Microsoft has named its new enterprise tech conference Ignite. This conference will absorb the Management Summit, the Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, Project, and TechEd conferences into a single event in Chicago. The event will be held on May 4th after //Build and before the World Partner Conference.
Ignite will feature a range of speakers to share Microsoft’s vision for enterprise tech. Speakers such as Brad Anderson, Jo Belfiore, Dave Campbell, Peggy Johnson, Chris Jones, Julie Larson Green, and Gurdeep Singh Pall will set the tone for the conference focusing on business and how they will use Microsoft technology. This conference is critical for Microsoft to rekindle their relationship with business after they were alienated with Windows 8’s seemingly irreverent take on enterprise.
This conference will also complete Microsoft’s conference tour. The tour begins with Convergence in mid-March, then //Build in late April, early May. Three days after //Build, Ignite will take place on the fourth in Chicago. Then the Worldwide Partner Conference will take place in mid-July in Orlando. All of these conferences serve a similar purpose but to different customers. Convergence is for business leaders looking for solutions to their IT solutions. Then //Build is the developer story where Microsoft appeals to its developer base. Ignite will be focused to IT professionals such as network admins or engineers. Then at WPC, Microsoft shares their plans with their partners.
Microsoft is offering a view of their vision of technology at Ignite. They will offer keynotes, seminars, and hands-on experience where IT staff can experience Microsoft’s tech. Some specific technologies are cloud infrastructure and management, big data and analytics, productivity, unified communications, operating systems, mobile devices. These are new and changing fields, so it is important to be up to date and informed.
