Blogging from biggest ever Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference

This morning started with a bang (and lots of drumming!) as Cirque Du Soleil entertained the audience to kick off this year's Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Toronto.  

After the energetic performance, John Roskill, Microsoft's corporate VP of worldwide partner group, opened with some interesting partner statistics for WPC, stating that there are over 16,000 attendees from 156 countries, which makes this the biggest WPC ever!

Those of us who are fortunate to be attending from Riverbed were delighted to hear all the new announcements from Microsoft as well as their dedicated focus on the ever-growing partner community. "This will be the best year ever to be a Microsoft partner" stated Steve Ballmer, CEO, at the opening keynote. Partners have driven 690 billion dollars for Microsoft, and called out that cloud solutions are growing 10 percent every month. Ballmer also said that "this is the year for Microsoft to be the leader in the cloud." Office 365 was a key highlight addressed and discussed as a great opportunity for partners.

Another significant focus was on Windows 8. Tami Reller, CFO of Windows, presented the new platform and demonstrated ease of use and connectivity across new tablets, laptops, desktops. Reller also showed off the eye-popping  82" multi-touch display from Perceptive Pixel, a company Microsoft announced that it will acquire today.  

This morning was impressive and exciting, and we're looking forward to seeing what the rest of the week brings!