By Emeka Aginam
Over 300 hundreds IT Professionals, partners, developers gathered in Lagos on Tuesday during Microsoft Open Door seminar to discuss the software giant’s latest technologies available in the global IT market.
For one thing, the capacity building event afforded the participants the opportunity to increase their knowledge, share ideas and advance their skills as well as network with their local IT community and senior Microsoft technology experts.
The 2-day high profile event was a key initiative of the software giant’s continued investment in the region, to foster local IT development and drive innovation.
The events also provided a good opportunity for many Microsoft local partners across Lagos to showcase their innovations and business solutions.
With the Open Door events, Microsoft was further building on its local partnerships across the country to expand the possibilities for computing and extend the number of people both using and developing technology, driving growth, energy and ideas for Microsoft’s many partners here through innovative new technologies.
However some of the products and services on display included Microsoft Lync 2010, Windows 7, SQL Server and Microsoft Visual Studio 2010. The much anticipated Kinect for Xbox 360 also made its debut at the event.
Speaking at a press conference to announce this year’s event, the Country Manager, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, Emmanuel Onyeje told IT Journalists that the Open Door events are a great platform for the software giant to showcase their complete vision and wide range of technology solutions including our unique position on Cloud computing and the potential this offers to basically change how individuals and organizations across the region will use technology in the future.”
“We remain committed to fostering local growth and development and believe the Open Door events provide a fantastic opportunity to not only highlight the latest developments in ICT, but also the potential growth opportunities they offer” he said.
Also speaking, Dle Akinsade, Director Developer Platforms, Microsoft West East and Central Africa said THAT “Microsoft understands the need to help others innovate and compete favourably.
“ This explains why we have raised the bar in our partnership with local universities to empower students with the best technology tools to enhance their learning experience” he added.
He disclosed that Microsoft would offer students in local universities (focused on IT) free copies of DreamSpark, a platform that provides professional-level developer and design tools to students and educators, at no charge for development and testing purposes only.”
“These Microsoft tools help to advance learning and skills through technical design, technology, math, science, and engineering activities.
“As we identify that the potential to innovate must be nurtured early-on, Microsoft will continue to provide appropriate and superior learning tools to encourage innovation.”
“Some of the Open Door sessions were dedicated to Cloud Computing with the aim of helping businesses discover cloud power; control and manage their IT across physical and virtual server environments while leveraging their existing IT investments and skills” he explained.
For Awawu Olumide-Sojirin, Marketing and Sales Excellence Lead, Microsoft Anglophone West Africa, the event was an absolute necessity for IT professionals and developers who desire to harness the many benefits of Cloud Computing, to transform businesses.
About participating in the event, Moji Sodunke of Ha-Shem Network Services Limited said that their involvement confirms their promise to deliver solutions that allow people to access information anytime and anywhere across many devices and even more importantly, adaptation of the latest Microsoft technologies.
Microsoft’s network of partners across Nigeria include local developers who build software products for local businesses to deploy solutions based on Microsoft technology, further helping to drive local innovation, growth and competitiveness through continued investment in the local IT economy.
By equipping local businesses with the tools to develop local technology solutions, Microsoft is helping to give this vital growth engine vitality and long-term sustainability through valuable skills and new jobs.
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