The keynote was presented by Steven Sinofsky (President of Windows and Windows Live Divisions) where he provided an overview and demonstration of Windows 8. Windows 8 introduces a new user interface called Metro (similar in appearance to Windows Phone and XBox) which is possibly the biggest change to the Windows user interface since Windows 95. Metro is designed for touch first and keyboard/mouse second, thereby changing how users interact with the operating system. In Metro there are no overlapping windows, nor are there any icons on the desktop – rather it has ’living tiles’.  The operating system recedes into the background, whilst applications and content take front stage.

Windows 8 Start Screen

Microsoft claims that any application that runs on Windows 7 will run on Windows 8. To achieve this, Windows 8 provides both the Metro user interface and the traditional Desktop user interface, whilst allowing instant switching between both.  However, applications must be either Metro applications or Desktop applications.  Windows 8 effectively packages 2 different user interface paradigms and allows the single operating system to run effectively on both tablets and desktops.  This is a different approach to Apple which has separate operating systems with iOS for tablets and OS X for desktops.

The conference sessions focused on developing applications for the Metro user interface.  From the sessions, Metro appears great for developing content consumption applications targeted for consumers, but does seem lacking for content creation/productivity applications targeted for businesses.  I am interested in knowing what Microsoft plans to do with their productivity software, such as Word and Excel which are feature rich applications, whether they remain as Desktop applications or whether they can be reimagined into Metro applications.  I particularly like the Share Contract for Metro applications, but it is short-sighted in not allowing the Share Contracts to be used with Desktop applications.

The Windows Store is a good addition to Windows.  Metro applications can only be distributed via the Windows Store and must pass a certification process to ensure quality.  The revenue sharing model has not been released, but all Metro applications use a Microsoft licensing model which licenses software to an account which may be used across multiple devices.  The ability to specify a trial period for a Metro application is a good inclusion, and improves upon the separate Lite/Full version apps in the Apple App Store.  Desktop applications can be listed in the Windows Store if certified and continue to use traditional licensing and distribution methods.

LiveID plays an important role in Windows 8 by leveraging the Cloud to sync user profiles, preferences, applications and their associated data across devices.  Other nice aspects of Windows 8 is the fast boot, AppV support, chrome-less Internet Explorer, revamped Task Manager and the innovative picture passwords.

Metro applications reuse developer language skills in C, C++, C#, VB, HTML, and Javascript.  Developers will need to learn the Windows Runtime which is in a flavor similar to the .Net framework.  Desktop applications developed using the .Net Framework and Silverlight are part of the Windows 8 journey, but they are now relegated to the back seat, with Windows Runtime in the drivers seat and HTML5 calling shotgun.

Windows 8 Apps

Besides sessions on Windows 8, I was interested in Anders Hejlsberg’s session titled Future directions for C# and Visual Basic which demonstrated Project Rosyln - the compiler as a service.  I was also interested in Roger Doherty’s session titled Building mission critical database apps with SQL Server code name “Denali” which overviews the many great improvements in SQL Server for developers and needed a day of sessions to do it justice.

These are my thoughts after attending Build Windows over the past 4 days and look forward to seeing how Windows 8 evolves through the Developer Preview and Beta.  In summary, Windows 8 is a bold refresh of the Windows operating system, positioning to be the best user experience for a diverse range of device formats.

“Feedback loops are powerful tools that can help people change bad behavior.  Just as important, they can encourage good habits, turning progress itself into a reward.”

Thomas discusses how feedback loops were used to change behavior in drivers by getting them to slow down in school zones.  A feedback loop involves four distinct stages, which I have paraphrased as follows:

1. Data – gather evidence of behavior that can measured, captured, and stored
2. Information – relay with emotional resonance the relevance of the data to the individual
3. Consequence – reinforce purpose and enable the individual to sense opportunity to act on the information
4. Action – individual engages  to recalibrate a behavior with action

The resulting action can then be measured and the feedback loop restarted with every action stimulating new behaviors that get them closer to the purpose or goal.

After reading the article, I contemplated that Agile software development is built upon feedback loops.  Agile software development is described as being a software development methodology based on iterative and incremental development where solutions evolve through collaboration.

Iterations or sprints are typically timeframes of one to four weeks resulting in working software.  An iteration is planned (goal), progress is captured via daily stand-up meetings (data) and communicated via burn down charts and quality metrics (information).  The team understands the goal and how the information relates (consequence) and is encouraged to improve (action).  These actions typically result in getting closer to the goal, whether that is via improved planning, efficiency or quality.

Agile developers typically receive feedback in many practices, including code reviews, unit tests, and continuous integration.  These are designed to encourage good habits.

Agile project management is responsible for ensuring purpose or goals are effectively communicated to the team and evidence collected of their achievement.  These goals would focus on value, quality, and constraints (scope, cost and schedule).  Project visibility is reported to stakeholders, providing feedback in another loop.

The Declaration of Interdependence was written in 2005 as an adjunct to the Agile Manifesto by a group of successful project leaders, as follows:

• We increase return on investment by making continuous flow of value our focus
• We deliver reliable results by engaging customers in frequent interactions and shared ownership
• We expect uncertainty and manage for it through iterations, anticipation and adaptation
• We unleash creativity and innovation by recognizing that individuals are the ultimate source of value, and creating an environment where they can make a difference
• We boost performance through group accountability for results and shared responsibility for team effectiveness
• We improve effectiveness and reliability through situationally specific strategies, processes and practices”

Without feedback loops, these values would not be achievable in the whole.  In particular, adaptation – the act of adapting  necessitates feedback.

To achieve an ISV Gold competency with Microsoft, an organization must accomplish the following:

• Deliver a product that has passed either
  • Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2, or
  • Windows 7 Logo Test
• Commit to achieving either
  • 12 customer deployments involving Microsoft technologies, or
  • US$50,000 in Microsoft product licensing sales
• Provide a minimum of 5 customer references for your product
• Provide a minimum of 10 customers to complete a satisfaction survey
• Complete an organization profile
• Pay a membership fee

The benefits of the partnership that we have leveraged are:

• Access to training, technical support, and events
• Partner newsletters with news and business opportunities
• Attendance at the Microsoft Partner Conference
• Internal usage licenses of Microsoft products for staff
• MSDN subscriptions for developers and testers
• TechNet subscriptions for IT professionals
• Ability to use the Microsoft Partner Network branding
• Access to ISV Royalty program

The partnership with Microsoft has greatly assisted the growth of QSR International over the past 7 years through empowering our people with relevant information, access to technology, and helping us deliver better products to our customers. The only weakness of the partnership has been with the usage of outsourced telesales Partner Account Managers who lack established connections within Microsoft Corp, struggle to understand your business, and turnover every 3-6 months. I have learnt personally that developing connections within Microsoft has to occur through peer networking and attending conferences. There are a lot of great people within Microsoft and these are the people you need to be connecting with, the Microsoft Partner Network is not a replacement for this, but does help you gain some recognition.  Overall, a highly recommended partnership for ISVs involved with Microsoft technologies.

Google Trends - Cloud Computing vs. Virtualization

This week I attended the Cloud Expo in Santa Clara.  The conference was well represented by Cloud Computing providers (75 exhibitors) showing a diversity of approaches and opinions on what constitutes Cloud Computing.  There are 3 common types of Cloud Computing services and they are typically used as follows:

• Software as a Service (SaaS) – consume it
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) – build on it
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) – migrate to it

The most valuable conference sessions of Cloud Expo that I attended were ‘How to Monetize SaaS Beyond Subscriptions’ presented by Scott Swartz (MetraTech CEO), ‘The Move is On: Cloud Strategies for Business’ by Tim O’Brien (Microsoft Senior Director of Platform Strategy Group), and ‘Which “aaS” is Right for You?” by Max Coburn (Hubspan Software Architect) and Margaret Dawson (Hubspan Marketing Vice President).

Last week I attended the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) in Redmond.  PDC is described as the definitive Microsoft event focused on the technical strategy of the Microsoft developer platform.  What made this PDC unique was that it held at Microsoft Corporation and provided an opportunity to see the campus where many products are developed.  Having attended the previous 3 PDCs, this year’s conference was short on new product announcements, but strong on message.  The focus was firmly on Windows Azure, Windows Mobile and Developer Tools.

The keynote was presented by Steve Ballmer (Chief Executive Officer) and Bob Muglia (President of the Server and Tools Business).  Steve presented an overview of Microsoft’s ecosystem of devices (Windows 7, Windows Phone 7, XBOX 360) connected (Internet Explorer, HTML5) to the Cloud (Windows Azure, SQL Azure, Bing, Office 365, XBOX Live, Windows Live).  This is the realization of the vision presented by Ray Ozzie at last year’s PDC of 3 screens (PCs, phones, and TVs) connected by cloud services.  The real surprise was the emphasis of HTML5 over Silverlight, raising the question of which technology to develop new applications with.  I spoke to several Microsoft employees about this and they answered consistently that it a similar question circulating within Microsoft as many projects are currently under development in Silverlight.

PDC10 Keynote - Steve Ballmer

Bob presented on Cloud Computing, focusing specifically on the benefits of developing Apps on a Platform as a Service (PaaS) as opposed to a traditional platform.  Bob said “Only Windows Azure delivers general-purpose PaaS, which gives developers the breadth of services needed to allow them to focus on their applications and not the underlying infrastructure or virtualizing machines”.  Bob announced the Virtual Machine Role for Windows Azure allowing the Windows Azure platform to easily host existing applications that run on Windows Server 2008 R2, and announced the Windows Azure Marketplace and DataMarket (formerly known as Project Dallas).

I was invited to attend a PDC10 workshop for Windows Azure on the weekend.  The workshop provided 1:1 product team consulting, hands-on labs, and small group interactive sessions.  The Microsoft product team were great to interact with and the day was extremely valuable.  I can confidently say that Windows Azure has matured rapidly since its release at the start of this year and is now the best PaaS to develop new applications against.

Innovation

• is about collaboration and exploration
• requires an understanding of technology
• requires an understanding of business domain
• must produce deliverables
• and is not a replacement for customer feedback

to achieve this we must

• monitor emerging technology and industry trends
• attend technology and industry conferences
• undertake surveys and interviews with customers
• undertake exploratory workshops
• produce prototypes and whitepapers
• support innovative ideas during development
• establish links with universities

We understand that software development teams are led, not managed.  That great new products, outstanding enhancements to existing products, and creative new business initiatives are driven by passion and inspiration.  And foremost that innovation is very much dependent on the quality of the team and therefore it is important to create an environment that will attract the right people and skills.

Recently, I read the book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink.  As the CTO at QSR International, I was challenged that we could step-up innovation further by nurturing a culture that provided staff greater autonomy, mastery, and purpose.  The RSA Animate adoption below provides a good overview these aspects of the book.

To drive this innovative culture, we are launching a program in 2011 that gives our technical staff 20 Development Days per year.  These Development Days can be used for training, research projects, and charitable work.  The program is similar in nature to those in use at Google (20% time), Atlassian (20% time), 3M (15% time), Twitter (Hack Week) and Readify (20 days).

I like this related quote on innovation from David Whelan, CTO, Boeing Space and Communications

The CTO nurtures and cultivates new ideas and innovation in both the technologies and the business processes.

Yesterday, I presented with 2 colleagues to the Victoria.NET Dev SIG on Running a Successful Beta Test Program.  The presentation gave an overview and tips for running a beta test program and included an in-depth demonstration of using PreEmptive Solutions Runtime Intelligence Services which allows the capture of feature usage and user behavior. Microsoft collects similar application analytics through their Customer Experience Improvement Program.  The presentation can be viewed below:

TechEd 2010 Keynote

The day 1 keynote (TechEd) was presented by Bob Muglia (Microsoft President of the Server and Tools Business).  Bob discussed the continued evolution of Windows Azure with support for .Net 4.0, IntelliTrace debugging, and new tools within Visual Studio 2010.  SQL Azure has continued to evolve with increased storage limits, geospatial data, and data synchronization.  Bing Maps SDK was released to enable the visualization of data in maps.  Service Pack 1 was announced for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 for release in July 2010.

The day 2 keynote (Business Intelligence) was presented by Ted Kummert (Microsoft Senior Vice President of the Business Platform Division).  Ted talked about managed self-service analytics and how PowerPivot provides users an Excel-like look and feel on the desktop that enables a variety of data sources to be related easily with high performance across high volume.  A demonstration of PowerPivot was given showing instant sorting and filtering of 2 billion rows of data.  Most of the keynote focused on the Microsoft BI technologies and their integration, these being Excel, SQL Server, SharePoint, and PowerPivot.

The most valuable sessions of TechEd 2010 that I attended were ‘Agile Planning’ presented by Peter Provost (Microsoft Senior Program Manager) and ‘Tough Lessons Learned as a Software Project Manager’ presented by Gregg Boer (Microsoft Principal Program Manager).  Both of these speakers shared their experiences managing projects and what they had learnt.  Gregg presented on 7 key project management learnings, those being:   

• prioritize ruthlessly, cut judiciously
• it’s not enough to understand what, you must understand why
• aggressive schedules do not motivate
• politics are dumb, ignoring politics is dumber
• your project is at risk – are you handling it?
• it’s not a popularity contest
• you work with people – not resources

Other extremely interesting sessions of TechEd 2010 that I attended were ‘Business Intelligence Overview: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions’ presented by Donald Farmer (Microsoft SQL Server BI Management Program Manager) and ‘So Many BI Tools, So Little Time’ presented by Dan Buloss (Symmetry Corp President).  Both Donald and Dan presented some interesting conceptual models about business intelligence; two of which I have reproduced below:   

Business Intelligence and Analysis (Donald Farmer)

Reporting Spectrum (Dan Buloss)

The hidden gem in the rough of TechEd 2010 was ‘Build Your Own Cool Visualizations Using DGML’ presented by Suhail Dutta (Microsoft Program Manager).  Suhail showed how to use Directed Graph Markup Language (DGML) to visualize architectural dependencies using Visual Studio, as well as visualizing your own specific data.  The problem with this feature is that it can only be used within Visual Studio; it would make a great control for user applications to visualize and explore data. 

These are my thoughts after attending TechEd 2010 over the past 4 days and I look forward to sharing and implementing what I learnt.

My Home Office Desk Setup

  
1. Apple IIe Platinum computer, 1MHz 65C02 Motorola processor, 128KB RAM, dual 5.25″ floppy drives, MicroDrive IDE card with 128MB compact flash, color composite video monitor                   

2. Dell Adamo 13 laptop, 1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB RAM, 128GB SSD SATA hard drive; contained in a 13.3″ Toffee leather brief                     

3. Amiga 1200 AGA computer, 14MHz Motorola 68EC020 processor, 2MB RAM, 3.5″ floppy drive, Blizzard 1230-IV expansion card with 50MHz Motorola 68030 processor + 50MHz 68882 co-processor + 64MB RAM,  internal IDE adaptor with 4GB compact flash, PCMCIA compact flash reader                      

4. Apple iPhone 3G, 412MHz Samsung RISC processor, 128MB RAM, 16GB flash storage; contained in a Sena Ultraslim leather pouch                 

5. Dual Dell 24″ LCD monitors, UltraSharp 1920×1200 wide-screen with soundbar speakers, connectors for HDMI, DVI, VGA, S-video, component video, composite video                   

6. Belkin N1 Vision wireless router, ADSL2 broadband modem, 802.11n wireless, wired gigabit ports, and interactive network display

7. Nintendo Wii console, 729MHz IBM PowerPC processor, 88MB RAM, 512MB flash storage

8. Dell Precision T5400 workstation, 2.66GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon processor, 8GB RAM, 2x 750GB SATA hard disk drives, DVD drive, 512MB nVidia Quadro FX1700 graphics card, media card reader, WinFast Digital TV tuner               

9. Dell PowerEdge 1800 server, dual 2.8GHz Intel Xeon processors, 4GB RAM, 6x 146GB SCSI hard disk drives in RAID 5 configuration, 2x DVD drives

10. Lexmark X215 multi-function laser printer

My Home Office Desk Setup in Work Mode

  
The picture above shows my desk setup in work mode.  The Dell Precision workstation is running Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) and the most frequently used software is MS Office Ultimate 2007, MS Visual Studio Professional 2008, Internet Explorer 8, and NVivo 8.   I also keep a secondary boot partition on the workstation for installing beta software and undertaking software evaluations.              

The Dell PowerEdge server is running Windows Server 2008 R2 and MS SQL Server 2008 Standard.  Both of the 24″ LCD monitors are connected to the workstation via DVI connectors, whilst the server is connected via a VGA connector, allowing quick switching of displays via a button press.                   

My Home Office Desk Setup in Entertainment Mode

  
The picture above shows my desk setup in entertainment mode.  The Dell Precision workstation is utilized to watch and record digital TV, surf the internet, dual-box MMORPG game Everquest 2,  and most recently play the RPG game Dragon Age Origins.              

The Apple IIe is running DOS 3.3 and ProDOS 8.  It is used to play 8-bit games that can be downloaded from sites like ftp.apple.asimov.net and transferred via compact flash using CiderPress.  The Apple IIe is a favorite of my children, who particularly enjoy playing the original Mario Bros.  The applefritter forums is a useful forum for discussing everything about older Apple computers.                

The Amiga 1200 is running AmigaOS 3.9 with WHDLoad which makes it possible to run programs originally designed for floppy disks.  It is used to play 16-bit games that can be downloaded from sites like Lemon Amiga and transferred via compact flash.  The Amiga 1200 is used to play games like Barbarian II, Bubble Bobble, Pinball Fantasies, and Rainbow Islands.  The English Amiga Board is a great forum to discuss everything Amiga.                

The Nintendo Wii is used to play games, with the current favorites being Guitar Hero, The Legend of Zelda – Twilight Princess, and Wii Sports.             

To finish, I quote Bill Gates in his 1995 book The Road Ahead       

There will be a day, not far distant, when you will be able to conduct business, study, explore the world and its cultures, call up any great entertainment, make friends, attend neighborhood markets, and show pictures to distant relatives — without leaving your desk or armchair.       

• QSR International, Australia, qualitative research software and services
• Global Industrial Supply Co, China, professional industrial logistic services
• ekgaon, India, IT service provider for developing communities
• Mitsumoto Rasenkan Kogyo Co, Japan, specialized designer and manufacturer of tubes

Shown Left to Right: A. Long (QSR International), J. Owen (QSR International), M. Dell (Dell), K. Thomas (QSR International)

Michael Dell (founder, chairman and CEO of Dell) met with the winners and fielded questions from the winners.  Michael covered many topics, including environmental accountability, forming partnerships, taking risks, future of technology, and utilizing social media.

Michael was asked if he had this time over again, and was to start-up and grow Dell again, what would he do differently.  Michael said he would focus more on developing talent; that it is important to recognize the capabilities of your people and develop them accordingly, as well as hire people with the right capabilities.  If there was one single piece of advice for a small business – it was talent management.

On risk taking, Michael stated that “failure is an opportunity to learn”.  He would rather start 10 projects and have 7 of them be successful, than to start 5 projects and have 5 of them be successful.

On the future of technology, Michael believes that television viewing will fundamentally shift, that people will watch what they want, when they want.  That people are looking for data convergence, not device convergence.  That the future will be about different devices (personal computers, mobiles, televisions, etc.) that have their data synced in the cloud.  Furthermore, there will be new innovations and new business models, which usually come from new players.

Amit Midha (President and Corporate VP - APJ SMB, Dell), Satya Narayanan (Founder, Career Launcher), and Rajan Anandan (Managing Director, Microsoft India) talked about managing growth and the challenges of scaling up.  Rajan Anandan who is also an angel investor stated that he gets worried when companies tell him they have more than 10% of the market.  He believes that companies in this position need to redefine their market by thinking about how to adapt their product or service to new markets.  In a similar fashion, Satya Narayanan stated that a business needs to reinvent itself every three to five years to sustain growth.

Michael Buck (Director Global SMB Online, Dell), Sridhar Seshadri (Country Head - Online Sales and Operations, Google India), and Neeraj Roy (CEO, Hungama Mobile) talked about best practices for websites and social media.  Michael Buck spoke about the importance of experimenting with changes to your website and measuring the outcomes, as well as the effectiveness of various forms of online advertising.

Other sessions over the two days covered financing, branding, and technology.  In summary, I found that I gained fresh insights and inspiration to grow and scale my business.  The next 2-3 years will be very interesting for QSR International, and likewise I imagine for the other companies that attended.

Afterwards, Nicole Gemmell (Senior Corporate Communications Manager, Dell) visited our Melbourne office and produced the following video.

Presented below is a model I developed for categorizing today’s Analytics software based on two continuums - data type (structured versus unstructured) and analysis approach (user driven versus system driven).  These two continuums create four quadrants that I have labeled as Statistical Analysis, Qualitative Analysis, Business Intelligence, and Text Analytics.  Of course, in practice these quadrants overlap by varying degrees, but this model assists in describing the different methods employed for data collection and analysis techniques.

Analysis Software by Data Type and Analysis Approach

Statistical Analysis is basically described as the collection, analysis and interpretation of numerical data undertaken by a statistician.  Statistical Analysis is generally considered to be a mathematical science and is related to Predictive Analytics.  Microsoft Excel is the most commonly used software application for statistical analysis, however software applications such as SAS STAT and SPSS Statistics are popular and have more advanced features.                                    

Qualitative Analysis (or commonly referred as Qualitative Data Analysis) is basically described as the collection, analysis and interpretation of non-numerical data undertaken by a qualitative researcher.  Qualitative Analysis is generally considered to be a social science and is related to Content Analysis.  QSR NVivo is the most commonly used software application for qualitative analysis, however software applications such as SSD Atlas.ti and VERBI MAXQDA are also popular.                                       

Business Intelligence is basically described as the collection, analysis and dissemination of structured data performed predominately by a system.  Business Intelligence is used in a narrower context here and is related to Data Mining, Decision Support Systems, and Online Analytical Processing.  IBM Cognos, Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services, and SAP Business Objects are examples of commonly used systems for business intelligence.                           

Text Analytics is basically described as the collection, analysis and dissemination of textual data performed predominately by a system.  Text Analytics is similar to Text Mining and related to Video Analytics and Sentiment Analysis.   IBM LanguageWare and Inxight LinguistX are examples of commonly used systems for text analytics.  Whilst, Microsoft Semantic Engine is currently planned for integration into a future version of Microsoft SQL Server.           

Statistical Analysis and Qualitative Analysis software (top half of model) are characterized by having flexible in-depth analysis capabilities with a relatively low cost of implementation, whereas Business Intelligence and Text Analytics software (bottom half of model) are characteristed by having fast scalable analysis capabilities with a high cost of implementation.  However, analysts want the best of both solutions, that is, flexible in-depth analysis capabilities coupled with fast scalable analysis capabilities, whilst still having a low price of implementation.  In respect to differences in data types, Mixed Methods Research is a popular means of combining the collection and analysis of structured data (left half of model) and unstructured data (right half of model) to gain a more comprehensive understanding of a topic or problem.       

Interestingly, the traditionally divergent data types and analysis approaches of Analytics software has started to converge.  For instance, Business Objects acquired Inxight in 2007 and was subsequently acquired by SAP in 2007.  IBM acquired Cognos in 2008 and SPSS in 2009.  These companies and others are looking at ways of handling the different data types and analysis approaches, either through the integration of technologies or the integration of an application portfolio.  In line with this trend in Analytics, QSR International last month announced that the next version of NVivo will be delivering new automated analysis capabilities and will provide support for structured data.