Ilya Bukshteyn: Director of Communications, SQL Server, Microsoft Corp.

This week, Stephen Ibaraki, has an exclusive interview with Ilya Bukshteyn from Microsoft Corporation. The podcast [audio interview] is a follow-up to a text-based interview.

As the Director of Communications for SQL Server, Ilya Bukshteyn manages a team responsible for advertising, customer referencing, messaging, PR, and Web presence for the SQL Server products and technologies.

Ilya has been with Microsoft since 1994, originally joining Microsoft Canada as a Senior Consultant with Microsoft Consulting Services, and later moving to Microsoft’s corporate campus in Redmond as a Lead Program Manager within the MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) group.  In 2000, Ilya was a Group Program Manager with the .NET Developer Solutions Group at Microsoft Corp., managing a team responsible for delivering technical expertise and architectural guidance to Microsoft’s corporate customers.  Ilya most recently worked as the Director of Product Management for Windows Server, focused on understanding the server infrastructure requirements of Microsoft’s IT customers.

Discussion:

To listen to the interview, click on this MP3 file link

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The latest blog on the interview can be found on January 12, 2006 in the CIPS/Microsoft Canadian IT Managers forum where you can provide your comments in an interactive dialogue. And you can share them with Ilya and us too.
http://blogs.technet.com/cdnitmanagers/

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic
00:18:		What significant directions is Microsoft taking and what is the long-term strategic impact?
04:08:		Profile some of your travels. Then, from a business solutions perspective, tell us more about the following new product releases: SQL Server 2005, Visual Studio 2005, BizTalk Server 2006.
08:53:		Can you provide case studies illustrating the real benefits of SQL Server, Visual Studio, and BizTalk?
15:195:		Which businesses are the best candidates for these new releases and for what reasons?
24:03:		How do you plan to engage business and IT leaders to get their feedback?
27:415:		For the future, which technology trends, do you find will have the greatest impact?
30:145:		What can you tell us about Microsoft’s strategies for Live Windows, Office Live, and software-as-a-service? [Ilya also provides a preview of MIX06 which is a 72-hour conversation about the new web.]
33:37:		There is a rise in the social web—is this [Mix 06] in the same context?
35:49:		There are startling claims from some analysts that all enterprise applications will be offered online as a service. What are your opinions in this area [and on other predictions found in the media]?
40:12:		Now, it's time for some fun questions: [Ilya provides some really interesting and useful perspectives.]
		What is your favourite passion right now?
		What is your favourite work-related gadget(s)?