Office Developer Conference Closed for the Duration

Any of you who've read this newsletter for more than a week or two know I'm a bit of an old-timer, at least in computer years. So when I hear that Office has turned into an actual development platform, I'm not surprised. I fondly recall conversations with Steve Ballmer back in the '80s about Visual Basic for Applications which replaced basic batch files.

Office has grown since then, and is now positioned as a front-end to database, ERP, BI and other back-ends. So why was a planned Office developer conference cancelled and merged into a SharePoint event?

Two reasons. First, events that require one to fly to a remote location and buy a hotel room are challenged. These events, when well-chosen, still make sense -- but your authorizing manager may not think so. But there's a strategic justification: Office is part of an overall environment that wants all shops to have, where Office is the client, SQL Server as the data repository and SharePoint as the holder of unstructured stuff. Those who believe in custom Office clients probably buy the SharePoint argument, as well.

And a merged show is better than no show.

Do you have custom Office clients? Tell us about them at dbarney@redmondmag.com.

Posted by Doug Barney on June 05, 2009 at 11:53 AM