Lights! Camera! Exchange Technical Readiness!

My good friends from the Exchange technical product management team (and close neighbors around the hollowed hallways of Building 31) have just launched a fantastic new “Exchange Technical Video Series” up on TechNet’s Exchange Server TechCenter.

These videos afford you an awesome opportunity—especially our solutions partners—to get the straight scoop on the technical details on all things Exchange Server 2010…right from the workload TPMs who are (without a doubt) leading subject matter experts.

What impresses me the most about these videos is the approach the Exchange TPMs have taken. Specifically, the sessions don’t just touch on the overall value proposition of the discussed capability, like Exchange Archiving and Discovery or Mobility. They also walk-through a number of scenarios that help land “how” you can best position these features with your customers.

Take for example Ankur’s archiving video.  In this installment, he talks to and demos how to setup the archive for a user, as well as how to implement critical functionality like the a “rolling legal hold”. And, since these are intended for a technical audience (READ: 300 level content!), they are “demo rich” and run about 20 minutes or so long.

As I have shared in the recent post around our evolution of the Unified Communications competency, the new Messaging competency (officially launching in October 2010) is going to add an increased focus on the advanced capabilities of Exchange, i.e., security, archiving and voicemail. This Technical Video Series is a recommended starting point for getting ready for the new assessments and technical evaluations planned to test you on these functionality starting in May 2012. Also, being able to land the value of things like the advanced security functionality or how built-in voicemail can replace aging and antiquated legacy telephony hardware, means you have the chance to score some additional value-add services engagements which often require additional specialization leading to even more revenue generating opportunities…beyond just messaging.

Without further ado, here are the links to the current batch of videos, presented by our own Ann Vu and now playing on TechNet:

• Mailbox Resiliency with Astrid McClean
• Mobility with Adam “@MobileGlick” Glick
• Unified Message with Adam Glick (this time as Mr. VoicemailGlick)
• Outlook and Exchange with Steve Chew and David Alexander
• Outlook Web App with Steve Chew and David Alexander
• Archiving and Discovery with Ankur Kothari
• Management with Jim Lucey

We expect there will be further videos coming in the future, so stay tuned to the TechCenter (and this blog) for more details as they rollout to the web.

And, don’t forget to let us know what you think about the content!

Enjoy!

Ian
Group Product Manager
Exchange Partner Marketing