Wednesday, June 11, 2008 8:38 AM
Willie Roberts
Microsoft Interoperability Day
Braving a freezing Johannesburg morning, Ruari Plint and his team of MVP's and Community Leads took over 2 of the Microsoft Bryanston auditoriums to present a series of enlightening and eye opening talks regarding Interoperability. The theme is entirely related to how Microsoft Technologies, in particular .Net, can be utilised and used across various platforms, in particular Linux. A group off 55+ individuals decided to brave the weather along with Ruari's team to interact and engage on a technical and conceptual level to look at the various topics covered.
The opening keynote, presented by Ruari Plint and Paulo Ferreira, was a brilliant start to the day. Paulo has a very interesting position within Microsoft, as it is his responsibility to test the stability and workability of non-Microsoft products, both open source and commercial on the Microsoft Server platform. He provided an extraordinary view regarding Microsoft's cooperation agreements with various vendors, and also took the time to clear up and explain some myths regarding the various Microsoft agreements and projects. Ruari also provided an in-depth view of the Microsoft MVP program, and outlined the requirements and processes involved in receiving this award.
As per most of the Microsoft events the Interoperability event provided 2 tracks, covering distinct areas of interest. The sessions where all well presented and attended, with Willy-Peter Shaub, Zlatan Dzilnic, Eben De Witt, Henk ?, Ryan Crawcour and Steve ? providing interesting and fascinating views at various development methodologies and solutions. All the presentation deck will be made available on the SA Architect website shortly. My overall impressions of the event was impressive, and I am glad to be associated with such a dedicated and knowledgeable team who continue to work at making these events possible.