Windows Azure World in Silicon Valley

Earlier this week our team (Developer & Platform Evangeliism team) hosted at our Silicon Valley (Mountain View campus) the last stop of David Chappell’s world-wide tour to talk about the impact of cloud computing, and latest developments on the Windows Azure Platform.

David Chappell’s talked about Windows Azure platform and what it means for enterprises. The topics he covered include:

• An overview of the Windows Azure platform: Technology and business model
• The cloud platform context: Google, Amazon, Salesforce.com, and more
• Using the Windows Azure platform: Application scenarios

We also had the CEO of CSRware.com and she showcased their “On-Demand Performance Management solution” for Sustainability and Green IT initiatives. Their current cloud initiative utilized Windows Azure, SQL Azure and hybrid (Software+Services) app dev pattern, for capturing tens of thousands of data points from their customer data center and aggregating them into a single data point to an on-premise SaaS offering.

Also my colleague David Chou also presented some additional views on how to architect applications using the Windows Azure Platform and some customer case studies.

If you missed attending the session no worries you can get all of the presentation that is posted at Strategy & Architecture Council site:

http://blogs.msdn.com/sac/archive/2009/10/31/windows-azure-world-tour-with-david-chappell.aspx

Thanks to everyone who attended the event, and if you have any further question please feel free to send me a note.

ebaY sidebar for Internet Explorer 8

eBay has just launched a new sidebar offering in beta. I have been collaborating with eBay on this wonderful Internet Explorer 8 sidebar. What is unique is that they are the first Internet Explorer sidebar that utilizes Silverlight™ as part of the presentation layer opening up specific UI features to make the application standard out.

Here is a screen capture of the sidebar on the left running in Internet Explorer 8 on my laptop:

The sidebar utilizes eBay’s Services to obtain real-time information about the customer’s transactions, using an internet connection. Even when the user is not running Internet Explorer, a separate notification service (located visually in the tray) informs the user about important events.

Here is a short  video  on the eBay sidebar with Jonathan Gabbai Global Innovation Manager on the functionality and technical advantages of using Silverlight and IE8 features.

The eBay sidebar is a great example of “Software-Plus-Services” strategy as there is software that runs on a computer you control in this case it is IE8 and Silverlight, plus services delivered over the internet as eBay services, working together to enable cool new rich engaging experience for the eBay user and making both software and services better than either by themselves.

For more information on the eBay IE8 Silverlight sidebard, please see the following related articles:

Case Study: Coming Soon

Channel9 Video: eBay on IE8

Esurance Delivers Key Services to Mobile Channel via Microsoft Platform

Esurance, the direct-to-consumer auto insurance company, has been offering policies online since 1999. And today, most Esurance customers still purchase their policies through the company’s user-friendly Web site. At esurance.com, customers can get free quotes and compare prices instantly, making auto insurance shopping easier. Esurance recently turned to Microsoft and its software-plus-services strategy to help launch the mobile platform, esurance.tel.

Through this implementation model, Esurance was able to utilize the Microsoft .NET Framework to migrate applications to the Windows Mobile 6.1.

Esurance also integrated 2 additional services: a text-messaging gateway and a feature that allows claims customers to access photos of their vehicles in real time as they’re being repaired. By porting its applications to run in a mobile environment, Esurance can anticipate the needs of its tech-savvy customers, which will help boost customer acquisition and retention.

As part of the rollout, Esurance will make many of its critical Web applications available on mobile phones, including claims-related functionality, quoting, policy management, and billing services. By using the software-plus-services approach, Esurance is further delivering on its brand promise to be available for their customers 24/7.

Here is the Channel9 video that I recorded with Esurance on their Mobile Services and how they utilized Microsoft platform to deliver it:

For more information on Esurance’s new mobile platform, please see the following related articles:

Case Study:Online Insurance Company Claims the Mobile Space with New Service Delivery Strategy

Press Release:Esurance Turns to Microsoft’s Software-Plus-Services Strategy to Deliver Key Services to Mobile Channel