When I attended the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) conference in Las Vegas earlier this year, I was struck by the enormous crowds who were willing to attend an event devoted entirely to management software. Yet despite those crowds, Microsoft is now merging MMS into its main TechEd event.
The switch was announced in a blog post by Microsoft VP Brad Anderson:
MMS was once a small sub-set of content covered at TechEd, but the role of management in key trends like the Consumerization of IT and the move to the cloud have dramatically expanded what IT Professionals need to know. These expanded (and ever-expanding) needs have broadened the requisite subject matter covered at each MMS and, in fact, it has become so broad that the tracks at MMS are now very similar to what’s covered at TechEd. Our belief is that by combining the events we can substantively improve and expand the attendee experience.
We’ve never had a separate MMS event in Australia, so the notion that TechEd should simultaneously handle management streams alongside developer and apps content isn’t a totally surprising one. Given that server software is now Microsoft’s most profitable arm, it’s not entirely surprising either that it would take centre stage at TechEd, which remains the company’s flagship event. Still, it seems certain TechEd 2014 North America, which takes place in Houston, will be even more crowded.
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