June 2008 - Posts

Will you be around Orlando, FL this Weekend?
06 June 08 02:43 PM | dsamuilov | with no comments

If you are in any way interested in Development for Windows and Windows Mobile devices then you are invited to attend a FREE event Saturday and Sunday.

The weekend event is called Microsoft Community Summit 2008 or ]InBetween[ or Tweener (?!?!). imageThe whole event is FREE. This event involves several minor events held during the weekend in between the TechEd Developer (happening this coming week) and the TechEd IT Professionals (the following week). It is a group of events organized by the Florida user group communities in the Orlando Convention Center.  It will have Sessions, .Net University, Open Space, Certification, Exam Cram, Train The Trainer, SQL University, SQL Saturday, Visual Studio U events.

Code Camp: (Saturday) Sessions that are part of the Code Camp will be held in the conventional way: one speaker, one subject, one hour. I will participate with a presentation in the Code Camp about "Intro to Windows Mobile  Development for Programmers". I will also be available for any questions during Saturday around the OpenSpace area. You can register for the code camp here. The Code Camp schedule can be accessed here.

SQL Saturday: (Saturday) Andy Warren is putting together some of his very best training on SQL Server to get you up to speed quick. If you've been to a SQL Saturday, you know they are good. So here's an opportunity to learn from some of the best. Register here.

.Net University: (Sunday) Will be a series of structured courses geared to bring you up to speed on a particular topic. There will be several "U courses":

  • .NET U Presents .Net 3.5 Services: Register here.
  • .NET U presents BizTalk Basics: Register here.
  • .NET U presents SharePoint Fundamentals: Register here.
  • .NET U presents Service Oriented Development in .NET 3.5: Register here.

VSTS University: (Sunday) An almost full day on a variety of Visual Studio topics. Register here.

SQL University: (Sunday) Another event lead by Andy Warren. Great SQL training. Register here.

Train the Trainer (MCT): (Saturday and Sunday) Bill Chapman returns to Florida, bringing us some MCT sessions for developers, IT professionals, and DBAs. Register here.

Open Space: (Saturday and Sunday) Four corners of a room with whiteboards. Sign up for a 30 minute talk on whatever topic you want. Click here for more info.

If you think this is your cup of tea, don't miss this opportunity. See you there!

How to Trigger the Use of Mobile Devices at Work
03 June 08 10:48 AM | dsamuilov | with no comments

We all agree that Mobile Devices are a great tool, there is no question about that. Regardless of your platform of preference, they all facilitate a multitude of tasks that used to require of us doing work at the office/home office. From email to remote access to administer a server, mobile tools are a great solution.

However; not every company has a mobility strategy, some will just purchase cell phones to some of their key employees and management, some only management, some have no strategy at all. If your company falls under any of these scenarios, here are some ideas to turn your company into a mobile device user:

If you see yourself in the first or second scenarios you will probably have an easier task convincing your management to turn into mobile devices. If not, you may have to do a little bit more work. In any case it is very likely that you will be successful.

We will assume that you are working for a relatively intelligent individual and that he/she will be likely to hear what you have to propose. This person will be your "partner" once you sold the idea to him/her in selling the idea to the rest of the company key players. The secret here is to be very open about what you are using your device of choice (yes, you may have to purchase one - see this as an investment). Spend as much time as you can explaining what you are doing on your device. It will show what a great tool it is.

The easiest thing to begin with is to use your device to access your email account. Connect to your exchange server with a little help from your admin or research into what parameters you need for the connection. Use a POP/SMTP connection if that is what you can use from outside the company, or simply access webmail if that's what you have. In any case, doing any of these helps you get your corporate email into your personal device.

If you have a VPN from work, have in mind that you could connect to any resource available as soon as you get past VPN validation. Need to write a Word/Excel document? no problem, you could do that and save into the appropriate share. Need to reply with that document as an attachment? yep, you could do that. Need to access a remote server to test, admin, upgrade? yes, yes and yes... just when you do that, make sure your manager knows how you are doing it. It will make the convincing much easier.

Having said all this, once you show how useful it is, there is probably no turning back... any smart manager will know that what makes you more productive will make the whole area look much better (even if the area already has a great track record).

This Blog

Links

Blog List

Syndication