22/05/06

Edinburgh

Dynamic Earth

15/06/06

London (City)

Inmarsat Centre

21/06/06

Bristol

The Watershed

Session 1
(09:30 – 10:30)

2007 Microsoft Office System – People Ready Software for the New world of work

2007 Microsoft Office System will enable you to focus on the tasks you're trying to accomplish and help you to create more effective professional documents. improvements in access and laptop synchronization will make it easier for mobile and offline users to access information from work and an expanded task management system will help users manage personal, team and project tasks. Collaborative workspaces will be simple to set up and use with co-workers, partners and customers to create documents, work on projects and find and use relevant business information. This presentation identifies the key investments we are making for the next wave of the Microsoft Office System of products. It is meant to be a sneak peek into our investment areas and some of the capabilities that are being considered or built for 2007 Microsoft Office System.

Paul Brombley joined Microsoft in 1999 and is an Information Worker Technology Solutions Professional. He has over 20 years IT experience a large proportion of which has been in messaging and collaboration technologies. Paul's role has seen him work closely with the early adopters and beta testers. Paul advises customers on the best practices for deployment, management and solution development with Microsoft Office System.

Session 2
(10:50 – 11:50)

Exchange 12 Overview

"Exchange 12", the next major version of Exchange, will be a leap forward in enhancing the information worker's access to larger mailboxes while giving the email administrator a more managable and secure email infrastructure. In this session we will provide an overview of the product direction and provide a sneak peak at some of the new features including a close look at Outlook Web Access, mobile device access, and unified messaging.

Eileen Brown decided that moving into IT was a fairly cool way to combine her hobby with a career after spending 10 years as a navigating officer in the Merchant Navy on Supertankers. She came ashore to train and consult on Back Office products to delegates as an IT Training consultant. She joined Microsoft in 2001 as a Systems Engineer, initially focusing on Mission Critical Windows before moving to the Exchange team. Eileen manages the team of IT Professional Evangelists and is technically responsible for Messaging, Collaboration and Productivity technologies. However, her life isn't spent entirely at her laptop. Away from work, to pass the time, She makes jam and chutney in awesome quantities, tends her flock of chickens, and races around the countryside in her home built 6.6 litre engined cobra replica. Whenever She encounters warmer waters, She scuba dives as much as possible to get away from the phone.

Session 3
(12:40 – 13:40)

Providing Secure access to applications with ISA 2006

Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 is a cornerstone of Microsoft's security product strategy and further proof of our commitment to providing secure, anytime, anywhere access to corporate applications and data. This latest version of the firewall, VPN, and Web cache solution highlights several key advancements, including a comprehensive tool set for publishing Exchange and SharePoint Servers, extensions to Windows Server 2003 R2 for streamlined security and connectivity in corporate branch offices, and a new array of OEM appliance solutions that will greatly simplify deployment across your organization.

Steve Lamb is an IT Pro Evangelist for Microsoft,UK, specialising in Security Technologies. For the Past 11yrs, he has worked solely as a security professional and during this time architected and implemented technical solutions for many FTSE 100 companies throughout Europe the Middle East and Africa. In addition Steve has worked with the military and governments of various countries.

Steve is well known on in the security community for the entertaining way he approaches a serious subject and most importantly, the impact he has in enabling people to do more with less risk. Security is not just about technology and can be far more complex however, Steve's specialty is translating "Rocket Science" (deep technical) into Common Sense advice. His favourite topics are combating Malware, embracing PKI and Cryptography in general, Secure wireless networking and strategies for user awareness and dealing with social engineering.

Outside work Steve is a keen Freestyle Windsurfer, Teaches White Water Kayaking and occasionally gets to rip on a Snowboard – more often he wipes out!

Session 4
(14:00 – 15:00)

Making Your Life Easier With Windows Server 2003 R2

Windows Server 2003 R2 takes advantage of the stability and security of a proven code base while providing you with better tools to help manage your environment. You can easily manage your infrastructure with centralized management tools, including the DFS Management Console and Print Management Console. We will look at some of the enabling technologies to keep your business running smoothly.

DFS Namespaces allow administrators to group shared folders located on different servers and present them to users as a virtual tree of folders known as a namespace. A namespace provides numerous benefits, including increased availability of data, load sharing, and simplified data migration. Users can navigate these virtual namespaces without having to keep track of the names of the physical servers or shared folders hosting the data.

DFS Replication supports automated recovery from database loss or corruption. DFS Replication supports replication scheduling and bandwidth throttling. DFS-R uses a new compression algorithm known as RDC.

RDC is an advanced WAN-friendly compression technology that optimizes data transfers over limited-bandwidth networks.

Melville Thomson started his IT career while in the services, as a Cobol programmer on Unix systems, nearly 20 years ago, He moved into designing and building database systems for the use in the Royal Engineers Depot where he worked, using various database products. After leaving the services he moved into training and consultancy. He is passionate about helping people to develop their full potential.

His home life is taken up by his family. He loves to grow his own vegetables and roses. He also likes to keep fit and does a lot of problem solving while running. He also enjoys various extreme sports and always likes to try new ones.

Session 5
(15:20 – 16:20)

Windows Vista overview for IT Professionals

Clear, Confident, Connected. These are the tenets upon which Windows Vista, due out later this year, are built. Windows Vista is the next generation of the Windows Client operating system. This session will provide you with a clear picture of where the big changes are and allow you to effectively plan for evaluation, pilot and rollout.

James O'Neill used his first Microsoft product in 1979 and joined Microsoft 11yrs later in 1990 having specialised in messaging technologies and then running his own consultancy company for 5yrs in the interim. He became a Microsoft certified professional in 1993, holding MCSE from NT 3.1 to Windows 2003, concentrating on Messaging and Systems management technologies. Working for Microsoft Consulting Services he was involved in projects for a number of household name organizations between 2000 and 2005. Outside of work his free time is divided between his two small children and photography. He irritates people with a vast knowledge of trivia and by writing about himself in the third person.