Are you are an Architect? Prove it!

Do you consider yourself a top-rate architect?  Do you think that you can design systems far superior than anyone else?  Come to the TechEd Architecture lounge to prove it in front of your peers!  This year we are running another round of the Iron Architect contest.  This is your chance to present a solution to our architectural problem in front of an audience and a panel of judges.  The winner will receive a free Microsoft Certified Architect (MCA) certification, valued at $10,000.  (The winner must go through the application process for the certification program and be accepted in order to receive the paid certification.)  The two runners-up will receive cordless internet phones that work both with any landline connection and also with your contacts in Windows Live Messenger.

All you have to do is to think about the problem below and submit your entry (as either a PowerPoint show or Word document by Wednesday 6th).  Finalists will be chosen from all those that submit - and they will be presenting their solution on Thursday 7th at 4.45pm in the Architecture lounge theatre.

We can't wait to see you at TechEd in Orlando -- and we're looking forward to another great crop of Iron Architect contenders!  More details about the rules can be found on http://blogs.msdn.com/ironarchitect.

Here is the problem for this year:

The TechEd Hotel Allocator

Problem Statement:

Have you ever wished you knew where more people like you were staying at TechEd, so you could meet for informal networking? Would you like to see “Ask the Experts” talks in your specialty at your hotel, where you could meet in a more intimate setting with both experts and peers?

You can help make this a reality! In this year’s Iron Architect competition, you can design a system TechEd hotel management that could be used in later events. Here’s how it works...

The Requirements:

We are asking you to design an architecture that allocates hotel rooms prior to registration, and then dynamically provides feedback on attendees registered at the hotel so that the TechEd staff and conference attendees can identify opportunities for networking events. The system must:

· Determine the number of rooms to reserve at all conference hotels for [two] nights leading up to the conference, all nights during the conference, and [one] night afterward.

· Determine the number of complimentary rooms available by monitoring the ratio of rooms for conference attendees to complimentary rooms offered by the hotel.

· Dynamically update the registration website to show the number of attendees of each profile type staying at a hotel (without exposing private attendee information).

· Vertical industry should be a second factor taken into account when recommending specific hotels based on role type as the IT Professional and Developer role type will reach a critical mass across several hotels

· Suggest hotels during registration based on profile type

· Determine locations for “ask the experts” events at hotels

For example, if an architect is registering for TechEd, the system will suggest that he stay at the Peabody or the Rosen Center because 45% of the conference attendees staying at the hotel are also architects. A month before the event, a report is generated for the TechEd staff, which begins scheduling “Ask the Experts” events for architects at the Peabody because of the high concentration of architects there.

Assumptions:

· The system must be technically feasible using today’s technology. 

· Next year’s conference is also at the Orange County Conference Center

· There are 36 hotels available.

· Each hotel offers an average comp/upgrade room ratio of 1 comp/upgrade per 40 paid room nights and an event the size of TechEd uses approx 40,000 room nights.

· There are 7 profile types:

IT Professional

Developer

Architect

Solutions Architect

Non-technical Manager or Staff

Non-techincal Executive

Other

· There are a total of 30 experts available for all profile types, so “Ask the Experts” events for each profile type can only be held in <30 hotels over the week.

· 9,500 total rooms need to be available on 3peak nights, 6,000 of rooms need to be available on 2 off-peak nights and 3,000 rooms on 2 “shoulder” nights that are outside of the off-peak nights.

· Once a hotel reaches capacity the system must determine the second best hotel option based on the profile types already booked at those hotels