Craig Baty one of Gartner Australasia’s group vice presidents and distinguished analyst in Gartner Researc. In this session you will also hear top priorities of CIOs in 2007, key changes in the industry and channel over the next five years, what opportunities these changes present, and what you need to do to leverage these trends for future success.
| Driving Customer Security and Business Continuity
Speaker: Tovia Va'aelua
The release of the all new System Center and Forefront products will provide an opportunity for you to drive greater integration into your customer’s existing Microsoft technologies. Come see how these new tools will open up a whole new market for you as a Microsoft Partner.
| Using Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint to improve business process
Speaker: Paul Bowkett
Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) is responsible for leading the government's relationship with the tertiary education sector, policy development and implementation. CIO Greg Smith will share how the implementation of Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint have significantly improved their business practices and productivity.
| | 14:50 - 15:00 | Stretch break | | 15:00 - 16:00 | Realising Platform Value
Speaker: Bruce Rasmussen
This 1 hour session will introduce Partners to key concepts and techniques in understanding and communicating a coherent, comprehensive Microsoft value proposition that encompasses all the assets of Microsoft (technologies, people, and Partners) in a united way. The “Microsoft Platform” is a powerful differentiating infrastructure in the marketplace, and Partners that are able to demonstrate to their customers how those customers can generate maximum value from their investment in Microsoft technology will generate significant sales opportunities and customer loyalty.
| Grow your business with Microsoft's Application Platform TechnologiesSpeaker: Ben Green / Scott Allen
Revenue opportunities exist for partner organisations to connect people, services, and software with Microsoft’s Application Platform technologies – SQL Server, BizTalk and Visual Studio.
| Attend this session to hear about the opportunities for partners to advance your business with IT solutions that enable: | - A flexible user experience
- Business intelligence
- Service-oriented architecture
- Business processes
- Data management
- Application development
|
This session will cover the 2007/08 calendar of marketing activity in this important launch year of BizTalk 2006 R2, SQL Server 2008 and Visual Studio 2008. Business partners will also be shown how they can identify and develop new services opportunities by using the Application Platform Infrastructure Optimization (APIO) model from Microsoft.
| 30 Demos in 60 Minutes
Speaker: Nigel Parker and Nathan Mercer
Quick fire demos to showcase some of Microsoft’s newest and most innovative products and technologies to the NZ Partner Community.
| Software + Services - ICT’s next major evolution
Speaker: Sean McBreen
The ICT marketplace continues to evolve creating a landscape overflowing with challenges and opportunities. In many cases, these evolutions have driven the deployment of new technologies and the adoption of new behaviors, adding multiple layers to an already complex set of issues. Our customers are searching for solutions to assist in managing this complexity. SOA, ESB, SaaS and Web 2.0 are all elements of the solution, but are they the complete picture? Can they be used together in a productive and efficient fashion? Now is the time to think about what the environment of the future looks like; as leaders in the ICT community we need to take a step back and to forecast what lies over the horizon for our customers. This presentation discusses the business, social and technical drivers causing these changes and examines how Microsoft is responding. It covers both the present state of services, and the vision for the future.
| | 16:00 - 16:30 | Afternoon Tea | | 16:30 - 17:15 | Locknote Address - Therese Walsh (NZRFU) | | 17:15 - 19:00 | Farewell Drinks in Marketplace |
| |
