1. Thrive: me > my skills > my organization Thriving in an economic Downturn

2. Thrive :: Agenda Why and What is Thrive? Advancing your career Enhancing your technical skills Aligning IT and business

3. Thrive :: Agenda Why and What is Thrive? Advancing your career Enhancing your technical skills Aligning IT and business

4. Thrive :: What is Thrive? How Thrive was born… – IT Professionals faced with new challenges in the economic downturn – Still opportunities to blossom and exceed – What Microsoft can do to help What does Thrive consist of? – Peer-to-peer conversation highlighting and sharing timely best practices – 3 main pillars that Thrive explores: Career development Technical competencies Business and IT alignment – Delve into industry content, expert insights, training content to expand your knowledge base

5. In tough times, the good will survive and the best will thrive. Come explore, enhance your skills, advance your career, and elevate IT as the business leader. Career Care Anticipate and manage career change with guidance from career experts and IT leaders Connect with communities and peers to expand your network Virtualization Desktop Optimization Technical Competency Save money and save time with Microsoft technologies you already own Enhance technical skills to get ahead of the curve Cost Savings (ROI) Compliance and Governance Business & IT Alignment Be a more effective advocate for you and your team Align IT goals with your company’s business objectives “In chaos, lies opportunity” - Einstein My Career Technical Competency Business and IT Alignment Me Thrive :: What is Thrive?

6. Thrive :: Agenda What is Thrive? Advancing your career Enhancing your technical skills Aligning IT and business

7. Thrive :: Advancing your Career Create a career development plan, take into account: – Career tips from the pros How to devise a plan and partner with management Which technologies to brush up on – Connect with communities and peers Expand your network Share knowledge and best practices – Has YOUR training budget been cut? Look into free training FREE eLearnings, webcasts, vlabs, podcasts, whitepapers, “how-do-I” videos, etc. Search on vendor sites, technology sites, YouTube, etc. – The value of certification “Top performing teams on average are shown to have between 40% and 55% certified team members.”* “75% of managers believe that certifications are important to team performance.”* * IDC White Paper, Value of Certification: Team Certification and Organizational Performance, Nov 2008.

8. Thrive :: Agenda What is Thrive? Advancing your career Enhancing your technical skills Aligning IT and business

9. Save money and time with technologies you already own Enhance your technical skills to get ahead of the curve Refine your knowledge on cost saving technologies Thrive :: Enhancing your technical competencies Virtualization Cost Saving Technologies Desktop Optimization Database Management

10. Thrive :: Agenda What is Thrive? Advancing your career Enhancing your technical skills Aligning IT and business

11. Be a more effective advocate for you and your team Align IT goals with your company’s business objectives Areas of opportunity: – Evaluating ROI and TCO from a platform adoption perspective – Cost savings; pay attention to hidden costs Thrive :: Align IT with business

12. Additional tools and resources online, visit www.microsoft.com/thrive Questions?