Hello and happy new year!!!  How better to start off the first blog of the new year then with information on free learning opportunities! These are specific to Windows Azure, so, for those of you who are interested. . . here are a couple of great opportunities to stay up to speed on development for Windows Azure.  The opportunities listed below are specific to the Minnesota readers, but if you are not in MN, you can also click on the link below to find out if and when these boot camps are coming to your area.  The Windows Azure Boot Camp is coming to Minnesota this spring.   These two day events are free!  Snacks and beverages will be provided, but you will be on your own for lunch.  Below are the dates, locations for the Minnesota Windows Azure Boot Camps and the website to register.  Happy New Year everyone!!!

Locations and Dates:

Mankato, MN Boot Camp:

March 9-10, 2011 from 8:30 am – 5:00 pm

Minnesota State University
Centennial Student Union Building
Room 284 A and B
220 Centennial Student Union
Mankato, MN 56001

Bloomington, MN Boot Camp

May 9-10, 2011 from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm

Microsoft Bloomington Office
Lake of the Woods 1
8300 Norman Center Dr – Suite 950
Bloomington, MN 55437

For more information and to register for either of these boot camps, visit: www.windowsazurebootcamp.com

We are in search of a Senior level SQL Server DBA for a permanent position here in the Twin Cities metro area.  This individual will provide support for production and non-production databases as well as be responsible for providing critical SQL Server database support and supplying technical direction and guidance to junior staff members.  This individual is looking to join a team with one of the best managers in the Twin Cities who truly values work life balance and supports the team thoroughly.  If your background matches the below requirements and you would like to be considered, please send your cover letter and resume to info@bluewaveprofessionals.com

Requirements

• Worked on 24 x 7 Production Support or implementation both single node and clustered environments
• Worked in a SQL Server Clustered/HA Environment
• Microsoft DBA experience of over 4 – 6 years experience
• Worked on Databases of bigger sizes
• Worked on 2000, 2005, 2008 versions of the Database.
• Worked on Backup & Recovery issues
• Worked with SQL Server Replication
• Good Performance tuning experience
• Participated in at least one upgrade project
• Extensive Patch Application experience
• Good knowledge on all the database related
• Administers all database objects, including tables, clusters, indexes, views, sequences, packages and procedures.
• Worked with SSIS, SSAS, and SSRS.
• Experience in converting DTS.
• Experience in working with Data Warehouse on SQL Server
• Experience in working with large OLTP systems on SQL Server
• Excellent communication, interpersonal and organization skills.
• Ability to prioritize assignments and work under limited supervision.
• Demonstrated ability to research and solve issues.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver results in a high-energy, fast-paced environment.

Preferred Experience

Location: St. Paul, Minnesota

Type: Permanent – Full Time

Sorry no H1B status candidates for these positions and there is also no relocation provided for this position.

We have an immediate need for a solid mid level Java Developer for a permanent, full time opportunity here in the Twin Cities metro area.  We are looking for an individual who wants to work with a team to help create, maintain and improve the current set of business applications within the company.  Have you been looking for an opportunity to work in a stable work environment, fine tune your skills, learn new technologies and have the opportunity to lead projects with great visibility within the organization?  If you would like to apply, please send your cover letter and resume to info@bluewaveprofessionals.com

Requirements:

• Education – Must have completed at least an Associates Degree in a computer related field.
• Minimum of 2 years continuous experience developing Java applications that are database driven.
• Experience with Oracle or MS SQL Server
• In depth experience with SQL, OR mapping tools and database schemas.
• Outstanding communication skills. (Both verbal and written.)
• In depth experience and proficiency with the Java API and other standard Java libraries.
• Experience with any flavor of Linux
• Ability to provide input and technical direction to audiences that may have a varying level of technical expertise.
• The desire and ability to learn quickly and to assist in a variety of technologies.

Location: (Northern Suburbs) Minneapolis, Minnesota

Type: Permanent – Full Time

Sorry no H1B status candidates for these positions and there is also no relocation provided for this position.

Another awesome event for developers to share and learn. This one is a 2 day event Saturday and Sunday October 9th and 10th, 2010. Twin Cities Code Camp 9 will be held at the University of Minnesota;
4-192 EE/CS Building
200 Union Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

There is a huge variety of topics that have been proposed to be covered such as Introductions to Open Source, Introduction to Programming on Google Andriod Platform, CSS for ASP.Net Developers, Evolving .Net, Creating Unlimited User Experiences with Silverlight 4.0, Ruby for the Web and jQuery Plugin Development just to name a few. The list is very long so if you want to read more, please check out http://www.twincitiescodecamp.com and if you want to register for the event please go to http://tccc9.eventbrite.com/
This is a free event for attendees!

By: Nicole Hitch

When I asked what readers may be interested in reading, the questions of what new technologies are currently being implemented locally within the Twin Cities came up. So in response, I put together a survey and I will share in a two part blog (Due to the amount of information.) the results of that survey. I hope this helps those of you in the technical community help keep your finger on the pulse of what types of technologies others locally are using. If you haven’t and would like to still take the survey, please don’t hesitate to, I would love to hear your feedback and will gladly share any new findings in another blog post. Click here to take the survey. Also, a huge thanks to all who participated in the survey!

Part 1 will include the industries represented and what new technologies are currently being implemented in local companies. Part 2 will look a year and five years down the road at what new technologies are expected to be added. Enjoy!

Of those that completed the survey, the following industries were represented:

Advertising, Branding & Marketing
Aerospace and Defense
Business services, software, predictive analytics
E-Commerce
Education
Engineering
Financial Services, Banking, Insurance, Investments & Mortgages
Health Care
Information Technology
Medical Device

What types of new technologies are your company currently implementing?

Here is a list of the responses sorted by industry.

Advertising, Branding & Marketing – CSS, Flash, PHP, .Net
Aerospace and Defense – High Speed Computing Clusters
Business services, software & predictive analytics - VMWare, Microsoft .Net 3.5, IBM Websphere
E-Commerce - ATG, VMWare, Hibiscus, Websphere, .Net
Education - .Net Frame Work 4.0, Load Test, VMWare, 10G Infrastructure Encryption Technologies
Engineering - Virtualization, Service-oriented architectures, message-oriented architectures, user-centered designs, autonomous tracking
Financial Services, Banking, Insurance,Investments & Mortgages – InRule, ATG, Windows Workflow, .Net 3.5, VS2010, SQL 2008, VM Servers, TFS2010, BizTalk, and Hibiscus.
Health Care - .Net 4.0, transporting of HIPPA data
Information Technology – Oracle Middleware solutions, SharePoint 2010, Office 2010, Netbook/Redfly devices for mobile integration, HTML5, Data Center Design, Server Virtualization, Desktop Virtualization, Storage Virtualization, iSCSI/FCoE Storage Networks, MS Server 2008 R2, MS Exchange 2010, MS SQL 2008, VMware vSphere 4.0, VMware View, Citrix XenApp, Citrix XenDesktop, Citrix XenServer, Brocade Fibre Channel and Ethernet Network Equipment, 10 GbE Networks, 40 GbE Networks, 100 GbE Networks, 8GB Fibre Channel
Medical Device – Microsoft Office Communicator Server 2007 R2/2010, Microsoft Exchange 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010

I hope you have enjoyed Part 1 of this survey information and look for part 2 next week.  As always if you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to leave one below.