Microsoft東南亞Tech.ED 2007迎接2300名IT專才

MICROSOFT’S TECH.ED SEA 2007 OPENS ITS DOORS TO MORE THAN 2,300 I.T. PROFESSIONALS Kuala Lumpur, September 10, 2007 - Microsoft’s premier and largest annual conference Tech.Ed SEA 2007 was officially opened today, and will once again be the learning and training centre for some 2,300 technopreneurs, IT administrators, software developers, and software architects from more than 30 countries.

Themed “Turn doing your job into making your mark,” this edition of Tech.Ed aims to sharpen focus on core and critical IT and programming skills that will enable developers to get technical training, information and resources to help them build, deploy, secure, mobilize, and manage solutions.

At the official opening of Tech.Ed SEA 2007, Microsoft Corp.’s Southeast Asia President Chris Atkinson said that the decision to bring Tech.Ed back to Malaysia was based on the robust and vibrant growth of the software economy in Malaysia.

“Microsoft is delighted to bring Tech.Ed back to Malaysia this year; from the number of participants who have signed up for the conference it is quite clear that it continues to be recognised by our partners as the premier industry conference for the ICT industry.

“Tech.Ed is not merely about introducing new Microsoft technology and software, but also sets the next wave of the technology agenda which makes it an event developers and IT professionals around Malaysia and the Southeast-Asia region look forward to.

“Microsoft has been singularly committed to growing the Malaysian software economy, and we continue to invest RM26 million in Malaysia every year in programmes to grow the local software economy. Tech.Ed is certainly one of the biggest initiatives in this area,” Atkinson added.

Also present at the launch of Tech.Ed was Dato’ Narayan Kanan, Senior Vice President, Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia; Tyson Dowd, Senior Director, Malaysian Software Economy at Microsoft Malaysia; and Steve Guggenheimer, General Manager for Application Platform and Developer Marketing, Microsoft Corp., who delivered a keynote address titled “Dynamic IT for the People-ready Business”.

Tech.Ed SEA 2007 will feature 120 breakout sessions across seven key tracks, namely Windows Infrastructure; Office, Messaging, and Collaboration; Systems Management; Enterprise Data Management; Architecture & Team Development; Developer Technology; and Web Development & User Experience.

It will also feature more than twice the number of Instructor-Led Lab sessions compared to last Tech.Ed, as well as introducing a whole host of new self-paced Hands-on Lab content, and will provide the opportunity for attendees to evaluate products both from Microsoft and from 250 of its most important industry partners, said Dowd.

“The scale of the event is huge, and many in the ICT industry in Malaysia and the region consider Tech.Ed to be among the best industry conferences because the sheer intensity of activities happening here.

“We have also brought down a number of ‘star speakers’ Tech.Ed SEA 2007; past attendees will recognise big names from like Steve Guggenheimer, Steve Riley, David Roundtree, Joel Oleson, but we also have a number a local and international partners speaking over the next four days.

“It is really a one of a kind experience for attendees, and with more than 2,300 developers and IT professionals under one roof it almost certainly means there are more than 2,300 opinions to consider, apart from the latest updates and insights from Microsoft product team members and industry gurus,” Dowd added.

Adding support and value to local software economy
The decision to bring leading ICT industry events such as Tech.Ed SEA 2007 to Malaysia bears testimony to Malaysia’s commitment and continuous sterling performance in the ICT sector, said Dato Narayan Kanan.

“MSC Malaysia is now home to about 1,800 local and multi-national technology companies, of which 100 are leading global corporations, focusing in areas such as creative multimedia, outsourcing, software development, hardware design, Internet-based businesses, support services, and the like. Local software companies have gained tremendous technical and business guidance through a number of programmes and collaborations with Microsoft in recent years.

“There are today 719 active MSC Malaysia software companies and out of these, 322 companies are actively on the Microsoft platform, posting collective revenues of RM1.57 billion and exports of RM314 million. These companies also invested some RM153.7 million in their R&D efforts for 2005 – all testaments to Microsoft’s ability to generate “economies” in line with its Local Software Economy initiative,” Dato’ Narayan added.

Regular attendees back at Tech.Ed SEA 2007
Among regular attendees of Microsoft Tech.Ed through the years is Lim Fun Jin, Technical Director at ISA Technologies Sdn Bhd. “I have attended each Tech.Ed conference since it came to Malaysia eight years ago, and I’ve always managed to translate the learnings to commercial success for my company.

“As a Microsoft Certified Gold Partner, ISA Technologies has access to a wide range of tools, technologies and resources that enable us to maximise our commercial opportunities. It is this partnership that has allowed us to penetrate new customer segments, as well as new geographic markets.

“We’re excited to be here at this year’s Tech.Ed as Microsoft will be giving us valuable insights of Windows Server 2008, and also the recently launched Vista, which is going to be a real breakthrough in enhanced security and reliability, and operational efficiencies for all organisations,” added Lim.
Tech.Ed SEA 2007 will run from today till Thursday, September 13, 2007 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. More information on Tech.Ed is available athttp://www.microsoft.com/malaysia/techedsea2007