Microsoft at CeBIT 2013 (Hannover)

Hi again! Last saturday I visited for first time the trade show CeBIT in Hannover (Germany) and I want to give my short impressions about what I have seem there.

Our company MODUS Consult AG was there as Microsoft Partner and I hope you where there to look for our services with Microsoft Dynamics Ax, Dynamics Nav, Qlikview BI or ELO Document Management Software between others.

Lots of germans companies are using or moving to Microsoft Dynamics ERP products (Nav/Ax). In fact Dynamics Ax 2012 is already finally considered a real alternative to SAP by bigger german companies and not only for the middle sized.

For my experience german companies are very cautious with their ERP selection so this demostrate the confidence of the market in the Microsoft ERP products.


But in this post I am not going to talk to much about about Microsoft Dynamics Ax but on the surrounding products that Microsoft have recently delivered or is going to deliver. That is Windows 8, Windows Mobile 8, Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Sharepoint 2013 and Windows Azure.

Much have been written about the decadence of Microsoft in the Internet/Mobile/Cloud era but Microsoft have reacted quite well to this wave that was comming. Microsoft have reacted and now is time, for us, as professionals to react as well and use this technology that Microsoft put in our hands.

Windows 8

From my experience as IT Manager in Spain where I had to make the most with the less money possible I am not what we should call a technology geek. I like to use something that works the most time possible so I can save my company's money and time. So I was not really convinced about Windows 8 not even the version Windows RT.

Using the new Windows 8 in the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet is really a good experience and the keyboard is simply cool. I could imagine myself working in the train ICE to Berlin with this tablet. I actually own a Galaxy S Tablet and Microsoft Surface could be used both for working and pleasure and not only the last as I do with my actual tablet.

About Windows RT version tablet there is another story. It is cheaper but the operating system is quite limited. You can only install applications that come from the Windows Store and not normal Windows applications. That could be a limit. But on one of the sessions I have seem a really good use that this tablet can provide.

The fact that you can not install to much applications can make this device more secure and with the use of VDI (Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infraestructure) companies can provide a secure way to provide mobility to their workers. Users can use their normal applications on mobility but as nothing is installed in the device the security is less compromissed. This could be a second life to a device that seemed to be dying before being delivered to market.

 Windows Mobile 8

I am also a mobile developer since the J2ME era and I have developed some applications for general J2ME devices, Blackberry devices and lastly some general sites with JQuery Mobile. So I like to keep up to date with the last mobile technologies. I actually also have a Galaxy S android device and I was also not very much convinced about Windows Mobile 8 before playing with it. I had the opportunity to play with the latest models in the trade show and I was finaly convinced. It is a cool operating system and as I like to develop with .NET so I found this a really good platform. Blackberry new Z10 was also available on the trade show but it not attracted not too much attention so the mobile market remains between the 3 players Apple, Google and Microsoft. On the way Microsoft gave a second opportunity to Nokia.

 Microsoft Office 365

We are heading to the Cloud era and Office 365 is one of the steps of Microsoft in this area. Sooner or later almost everything would be on the Cloud so better that we start getting used to this. It is very cool to have your office documents available to work with from whatever device you have and from whatever place. One of the demostrations I could take place was a video conference between 2 tables using Lync and sharing and working with a sharepoint presentation.

You could try by yourself at Microsoft Office Website.

If you are still not prepared for the cloud Microsoft have released the Microsoft Office 2013 as installables as well.

Windows Azure

 I had the opportunity to attend a MSDN session about developing mobile application with Windows Azure. The cloud solution from Microsoft and I found really cool as easy you can create a new mobile applications on the cloud, setup its database and start coding it on Visual Studio to start producing functionality to your users. We are heading to the cloud world and even probably next versions of Dynamics Ax would be cloud based so better that we get used to the technology. Microsoft lets you try the technology for free and start coding in the cloud.  Here you can see an example video of how creating mobile applications with Windows Azure.

Developing Mobile Solutions with Windows Azure Part I (MSDN Channel9 video)

 Definitedly we are heading to the Cloud but for critical software as an ERP we have still questions to solve like where the data is, security, how I could recover my data if the provider goes bankrupt, etc.

Microsoft Sharepoint 2013

And last something about Sharepoint 2013. Also looks great. Microsoft have continuosly improved its Sharepoint products. I have worked with versions 2007 and 2010 and between both I have seem an improvement and this time Microsoft has also delivered a really good worked product. New features would be a more social intranet, a better workflow module and better mobility providing menues really touch oriented.


As we seen Microsoft have reacted energically in all the fronts with new products. We have also not mentioned SQL Server 2012 and Windows Server 2012. Systems in which we are already working with our last Dynamics Ax 2012 R2 solutions. So there is a new of technology available and now we should start working and apply this technology in our companies or customers to start helping them to move to the new IT era that is just now here where information but also processes are not just on your computer but everywhere. It is indeed a very interesting time as IT professional.


That was all for today! For next time I have something really interesting on mind. Since some time I wanted to develop mobile solutions for Dynamics Ax using JQuery Mobile so what I will do is to create a small project using Microsoft Dynamics Ax 2012, ASP.NET MVC 4 and JQuery Mobile. This will take some time and I will create a CodePlex project so everyone can take a look at the project and I will create several posts as the project advances so you will be able to see how this solution advances from concept to implementation :-)

Last a photo I took also on CeBIT about of one of the reasons one can have to move to germany. Where else you can drive a BMW at 200km/h (124mi/h) on the highway? :-) 

And believe me, it is not dangerous and quite pleasant!