Don't Miss Out on Becoming an Early Expert!

In an increasingly multi-hypervisor world, more and more IT organizations are using Microsoft Hyper-V and Microsoft Azure to achieve superior performance and workload flexibility at the best possible price. With nearly two-thirds of businesses on more than one virtualization platform, adding Microsoft virtualization and cloud skills to your technical repertoire can improve your career options and prepare you to face new IT demands.

What is Early Experts?

Microsoft Early Experts is a free, online study group for virtualization professionals who want to extend their Microsoft Hyper-V, System Center and Microsoft Azure knowledge with official Microsoft certifications. We've organized our high-impact learning resources into online Knowledge Quests that include concise videos, prescriptive study materials and hands-on practice with real products. Complete the weekly quests at your own pace and enjoy the flexibility to stop and review certain topics when you need more time.

Rewards and Prizes (U.S. Only)

Complete the online Quests and receive a completion badge suitable for printing or sharing online to showcase your new skills with Microsoft virtualization! In addition, IT Pros located in the U.S. are eligible to win one of several cool prizes during monthly prize drawings in April, May and June 2014. **


If you're located outside of the U.S., you're certainly still welcome to join us and take advantage of the Early Experts study materials to help you prepare for certification.

The clock is ticking … Join us today!

Early Experts study groups are forming now for existing VMware / Virtualization professionals targeting the following Microsoft certification:

• Specialist: Server Virtualization with Windows Server Hyper-V and System Center (Exam 74-409)

**NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open only to IT Professionals who are legal residents of the 50 U.S. states or D.C., 18+. Sweepstakes ends on June 30, 2014. See Official Rules.

TechDaysSF is June 5th and 6th

Did you miss TechEd? Do you regret it?

Then register now for TechDays-SF which will be happening June 5th and 6th in downtown San Francisco. PacITPros brings you a great list of presentations and speakers. This year the price has been lowered to $200, you really can't beat that. Details on sessions at http://techdays.org and the schedule is up on Eventboard.

Some great topics being covered: PowerShell, Microsoft System Center, Hyper-V, Lync plus many more.

Presented by folks such as: Jason Helmick, Darren Mar-Elia, Symon Perriman, Aleksandar Nikolic, Steve Evans and many more.

Even I'll be there!

TechEd!!!

Today starts off Day 2 of TechEd!  Yesterday, I spent a lot of time working in the Microsoft Solutions area (MSE) talking about Windows and Mobility.  You can find me in the “Device Bar” today and I’ll also be at the “Ask the Experts” event this evening.

So great announcements came out during the keynote yesterday.  I can’t wait to get started with Azure Files and the new site-to-site VPN tunnels between Azure VNets.  Also, being able to deploy Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 clients to Azure for testing and development is a great addition.

While I’m here at TechEd, my fellow colleagues have been busy blogging about what’s been going on as well.  Check out some posts below:

• Yung Chow - Deploying Windows Clients in Azure and the keynote Announcement Summary
• Kevin Remde - TechEd Day 1 Diary

Don’t forget, even if you aren’t here in person you can still stream a lot of great TechEd content from ch9!

Can't Make it to Houston?

At this year’s TechEd we’re going to take the wraps off a range of new products and services, and we cannot wait to talk about—and demo—some of the remarkable new capabilities and functionalities we are going to deliver to the IT and developer industry.

Can’t make it to Houston this year for TechEd 2014? No worries – just join us online via Tech Ed Live Streaming all week long from the keynote and technical breakout sessions.

In this article, I’ve included the schedule for this week’s TechEd sessions that will be live streamed and the registration link you can use for joining us online.  Hope to see you there virtually!

Don’t miss these TechEd Live Stream sessions!

We have a full week planned of great technical content via the TechEd 2014 Live Stream sessions. Be sure to tune in for these topics …

Day	Time	Session Title	Primary Speaker
5/12/2014	09:00AM - 10:30AM Central Time	Tech Ed 2014 Keynote Session	Brad Anderson, Corporate Vice President, Windows Server and System Center
5/12/2014	11:00AM - Noon Central Time	Enabling Enterprise Mobility with Windows Intune, Microsoft Azure, and Windows Server	Adam Hall; Andrew Conway; Demi Albuz; Jason Leznek
5/12/2014	01:15PM - 02:30PM Central Time	Windows PowerShell Unplugged with Jeffrey Snover	Jeffrey Snover
5/12/2014	03:00PM - 04:15PM Central Time	RemoteApp for Mobility and BYOD	Demi Albuz;Samim Erdogan
5/12/2014	04:45PM - 06:00PM Central Time	Microsoft System Center 2012 Configuration Manager: MVP Experts Panel	Greg Ramsey;Jason Sandys;Johan Arwidmark;Kent Agerlund;Steve Thompson
5/13/2014	08:30PM - 09:45AM Central Time	INTRODUCING: The Future of .NET on the Server	Scott Hanselman;Scott Hunter
5/13/2014	10:15AM - 11:30AM Central Time	DEEP DIVE: The Future of .NET on the Server	David Fowler;Scott Hanselman
5/13/2014	01:30PM - 02:45PM Central Time	Group Policy: Notes from the Field - Tips, Tricks, and Troubleshooting	Jeremy Moskowitz
5/13/2014	03:15PM - 04:30PM Central Time	Microsoft Desktop Virtualization Overview Session	Demi Albuz;Robin Brandl;Thomas Willingham
5/13/2014	05:00PM - 06:15PM Central Time	TWC: Sysinternals Primer: TechEd 2014 Edition	Aaron Margosis
5/14/2014	08:30AM - 09:45AM Central Time	Making Sense of the Microsoft Information Protection Stack	Chris Hallum
5/14/2014	10:15AM - 11:30AM Central Time	Mark Russinovich and Mark Minasi on Cloud Computing	Mark Minasi;Mark Russinovich
5/14/2014	01:30PM - 02:45PM Central Time	Entity Framework: Building Applications with Entity Framework 6	Rowan Miller
5/14/2014	03:15PM - 04:30PM Central Time	Windows PowerShell Best Practices and Patterns: Time to Get Serious	Don Jones
5/14/2014	05:00PM - 06:15PM Central Time	What’s New in Windows Server 2012 R2 Hyper-V	Jeff Woolsey
5/15/2014	08:30AM - 09:45AM Central Time	Real-World Windows 8.1 Deployment: Notes from the Field	Johan Arwidmark
5/15/2014	10:15AM - 11:30AM Central Time	Async Best Practices for C# and Visual Basic	Mads Torgersen
5/15/2014	01:00PM - 02:15PM Central Time	VDI Deployment Walkthrough	John Kelbley;Rich McBrine;Robin Brandl
5/15/2014	02:45PM - 04:00PM Central Time	2014 Edition: How Many Coffees Can You Drink While Your PC Starts?	Matthew Reynolds

Join TechEd from wherever you are.

Use the link below to register for the TechEd Live Stream to watch the sessions online this week – live from Houston TX.

Join the discussion! What are you most excited about?

Which of the announcements, new features or enhancements are you most excited to begin leveraging in your IT organization? Let us know your thoughts in the Comments area below!  In addition, be sure to follow us online via the #MSTechEd hashtag on Twitter.

Moving to Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure - Online Event!

Get the best of both worlds! With Microsoft Azure and System Center 2012 R2, IT Pros who manage infrastructure can easily extend on-premises networks to embrace the power and scale of the cloud—securely and seamlessly. Solve pressing IT issues with hybrid cloud solutions that you can implement today. In these Jump Start sessions with live Q&A, explore how to manage more data without more hardware, protect data with off-site backups, and prepare for disaster recovery.

In these sessions, field-experienced Technical Evangelists focus on Microsoft Azure storage, virtual machines, and virtual networking. Complete the hands-on labs, and walk away with a fully functional Windows Server 2012 R2 or Linux cloud-based test lab running Microsoft Azure. Be sure to sign up for the free Microsoft Azure trial so you can follow the demos during the sessions. Don’t miss this event!

COURSE OUTLINE:
Day one:

• Introduction to Microsoft Azure
• Cloud Storage and Virtual Networks

Day two:

• Virtual Machines
• Monitoring Public and Hybrid Clouds
• Microsoft Azure Active Directory

Register now! (linkto: http://aka.ms/MovetoHybrid)

Moving to Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure
Date: May 21 and May 22, 2014
Time: 9:00am‒11:30am
Where: Online virtual classroom
Cost: Free!

Monday Tidbits!

Here are a few items to start off your week!

-- 1 --
Investigating Cyber Threats? Want an easier way? Learn more and request your invitation to the upcoming private preview release of Microsoft System Center Advisor at: http://next.systemcenteradvisor.com

-- 2 --
The IT Pro Evangelism team, Microsoft Learning (LEX) and the Microsoft Virtual Academy are pleased to announce the next free and public event DevOps for IT Pros Jump Start. This online event will run on Wednesday, May 7^th  from 9:00 am – 2:00pm PT hosted by Microsoft technology experts David Tesar, and Morgan Webb.

-- 3 --
Save the Date! Join Stephen Rose for a discussion that will cover past, present and what’s next for Microsoft technologies.

WINDOWS UNPLUGGED
AN EVENING WITH IT PROS

May 27, 2014 6:00pm-8:00pm 

The Box SF 

San Francisco, CA 

REGISTER NOW

-- 4 --

TECHDAYS-SF IS JUNE 5-6! Register now for TechDays-SF which will be happening June 5-6 (so no June user group meeting). We already have shaping up a great list of presentations and speakers. Register at http://techdays.org/2014/04/register-for-3nd-annual-techdays-it-professional-conference/ This year the price has been lowered to $200, you really can't beat that. Details on sessions at http://techdays.org