TechEd USA 2010: Identity, Identity, Identity and Book Signing
These days practically everybody I meet on campus is preparing to fly to Atlanta for TechEd, with the notable exception of Steve Marx (it seems I may be losing our bet after all).
Atlanta holds a special meaning for me. Back in 2004 I won the Circle of Excellence award, which (among various awesome things) included a 1-hour long meeting with Bill Gates. You can of course imagine how many times that episode got told and retold, to the point that the memory is now a memory of a memory(^n) and entered the Myth; and with it the entire Atlanta city experience, with its raging thunderstorms and the weird-flavored sodas at the Coke Museum.
Well, this Sunday I am scheduled to fly down to Atlanta again, where I’ll be presenting three sessions and hold a book signing session.
Book signing session, I say? Why would somebody want to get their copy of the book written all over, which is very likely to lower the price it could command on eBay, is beyond me… but I’ll be happy to oblige! 
It will be Tuesday the 17th, at 11:00 AM at the O’Reilly booth (#1817). Or the bookstore?
For the sessions, we’ll have a couple of new entries. Let’s go in order:
SIM324 Using Windows Azure Access Control Service 2.0 with Your Cloud Application
Tuesday, May 17 | 8:30 AM – 9:45 AM | Room: C302
Level: 300 – Advanced
Track: Security, Identity & Management
The Windows Azure Access Control Service 2.0 provides comprehensive federation and authorization services for cloud applications, so that you don’t have to build identity infrastructure yourself. Come to this session to learn how your application can take advantage of your user’s existing Active Directory, Windows Live ID, Google, Yahoo, and Facebook accounts when they access your cloud application. This session is aimed at developers building cloud applications.
Product/Technology:
Cloud Power: Delivered, Windows Azure™, Windows® Identity Foundation
Audience:
Architect, Developer, Security Administrator, Solutions Architect, Strategic IT Manager, Systems Administrator, Systems Engineer, Tactical IT Manager, Web Administrator/Webmaster, Web Developer/Designer
Key Learning:
Understand how to simplify authorization in your applications using ACS 2.0 in Windows Azure
Finally, a session all about ACS. Although all ACS features appear in the generic claims in the cloud talk (see below), I never have the time to linger a bit on the how of the service: also, in this session I’ll try to touch on features a rarely have the time to show off.
Now, some extra comments here. Putting together a behemoth conference like TechEd is a monumental task, which is spread through multiple people. For example, I wrote the abstract for the sessions but not the Audience and Key Learning entries there, and they both contain some imperfection that may mislead you.
- the audience for this talk is people in development roles. System Administrator types are NOT a target. I went to great lengths to be super clear in the title and the abstract about the audience, but something probably fell through the cracks.
- About the key learning. ACS can do some authorization, but that is far from being its only (or even primary) feature. Don’t come with the wrong expectations!
Neeext!
SIM322 Developer’s View on Single Sign-On for Applications Using Windows Azure
Tuesday, May 17 | 3:15 PM – 4:30 PM | Room: B312
Level: 300 – Advanced
Track: Security, Identity & Management
Signing users in and granting them access is a core function of almost every cloud-based application. In this session we show you how to simplify your user experience by enabling users to sign in with an existing account such as a Windows Live ID, Google, Yahoo, Facebook or on-premises Active Directory account, implement access control and make secure connections between applications. Learn how the AppFabric Access Control Service, Windows Identity Foundation, and Active Directory Federation Services use a cloud-based identity architecture to help you to take advantage of the shift toward the cloud while still fully leveraging your on-premises investments.
Product/Technology:
Cloud Power: Delivered, Windows Azure™, Windows® Identity Foundation
Audience:
Architect, Infrastructure Architect, Solutions Architect, Strategic IT Manager, Systems Administrator, Systems Engineer, Tactical IT Manager, Web Administrator/Webmaster, Web Developer/Designer
Key Learning:
How to simplify your approach enabling access to applications across on-premises and cloud
Nothing to say on this one. This is the usual scenarios enumeration talk which I’ve been giving around since PDC. COme only if you don’t know much about claims or our offering in that space for developers.
SIM325 Deep Dive: Windows Identity Foundation for Developers
Thursday, May 19 | 1:00 PM – 2:15 PM | Room: B313
Level: 300 – Advanced
Track: Security, Identity & Management
Hear how Windows Identity Foundation makes advanced identity capabilities and open standards first-class citizens in the Microsoft .NET Framework. Learn how the Claims-Based access model integrates seamlessly with the traditional .NET identity object model while also giving developers complete control over every aspect of authentication, authorization and identity-driven application behavior. See examples of the point and click tooling with tight Microsoft Visual Studio integration, advanced STS capabilities, and much more that Windows Identity Foundation consistently provides across on-premise, service-based, Microsoft ASP.NET and Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) applications.
Product/Technology:
Windows® Identity Foundation
Audience:
Architect, Developer, Security Administrator, Solutions Architect, Strategic IT Manager, Systems Administrator, Systems Engineer, Tactical IT Manager, Web Administrator/Webmaster, Web Developer/Designer
Key Learning:
Learn how to use WIF to externalize authentication and authorization from your application.
Now this one is interesting. This session was supposed to be a 400, but yesterday I discovered that the catalog lists it as 300. Well, it’s a deep dive: hence it may end up being fairly 400ish, depending on the vibe I’ll find the the room.
The key learning is good here, but unfortunately the audience is pretty off. Here “developers” is in the title, hence I won’t even start… 
Well, that’s it. As usual, I am super happy to meet you guys at conferences: please do not hesitate to come and chat. Apart from the talk and book signing, you’ll see me hanging around the Identity and Windows Azure booths. See you next week!