This Thursday, at 9AM PST, Microsoft will be hosting a 90 minute webcast to cover what has changed in the release candidate and the progress being made towards the final version. Anyone using DPM will want to be sure not to miss this. The team will demonstrate the software that early adopters have been running as well as new Windows client protection capabilities, the new SQL/SharePoint/Exchange protection and recovery features, as well as their enhanced Disaster Recovery scenarios.

There will also be information on the new auto-healing/auto-scaling features (which current DPM administrators like myself will love) — the team also promises a few new surprises that weren’t in the beta.

“Deploying a Cloud Computing Infrastructure” will explore how cloud computing is delivering reduced technology infrastructure costs and complexity while enabling new business opportunities. The panelists will discuss goals and challenges, as well as share best practices for leveraging cloud computing architectures to grow a business. The distinguished panel includes:

• Joe Crawford, executive director, product management and development for Verizon Business, a global leader in communications and IT solutions for business and government.
• Doug Howard, president at USA.NET, a leading provider of email hosting that delivers messaging, collaboration, mobility and archiving.
• Christopher Rence, chief information officer at FICO, a leading supplier of business analytics software and decision technology.

The “Deploying a Cloud Computing Infrastructure” live audio webcast with online question and answer session will take place on Thursday, Aug. 27, at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT. Users can preregister for and attend the webcast at http://www.ibtalk.net/index.php?cmp=attendx_meeting&mt_number=69152652

A replay will be available at the same URL shortly after the call and will remain available for approximately 90 days.