Let's Talk Azure!

Alan and Sam dive into Microsoft's Security Exposure Management platform. Alan takes us through the various components and the benefits on using this platform. Here are a few things we covered: What is Microsoft Security Exposure Management? What components make up the platform? Who benefits from the platform? What integrations does the platform have? What did you think of this episode? Give us so...

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure Container Storage which is a volume management service built natively for containers, which enables cost-effective performance scaling and simplified management of volumes for stateful container applications. What are containers and their storage requirements? Why Azure Container Storage is useful How do you create storage? What are the configuration options? H...

Alan and Sam talk about External Attack Surface Management (EASM) and how Microsoft's Defender EASM helps discover and monitor your digital assets. Here are a few things we covered: What is External Attack Surface Management? What is Defender EASM and how can it help identify your risks? How do you setup Defender EASM? how much does it cost? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedbac...

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure Storage Accounts which provide scalable, secure, and highly available cloud storage for various data types, including blobs, files, queues, and tables. It serves as a foundational service in Microsoft Azure, enabling applications to store and retrieve data efficiently across multiple redundancy options and access tiers, here is what we covered: What is Azure St...

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Key Microsoft Entra and Defender features and updates Lots of Azure changes and new features What did you think of this episode? G...

Alan and Sam dive into Microsoft's Unified Security Operations Platform and how it can benefit SOC analysts in their day to day. Here are a few things we covered: What is a Security Operations Centre (SOC)? What is the new Microsoft Unified Security Operations Platform? What are the benefits of the new platform? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form , Or le...

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure Storage Actions a serverless framework currently in preview that allows users to perform common data operations on millions of objects across multiple Azure Storage accounts without needing additional compute resources. It involves creating storage tasks with defined conditions, operations, and assignments. Users can monitor and manage these tasks, which run as...

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Key Microsoft Entra and Defender features and updates Lots of Azure changes and new features What did you think of this episode? G...

Alan and Sam talk about the use of Managed Identities for Azure resources. Alan takes us through the methods used for programmatic access to Azure resources and the risks of some of the options. Here are a few things we covered: What is programmatic access? What methods are usually used to gain programmatic access? What are Managed Identities for Azure resources, and how they can be used. What did...

This week Alan and Sam discuss Data API builder. It is a powerful tool designed to streamline the process of creating and deploying APIs for data-driven applications. It facilitates the rapid development of secure, scalable, and high-performance APIs that can seamlessly interact with various data sources, including databases, file systems, and third-party services. By automating much of the setup...

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Build + RSA Updates key Microsoft Entra and Defender features and updates Lots of Azure changes and new features What did you thin...

Alan and Sam talk about why it is important to monitor your network for connected devices. Alan runs us through the benefits of doing it with Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. Here are a few areas we covered: Why is it important to monitor your network? How can you find devices using Microsoft solutions? What are the benefits of devices being discovered and searchable in the Defender XDR Portal How...

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure AI Search. It is a robust, cloud-based search service provided by Microsoft that leverages artificial intelligence to enhance search functionalities within applications. It allows developers to create rich, full-text search experiences with features like natural language processing, semantic search, and cognitive search capabilities, which can extract insights...

Alan and Sam discuss the management of macOS and how it is a little different to other operating systems. Alan guides through what can be configured and the reasons why. Here are a few things we covered: How is macOS different to other operating systems to manage? What Microsoft tooling can you use to manage them What licences do you need What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback v...

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure Data Box. It is a ruggedised appliance designed to simplify the process of transferring large volumes of data to Azure cloud storage, offering high-speed data transfer and secure encryption. It enables organisations to overcome bandwidth limitations and easily migrate large datasets, ensuring efficient and reliable data transfer. What is Azure Data Box? What ca...

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: FIDO2 authentication & Keypass Security group provisioning to Active Directory using cloud sync Unified security operations pl...

Alan and Sam discuss Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access. A identity-centric Security Service Edge (SSE) solution that helps secure user's internet and on-premises access. Here are a few things we covered: What is a Security Service Edge ? What is Microsoft Entra Global Secure Access? How does Entra Internet access for Microsoft 365 help secure and prevent data leakage? What is Entra Internet Acc...

This week Alan and Sam discuss Azure Backup. It is a comprehensive solution offered by Microsoft Azure for safeguarding data across cloud and on-premises environments, providing seamless backup and recovery capabilities. It enables users to protect critical workloads, applications, and files with automated backups and flexible retention policies. What is Azure backup? What can you back up with it?...

Alan and Sam discuss Microsoft's new Cloud PKI service, which enables the management and deployment of device and user certificates through Intune. Below are some key points we addressed: What are user and device certificates and how are they used How would you normally manage PKI services What is Microsoft’s Cloud PKI How much does it cost? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedbac...

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Copilot for Security and M365 Syslog and CEF AMA connector for Microsoft Sentinel Lots of Azure changes, new features and retireme...

Alan and Sam discuss Azure Key Vault, it is a centralized cloud service designed for securely storing and managing cryptographic keys, certificates, and secrets used by cloud applications and services. It offers robust access control, encryption, and auditing capabilities to safeguard sensitive information and streamline key management processes. What is Azure Key Vault? What are the common use ca...

Alan and Sam talk about the Microsoft Connection Program (CCP). A Community of Technical professional from Customers, to Partners and MVPs that interacts with Microsoft Product groups around new features.. Here are a few things we covered: What is the Customer Connection Program? What are the benefits of being in the CCP? What is my experience being in the various CCPs? How do you get involved? Wh...

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last month. We dive into a couple of these updates that peaked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Dark Mode in Defender XDR Cloud PKI Improvements in Azure Key Vault Configuration-as-code customizations in Microsoft Dev Box What...

Alan and Sam discuss Azure Event Grid. It simplifies event-driven architectures by providing a fully managed service for routing events from various sources to multiple destinations in near real-time, enhancing agility and scalability in cloud-based applications. It enables seamless communication between Azure services, custom applications, and external sources while offering features like event f...

Alan and Sam discuss what vulnerability management is, and why it is important to an organisation. Alan dives into how Microsoft security solutions help identify weaknesses and monitor their remediation. Here are a few areas we covered: What are vulnerabilities? why should you monitoring, priorities and resolve them? How can Microsoft Solutions help manage your vulnerabilities? What Microsoft lice...