CSAF 2008 - Day 1 Videos

Canada Strategic Architecture Forum 2008 Day 1

• Morning session is quite interesting, it seems that Microsoft having a big bet for future in MS-Surface and natural interface (IPod Touch?)
• Richard (BMO) having a very interest presentation to share his experience as a Chief Architect in BMO, some of them are very practical (or real) tips...
• Afternoon sessions are a bit disappointed, nothing really new from Microsoft's sessions. They still promoting their BPIO model (MS version of CMMI...), but I found that it's too MS-product centric...
• The Application Platform Optimization via SOA session was quite interesting for the Service Virtualization concept... (too bad, we don`t have video for this session yet...)

In the panel discussion session, I joined the SOA road map one...
I`m still hesitate or doubt to have a solid SOA road map, or invest in the solid implementation yet. We always say that the architecture should not rely on technology implementations. I still remember in late 80s to early 90s when every architect focus on state-of-the-art distributed computing architecture using DCE, COBRA and Forte (MS may want to put DCOM in the same category). When the http (and Java) waves come in 90s (thanks to T. Berners-Lee), all the effort in those heavy weighted stacks on APIs or IDLs become legacy architecture. Will those WS-* based or WCF based SOA face the same problem when the RESTful wave come, actually it`s coming already.

Session Videos

Keynote - Norm Judah
Architectural discontinuities continue to drive both innovation and opportunity. The next wave of these discontinuities is no different in its breadth and depth, for example; Mobile Platform, Virtualization, Software plus Services and Green Computing. Each one of these has implications on how we design, build, deploy and manage applications, and in particular, the application architecture.

Keynote - Richard Cleaver
Enterprise architecture is an area of focus for many companies. Transformation, simplification and agility are only a few of the many drivers that impact the need for an effective and engaged enterprise architecture function. Richard Cleaver, Vice President of Enterprise Architecture for BMO Financial Group, will share his thoughts about the current and future state of enterprise architecture. Richard is an engaging and thought provoking speaker and you will gain new insights into the practice and impact of an enterprise architect.

BPIO Service Line
Today’s business climate is more challenging than ever, and businesses are under constant pressure to lower costs while improving overall operational efficiency. In short, businesses are being asked to “do more for less”. As businesses advance their IT capabilities and achieve a sustained improvement in their IT infrastructure, they must take a long-term, strategic view of optimization and link these capability and optimization improvements to their business needs and strategy to achieve their business objectives. We see Business Productivity Infrastructure Optimization (BPIO) as a flexible model for infrastructure optimization that can lead to a roadmap for infrastructure maturity.

The goal for infrastructure optimization is to help companies realize the full value of their IT infrastructure to drive business results. In this presentation we will introduce the BPIO model and the different stages of maturity while providing examples of services that have applied the BPIO model to solve real business situations.

Building an Agile IT - The CN Way
This session will explore how CN is leveraging the Microsoft Platform to deliver applications in an agile fashion.

Keynote - Stephen Ibaraki
Join us as Stephen Ibaraki, a long time industry leader and visionary shares his insights on using IT as a strategic asset within our organizations.

Building Business Intelligence Using the Microsoft Platform
In this session you will see an important part of the overall Microsoft BI platform in action from end to end. Learn how by integrating SQL Server 2005 with SharePoint 2007 you can enable users throughout your organization to access powerful reporting capabilities. See how you can use Excel 2007 to analyze multidimensional data from SQL Server Analysis Services, we will also demo the SQL Server Data Mining Add-In for Excel 2007, a set of easy to use capabilities that enable predictive analysis on every desktop. In addition, utilize Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 to get the thin Excel experience in Excel Services by creating excel web parts, dashboards and to collaborate across the organization.

Core Infrastructure Optimization
Having a plan and methodology to take your organization to the next level by simplifying your IT infrastructure allows organizations to reap many benefits. The Infrastructure Optimization (IO) model allows you to assess your current place within the model and create a roadmap to move to a more agile infrastructure. This session will provide an overview of the IO model and how organizations can use the available tools and guidance to enhance their core infrastructure and reap the benefits of a Dynamic Organization.

Improving the End User Computing Experience at Bombardier
In 1999, Bombardier Aerospace (BA) defined an innovative Windows 2000 PC image that is still efficient. 8 years later, Bombardier Aerospace is defining a program to improve and enhance the End User Computing (EUC) experience. The presentation will go through BA EUC evolution, Vision and Communication program to make such program a business priority.

How to Manage Virtualized Environments using System Center
In this session, we will examine System Center tools for managing virtual environments, including Microsoft Hyper-V, Virtual Server 2005 R2, and VMWare. You will learn how a unified management vision for both virtual and physical environments allows you to simplify your IT infrastructure and helps to automate many of the management tasks faced by administrators on a daily basis. We will also look at some data protection challenges of virtual environments and how Data Protection Manager 2007 (DPM 2007) can be used to protect critical data and physical and virtual machines while they are active, which also increase availability.

Realizing Dynamic Systems
This session will cover the fundamental building blocks of architectures that support dynamic systems. Looking at the creation of health models as well as complex event generation and recognition we will investigate how these underpin systems that can determine remedial actions themselves. We will also look at some of the process changes that need to take place in our teams in order to build dynamic systems.

Windows Server 2008 as a SOA Platform
This session takes a look at the various components of Windows Server 2008 and how they can be leveraged to build solutions. Focus will placed on IIS, WAS, and .Net 3.0 but features like Virtualization, Server Core, and Active Directory enhancements will also be explored.