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You have the opportunity to avail 10% discount on the registration fee for TechEd Middle East, the premier technical education event providing the most comprehensive technical training on Microsoft’s suite of products, technologies, solutions and services. being held March 8-10 in Dubai, UAE.

To avail the discount, use the following code during registration.

8D60604A

This code is valid for 10 registrations only, so better hurry.

Questions? Post a comment to this post. Terms & conditions apply.

I realized that the video of my TechEd 2010 session on Forefront Unified Access Gateway and DirectAccess is available online.

You can watch it on the TechEd website. As of now the video doesn’t seem to load, so there is the option to download the WMV video.

I will back again at TechEd this year insha Allah with another session on UAG. Stay tuned

TechEd was awesome. 1500 techies under one roof. Amazing.

I could not agree more with fellow TechEd speaker Andy Malone, who wrote in his blog:

The feedback has been amazing and for that you have my thanks. TechEd is a unique worldwide event, now running in ten locations worldwide. One thing that really stands out is its ability to bring people from different countries, backgrounds, religions together. The relationships formed both personal and business can last a lifetime.

Special thanks goes to Arif, Amory and the team at Microsoft Gulf for putting together a spectacular event – which is also the first TechEd in the Gulf region. I also want to thank the delegates for attending this event and also for their feedback.

As promised, here are additional resources that will help you move forward with UAG:

• UAG with DirectAccess – I will publish a step by step on my blog very soon. Stay tuned!
• UAG Hardware option – Vendors
• UAG Licensing
• Official forum – Ask questions about UAG
• UAG Team blog
• UAG homepage

Here are pictures from the event. The moments below were captured by David Maskell, Security Solutions SSP at Microsoft Gulf, who is also the Security, Identity & Access (SIA) track owner at TechEd ME.

View Full Album

View Full Album

View Full Album

I would like to thank those of you that attended my session on Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway and DirectAccess yesterday at TechEd Middle East 2010. If you heard about this blog from my session, please take a moment to subscribe by email or RSS.

I cannot stress enough on how important your session evaluations are. If you attended my session, please take a moment to complete the evaluation online.

I would like to thank those who have already completed the feedback for giving me high ratings. It is your support that keeps me going. With all respect, let me also request the only one person who rated me low to re-evaluate the session open-mindedly:-). Honest feedback in the evaluation is important to me.

The presentation slide deck is now available for download on the TechEd website. You will have to login with your TechEd username and password.

Q&A

I have tried my best to answer all questions onsite. However, if you still have questions based on my session, feel free to post them below as a comment to this post. I will try my best to have them answered.

Thank You.

PS: Pictures will be uploaded soon.

Countdown to TechEd – 4 days to go.

T minus 4 for the biggest tech event in Dubai — TechEd Middle East 2010.

Here’s a reminder of the session that I will be speaking at. Hope to see you there!

Session: SIA308 – Secure Remote Access with Unified Access Gateway and Direct Access

Track: Security, Identity and Access
Speaker: Shijaz Abdulla
When: Wed, Mar 03, 2010 (13:30 – 14:30) | Breakout Session
Where: Sheikh Maktoum Hall A
Level: 300 – Advanced
Audience: Security Administrator, IT Manager, Network Administrator

Here’s what I will be covering:

• Overview of Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway
• Demo of Unified Access Gateway features:
  • Remote access with SSL-VPN,
  • Secure Application Publishing,
  • Secure File Access,
  • Endpoint security
  • Publishing RemoteApp and Remote Desktop Services
• Overview of DirectAccess
• Demo: Enabling Windows 7 DirectAccess feature with UAG

Recommended Pre-requisites:

There are no prerequisite sessions that you need to attend before my session. However, if you have an interest in understanding the darkest depths of DirectAccess and IPv6, I recommend that you also attend the following sessions by John Craddock.

SVR401: DirectAccess Technical Drilldown, Part 1 of 2: IPv6 and transition technologies.

SVR402: DirectAccess Technical Drilldown, Part 2 of 2: Putting it all together.

I will be recapping some of the content covered in these sessions, but as my session focuses on Unified Access Gateway, I will not go in to the depths of how DirectAccess works.

Technical Learning Centre (TLC)

I will be available at the Technical Learning Centre at these times to attend to your questions around Microsoft Forefront products.

Monday, March 1: 11:45 to 15:45

Tuesday, March 2: 12:30 to 16:00

Feel free to drop in and ask your questions on ISA Server/Threat Management Gateway, Forefront Unified Access Gateway, Forefront Protection for Exchange/SharePoint/OCS, Forefront Endpoint Protection, Forefront Hosted Filtering for Exchange, Rights Management Services.

See you there!

I’m doing a breakout session at the Microsoft TechEd in Dubai. Here are the details:

Session: SIA308 – Secure Remote Access with Unified Access Gateway and Direct Access

Track: Security, Identity and Access
Speaker: Shijaz Abdulla
When: Wed, Mar 03, 2010 (13:30 – 14:30) | Breakout Session
Where: Sheikh Maktoum Hall A
Level: 300 – Advanced
Audience: Security Administrator, IT Manager

Here’s what I will be covering:

• Overview of Microsoft Forefront Unified Access Gateway
• Overview of DirectAccess
• Demo: Enabling Windows 7 DirectAccess feature with UAG
• Unified Access Gateway features: Remote access with SSL-VPN, Secure Application Publishing, Secure File Access, Endpoint security
• Demo: Unified Access Gateway features

See you there!

I am pleased to announce a 15% discount on registration fees at TechEd Dubai for all readers of my blog.

To make use of this offer, use the promo code 52F42DC3 while registering. Hurry, this is valid only for the first 100 registrations.

See you there!

I posted earlier about Microsoft Tech·Ed. It is the premier technical education and networking event for any technology professional interested in learning, connecting and exploring a broad set of current and soon-to-release Microsoft technologies, tools, platforms and services.

• Only Tech·Ed combines knowledge, expertise, inspiration, connections and friendship… all at the one event.
• Connect with International and Local Technical Experts, Microsoft Staff, Partners, MVPs, community influencers and industry peers

Immerse yourself in 3 days of intensive technical learning and discussion at Tech·Ed Middle East 2010. No other event provides such in-depth knowledge in such a short time.

• Learn through 2 keynote addresses and 99 technical education sessions
• Ask your questions in over 30 focused interactive discussions
• Touch the technology through 22 PC-based instructor-led training labs
• Meet with product experts and see product demos at the Technical Learning Centre
• Explore industry solutions at the Tech·Ed Partner Expo
• Connect with peers and industry leaders at the evening social functions

Register before January 31, 2010 and save US$130 on your registration fee.

The next Tech-Ed Middle East is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from March 1-3, 2010.

Tech-Ed is Microsoft’s premier technical education and networking conference where you can connect one-on-one with Microsoft insiders and IT peers, get your toughest questions answered and hear expert advice – right from the source!

For updated information, join the tech-ed mailing list, or visit www.teched.ae. Don’t forget to mark your calendars.