by Toby Martin
It was a great week with some excellent sessions; here are some of my observations:
- Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is creating more security related work for the IT workforce
- Good idea on the difference between governed and managed devices, quadrant resonates with everyone because you cannot manage mobile devices in the traditional manner
- New roles, scopes and permissions are becoming more granular as the mobile workforce and IT collide over securing data
- Still major worry about licensing for mobile and cloud delivery
- Microsoft will be simplifying their license models, per several sessions and discussions, which is good news for complex user environments
- Licensing in the cloud is a big gap, and it’s yet to be figured out
- System Center Orchestrator has made leaps and bounds forward
- Run book automation (RBA) discussions were overheard several times, as was the idea of workflow templates
- In addition to the app model, System Center 2012 Orchestrator was featured prominently in several sessions and many discussions on the floor and in the hallways
- The need to plug into workflow models will drive new innovations in connectivity with platforms
- Start thinking of Microsoft as a platform and your survival will depend on your innovations
- Take more control of your own destiny by using the tools they provide to leverage the System Center platform
- Flexible worker and lifestyles have huge requirements in new infrastructure and management
- System Center 2012 Configuration Manager (CM) deploying to iOS is a pretty amazing recognition of reality – Microsoft is now less anti-iOS than previously thought (despite having their own competing platform)
- Bold move by Microsoft to remove BYOD issue
- Cloud reality sinking in – the hybrid will be here for a long, long time
- Progress in Azure, Intune, and other cloud platforms all make it clear that Microsoft is investing massively there – and correctly
- Structure of cloud not nearly as important as the delivery of services
- System Center Virtual Machine Manager (SCVMM) will become a big continue to erode the leadership position of other virtualization vendors
- They’re advancing the server management capabilities at a rapid pace
- Win8 was not as much a focal point – Microsoft spent more time talking about business objectives to be solved rather than the O/S
- This is going to be a busy year for keeping up with all of the releases coming up from Microsoft
Next year – New Orleans, Laissez les bons temps rouler in June!
