WPC 2010 in Washington - "It's was all about the clouds"

First thing you notice at this year's WPC is that the event is too large for the conference center. Across 3 (or more) venues, the event has lots of sessions and information for partners to digest. With the keynotes held in the Verizon Center, the speakers address enthusiastic audiences in an almost "concert" like setting. Most of the metrics presented point to Microsoft achieving growth in market share in 13 of 15 strategic areas of the business. If you took everything at face value, you'd believe the channel is in a recovery upswing after a few difficult years.

The second thing you notice (well, more like you can't ignore) is that Microsoft employees have "cloud-ed" vision. It seems like every 10th word at this event is cloud. It represents a huge investment in strategy for Microsoft - by next year, 90% of their R&D dollars will be spent on cloud related development. Their message - get on board now because it's a shift in computing that is unparalleled in the last few decades.

My quick take, Microsoft has a pretty compelling story as far as a software company goes. The breadth of offerings they have is overwhelming - from ERP to XBOX, Mobile Phones to Virtual Servers and cloud computing. The great thing though is that no matter what area a partner's focus, the technologies available through Microsoft are converging, becoming a tighter weave of technology layers.

No other software company has as sharp a focus on providing the business community the tools required to run all levels of technology in the business end to end. What an exciting time to be in the business of providing core ERP business software to a great community of customers!

You can see most of the sessions online through www.digitalwpc.com. Check out the keynotes for overviews and use the session filters to find out more about any technologies that grab your interest.



 Dan Oughton is the CTO for IndustryBuilt. 
This biologist / zoologist spends most of his spare time chasing around his 2.5 year old son and   115 lb giant schnauzer. His recent projects include installing a geothermal heating and cooling  system at his home, proving it can be retrofitted to a home in a suburban setting.
Dan loves being a dad, and enjoys playing music, running, competing in a variety of sports and watching basketball (Go Raps!)