Let's Talk Azure!

Azure AI Studio is an all-in-one AI platform that simplifies the development, evaluation, and deployment of generative AI solutions and custom copilots1. It provides a unified hub for building, managing, and fine-tuning AI models, making it easier for developers of all skill levels to create and deploy intelligent applications. Whether you’re working on natural language processing, computer vision...

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: Microsoft Defender XDR MDA / MDI / Defender for Cloud Azure API Center Azure Containers Apps Multiple Ports Azure API Management A...

Alan and Sam discuss all things Microsoft Defender for Endpoint (MDE). Alan goes through the history of MDE, what its capabilities are, and the platforms it covers. Here are a few other areas we cover: What capabilities does MDE provide. How is it different from other AV and EDR solutions. How is it licensed. What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our contact form , Or leave...

This week we cover Azure AI Content Safety provides developers with tools to analyze and moderate user-generated content, utilizing machine learning to detect and filter inappropriate text and images. Customizable rules, scalability, and seamless integration with Azure services empower developers to create applications that maintain a safe and compliant online environment. Sam takes the lead cover...

Alan and Sam discuss Microsoft Defender XDR, a unified portal to manage you incidents across your MS Defender suite. Alan dives into the Extended Detect and Response (XDR) concepts and how it's beneficial to have all products in the same system. Here are few other areas we covered: What is XDR? What is Microsoft Defender XDR? What Microsoft solutions feed into Defender XDR? How is it licensed? Wha...

This week, Alan and Sam talk about new features and services that have gone into Public Preview or General Available status in the last couple of months. We dive into a couple of these updates and peeked our interest. Some of the Microsoft product features and update we covered: Microsoft Entra Internet Access Public Preview Defender for Cloud Apps - GenAI categories for cloud discovery Defender f...

In this episode, we wrap up the season, where we explore our favourite episode of the season. We also talk about the challenges and successes we faced behind the scenes, and how the podcast has grown in terms of listenership and engagement. As we bid farewell to the season, we also reveal our exciting plans for the next season, which will start on 5th January 2024. We announce that we will move to...

Alan and Sam discuss Microsoft's Copilot solutions. Alan talks about Generative AI and how it is being used in the world today. Here are a few things we covered: What Generative AI? What are the various versions of Microsoft Copilot? How can Copilot help users be more productive? How are they licensed? Ignite Keynote on Microsoft Copilot What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback vi...

This week we cover Azure Container Apps. Container Apps is a serverless container service provided by Microsoft Azure, designed to simplify the deployment and scaling of containerized applications using Kubernetes. It offers a seamless and integrated platform for developers to focus on building applications without the need to manage the underlying infrastructure. Sam takes the lead covering: What...

This week talk all things Microsoft Ignite 2023! Microsoft Ignite is an annual conference hosted by Microsoft, centred around technology trends, product innovations, and announcements concerning Microsoft's cloud services, enterprise solutions, and developer tools. The event usually gathers IT professionals, developers, business leaders, and technology enthusiasts in one place. Alan is out at Igni...

Alan and Sam have a discussion around Microsoft accreditations and how they have recently changes. Here are a few things we covered: What are Microsoft accreditations? What has change recently around the exams for certifications? What are the new applied skills accreditation? Where do you start your Microsoft skills accreditation journey? What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback v...

This week we discuss Azure App Service. Azure App Service is a robust, cloud-based platform that streamlines web app and API development. It simplifies deployment, auto-scaling, and management, supporting diverse programming languages and frameworks. Developers benefit from a fully managed, productive environment, enabling rapid development and easy integration with Azure services. With built-in s...

Alan and Sam the concept discuss cloud identities and how cloud identity providers like Microsoft Entra ID can help manage and secure those identities. Here are a few things we covered: What is a cloud Identity? What capabilities does Microsoft Entra ID have? Can you bring your on-premises ID up to the cloud? How can it integrate into SaaS application? What security features are available? How is...

This week we discussed Azure DDoS protection, a managed service from Microsoft in Azure to mitigate against DDoS attacks. DDoS or distributed-denial-of-service attacks are commonly used to overwhelm internet facing resources in the hope of disrupting their operation. Azure DDoS protection is a simple to use managed service which allows organisations to rapidly apply protection to their resources....

Alan and Sam discuss how Microsoft Entra External ID can help organisations collaborate and provide identity to their services. Alan goes through the B2B and B2C options and their scenarios. Here are a few things we covered: What are B2B and B2C identities How are these identities used What is an Microsoft Entra Multi-tenant organisation How is Microsoft Entra External ID licenced What did you thi...

This week we discussed Cosmos DB, a No SQL and relational database system hosted and managed by Microsoft. Cosmos DB is a cloud first service from Microsoft on Azure. It’s a modern approach to a database management system, built to achieve global scale and high availability. There are many APIs to pick from: NoSQL MongoDB PostgreSQL Apache Cassandra Apache Gremlin Table Storage Sam takes the lead...

Alan and Sam discuss how Microsoft Intune can help manage your Windows 10/11 estate from anywhere that has an internet connection. Alan goes through the capabilities and how it can help organisations. Here are a few things we covered: How has Windows endpoints traditionally been managed? What is Intune? How can Modern management help an organisation? What is the process to move to Intune to manage...

This week we discussed Purview Insider Risk Management. Insider Risk Management is a compliance solution that enables organisations to discover, track and manage insider risk. Insider risks can be introduced to an organisation in a multitude of ways, understanding and correlating these activities is complex and needs to be automated, this is where Insider Risk Management shines. Sam takes the lead...

Alan and Sam discuss how Microsoft Defender for Identity monitors and detects unusual behavior's and attacks on Active Directory: Here are a few things we covered: What is Active Directory Why do we need to monitor authentication on-premises What is Microsoft Defender for Identity (MDI) How is MDI licenced How do you deploy MDI What did you think of this episode? Give us some feedback via our cont...

This week we discussed Azure Lighthouse. Lighthouse allow organisations and partners access and manage resources and services in multiple tenants at scale. Lighthouse allows management of access, provides a simplified control plane to reduce operation burden allow your organisation to better collaborate internally at scale over multiple tenants or partners to manage and collaborate multiple custom...

Alan and Sam discuss how Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps can help monitor and secure access to your SaaS applications. Here are a few things we covered: What is Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps How do we discover shadow IT? How to monitor activity and files in SaaS Apps What is App Governance How can we secure sessions to SaaS applications How is it licenced. What did you think of this episode?...

This week we discussed Azure Chaos Studio. Chaos Studio allows organisations to run test plans to introduce chaos. Learn how your applications and infrastructure are effected by infrastructure disruption without having to wait for actual disruption. Sam takes the lead with providing insights such as: What is Chaos Engineering, and why it may be beneficial to your organisation What is Azure Chaos s...

Alan and Sam discuss Microsoft Entra ID Global Secure Access. A feature that was announced with the rebrand of Azure AD to Microsoft Entra ID. Here are a few things we covered: What is Microsoft Entra Internet Access What is Microsoft Entra Private Access How do these features help secure access to the internet and to SaaS and internal applications? Do we know how it is licenced yet? How to add MF...

This week we discussed Microsoft Dev Box. Dev Box allows development teams to create development environments for their projects in the cloud. This enables development teams to utilise infrastructure in Azure that scales past their local machines to build effectively. Microsoft provides the infrastructure and management plane, developers and platform engineers can work together to build repeatable...

Alan and Sam discuss how Zero-Touch deployments can help organisation reduce the effort needed to build devices. Alan goes through some of the scenarios and the benefits. Here are a few things we covered: What are zero-touch deployments What are the business and it department benefits What is supported in Microsoft Intune How easy is it to get started? What did you think of this episode? Give us s...