TechEd was an annual conference for developers and IT professionals put on by Microsoft. It took place in several locations around the world. The first TechEd happened in 1993 in Orlando, Florida, United States, the last took place in Barcelona in 2014. Microsoft rescheduled its conference schedule and introduced Microsoft Ignite from 2015 on.
The conference normally lasts between three and five days, and consists of presentation and whiteboard sessions and hands-on labs. It offers opportunities to meet Microsoft experts, MVPs and community members. Networking is enhanced through parties, community areas and "Ask the Expert" sessions. The event also includes an exhibition area where vendors can show off technologies and sell products. There is a vast content catalog from which attendees can select sessions that will be most beneficial. An agenda is published online before the conference begins.
Was previously known as TechEd South Africa until 2007, where it changed to TechEd Africa. 2007 was also the last year the event was hosted at Sun City, after which it was moved to the Durban International Conference Centre (ICC) due to the growing size of the audience, which was no longer able to be accommodated at Sun City.
TechEd Australia is the largest TechEd in the Asia-Pacific region
Each year for the European event changes to a new location.
Microsoft TechEd India has been an annual fixture since 2003 except for 2008 which was the only year when Microsoft TechEd India event was not organized.
In 2006, TechEd was held in New Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore during the month of June. There were two TechEd events held in each city, the first one delved into architectural aspects of technology and laid emphasis on the needs of the Architect audience alongside four tracks focused on Platform and Tools for Developers. The second event was geared towards technology professionals working on IT infrastructure.
In 2007, TechEd was held in Bangalore.
In 2009, TechEd was held in Hyderabad in the month of May. Rechristened Microsoft TechMela, the name change was necessitated by an urge to Indianize the event and its content so that it aligned with the ethos of every Indian. It was attended by over 2,500 CXOs, TDMs, BDMs, Developers, IT Professionals, Architects, Designers, faculty Members and Technology Students.