Guess what is the biggest event we’re doing in Qatar this year? It’s the Microsoft Open Door 2012!

This is one event you don’t want to miss. Make sure you save the date now!

What is Open Door, anyway?

Open Door is Microsoft’s premier technical education event aimed at offering technology professionals and decision makers the chance to explore and connect with a broad set of current and soon-to-be-released Microsoft technologies, tools, platforms and services.

An all-encompassing 2-day event, Open Door is the perfect venue for customers and partners to engage and interact, while learning about Microsoft’s breadth of solutions, technologies and innovations.

Who is coming to Open Door?

Open Door will be attended by a wide range of Microsoft customers including IT professionals, developers and IT decision makers from small and medium-sized businesses, government institutions and large enterprises.

When and Where is it being held?

It’s going to be held at the Qatar National Convention Center (QNCC) on February 7-8, 2012.

How do I register? What sessions/topics are covered? How much does it cost?

Go to www.opendoor-gulf.com for more information and registration. Registration is FREE.

Microsoft is a Platinum sponsor at this year’s QITCOM, Qatar’s premier IT conference and exhibition.

Organized in partnership with ictQATAR, QITCOM will gather leading local, regional and international companies, government bodies, speakers, and delegates under one roof to discuss the latest technologies and how they apply to the future progress of Qatar and the region.

QITCOM will run from 24-26 May 2011 at the Doha Exhibition Center. Make sure you visit our space at QITCOM! See you there!

In partnership with Jabra and Polycom, Microsoft cordially invites you to attend the exclusive Unified Communications Launch roadshow in the Gulf region. Success in today’s business world hinges on collaboration – whether it’s with other employees, clients, partners, or vendors. Now there’s a way for your organization to transform every communication into an interaction that is more collaborative, engaging, and accessible from anywhere

Register now for the Lync Roadshow in your city!

Why attend?
Meet international subject matter experts from Jabra, Polycom and Microsoft and learn the latest trends and cutting-edge technologies in the Unified Communications space.
Jabra’s award-winning corded and wireless headset solutions integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Lync providing a reliable, easy to use and cost effective user experience across multiple devices and platforms.
Polycom provides a complete, standards-based, and interoperable UC solution for voice, video, conferencing, and collaboration, giving customers a choice through the scalable Polycom infrastructure and Microsoft Lyncâ„¢ platform
Microsoft® Lync™ Server 2010 is the next generation of Microsoft® Office Communications Server 2007 R2 offers organizations a wide range of option

• A single interface that unites voice communications, presence and instant messaging, and audio/video/web conferencing into a solution that can enhance or replace existing systems.
• A familiar user experience accessible through Microsoft® Office, Microsoft SharePoint®,
  and Microsoft Exchange.
• A single identity that connects users to contacts inside and outside the organization.
• A consistent experience across PC, phone, web, or mobile that gives users the option to connect
  from multiple devices.
• Exceptional security and reliability that works with Active Directory® and Microsoft Forefront®.
• Interoperability with existing systems for smoother deployment and migration.

A rich platform for development, bringing unified communications into custom solutions ranging from business workflows to line-of-business applications.

February 5th 2011 – Oman
February 6th 2011 – Bahrain
February 7th 2011 – Qatar
February 8th 2011 – Kuwait
February 9th 2011 – UAE

Register now for the Lync Roadshow in your city!

Qatar January 24, 2011 Venue: La Cigale Hotel, Doha

Kuwait February 1, 2011 Venue: JW Marriott, Kuwait City

HP Middle East, Microsoft Qatar and Mannai Corporation are jointly conducting an event at the Intercontinental Hotel on 16th June 2010 focusing on Private Cloud Computing solutions. Below is the agenda:

Last evening, my colleague Mamoun and I were invited to a get-together of Doha’s Hotel IT Managers at the Intercontinental Hotel, Doha.

We had some great conversations around Microsoft solutions for the hospitality industry and I had a chance to discuss Microsoft Surface, Unified Communications and Windows 7 adoption issues. What was more captivating was the community that the IT Managers have formed as a platform to foster the informal exchange of information and ideas and to collectively discuss technology and challenges.

Below are the videos that I played during my presentation:

I would like to thank Mr. Hussein Yaghmour, IT Manager of the Intercontinental Doha, for hosting this get-together, for inviting us to be a part of this great community event, and for the fantastic dinner!

Craig Mundie, Chief Research & Strategy Officer at Microsoft was in Qatar yesterday and spoke to customers at a TechTalk jointly organized by Microsoft QSTP and the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) at the Four Seasons Hotel yesterday evening.

Craig Mundie provided great insight into the current research being done at Microsoft, the “client+cloud” strategy, and the trends in modern computing. He discussed how these trends will create a startling transformation in how humans and computers interact, and how computers will increasingly work on our behalf, rather than at our command.

Earlier in the day, he spoke on similar lines to students and faculty at Qatar University.

Afkar, one of Microsoft’s leading Gold Certified Partners specialized in Information worker Solutions in the region, has an exciting SharePoint 2010 Seminar lined up this week at Doha, Qatar.

Here’s the agenda:

For more information and to register for the event, visit Afkar’s website.

Mannai Trading, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner on Server Virtualization and many other competencies, held an event jointly with Citrix and HP on 7th April at the Intercontinental Hotel, Doha, Qatar. The event mainly focused on Desktop Virtualization.

Nabil Khalil, Deputy General Manager at Mannai, Alex Filocca and Raja Slaiman Haidar from Citrix, Rajat Rallan and Bechara from HP were some of the speakers at the event.

The event was well attended and gave us the opportunity to keep the Qatar customer community to be informed of the strategic alliance between Microsoft and Citrix in the VDI space.

For more information on the Citrix Microsoft partnership, visit www.microsoftandcitrix.com

Meet Tech·Ed Middle East’s Top Voted Speaker at the Business Intelligence Roadshow.

Rafal Lukawiecki, International Business Intelligence speaker, will be telling you all about simplifying performance management and business intelligence.

Join us at this exclusive event as he demonstrates to you how these solutions can easily be used in your day-to-day business scenarios.

With a special focus on Microsoft^® SQL Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft^® Office System 2010, this will be a full day seminar with exciting presentations and live videos from the business intelligence performance management expert.