Microsoft Roadshow 2012 showcases path breaking future technologies

The recently held Microsoft Technology Roadshow set a formidable platform for stakeholders of the IT industry to familiarise themselves with the latest devices and solutions from Microsoft, which will take the IT world towards a new era.

A highlight of the event was the official launch of Microsoft’s brand new operating system ‘Windows 8’ in Sri Lanka, providing a firsthand experience of Windows 8 to the local market.

The event was designed to take Sri Lankan IT professionals and administrators on a journey to help them look beyond the traditional IT environment and seek better business returns with new tools and technologies that’s reshaping the global IT industry.

The products showcased during the Technology Roadshow focused on how these new innovations are redefining the management and delivery of IT services in an organisation.

Addressing a gathering of key partners and customers at the event held at BMICH, Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, Country Manager of Microsoft Sri Lanka and Bangladesh said, “Tech Day is a way for Microsoft to showcase and share the latest in technological innovations that’s sweeping the world. It will open new avenues for our partners and customers – not only in Sri Lanka, but also across the world.

“This is our stage to put forward some of the latest developments we have made on some of our more familiar technologies as well as provide a sneak peek into some ground breaking products we have lined up for the future, that are sure to change the way IT is accessed, managed and consumed.”

Microsoft is to release 13 new products in the future including new versions of Microsoft Office, SharePoint, Microsoft Lync, Exchange Server and System Centre etc., all of which are set to revolutionise the IT industry. A comprehensive description on the business value of each and every new product was delivered at the roadshow.

Prominent IT professionals in the country took part in the event, representing the Microsoft partner network, while some of the top players in the field of software and IT industry as well as the enterprise sector represented Microsoft’s customers.

“Today’s session was to create awareness for the products that we are going to be launching in 2013. What we attempted to do today was to bring all the CEOs, CIOs and directors of various companies into one room and to communicate our vision for the future.

“The two separate sessions for the partners and customers would help them gauge where they stand and how far they could move with Microsoft’s upcoming technologies.” Srinivasan Kannan, Enterprise Technology Strategist, Unified Communication, Asia Timezone, Microsoft.

Gayan Pieris, Enterprise Technology Strategist, Customer Advocacy and Technology Management, Asia Timezone, Microsoft who delivered a talk on Business Productivity said, “There is so much that Sri Lankan businesses can gain from what we showcased today. What we did today was evangelising, talking to partners and customers about what we offer now and what we will offer in 2013 and how it benefits them. It is very exciting to see the consumer side of things come to enterprise.”

Commending Microsoft Sri Lanka for organising such an event, he also took the opportunity to talk of cloud technology, saying that one of the uses of moving to the cloud is geo replication and flexibility. Taking Lync as an example, he stated that communication is made easy with Lync communicating inside the enterprise and Skype doing it outside the enterprise.

Following its success with Office 2010, Microsoft unveiled Office 365, a cost effective, easier-to-scale cloud platform providing greater flexibility for all organisations. The company showcased how with an intuitive user interface that mirrors widely used office applications such as word and excel, transitioning users from other mail formats becomes easy and painless, making it the perfect fit for any organisation.

Another highlight of the event was where partners and customers had the opportunity to experience the touch and feel of Windows 8 for the first time in Sri Lanka, as well as be introduced to the new touch devices displayed by Microsoft Sri Lanka’s hardware partners.

Lakmini Wijesundara, CEO, Asia Pacific and Middle East of IronOne Technologies, a renowned Independent Software Vendor (ISV) and Microsoft Partner, said that the new Windows 8 bridges the gap between the tablets and the desktop world. “This will herald the coming of the enterprise tablets. You don’t have to compromise between multiple devices.”

Thulitha Piyasena, General Manager, Information Technology – BAM Holdings, Customer of Microsoft Sri Lanka also commenting on the new operating system said, “I believe a paradigm shift has taken place with Windows 8. It is the call of the day now in the business world that the information should be alerting you throughout the day. Especially the live-tiling feature helps you stay up to date with the latest information, giving you an edge over the competition.”

The official launch partner for Windows 8 was Singer X Series, who made this the occasion to announce the introduction of their latest touch enabled devices to the market. A Windows 8 experience centre set up at the event provided the participants the opportunity to get their hands on some of the latest Windows 8 enabled devices slated to reach the local market through Microsoft’s hardware partners Singer, Metropolitan and Dell.

The Technology Roadshow was also the occasion for the participants to interact with the speakers and network with them for further insights in to the topics discussed. It provided the IT decision makers who were present an opening to express and clarify their business expectations from the tools they use to support the highly collaborative, mobile, and virtualised work styles that are the norm in today’s workplace.