Hi guys - great work Dan, he set a great intro scene. Andrew mentioned change was in the air and the changing of the Tech Talk guards are here.... great job Girls.

Welcome to the land of BizTalk and Beyond - folks the next 18 months or so are going to be *very* exciting. Converging technologies, wcf gluey pieces popping up all over the place, WF becomes a common word in homes....wow! and of course there's this thing called BizTalk - let's crack that 'Chesnut' (great to have Bill here too as part of the clan)

Quick intro...right....I'm Mick(BizTalk MVP) - hi to those who I know, hi to those I don't. I'm going to take you on a great BizTalk + related ride.

What do I do: workwise - I run a specialist company Breeze Training (that focuses on delivering/creating top quality training material around Biztalk, Sharepoint, VSTS and BI technologies)  - basically I spend half my time training/mentoring/presenting (teched,bpi confs etc) and the other half consulting. I've been technically heavily involved in BizTalk since when it was born (for those who *remember* BTS 2000....you poor things....my therapist says I'm progressing really well now :)

I am heavily involved with Microsoft in various initiatives both in Oz + Corp including being part of the Microsoft Readiness program as a MOSS/BizTalk instructor.

I also run the Sydney BizTalk User Group with some great members in an active Sydney community. Feel free to pop in.

Before I sign out I'll leave you with this tidbit about BizTalk....

Factoid

Source

12 of the 15 largest Retailers in the World run Microsoft BizTalk

Elsevier Food International, September 2006 (sourced from PlanetRetail database)

5 of 10 largest Hotel Chains in the World with over 2 Million rooms use Microsoft BizTalk

Hotels Magazine, July 2007

6 of the 8 largest U.S. Pharmacuetical Companies use Microsoft BizTalk

Fortune 1000 by Industry, April 30, 2007

4 of the 5 largest U.S. Electronics Parts Manufacturers use Microsoft BizTalk

Fortune 1000 by Industry, April 30, 2007

9 of 10 largest U.S. Telecommunications Companies use Microsoft BizTalk

Fortune 1000 by Industry, April 30, 2007

9 of the 10 largest Aerospace and Defense Companies in the U.S. run Microsoft BizTalk

Fortune 1000 by Industry, April 30, 2007

5 of the 8 largest U.S. Chemical Companies run Microsoft BizTalk

Fortune 1000 by Industry, April 30, 2007

4 of the 5 largest Railroads in the U.S. run Microsoft BizTalk

Fortune 1000 by Industry, April 30, 2007

9 of the 10 largest Insurance Companies in the World run Microsoft BizTalk

Insurance Information Institute (from Fortune Global 500 data)

23 of 27 EU member governments use Microsoft BizTalk to provide more efficient government services

European Union web site

BizTalk 2006 R2 Launch - Sept 14th see you all there.

Cheers,

Mick.