The Cutting Edge

G'Day Developers!

Do you always carry your Tool Box?

Microsoft tools are the most important tools I have. I spend most of my time using Outlook, Visual Studio .NET, SQL Server Enterprise Manager and Access. However Microsoft tools don't do everything I want to do. Rather than spending my time recreating the wheel, I am always on the look out for non-Microsoft options or extensions that will save me time.

Not only software, carrying your own hardware and peripherals will save you hours one day: network cables, cross-over cables, wireless cards, blank CD's, blank floppy's, software CD's, screw-drivers, even a text book or two. We have one guy in our office who carries two bags, each weighing about 10 kgs. He is the SSW St. Bernard!

A spanner might get a plumber through 90% of jobs, but he'll get stuck on the last 10% if he doesn't carry anything else. I carry these tools in my Tool Box every day. I hope you find them useful.

More on Rules to Successful Projects...

Cheers until next time,

Adam
SSW Chief Architect and Microsoft Regional Director, Australia

Got a comment for Adam? 6164616d636f67616e407373772e636f6d2e6175

Sydney .NET User Group - The best place to learn .NET for free in Sydney

5 days to go!

Sydney .NET User Group
Wednesday 15th November 2006
5:45pm - 9:00pm
Location: Microsoft, Sydney

Data Dude (aka Visual Studio for Database Professionals)

Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals delivers a market- shifting database development product designed to manage database changes, improve software quality through database testing and bring the benefits of Visual Studio Team System and life cycle development to the database professional.

Take Control of Database Change

Streamline changes to your database with tools that allow you to automatically cascade changes throughout the database schema in a controlled and consistent manner.

Reduce the risk involved with changing database schema by comparing the source controlled version against test and production systems and by automating the creation of change scripts.

Automate Database Testing to Improve Quality

Create full unit tests for your database schema that can be run independently or in combination with Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite to provide a comprehensive set of tests for the application and database tiers.

Author tests in either T-SQL or managed code with extensible unit test functionality and a new test editor.

Improve Collaboration and Communication 

Establish the Database Professional as an integral part of the project team with a unique Visual Studio role-based experience and full access to the benefits of Team Foundation Server.

Improve collaboration between the Database Professional and other members of the development team through use of the shared team portal, integrated change management and a common version control and data repository.

Communicate important changes to the database to the rest of the team through work-item updates and event-based notifications.

Key Features

- Database Schema Comparison
- Database Data Comparison 
- Database Unit Tests
- Data Generation 
- Database Object Rename Refactoring

More on Data Dude Training

See You There!! | Sorry I can't make it

Sydney .NET User Group - The best place to learn .NET for free in Sydney

*SPECIAL USA SPEAKER*

21 days to go!

Sydney .NET User Group
Friday 1 December 2006
5:45pm - 9:00pm
Location: Microsoft, Sydney

Office 2007 & VSTO Second Edition

The guest speaker, Robert Green from MCW Technologies, will be talking about developing Office 2007 solutions with Visual Studio Tools for Office Second Edition VSTO.

Second Edition is a downloadable add-in for Visual Studio 2005 Tools for Office. This session will show how you can use VSTO SE to build Visual Basic and C# solutions that target Office 2007.

You'll see how to build application level add-ins for Office applications, as well as how to customize new Office 2007 UI features such as the ribbon, the application Task Pane, Outlook form regions, and more.

PS: Since this is a Friday night, you are invited to have a beer with Robert and the rest of the SSW gang after the session.

See You There!! | Sorry I can't make it

Sydney .NET User Group

33 days to go!

Wollongong .NET User Group
Wednesday 13 December 2006
6:30pm
Location: Wollongong University, Sydney

15 Tips for Better Reporting Services

OK, so you know about how powerful this reporting platform from Microsoft is. Come and see Sydney based SQL RS Lover and MS Regional Director Adam Cogan show the right and wrong ways to develop reports and show data to users.

+ A little surprise for an upcoming SQL product...

See You There!! | Sorry I can't make it

NRG Solutions & SSW present:
Earning More Per Hour as a Developer 

Attend these sessions and learn to market yourself and position your solutions to customers. 

BUY 2 TICKETS AND GET 1 FREE

Steve Herzberg - Sales Director at NRG Solutions. Steve has worked closely with Microsoft at this year's Code camp and has for the past few years assisted the team at SSW with tailored marketing and sales support. NRG Solutions are a training consulting company with a focus on sales and marketing skills and strategies for IT staff and companies. Steve is regarded as one of Australia's most engaging speakers and will show you how to take the next step in your career as a developer. Clients of NRG Solutions include: ANZ Bank, CGU, Microsoft, SSW, Cricket Australia & Fitness First.

In this introductory workshop, Steve will cover: How to conduct great client-focused sales meetings Understanding why writing a proposal is often not the best approach to winning a new client When is the best time to position your solution to a client Appreciate how and why clients make decisions when buying IT and choosing developers Understand how to retain and effectively grow business from your clients Appreciate the power of your non verbal message Earn more per hour and clearly justify why you emerge the hourly rate that you do

Adam Cogan - Chief Architect at SSW and Microsoft Regional Director. Adam has been developing custom solutions for businesses across a range of industries such as Government, banking, insurance and manufacturing since 1990 for clients such as Microsoft, Quicken, and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation. His wealth of experience in the industry and unsurpassed technical knowledge will ensure attendees get the most out of these sessions. Managing a team of coders can be a tricky experience, especially as most coders like to do things their own way. During this session Adam will go through a list of rules that help make the development process as smooth as possible. These rules govern the creation of specifications and schedules, best methods for testing and fixing bugs and even the employees working conditions.

So come and join Steve and Adam as they take you through "Earning More Per Hour as A Developer"
More on "Earning More Per Hour as a Developer"...

	CANBERRA Full Day Workshop: $295 (+GST)
Date:	28th November 2006 - 18 days to go!
Time:	11:00am - 5:00pm
Location:	Microsoft Canberra Level 2, 44 Sydney Avenue, Barton, Canberra ACT 2600