Lasting impressions from Microsoft Management Summit

The Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) is over for another year. I am sitting back writing this article from the Las Vegas airport and the exodus of attendees is evident with all the MMS T-shirts, bags and other IT-related swag going past me.

The MMS event brought a lot of new announcements, including:

Windows Server '8' getting its official name: Windows Server 2012• User Experience Virtualisation (UE-V)• MCSE Private Cloud certification• Building a Private Cloud in 30 seconds, • System Center 2012 being able to manage VMware and Zen• InTune being able to deploy applications to iOS, Android and Windows devices.• Microsoft's Private Cloud strategy/story

I have covered all of these announcements in my previous articles but for me, the ability to deploy applications to iOS devices (iPad and iPhone) and Android devices is still the biggest news. Microsoft talked about the movement taking place in organisations towards Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), a concept it is looking to embrace by giving organisations the ability to deploy applications to the top three platforms in the market.

Microsoft is moving away from an internal focus and is now building management tools that will manage other software that organisations want to run or are running. This embrace of what in the past have been competitors' products could now drive revenue for Microsoft. A prime example is the release of System Center 2012 across the platform toolset, not only on the virtualisation front (System Center 2012 can manage VMware - Zen) but on the device front as well.

It was also amazing to listen to and see so many kiwis presenting or having an influence in key parts of the MMS keynotes. Intergen and Provoke both spoke at various tracks along with ex-Microsoft New Zealand employee Adam Hall, who will be the keynote speaker at Microsoft New Zealand's System Center 2012 launch event in May. There were also a large amount of Kiwis that went to MMS as attendees – who said kiwis are flightless?

Looking forward, Microsoft hinted that SP1 for System Center 2012 will arrive around the same time as Windows Server 2012, which is great news, and means rapid development from the System Center 2012 team that will provide new features. I will post further articles on SP1 for System Center 2012 soon.

One final update: Microsoft Management Summit is moving away from Las Vegas, and will run in June 2013 in New Orleans. Keep your eyes and ears open as to when the registration site will open for this.

To find out more about MMS and other key Windows Server 2012 information follow me on on twitter @bradbor or follow my blog.

This is the last in a series of posts from Microsoft New Zealand's Bradley Borrows, who has been in Las Vegas attending the Microsoft Management Summit.