TechEd Technical Tracks Summary, Updated

• 2007-04-04
• 5 minutes to read
• edit

There are 14 core tracks and 2 virtual tracks at TechEd this year, which will cover more than 1,000 sessions. In case you’re wondering, a virtual track is a collection of sessions or labs that share a common theme but span several tracks.

Microsoft has revised the technical tracks slightly since my original post, so I have updated my summary.

Architecture

• Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
• Office Business Applications
• Software as a Service (SaaS)
• Business Capabilities
• Software+Services
• Industry Architecture
  • Retail
  • Manufacturing
  • Financial Services
• Software Factories
• Patterns and Practices

Business Applications

• CRM and ERP
• Microsoft Dynamics
  • GP
  • NAV
  • AX
  • CRM

Business Intelligence

• SQL Server 2005
• PerformancePoint Server 2007
• ProClarity 6.3
• Business Scorecard Manager 2005
• Office System 2007
• SharePoint Portal Server 2007
• Excel for Business Intelligence

Database Development and Administration

• SQL Server 2005
  • Standard Edition
  • Enterprise Edition
  • Workgroup Edition
  • Compact Edition
• SQL Server code-named “Katmai” (the next release of SQL Server)
• SQL Server Always On Technologies
• ADO.NET 2.0
• SQLCLR
• LINQ

Developer Tools and Technologies

• Visual C#, Visual Basic, Visual C++
• Visual Studio
  • Visual Studio Team System
  • Visual Studio “Orcas”
• Debugging
• .NET Framework
• LINQ
• CLR
• Windows Forms
• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
• Windows Vista

Identity and Access (Virtual Track)

• Windows CardSpace
• Active Directory Federated Services
• Active Directory Domain Services
• Microsoft Identity Integration Server (MIIS)
• Certificate Lifecycle Manager (LCM)
• Rights Management Services

Management and Operations

• Microsoft Operations Manager 2007
• Microsoft Systems Center
  • Operations Manager (MOM v3)
  • Configuration Manager (SMS v4)
  • Capacity Planner
  • “Service Desk”
  • Essentials
  • Virtual Machine Manager
  • Data Protection Manager (v2)
  • Reporting Manager
• Microsoft Virtual Server
• Microsoft Operations Framework
• Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)
• Microsoft Update Services
• Windows Server Update Services
• Windows Event and Task Subsystem
• WS-Management/WinRM
• Scripting
• Group Policy

Microsoft IT (Virtual Track)

This is a virtual track that doesn’t really cover any key products and technologies. It should cover best practices and strategies for deploying:

• Windows Vista
• Office 2007
• Microsoft Forefront
• Exchange 2007
• Microsoft Operations Manager 2007
• other products

Mobility (new track)

• Windows Mobile 6
• Windows Embedded CE 6.0
• Windows XP Embedded (XPe)
• Exchange Server 2007
• Live Services Integration
• SQL Server 2005 Compact Edition
• .NET Micro Framework
• .NET Compact Framework 2.0 (.NET CF)
• Visual Studio 2005

Office System

• SharePoint Server 2007
• Project Server 2007
• Microsoft Office client suites and applications
• Visual Studio Tools for Office (VSTO) SE
• Visual Studio 2005 Extensions for SharePoint
• Open XML File Formats
• Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)<

Security

• Forefront Client Security
• Forefront Server for Exchange and SharePoint
• Exchange Server 2003
• SQL Server 2005
• Microsoft management technologies
• Information on the latest security resources and technologies

SOA and Web Services

• BizTalk Server 2006 R2
• .NET Framework 3.0
  • Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
  • Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)
  • Windows CardSpace
• Host Integration Server 2006

Unified Communications

• Exchange Server 2003/2007
• Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging
• Live Communications Server 2005
• Office Outlook 2007, Outlook Web Access (OWA)
• Office Communications Server 2007
• Office Communicator 2007
  • Office Communicator
  • Office Communicator Mobile
  • Office Communicator Web Access
• Forefront Security for Exchange Server
• Exchange Hosted Services
• Office Live Meeting 2007
• Office RoundTable (for Video Conferencing)
• Telephony Devices

Web Development and Infrastructure

• IIS 6.0/7.0
• ASP.NET 2.0
• ASP.NET AJAX Library
  • ASP.NET 2.0 AJAX Extensions
  • ASP.NET AJAX Control Toolkit
• RSS
• IE7
• Windows Live Platform
• Expression
• Commerce Server 2007

Windows Client

• Windows Vista and Windows Vista SP1
  • Windows Vista Security
  • Windows Vista Networking
  • Windows Vista Mobility
• Application Compatibility Toolkit
• IE 7.0
• Windows Installer
• Volume Activation 2.0
• Virtual PC
• Business Desktop Deployment (BDD)
• Windows Desktop Management
• BitLocker Drive Encryption
• User Account Control
• Reliability
• Search
• Performance
• Virtualization/SoftGrid
• Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack
• Windows Vista and “Longhorn” Server Better Together

Windows Server Infrastructure

• Windows Server code-named “Longhorn”
• Microsoft Virtual Server R2 SP1
• Windows Server Virtualization
• Branch Office Solutions
• Terminal Services
• Active Directory
  • Directory Services
  • Federation Services
  • Certificate Services
• Networking
• Server Clustering
• Windows Server Update Services
• Windows PowerShell
• Windows Storage Server