We're just a week away from Microsoft's annual partner soiree -Worldwide Partner Conference 2013 (WPC) -where ~16,000 channel partners from around the world will converge in Houston to learn about all things Windows Server, SQL Server, Surface, Office 365, System Center, and much more...

 Why Cisco @ WPC 2013?

Cisco is at WPC as Microsoft is a strategic partner in the datacenter.  Working with Microsoft helps Cisco bring IT solutions to market that our customers are demanding be it private cloud solutions around Windows Server or upgrades to large Exchange and SharePoint environments. These requests are absolutely in line with what we have been hearing from customers:  Cisco is their strategic IT partner, not just a communications partner.

What Should I look for?

My colleague Bill Shields posted a Cisco Data Center blog post the other day on our booth area and the solutions we will be showcasing:   UCS B-Series blade and C-Series rack servers and solutions such as FlexPod and VSPEX;  SQL and Exchange solutions; Cisco UCS Manager and PowerTool, Cisco's PowerShell utility; and Windows Server 2012 networking featuring Cisco Nexus 1000V. There is a reason UCS, UCS Manager, and Nexus 1000V have been awarded Best of Tech Ed recognition three years running... Stop by booth#1401 and see why!

Cool Must See Item#1: Nexus 1000V Switch for Hyper-V

We just started shipping our Nexus 1000V Switch for Hyper-V. It brings enterprise-class cloud networking to Windows Server 2012 and Hyper-V. The Nexus 1000V Switch for Microsoft Hyper-V offers consistent operational experience across physical, virtual, and mixed hypervisor environments; reduces operational complexity through dynamic policy provisioning and mobility-aware network policies; and improves security through integrated virtual services and advanced Cisco NX-OS features

 Cool Must See Item#2: Cisco PowerTool for PowerShell

Over the past several years we have seen PowerShell emerge from Microsoft as a base platform for management tool offerings such as System Center as well as being a scripting platform used by IT Administrators to drive increased automation and consistency in various deployment, configuration, and maintenance tasks. Cisco's PowerTool for PowerShell is our 'PowerShell library'. It provides a wealth of UCS, UCS Manager, and Nexus 1000V cmdlets that can improve the management of your Microsoft oriented datacenter.