TechEd Europe 2013 Launches with Cloud OS Product Previews, Partner Announcements, and Customer Case Studies

Welcome to TechEd Europe 2013 being held in Madrid, Spain June 25-28, 2013.  We have a lot of information to share this week on Microsoft products and services that comprise our Cloud OS vision. In addition to the great session content, we also have announcements as well as partner and customer information we think you will find valuable.  It’s going to be a busy week with a lot of great information. Let’s get started.

This morning Microsoft Vice President, Brad Anderson, is announcing the immediate availability of preview software for Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2, and SQL Server 2014.  If you want to watch Brad Anderson’s keynote, it is streaming live right now and will be available later for on-demand playback.  Brad has also posted, “TechEd Europe:  Big Bets & Big Opportunities” to the Official Microsoft Blog which provides additional details. You can also read the Microsoft press release for more information. 

The products announced at TechEd North America, and now delivered at TechEd Europe, comprise the components of a Cloud OS that can fundamentally transform the way IT operates.  For example: 

  • Download CloudOS Product PreviewsWindows Server 2012 R2 delivers software-defined networking and high-performance storage on low-cost hardware.  Hyper-V hosts apps across customer, service provider and Windows Azure clouds, and System Center manages across them.
  • The market-leading System Center Configuration Manager and cloud-based Windows Intune provide a unified environment to manage all devices.  Windows Intune combines with System Center for a hybrid cloud approach to managing the growing bring your own device challenge.  One thing we will be demonstrating in the keynote is a new file synchronization solution in Windows Server 2012 R2 called Work Folders – which synchronizes user’s files to your file servers and then out to all the user’s devices. 
  • SQL Server 2014 features In-memory Online Transaction Processing (OLTP) for applications, as well as data warehousing and business intelligence.  SQL Server 2014 also enables new hybrid scenarios like AlwaysOn availability, cloud backup, and disaster recovery.  It lives in Windows Azure and can be easily migrated to the cloud from on-premises. For more information, please visit the SQL Server team blog post SQL Server 2014 - Public CTP Now Available
  • Windows Azure is the only fully supported infrastructure and platform as a service offering, and fully integrates with on-premise infrastructure.

Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2 are slated to be released by the end of the calendar year, with SQL Server 2014 slated for shortly thereafter. For more information on the news and customers announced at TechEd Europe 2013, please visit the virtual press room and follow the conversation on Twitter at #TEE13.

For those of you that are ready to take advantage of the education and training that is available, be sure to look at sessions from the TechEd Europe 2013 content catalog.  The sessions are broken into tracks and you can filter the view to find products and services that interest you. If you are attending in person, be sure to take advantage of the “Ask the Experts” sessions.  It’s a great way to get an additional perspective on a project or issue you are researching. And to shorten your research, here are some direct links to key information sources for the day’s news:

Links to Key Resources