A Message from the Co-Chairs

In March 2016, TechMentor℠ will return to Las Vegas for the first time in years, bringing an all-new slate of amazing IT content from some of the best and most well-known experts on the planet.

We've created two short webcasts to help you learn more about TechMentor:

We didn't leave any room for marketing mumbo-jumbo in the schedule – it's 100% deep, rich technical content that's immediately applicable to what you're actually doing in your environment.

Start with DevOps. Wait… that's a marketing term, right? Something ISVs use to sell configuration management tools? No! DevOps is a real thing, and we'll prove it with an entire track that shows you exactly how technologies like PowerShell and Desired State Configuration can be used right now to start practicing your DevOps approach.

Speaking of breaking down marketing tropes, you should check out our cloud track – which we're calling "The Real Cloud" to make it clear that these are things people can actually do, today, in real organizations who have real concerns about "the cloud." Rather than pitching a bunch of technologies and services you might not be ready for or interested in, we're looking at the discrete services you should be looking into: Azure AD integration, infrastructure automation in AWS, connecting on-prem networks to cloud-based assets, containers, and more. We even look at hybrid Exchange/O365 installations, because that's definitely what's happening in the real world!

One of the coolest things about TechMentor is our ability to provide both short, focused session and deeper-dive seminars. You get the perfect mix of content to help you keep up, and to help you become actually proficient at key new approaches and technologies.

Still running your own datacenter? Of course you are. And a full quarter of our program is designed to help you do it better, with advanced tactics for Hyper-V, advanced certificate services, Windows Server 2016 first looks, Nano Server details, Windows troubleshooting and performance optimization, and new approaches to disaster recovery.

Still have end-users working on client devices? Of course you do, even if sometimes you wished you didn't, right? We have your back with the latest approaches to making client administration easier, including information on managing Macs in a Windows environment, managing Group Policy with PowerShell, remote access using DirectAccess, repackaging applications for easier deployments, and just a ton more. We've got packet capture and analysis, and even mobile device management using EMS. It's a lot.

We haven't forgotten about you and your career, either. We've included a small selection of hard-hitting sessions designed to help you elevate your career (and resume), round out your skills, and help you to start acquiring some of the "professional skills" that take you beyond being a "just" a technologist and into being a valuable business asset to your organization.

All of this comes from some of the top names in the fields – real, working experts, not marketing program managers. Names like Don Jones and Greg Shields, who helped assemble our program and our cadre of speakers. Experts like Jeff Hicks and Ed Horley, deep-dive geniuses like Bruce Mackenzie-Lowe and John O'Neill, Sr. Career gurus like Casey Ayers. It's an amazing lineup, and it's worth checking out the agenda – conveniently available online - to see the full lineup.

We hope to see you there.

Don Jones
Director, IT Pro Content, Pluralsight
TechMentor Conference Co-Chair

Greg Shields
Author / Evangelist, Pluralsight
TechMentor Conference Co-Chair