Kuala Lumpur, August 11, 2008 - Microsoft’s premier and largest annual conference Tech.Ed Southeast Asia 2008 is once again opening its doors in Kuala Lumpur to be the centre of information and innovation for some 3,000 technopreneurs, IT administrators, software developers, and software architects from 41 countries throughout the region.
This edition of Tech.Ed, themed “Be a part of the experience,” features technology-loaded tracks that are designed to help developers build state-of-the art software solutions and help IT professionals develop more architected, customized and connected IT infrastructure environments – equipping developers and IT pros for their part of the experience in driving businesses forward. 
(From L – R)
Tyson Dowd, Senior Director, Malaysian Software Economy, Microsoft Malaysia
Saw Ken Wye, Vice President, Microsoft Asia Pacific
Dato’ Badlisham Ghazali, Chief Executive Officer, Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia (MDeC)
Yasmin Mahmood, Managing Director, Microsoft Malaysia
Saiful Shamlan, Vice President, Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia (MDeC)
At the official opening of Tech.Ed SEA 2008, Saw Ken Wye, Vice President of Microsoft Asia Pacific said that Microsoft is privileged once again to host one of the region’s most anticipated ICT events in Malaysia. He continued to say that Tech.Ed’s return was rooted strongly in the development and increased dynamism in the Asian IT industry as well as the vigorous growth of the local software economy.
“Microsoft is delighted to bring Tech.Ed back to Malaysia this year; the year-on-year response to from the ICT community has been tremendous and this includes increased number of participants this year and continued recognition as a premier industry conference by our corporate and industry partners such as the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Human Resources Development Council (HRDC) amongst many.
“This continued support towards Tech.Ed reflects the substance the conference offers to its participants; not merely a Microsoft-technology showcase but a holistic event to ready IT professionals and developers from Malaysia and the region for their part in the robust and vibrant development experience that is changing IT industries around Southeast-Asia.
“Tech.Ed is certainly one of the biggest initiatives that reflects Microsoft’s continued commitment to growing the Malaysian software economy; part of the RM26 million annual investments we make in programmes that foster innovation in the local software ecosystem,” Saw added.
Present also at the launch of Tech.Ed SEA 2008 was Dato’ Badlisham Ghazali, Chief Executive Officer, Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia; Tyson Dowd, Senior Director, Malaysian Software Economy at Microsoft Malaysia; and Ward Raldston, Group Technical Product Manager, Microsoft Corp., who delivered a keynote address titled “IT Heroes: Changing the World of Information Technology”.
Tech.Ed SEA 2008 will feature more than 100 breakout sessions across 12 key tracks, namely Architecture; Database platform; Developer tools and languages; Office & Sharepoint; Management; Security; SOA and Business Processes; Web and User Experience; Windows Client; Windows Mobile and Embedded; Windows Server Infrastructure and Unified Communications.
This year the conference features more than twice the number of track topics compared to the last Tech.Ed, complete with a whole host of information-loaded Instructor-Led Labs and Hands-on Lab sessions that will provide attendees with the opportunity to evaluate products, smart technologies and computing practices from both Microsoft and a number of its most important industry partners, said Dowd.
“The scale of the event is huge; we’re talking about 3,000 developers and IT professionals converging at one venue to learn, discuss and evaluate the newest technologies and issues that will drive the next wave of the ICT industry’s technology agenda. This is the reason many consider Tech.Ed to be amongst the crème de la crème of industry conferences, because of the sheer breadth and depth of the content available.
“Over the next four days, attendees will have the opportunity to pick the brains of some of Microsoft’s top executives and product team members like Ward Ralston, Steve Riley, Joel Oleson, Tony Krijnen and Loke Uei Tan. They will also hear success stories, case studies, deployment tactics from partners the world over, including those from Malaysia.
“We believe Tech.Ed is really a yearly one of a kind experience for our participants, and look forward to continue on this path of sharing and learning to move with the development of the IT environment in the region,” Dowd added.
Knowledge and Relevance Key in Growth of Local Software Economy
According to Dato’ Badlisham Ghazali, knowledge and expertise in current technology solutions are key factors that make IT professionals and developers relevant to the marketplace and evens the competition in the playing field. Therefore, information-rich conferences such as Tech.Ed SEA 2008 are much needed to cater to the education and awareness of the latest computing practices and technologies in the industry.
He said, “The decision to continue supporting and bringing leading ICT industry events such as Tech.Ed to Malaysia reflects on MSC Malaysia’s resounding determination to further encourage and drive the growth and development of the already performing local software economy.”
“MSC Malaysia is now home to over 2,000 local and multi-national technology companies involved in the various ICT sectors. Through collaborations with Microsoft over the years, these local software companies have gained tremendous technical insights and business guidance to create, market and benefit from their IT solutions. The recent release of the Malaysian Software Catalogue is reflective of this achievement; over 48 Microsoft-registered and certified companies have qualified for the catalogue’s worldwide ratings standard for quality performance in the local software sector, of which 22 are MSC Malaysia Status companies.
“Today there are 1177 knowledge workers supporting over 319 MSC Malaysia software companies which are actively running on the Microsoft platform. These companies have generated a substantial RM2.97 billion in revenue at the end of 2006, a move from the RM2.05 billion made in 2005; this reflects a tremendous 44% year-on-year growth in the software business sector. These companies are evidence of Microsoft’s capability and commitment in spurring growth and development via its Local Software Economy initiative,” Dato’ Badlisham added.
Tech.Ed SEA 2008 welcomes back regular attendees
Returning to Tech.Ed for its ninth edition, Lim Fun Jin, Technical Director at ISA Technologies Sdn. Bhd. is excited about being back at the conference, “Through the years, I have benefited from the depth of learning received at Tech.Ed, being able to translate the knowledge and technologies into business opportunities for my company.
“Looking at the breadth of track sessions that are available this year, we anticipate deeper insights into the latest technologies such as SQL Server 2008, and Windows Server 2008’s Hyper-V technology, which is going to provide technological breakthroughs that will greatly improve operation efficiencies for companies that utilize them,” added Lim.
Tech.Ed SEA 2008 will run from today till Thursday, August 14, 2008 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. More information on Tech.Ed is available at
http://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/techedsea2008.
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