Thrive: me > my skills > my organization Thriving in an economic Downturn.

Thrive: me > my skills > my organizationThriving in an economic Downturn

Thrive :: Agenda

Why and What is Thrive?Why and What is Thrive?

Advancing your career Advancing your career

Enhancing your technical skillsEnhancing your technical skills

Aligning IT and businessAligning IT and business

Thrive :: Agenda

Why and What is Thrive?Why and What is Thrive?

Advancing your career Advancing your career

Enhancing your technical skillsEnhancing your technical skills

Aligning IT and businessAligning IT and business

Thrive :: What is Thrive?

• How Thrive was born…– IT Professionals faced with new challenges in the economic

downturn – Still opportunities to blossom and exceed – What Microsoft can do to help

• What does Thrive consist of?– Peer-to-peer conversation highlighting and sharing timely best

practices – 3 main pillars that Thrive explores:

• Career development• Technical competencies• Business and IT alignment

– Delve into industry content, expert insights, training content to expand your knowledge base

In tough times, the good will survive and the best will thrive. Come explore, enhance your skills, advance your career, and elevate IT as the business leader.

Career Care•Anticipate and manage career change with guidance from career experts and IT leaders•Connect with communities and peers to expand your network

Technical Competency•Save money and save time with Microsoft technologies you already own•Enhance technical skills to get ahead of the curve

Business & IT Alignment•Be a more effective advocate for you and your team•Align IT goals with your company’s business objectives

“In chaos, lies opportunity” - Einstein

My Career

Technical Competency

Business and IT Alignment

Me

Thrive :: What is Thrive?

Thrive :: Agenda

What is Thrive?What is Thrive?

Advancing your career Advancing your career

Enhancing your technical skillsEnhancing your technical skills

Aligning IT and businessAligning IT and business

Thrive :: Advancing your Career

• Create a career development plan, take into account:– Career tips from the pros

• How to devise a plan and partner with management• Which technologies to brush up on

– Connect with communities and peers • Expand your network• Share knowledge and best practices

– Has YOUR training budget been cut? Look into free training• FREE eLearnings, webcasts, vlabs, podcasts, whitepapers, “how-do-I” videos, etc.• Search on vendor sites, technology sites, YouTube, etc.

– The value of certification• “Top performing teams on average are shown to have between 40% and 55%

certified team members.”*• “75% of managers believe that certifications are important to team performance.”*

* IDC White Paper, Value of Certification: Team Certification and Organizational Performance, Nov 2008.

Thrive :: Agenda

What is Thrive?What is Thrive?

Advancing your career Advancing your career

Enhancing your technical skillsEnhancing your technical skills

Aligning IT and businessAligning IT and business

• Save money and time with technologies you already own• Enhance your technical skills to get ahead of the curve• Refine your knowledge on cost saving technologies

Thrive :: Enhancing your technical competencies

Virtualization VirtualizationCost Saving TechnologiesCost Saving Technologies

Desktop OptimizationDesktop Optimization

Database ManagementDatabase Management

Thrive :: Agenda

What is Thrive?What is Thrive?

Advancing your career Advancing your career

Enhancing your technical skillsEnhancing your technical skills

Aligning IT and businessAligning IT and business

• Be a more effective advocate for you and your team• Align IT goals with your company’s business objectives• Areas of opportunity:

– Evaluating ROI and TCO from a platform adoption perspective– Cost savings; pay attention to hidden costs

Thrive :: Align IT with business

Additional tools and resources online, visit www.microsoft.com/thrive

Questions?