The Microsoft Philippines SQL Server 2008 Architect's Forum

I was at the Architect's Forum earlier this afternoon which took place at Dusit Nikko, Makati. Although database management or development isn't exactly my field of specialization - I attended to check it out anyway and to get the usual freebies (includes a Heroes T-Shirt, pen, pack bag and flyers!)  Hahaha! :D

Technical Event - Doh!

I thought the forum would be easily digested by my feeble brain, but sadly it failed to catch up during the break out sessions! The welcome plenary was given by Pepeng Rollan, GM of Microsoft Philippines and the keynote was delivered by Mark Souza from Microsoft Corp.

The keynote speaker enumerated the three development pillars of the SQL Server 2008 release as Trusted, Intelligent, and Productive. And after he briefly explained each pillar, three guys local Microsoft guys (Glenn Gamboa, Dindo Fernando, and Jojo Ayson) glady gave demos highlighting some of the key concepts of the pillars via the SQL Server itself, mostly executing scripts of TSQL and SQL. I did not get 90% of everything they said. :D 

Hungry... Misconeptions... Break Out Sessions...

Now at about 3PM, the breakout sessions started with the Grand Ballroom (where the forum was held) being divided to create another make-shift room to accomodate the other session. And now my stomach was grumbling as usual and I allowed it to take over, making me say stuff like "God, Microsoft rents out a great place but isn't serving any food yet!" and "I should have stay at the office!" AND "This is all they're serving coffee?!?". The first session (SQL Server 2008 SSAS enchancements) I attended flew by quite quickly, not because I thought the speaker (Nicholas Dritsas, Customer Advisory Team, Microsoft Corporation) was boring, but it was because my carbo deprived brain couldn't process anything anymore, that and the fact I didn't know squat about SSAS! 

By the time they announced that their would be another break before the next session AND the waiters start coming out with... SALAD! I told myself, "Better than nothing!", heck I gobbled the green salad in less than 2 mins! But after 5 min, lo and behold more waiters come out of the kitchen again with pasta in hand! I finally give Microsoft a pat in the back. Ok now I'll listen to your sessions! :D And I did, I knew enough TSQL and SQL to get what Michael Hotek (MCITP - SQL Server DBA) was saying about Database Auditing in SQL Server 2008. 

As usual Microsoft gets it right by developing powerful applications with customer convenience in mind. That's one of the main reasons open source development tools don't really hold any special place in my toolset, yes it may be free and it does have user support but it still takes a long time and requires more effort to code.