Category: 8037

We’re getting closer to the dates of the best conference on systems management available, the Microsoft Management Summit 2010.  Are you still working to get approval?  Are you approved already and can’t wait to get there?

Let us know by participating in the latest MMS 2010 poll:

Are you attending MMS 2010?  http://bit.ly/67US95 

 

P.S. We’re working on communications about the annual myITforum.com party at MMS.  Keep an eye out for it.  Also, there will be a long awaited announcement at MMS 2010 from myITforum.com.  Get ready!

Microsoft SCCM is very good solution for what it is intended to do: inventory, software distribution and management of the end node. However, many IT departments need more functionality, integrated service desk, service catalog and user portal. 

Take the survey:

myITforum.com : Extending and Enhancing Microsoft SCCM

The Microsoft Management Summit is the best conference on Earth (I’ve not checked the one’s on Mars yet, so I can’t speak to that).  MMS has always been the best place to catch up on System Center products, attend labs, and develop friendships and networking contacts to help you manage your environment.  The cool thing is – myITforum has been part of MMS since the very beginning.  If you want to learn about that, drop out to the MMS Wiki and read all about it and even grab the RSS feed:

http://www.myitforum.com/myITWiki/MMS.ashx

During my talks at MMS, I ask the same question each year: “How many people are familiar with myITforum?”

In the early days, even with smaller attendance numbers, the majority of people did not know about myITforum.  These days, even with the larger attendance numbers (i.e., 3,000 or 4,000 people), the majority of people know about myITforum and use its services daily.

With our long history with MMS, its should be no surprise that we also provide many services in conjunction with MMS.  So, this post is kind of a reminder for all of you that:

1. myITforum is the place to go for MMS 2010 information, and
2. Its time to start thinking about getting approval to attend MMS 2010, if you haven’t already.

We have a couple docs to help you justify your attendance for MMS 2010.  You basically just grab these docs, tailor them to your own needs, and send them off to your manager for approval.  These docs are a sure-fire way to be able to attend MMS, meet the myITforum folks (System Center community), and become part of a System Center tradition.

Here’s the docs:

Henry Wilson's MMS 2010 Cost Justification Document

MMS 2010 Request to Management

Martin Dey has posted a nice compilation of MMS closing parties.  How many do you remember?  More importantly, can you find yourself in any pictures?

http://cid-8d45f732b412fb45.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.res/8D45F732B412FB45!261?ct=photos&sa=148636675

Yes, its true.  You can convert your PSS contract hours into attendance to MMS 2010.   If you want to pursue this option to attend MMS 2010, contact your SSR or TAM and request it.  If your SSR or TAM has no idea what you are talking about, have them contact the MMS 2010 folks at mmsqs@microsoft.com for guidance on how to set it up internally.

The conversion rate

8 hours of Premier Support time = MMS 2010 registration

 

**Note: This only covers registration – you still have to pay for your flight, lodging, and miscellaneous expenses (Dinner, etc.).

If you’d like to help in the content selection process for MMS 2010, we invite you to complete the MMS 2010 Content Survey. By taking a few minutes to tell us about your IT background and expectations for the event content, you’ll help ensure the topics and labs offered during MMS 2010 are relevant to you and your organization. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and when it closes on Dec 22nd two entries will be drawn from amongst the responses to win a Portable Media Player.

Registration for MMS 2010 is now open!
Microsoft Management Summit 2010,
April 19 – 23, Las Vegas, Nevada

It’s time to start planning for the Microsoft Management Summit 2010 (MMS 2010) – the place to learn about the latest IT Management products, technologies and solutions from Microsoft and partners.

Registration is now open, and can be accessed from the event web site at www.mms-2010.com.  This site also provides an overview of the event, the overall schedule and information about available hotel accommodation.

Event Overview

This year’s event will be packed with information and news about new releases, product updates and added solutions for deploying and managing Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2 and a range of other platforms such as Unix, Linux and mobile devices.  In addition to exciting new versions of several existing System Center products the event will cover a variety of new solutions including those offering management of and from private and public Clouds.

As in past years, the event will also offer sessions on best practices – tips and tricks for managing existing and new environments – presented by attendees, IT Management Consultants and Microsoft field staff.  These topics provide an opportunity to learn from others in the community, enabling you to plan future deployments of Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, applications and services with minimum cost and downtime.

With sessions by technical experts, opportunities to try out new products in the Labs as well as networking opportunities with leading Industry experts and peers, MMS 2010 remains the premiere technical event of the year for IT Management professionals.

Management Product Content

During MMS 2010, in addition to sessions covering existing products and solutions, there will be significant coverage of recent and upcoming management product releases including:

• System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP2, R2 and R3
• System Center Configuration Manager v.Next

• System Center Operations Manager 2007 R2

• System Center Service Manager 2010

• System Center Data Protection Manager 2010
• System Center Essentials 2010
• System Center Online Desktop Manager
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2
• Microsoft Application Virtualization (App-V) 4.5 SP1
• Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (Med-V) 1.0 SP1

MMS 2010 is the ideal opportunity to come listen to the product teams describe these new releases, to try out these new solutions in the lab and to discuss real-world deployment experiences with leading industry experts and fellow attendees with real-life experiences to share.

Event Theme

The theme of this year’s Microsoft Management Summit is Manage the Future, reflecting the upcoming changes we see in the world of IT as Virtualization and Cloud Computing fundamentally alter our concept of “IT Management”.  As these new initiatives alter the IT Landscape, IT Management will play an increasingly key role in reducing the apparent complexity while maximizing flexibility, availability and performance.

Sessions from Microsoft speakers and industry experts during MMS 2010 will cover how the current and near term wave of management solutions from Microsoft support:

· Management of virtualized servers, services, desktops and applications

· Management of desktops and datacenters from the Cloud

· Management of the hosting services behind both public and private clouds

· Integration between management products and technologies

· Integration across platforms and vendor boundaries

Event Agenda

MMS 2010 will offer more deep technical Breakout Sessions than ever before, covering a range of IT Management topics and technologies. Daily “Speaker Q&A” sessions allow attendees to meet the presenters at the end of each day to discuss specific session content informally in a casual format. In addition, the event will provide over 8,000 Instructor-led Hands-On Lab places during the week and a “walk-in” Self-paced Lab area.  All of Microsoft’s Management solutions, together with those provided by Partners, will be on show at the MMS 2010 Expo where you’ll have the opportunity to review the solutions on offer and discuss your specific requirements with experts.

Visit the conference web site at www.mms-2010.com for more details of the overall agenda and registration information.

Content Survey

If you’d like to help in the content selection process for MMS 2010, we invite you to complete the MMS 2010 Content Survey. By taking a few minutes to tell us about your IT experience and expectations for the event, you’ll help ensure the topics and labs offered during MMS 2010 are relevant to you and your organization. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and when it closes on Dec 22^nd two entries will be drawn from amongst the responses to win a Portable Media Player.

Registration

This year the summit will be returning to The Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.  Two different registration options are available for attendees – you may either purchase your MMS 2010 registration and hotel accommodation separately, or as a package.

If you choose to register using the “Package” option, your registration fee includes accommodation for the nights of April 19^th to 22^nd at the Venetian Hotel. Alternatively you may choose to purchase accommodation separately from your registration, during the registration process or at a later date.  The MMS 2010 Event Team has negotiated a special rate at the Venetian Hotel, available only through the registration web site. Details of the accommodation on offer are provided on the Hotel Accommodation page.

myITforum.com has been friends with the MMS organizers since the very beginning, even before it was a Microsoft event.  We have a long friendship and history together.  There are a lot of people behind the scenes who are dear, dear friends, and I could go on and on about those friendships, probably even tear-up about it because there are some we’ve lost over the years, but I won’t for the moment.

What I’m really excited to announce, though, is that Martin Dey, the original organizer for the Microsoft Management Summit has started a blog to finally detail his “Road to MMS”.  Martin has agreed to finally tell the story of MMS, from its inception, through the planning and execution, to the final wrap-up of the event so you can get a real taste of what its like to plan an event this large and this popular.

So, welcome Martin to the myITforum.com fold by reading his first post and letting him know what you’d like to hear from him next.

Starting the MMS Story

Look for an announcement soon on a downloadable marketing kit (banners, web buttons, etc.) for MMS 2010…

Exclusive Expo:  Reach this targeted audience with your participation in the exclusive MMS expo.  Microsoft Management Summit 2010 offers a number of opportunities for you to put your company front and center with thousands of IT Professionals and Microsoft Partners. Various packages and options are available for companies wishing to sponsor the MMS 2010 event or to exhibit within the MMS 2010 Expo.

Exhibitor Options

The Exhibit Hall will again be featured at this year’s Microsoft Management Summit. The Exhibit Hall kicks off the festivities with the Welcome Reception on Monday evening, April 19th, and will remain open during set hours Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. As you know, being an exhibitor is a fantastic way for you to be able to showcase, network, educate, and share best practices with thousands of IT Professionals from around the globe.