HCU401: Anatomy of a Solution, Using Custom Actions and Application Pages to Manage Issues
Hardeep Singh
This session will walk users through building a solution that will use a Custom Action and an Application Page that will allow users to interact with specific list items. The solution will provide functionality that will allow users to send an e-mail directly from the item. The e-mail will contain an HTML representation of the item and the user will have the option of injecting the e-mail body back into the original item in the form of a comments field. This type of capability works good for issues or tasks lists because the administrator can send an e-mail directly from the list item and maintain visibility by tracking the body of the e-mail within the item itself. Then this session will explain the different options that users have when using Custom Actions such as leveraging the EditControlBlock and the DisplayFormToolBar as well as any tokens that can be used in the Action URLs. We will also explore how to tell if a comment field is set to append text.

HDA302: Backup and Restore for SharePoint: Protecting Mission Critical SharePoint Data with New Tools and Technologies
Michael Noel
As more and more organizations use SharePoint to store documents and other critical data, it becomes imperative to provide for backup and restore specific for SharePoint. While some integrated tools exist to provide for disaster recovery, document-level restore capabilities are often needed in a SharePoint environment. This session covers some of those technologies and focuses specifically on how the new Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager (DPM) 2007 product can be used to provide for SharePoint-specific backup and item-level restore. In addition, specifics on how to integrate DPM with a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 or Windows SharePoint Services farm are provided and best practice architectural examples for DPM, snapshot guidelines, and deployment tips and tricks from the field are covered.

HCU404: Building Excel Services Dashboards
Scot Hillier
Excel Services Dashboards are at the heart of the Business Intelligence story in SharePoint. However, the end-user experience in Excel Services is often inferior to Excel 2007. In this session, attendees will learn how to consume Web services in Microsoft Office Excel 2007 and in Excel Services to create similar end user experiences in both Excel and Excel Services. The creation of add-ins for Excel and user-defined functions for Excel Services will be presented. Attendees will exit the session with a complete understanding of how to enhance Excel Services so that the end user experience more closely matches Excel 2007.

HCU306: Comparing SharePoint Development Methodologies
Scot Hillier
Developers who want to create SharePoint solutions quickly discover that there are few built-in tools in Visual Studio that support SharePoint development. While Microsoft offers the Visual Studio Extensions for Windows SharePoint Services (VSeWSS), this toolset may not always be the best choice. In this session, we will present the various SharePoint development toolsets and catalog their strengths and weaknesses. The review will include not only VSeWSS, but several community solutions as well. Attendees will exit the session with a strong understanding of the underlying SharePoint development process and the tools available to create solutions.

HSC401: Creating a Custom Login Form for Forms-Based Authentication
Hardeep Singh
This session will show you how to create your own login form for use with Forms Based Authentication (FBA). We will touch briefly on the different parts of FBA and how to configure it. Then we will walk through creating a custom Login.aspx page that will determine if a user has accepted a disclaimer; if not, the form will redirect them to the disclaimer and save their selection before allowing them to continue.

HCU402: Custom Authentication for SharePoint
Robert Bogue
The SharePoint technologies allow you to plug in ASP.NET 2.0 authentication providers. You’ll find plenty of information on how to plug in the SQL Server authentication provider to SharePoint – but what if you need to write your own? What if you need to make SharePoint authenticate against your existing applications authentication system – and it’s something custom you wrote? In this session, you’ll learn how to write your own custom provider. You’ll also get a chance to take away a pass-through provider which will log all of the communications from your provider and SharePoint – allowing you to gain visibility to the process and thus develop faster.

HEC201: Extending FBA - Forgot Password Page with CAPTCHA Image and Using BDC for Browsing/Searching FBA Users
Hardeep Singh
FBA (Forms Based Authentication) is a SharePoint feature to provide access to partners or external users without creating domains accounts. Out of the box, SharePoint only provides a login page. This session will walk users through extending FBA by creating a Forgot Password page with CAPTCHA image technology and reset/e-mail users their new password. This session will also cover adding functionality to browse/search SQL Server-based FBA user profiles using a BDC (Business Data Catalog) feature.

HSA101: Get Your SharePoint Project Started Right
Robert Bogue
Are you just starting your SharePoint project? Are you concerned about what problems may lie on the road ahead? In this session, you’ll see 7 different kinds of SharePoint projects and how they do – and do not succeed. You’ll discover 10 common risks and how they impact your type of project. You’ll get tips to make your project more successful.

HCU301: How to Create Custom List Definition Features
Doug Ware
The power of a SharePoint site comes from its lists and document libraries. While there are many excellent general use list templates available out of the box, requirements often call for versions specialized for your business. SharePoint provides a few different methods for creating custom list definitions between the browser interface and developer-focused techniques using Visual Studio and XML. This presentation explains various alternatives and provides guidance on choosing an approach based on different requirements. In this session, you will learn straight-forward techniques for defining and deploying your own specialized list and document library definitions as features and solution packages using site columns, content types, and list definitions.

HDA301: Optimizing SharePoint Content Database Structure
Michael Noel
A common mistake made when deploying SharePoint is to organize all of the Site Collections into a single content database. While this is the default deployment option, it can unfortunately have negative consequences for scalability and recovery of the SharePoint content databases. This session focuses on allowing participants to understand the best practice content database design and deployment for new and existing SharePoint farms. Various techniques that can be used to divide new Site Collections across multiple content stores are described in detail. In addition, new features in the STSADM command line tool that permit existing site collections to be moved across multiple new content databases are demonstrated.

HCU302: Programming with SharePoint Lists
Doug Ware
The SharePoint object model provides a wealth of classes that support working with lists, but they aren’t always very intuitive! In this session, you will learn how to write code to perform the most common developer tasks. Come and learn how to create lists, access them, add, edit, and delete items and create queries. You’ll also learn two ways to define and associate event receivers and assign permissions to lists and list items with .NET.

HSC301: Security for SharePoint in an Insecure World: Examining Methods and Technologies to Mitigate Threats to SharePoint
Michael Noel
The collaboration and document management capabilities within SharePoint products and technologies are robust and can greatly improve functionality. The nature of the modern workplace in many cases requires anytime connectivity to the SharePoint platform, not only from within the confines of a traditional office, but also on the road or in the home office. Many organizations are subsequently finding it extremely valuable to expose their SharePoint environment to the Internet, but are being faced with a myriad of security challenges to keep their vital organizational information from being hacked and exposed. This session focuses on the risks of exposing SharePoint to the Internet and explaining which technologies have been proven to mitigate those risks. From secured Web publishing using Microsoft’s Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server or the Internet Access Gateway (IAG) product line, to rights management protection, to antivirus with ForeFront Security for SharePoint, this topic covers a range of security concerns and how they can be addressed.

HBI201: SharePoint and Business Intelligence
Leonard Mwangi
Business intelligence is the core of most organizations because it helps the business make informed decisions based on data that’s available for analysis. In this session, we will look at integrating SharePoint and SQL Server Reporting Services, use SharePoint Reports Center to create a dashboard that’s data driven, and analyze it using SharePoint Excel services and SQL Server Analysis Services.
We will also look at key performance indicators (KPI’s) and how they can generate data from either Excel Services or SQL Analysis Services.

HCU405: SharePoint Workflow Forms
Robert Bogue
Custom SharePoint Workflows can do anything they want behind the scenes, interacting with other systems, sending e-mails, and updating databases but if they need to interact with the user, they almost always need a custom workflow form. In this session, we’ll cover the three most popular kinds of Workflow forms.

HSC201: Using Information Rights Management (IRM) with SharePoint
Leonard Mwangi
Distribution of information is one of the major problems that exist in different organizations, since SharePoint and file servers are meant to provide users with information required to achieve their day-to-day tasks. But sometimes users share information that they shouldn’t share. This can lead to catastrophic events in an organization if the information gets to the wrong hands. These information leaks can lead to a competitor’s advantage, loss of revenue or copyright issues. In this session, we will look into configuring and accessing Information Rights Management (IRM) in SharePoint and how IRM-enabled documents can help protect confidential documents to prevent intended or unintended security breeches on SharePoint documents.

HDA201: Using SharePoint Single Sign-On (SSO) to Authenticate Users to Different ISV Applications
Leonard Mwangi
In the current era of information management, authentication is required to access most of information that is deemed useful for users to get their job done. This call for multiple logins that users are required to remember and store can result in a security breech. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server provides a Single Sign-On capability that stores and manages user’s authentication information for different ISV applications.
In this session we will look at the configuration for SSO and how it can be leveraged to store login information for users and authenticating ISV applications from SharePoint navigation.

HCU403: Using the Business Data Catalog in Office Business Applications
Scot Hillier
All organizations maintain data inside distinct line-of-business (LOB) systems that are required to support business processes. This data may be contained within a customer relationship management (CRM) system, an accounting system, an employee information system, or other similar systems. The Business Data Catalog (BDC) can be used to access the data in these LOB systems, but typically the access is limited to displaying information in Web Parts. Using Office Business Applications (OBA) technology, we can integrate BDC data with Office clients to support the preparation, routing, and archival of business documents. Attendees will exit this session with several new ideas for integrating LOB data in SharePoint solutions.

HSA301: Virtualizing SharePoint Components
Michael Noel
Server virtualization technologies have taken front stage recently and many organizations have begun to seriously contemplate replacing physical servers, including SharePoint servers, with virtualization technologies. This session focuses on real-world architecture and best-practice recommendations for incorporating SharePoint architecture into virtualized environments running with either Microsoft’s Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft’s Windows 2008 Hyper-V Virtualization, EMC’s VMware Server, and Citrix Xen Server products. In addition, special focus is placed on virtualization management and provisioning using tools such as System Center Virtual Machine Manager (VMM). The session also focuses on outlining which specific components of SharePoint operate well in a virtualized environment versus which ones are not necessarily good candidates. In addition, this session gives an in-depth look at real-world designs for SharePoint using both major virtualization products and outlining the strengths and weaknesses of each product in relation to SharePoint functionality and supportability.

KEYNOTE SESSION

KEYNOTE: SharePoint Development: Evolved
Arpan Shah
SharePoint continues to evolve as a strong platform for many different users—especially for the developer. Now more than ever the developer is armed with a rich set of out-of-the-box features, a powerful set of services and APIs, and tools support that enable you to build custom applications that span the discrete Web part to the enterprise solution. Come kick off Microsoft Day at SharePoint Connections with a glimpse into not only what SharePoint has to offer you today, but also to catch a glimpse as to what the future holds for the next evolutionary step for the SharePoint developer.

KEYNOTE: SQL Server Next Generation Data Platform
Quentin Clark
SQL Server has evolved to a complete data platform enabling rich services and comprehensive management capabilities for all types of data. From unstructured data to fully structured data models SQL Server provides a variety of data types and technologies to enable next generation applications. In this session Quentin will go over the vision for the data platform, some of the capabilities in SQL Server 2008 and how they’re being used by customers today and will provide some insight into what’s coming next.

KEYNOTE: The Energynet—The Next Boom in Software
Juval Lowy
The ongoing economy unraveling is the defining moment of our time. Many professional developers are fearful for their livelihood, as employers and customers cut and slash development plans, and as economic activity grinds to a halt. But not everywhere. In centers of technical excellence and innovation such as the Silicon Valley, the major players, from investors to industry leaders, are aligning themselves with the next boom in software, a field Juval Lowy calls the Energynet. To avert a depression, Juval believes the government and private industry will invest and promote alternative energy, both for stimulating the economy and to reduce dependency on foreign energy imports. Alternative energy covers a wide range, from new cars, to micro renewal sources energy producers, infrastructure upgrades to charge stations and distribution, new power and transformation grids, and integration of billing systems, let alone commercial building and homes modification. And the key for making all that work is software. We simply cannot make the physics or the chemistry substantially better, but we can profoundly integrate systems, iron out inefficiency, automate and vertically integrate energy trading, production and consumption; and the key to all of that is great software. This massive new software system is the Energynet, and the analogy to the Internet is a good one–instead of packets and request, the Energynet transfers watts and usage data, connecting anything and everything in the energy market. In this unique session, Juval Lowy will present the case for the next boom in software, share personal observation and perspectives, and point out the skills and expertise required of developers that want to not only survive but thrive on the next boom in software.

KEYNOTE: Visual Studio – Your Development Happy Place
Dave Mendlen
For more than 20 years developers have relied on Microsoft for the most powerful and productive tools. Visual Studio 2008 has already been widely adopted by many developers as their platform of choice, and Visual Studio Team System the preferred solution for collaborative teams. Now, Visual Studio 2010 is on the horizon and presents even greater opportunities for the creation of applications that target new platforms such as Windows 7 and innovative technologies like the Cloud and Parallel computing. This talk will take a look at the best features in the Visual Studio 2008 product family as well as preview some of the great innovations coming in Visual Studio 2010.

KEYNOTE: Web Development: The Next Generation
Scott Guthrie
See the latest innovations that you can use today in Visual Studio 2008 and ASP.NET 3.5 that make building great Web applications easier than ever. From built-in AJAX support to new Web and data controls, productivity has never been the same. Then, get a sneak peak at the continued improvements Microsoft is making in its Web platform and tools. We’ll take a look at improvements in ASP.NET shipping later this year, code-focused enhancements in Visual Studio 2010, as well as new features for ASP.NET 4. We also discuss our strategy for application development to help you make informed decisions. We will even take a look at how you can incorporate Silverlight into your ASP.NET applications to create truly compelling Web experiences.

VENDOR SESSION

VENDOR: Building Business Applications with WPF, Silverlight and the Telerik RadControls
John Kellar
Do you need to build line of business (LOB) applications with WPF and Silverlight in 2009? Do you have the tools you need to be productive? Join Microsoft MVP and Telerik Evangelist John Kellar as he shows you how Telerik is delivering the tools you need to build high performance and visually stunning WPF and Silverlight applications. In this developer-focused session, you will see you how can leverage the RadGridView, RadGauge, and RadChart to build robust applications for both WPF and Silverlight. Since Telerik’s XAML RadControls share a common API, you can easily build an application for WPF and then quickly reuse the same Telerik code in Silverlight. Don’t believe it? Don’t miss this session!
One lucky attendee of this session will win a license for Telerik Premium Collection for .NET.

VENDOR: Dell EqualLogic Solutions for SQL Server in Virtual Machine Deployments
Suresh Jasrasaria
Keith Swindell
The Dell EqualLogic™ PS Series is an ideal storage platform for SQL Server® deployments in dedicated hardware server and hypervisor based virtual machine environments. EqualLogic storage solutions for SQL Server are easy to deploy and manage and provide comprehensive data protection and disaster recovery features. These solutions include advanced software, like Auto-Snapshot Manager/Microsoft® Edition (ASM/ME) and Auto-Snapshot Manager/VMware® Edition (ASM/VE) that provide tight integration with Microsoft® Windows Server® 2008 Hyper-V™ and VMware® ESX™ Server respectively. They take full advantage of EqualLogic’s snapshot functionality to help protect virtual machines while ASM/ME also integrates Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) technology to create Smart Copies of SQL Server volumes using snapshots, clones and remote replication to help secure the highest level of protection for SQL server data. In this session we will demonstrate how you can eliminate hours of tedious work to easily create SQL Server data copies for application testing and development and help protect SQL Server data in a hypervisor-based virtual machine environment.

MICROSOFT DAY - SHAREPOINT

HMS01: Developing for SharePoint in the Cloud
Arpan Shah
Software as a service and cloud computing are becoming increasingly popular development models. For SharePoint, this means having the option to develop solutions within an on-premise data center or within a hosted environment. Come discover what we mean when we say developing for the cloud and learn how you can build and deploy your own applications for SharePoint in the cloud.

HMS02: Enhancing Your SharePoint Sites with Silverlight
Steve Fox
SharePoint provides a powerful development platform that enables the integration of many different types of technology. In this session, learn how to leverage and integrate Silverlight to deliver a rich and interactive end-user experience for SharePoint sites and content. In this session, we’ll discuss the different ways in which you can integrate Silverlight into your SharePoint site, specifically showing you how to create a custom navigation, custom web parts, integrate with the SharePoint object model, and even build Silverlight enhanced business applications for SharePoint.

HMS03: Introduction to Using Visual Studio to Develop for SharePoint
Steve Fox
Are you a .NET developer? It's about time you learned the basics of SharePoint development, which is built entirely on ASP.NET. This session introduces you to the various places in SharePoint that you can build and extend as a developer. We look at the core SharePoint concepts that .NET developers need to be aware of, and we’ll discuss the biggest pieces such as Web parts, workflow, list definitions, event handlers for lists and document libraries, and custom content types. Demos use the Visual Studio extensions for SharePoint to show how to get started building some of these components.

HMS04: Mashing Up the Web: SharePoint and SharePoint Designer
Dave Pae
Mash ups! Composite Applications! SAAS! Software plus Services! If you boil these all down, it is about building applications faster, easier with better visualizations and empowering your end users. This session will explore how you can use SharePoint as a mash-up platform and rendering engine for your next generation applications and how SharePoint Designer can empower you and your users to build a new class of application.

HMS08: Overview of Collaboration/Social Computing and Extranets in SharePoint 2007
Dave Pae
Conversations around the water cooler have migrated online to a place that can be searched, indexed and shared with others in the organization. SharePoint comes with many different types of social computing features such as blogs, wikis, MySites, and profiles. This session will provide an overview of the different out of the box social computing features within SharePoint and discuss how they can be extended into the Internet.

HMS06: Overview of ECM in SharePoint 2007
Arpan Shah
Enterprise Content Management is more important than ever. Digital information is exploding at an ever increasing pace which leads to content chaos, non-compliance and frustrated users. This session will take a look at how you can empower your end users using the ECM technologies in SharePoint while at the same time keeping compliant with the different industry standards that your company may have to adhere to. We will talk about the out of the box and custom built document and content management, records management, e-forms and business process on the SharePoint platform.

HMS05: SharePoint Web Content Management: It's Not All About the Intranet
Steve Fox
SharePoint is growing in popularity and use, and it’s not just for corporate Intranets anymore. Many companies are now using SharePoint as the platform for building externally facing web sites. This session provides an introduction to how you can use SharePoint to build Extranet and Internet sites. Specific topics will include page branding and customization, building custom artifacts such as web parts, field types and content types, navigation, and much more.

HMS07: Using SharePoint to Build Business Intelligence Solutions
Dave Pae
Business intelligence is key to any business, measuring the success and progress of projects to human resource budgets to sales forecasts. With SharePoint you get a significant amount of business intelligence such as Excel Services, Key Performance Indicators, SQL Server Analysis Services, reporting dashboards, and much, much more. Come learn how you can transform your SharePoint investment into a Mecca of business intelligence.