Don Jones

MVP

Curriculum Director for IT Pro Content

Pluralsight

"Experts" keep telling us that the economy is recovering – but the job market is still tight. Companies are still tightening their belts and their purse strings. Microsoft is pushing for a GUI-free server OS, and their latest certification exams all seem to include System Center stuff. Wait… what's a GUI got to do with the economy, and what's any of that got to do with IT professionals? Don Jones, principal technologist for Concentrated Tech and "Decision Maker" columnist for Redmond Magazine, explains how they're all more closely related than you might think. He'll explain trends in the Microsoft IT world, and predict how those trends will play out over the next few years. He'll explain how you really do have to care about "the private cloud," and why you shouldn't call it that. Don will also explain the skills you'll need to have – including how to better speak "business" within your organization – in order to survive in the IT industry. He'll explain why Microsoft is producing fewer tools and more "platforms" and "frameworks," and he'll tell you exactly what all the fuss is over "DevOps." We're approaching an inflection point, and IT pros are either going to suffer or succeed – make sure you line yourself up for "succeed."