Thursday, November 12 – 2-3 PM (EST)

An in depth conversation about starting a global software company. Talk with David Ossip about starting a new company, finding customers, and growing an international business. David Ossip is a serial entrepreneur. He recently founded Dayforce that delivers SaaS (on demand) enterprise solutions. His last business, Workbrain, was sold in June 2007 to Infor Global Solutions for $227 million. Mr. Ossip was selected to Canada’s Top 40 Under 40™ in 2004, and was distinguished by Ernst & Young with both its emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award® and its nationally awarded Special Citation for Technology Innovation.

Talk with David Crow about Microsoft programs for start-ups including BizSpark and WebsiteSpark. Learn about local community events and how participation can help you raise your profile, drive demand for your products and services, and focus attention on a growing startup.

David Crow, Platform Strategy Advisor, Microsoft Canada David Crow is an emerging technology and start-up advocate/evangelist. At Microsoft Canada, he is responsible for helping Canadian start-ups gain access to software, support and visibility in the Microsoft ecosystem through programs like BizSpark (details at microsoft.com/bizspark). David helps companies understand emerging technology, business models and design practices for creating compelling digital experiences. David focuses on helping companies to extend their customers' reach with next generation technologies for the desktop, digital devices, standards based applications for the Web, and rich media applications. He has been named Toronto's Best Web and Tech Evangelist for his efforts in DemoCamp, BarCampToronto, Founders & Funders and StartupEmpire. David blogs at http://davidcrow.ca/ and http://startupnorth.ca/ or follow him on Twitter @davidcrow

David Ossip, President & CEO, Dayforce Inc. Ossip is the founder and former President and CEO of Workbrain, the most widely-deployed Workforce Management solution for large enterprises and one of North America's fastest growing companies. Ossip has over a decade of experience delivering innovative workforce and performance solutions to clients around the world. He is the recipient of many awards for his leadership, including the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award as well as a nationally awarded Special Citation for Technology Innovation. Ossip was also the recipient of the Kroeger College Award for Management. In 2004, he was named to Canada’s Top 40 under 40. Ossip holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.

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Thursday, November 19 – 2-3 PM (EST)

With roughly 35% of independent software vendors making the move to software as a service, it is clear that ISVs and systems integrators already recognize the value of adopting the SaaS business model. Pushed by customers that want to reduce the cost of on-premise infrastructure and dedicated IT resources, software developers can now realize similar benefits by leveraging platform-as-a-service for the development, testing and staging of SaaS applications.

Rob Kent, Hosting Partner Account Manager, Microsoft Canada Rob Kent is a Hosting Partner Account Manager within the Communications Sector at Microsoft Canada. As the Manager for Strategic Hosting Partners, Rob manages some of Canada's most well known and respected Hosters across the country. His role is to help technology partners envision, develop, launch and grow new and exciting hosted services built on the Microsoft-based platform. With Microsoft since 2005, he has been a significant contributor to Microsoft's Hosting Strategy and has worked closely with other groups within Microsoft such as the SI & ISV Partner Teams to help them develop their Software + Services Partner Strategy. Prior to Microsoft Rob has worked in various technical and business development capacities in the Service Provider and Hosting industries for companies such as TELUS & FibreWired, as well as a number of small start-ups.

Simon Keogh, VP of Marketing, Tenzing Simon Keogh is vice president of marketing for Tenzing, a managed hosting provider with data centres in Toronto and Vancouver. At Tenzing, Simon is responsible for developing the go-to-market strategy leveraging his 17 years experience building successful enterprise and consumer software companies, most recently as vice president of product management for Univeris and Tira Wireless. Simon's career spans several marketing and product management roles with companies including Brightspark, Delano Technology, MGI Software, Symantec and Delrina. Simon is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario, with a Bachelor of Science degree.

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Thursday, November 26 – 2-3 PM (EST)

It’s a competitive market out there and every deal counts, so why shouldn’t you have a technology partner that works with you and not against you? It’s no secret that many of the largest software companies have been acquiring smaller vendors and consolidating the market. And now these same companies that were once partners now compete directly with their partner ecosystem. Is that partnering or is that competing? It’s confusing and that’s why many partners who were once aligned with these other vendors have switched to Microsoft and learned what a true business relationship can mean. From SMB to enterprise, across all vertical and horizontal markets… the move is on.

Learn directly from one of Oracle’s largest ISVs, why they switched to Microsoft & the business and competitive benefits they have gained. Increased revenue, lower costs, better support and most importantly, a true business relationship. Whether you offer solutions in a traditional on premise model or Hosted, find out why they switched and the expected benefits.

Shane Davies, ISV Partner Account Manager, Microsoft Canada Partner Manager, Independent Software Vendors, Microsoft Canada. As an ISV Manager, Shane manages a wide range of different ISVs across vertical and horizontal markets, including some of Microsoft Canada’s most strategic ISV relationships. His role is to help recruit, enable, and drives opportunities through the ISV community and grow the overall ecosystem. He also focuses on helping ISVs increase their revenue, decrease costs, and generate new opportunities. Joining Microsoft in 2008 he has been instrumental in driving Microsoft’s ISV strategy in Canada, Globally, and in vertical markets. He has also led Microsoft’s competitive effort against top competitors such as Oracle, IBM and MYSQL. Previous to Microsoft, Shane spent 8 years at Oracle where he managed some of Oracle largest ISV & OEM partnerships for Canada & the United States. He was one of the first people on Oracle’s North American ISV team, and was instrumental in their ISV strategy. Prior to Oracle, for 4 years Shane was held both Partner and Direct Sales roles at DataMirror Corporation (now IBM). His various business experiences in both partner & in direct sales roles for some of the world’s largest software companies, has given him a unique perspective on different partnering approaches and best practices. In can be daunting working with large companies, but he understands what makes a successful partner.

Mark Nashman, President & CTO, Clarity Systems Ltd. Mark Nashman serves as President and Chief Technology Officer of Clarity Systems Ltd. and is responsible for leading its advancement in the areas of corporate performance management solutions, training and consulting. Mr. Nashman leads a team of eighty professionals to provide unparalleled products and services supporting business intelligence and corporate performance management for Clarity's clients. Mr. Nashman served as Chief Product Architect of Clarity Systems Ltd

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Thursday, December 3 – 2-3 PM (EST)

It’s a competitive market out there, and the recent economic conditions haven’t made it easier to win & retain customers. You should have every tool at your disposal to make that happen and ensure you maximize revenue, lower your costs, and beat your competitors. They won’t know what hit them, whether they are the big vendors or the small niche companies.

Did you know that Microsoft has a model just for ISV’s? That allows you to offer Microsoft products with your solution at highly discounted prices? That only you can offer for your solution? And did you know that only Microsoft has a true month to month, pay as you go SaaS (hosted) for partners? Both models are available today and many successful technology partners are using one or both options. Whether it be to maximize their chances of winning every single deal or simply open up new market & new opportunities - it’s all about helping you the partner, drive new business.

So whether you offer a traditional on-premise model, a hosted model, or both .. you will want to know more. Learn about 2 of the best kept secrets at Microsoft, that will help give you a distinct competitive advantage in your market. Don’t miss it, this could be difference maker.

Shane Davies, ISV Partner Account Manager, Microsoft Canada Partner Manager, Independent Software Vendors, Microsoft Canada. As an ISV Manager, Shane manages a wide range of different ISVs across vertical and horizontal markets, including some of Microsoft Canada’s most strategic ISV partnerships. His role is to help recruit, enable, and drives opportunities through our ISV community and grow the overall ecosystem. He also focuses on helping ISVs increase their revenue, decrease costs, improve margins and generate new opportunities. Joining Microsoft in 2008 he has been instrumental in driving Microsoft’s ISV strategy in Canada, Globally, and in vertical markets. He has also led Microsoft’s competitive effort against top competitors such as Oracle, IBM and MYSQL. Previous to Microsoft, Shane spent 8 years at Oracle where he managed some of Oracle largest ISV & OEM partnerships for Canada & the United States. He was one of the first people on Oracle’s North American ISV team, and was instrumental in their ISV strategy. Prior to Oracle, for 4 years Shane was held both Partner and Direct Sales roles at DataMirror Corporation (now IBM). His various business experiences in both partner & in direct sales roles for some of the world’s largest software companies, has given him a unique perspective on different partnering approaches and best practices. In can be daunting working with large companies, but he understands what makes a successful partner.

Rob Kent, Hosting Partner Account Manager, Microsoft Canada Rob Kent is a Hosting Partner Account Manager within the Communications Sector at Microsoft Canada. As the Manager for Strategic Hosting Partners, Rob manages some of Canada's most well known and respected Hosters across the country. His role is to help our partners envision, develop, launch and grow new and exciting hosted services built on the Microsoft platform. With Microsoft since 2005, he has been a significant contributor to Microsoft's Hosting Strategy and has worked closely with other groups within Microsoft such as the SI & ISV Partner Teams to help them develop their Software + Services Partner Strategy. Prior to Microsoft Rob has worked in various technical and business development capacities in the Service Provider and Hosting industries for companies such as TELUS & FibreWired, as well as a number of small start-ups.

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Thursday, December 10 – 2-3 PM (EST)

Setting up a web platform environment has never been so easy with Microsoft IIS7, WebPI and App Gallery. Find out how you can deploy and manage heterogeneous web apps, from ASP.NET to PHP, all within the easy-to-use IIS7 framework. See the updated modular architecture, extensions and tools that take the guess-work out of installing some of the most popular apps like DotNetNuke, mojoPortal and even PHP apps like Drupal, WordPress, Gallery and many others.

Paul Laberge, Web Platform Advisor, Microsoft Canada Paul Laberge is a Web Platform Advisor for Microsoft Canada. In this role, Paul is responsible for working with some of the biggest brands in Canada to enable their success using the Microsoft application platform. His focus is primarily to empower companies by embracing the new and exciting web-based technologies that Microsoft offers, including Silverlight, ASP.NET, Expression Studio, Visual Studio and SharePoint. Paul has been with Microsoft since January, 2007. Paul brings a wealth of IT experience, having worked in the IT and Management Consulting industry for 10 years, including 7 years in a “Big 4” consulting firm prior to joining Microsoft.

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