Windows Embedded at MMS 2012

Posted By Pavel Bansky
Program Manager

Microsoft Management Summit is a big conference held in Las Vegas every year targeted to IT-Pros. All the players that mean something in computer management, operations and virtualization are present. Tickets are usually sold out months ahead and this year they were sold out very quickly, since the new version of System Center Configuration Manager was launched.

The Windows Embedded team attended the conference, presenting its Windows Embedded Device Manager 2011 and concept of intelligent systems. As you probably know Windows Embedded Device Manager extends capabilities of Configuration Manager for features related to embedded devices. It was very pleasant to see that embedded devices are making its way into enterprises and its capabilities become more and more relevant, so IT-Pros and system administrator are looking for scalable ways of device management. People were approaching us with specific questions about their devices and how Windows Embedded Device Manager can help them. Windows Embedded powered thin-clients, point-of-service terminals and digital signage are simply becoming first class citizen “computers” inside of the companies.

The Windows Embedded booth was set up as a big Intelligent System demo with six different Windows Embedded devices: thin-clients, surface, digital signage, ruggedized tablet, Windows Embedded Server, and Windows Phone. The whole demo was created as a shopping experience from near future. Customers are interacting with shopping windows, storing items in the cart on their phones, exploring related items on the surface table, and putting on virtual clothes, while shop assistant has a perfect overview of the store sales data, customer profiles and ordering process in their tablets.

The following pictures will give you better idea about the demo storyline:

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Interacting with a Digital Wall with Kinect for Windows, notice the tag in the upper right corner. The customer can use their phone to tag the content and download product information.

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Sales associates can also pull up customer information on their tablet to provide better service and shopping experience

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The customer can bring their phone with the product information to a Surface, the product content on the phone downloads to the Surface device with other existing product information

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Sales associates using a tablet can bring up products and information and ‘gesture’ that information to the Surface device for a shared experience

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Customers can interact with products, find related products, review, and share via social media

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Sales associates can help customers with a virtual dressing room, where customers can try different products, even those not physically in stock. Orders can be completed via phone or tablet.

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Back end analytics and reporting can be brought straight to the sales floor to the table.

If you didn’t make it to MMS this year, you should definitely come next time. Maybe you are still thinking “How does Microsoft Management Summit relate to embedded devices?” Well it does more and more. Have you seen the digital signage in the lobby that shows occupancy of conference rooms? Or how about those barcode scanners in your warehouse? These devices need to be managed as well, since enterprise business relies on them.

See you at MMS next year!