Welcome to Episode 389 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this special episode, we recap the game-changing announcements from Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft’s premier conference unveiling innovations across Microsoft 365 and Azure.We explore advancements in Agentic AI and multi-modal models that seamlessly accept and produce text, voice, and graphics. Discover how Copilot is evolving with features like reasoning over on-screen content (coming to Teams in CY25) and enhanced capabilities in...

Welcome to Episode 388 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive into Azure Bicep, Microsoft’s streamlined language for defining cloud infrastructure. If you’re new to Infrastructure as Code (IaC) or looking to simplify your Azure deployments, listen in to learn how easy it is to get started with Azure Bicep. We walk through the essentials, from setting up the necessary tools such as Visual Studio Code and the Azure Bicep extension, to exploring the intuitive features...

Welcome to Episode 387 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Scott and Ben dive into a discussion around Ben's newly purchased Surface Pro 11th Edition - a Copilot Plus PC running on an ARM processor. Ben gives his takes on the state of the hardware and how Windows 11 runs on a native ARM processor. Scott also gives his experience running Windows 11 daily for work on Parallels Desktop on Apple Silicon. Scott's hot take - virtualizing Windows 11 on a Mac is better than...

Welcome to Episode 386 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we explore three powerful tools designed to improve automation, testing, and security in modern development and operations workflows: Maester, Pester, and SCUBA. Whether you’re a DevOps engineer, PowerShell enthusiast, or security professional, this episode is packed with valuable insights on how to streamline your processes and strengthen your infrastructure using these powerful tools. Tune in to level up your...

Welcome to Episode 385 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive into deploying, managing, and optimizing Microsoft’s leading cloud-native SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solution. Whether you’re new to Microsoft Sentinel or looking to deepen your expertise, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you secure your Azure environment effectively. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes ...

Welcome to Episode 384 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we tackle a wide range of essential topics to help you monitor, secure, and streamline operations across your Azure estate. From access control strategies to virtual machine agents and everything in between, this episode gives you a high-level overview of Microsoft Defender for Cloud and the suite of Azure services it protects. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show...

Welcome to Episode 383 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode we continue our discussion on security, transitioning from Microsoft 365 to Azure (Episode 382 – Securing the Modern Workplace: Exploring Microsoft Entra ID Security Defaults, Conditional Access Policies, and Microsoft Secure Score) to Microsoft Azure. We begin with Azure security logging and auditing, discussing the importance of capturing and analyzing security logs to detect and respond to potential threats....

Welcome to Episode 382 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive into three essential tools for safeguarding your organization in the cloud-first world: Security Defaults in Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access Policies, and Microsoft Secure Score. Join us as we talk through and rationalize each solution, including when and why you might want to use each depending on your maturity with the Microsoft Cloud. Whether you’re an IT administrator, security professional, or...

Welcome to Episode 381 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode we discuss Microsoft Graph Data Connect, a service that allows organizations to access and manage data from Microsoft 365 in a secure, scalable, and efficient manner. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Elgato's New Stream Deck POWER-UPS make streaming even easier USB Hub - Multiport adapter for Stream Deck + Helping our customers through the...

Welcome to Episode 380 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode we discuss some of the latest security breaches that you should be on the lookout for and then we get into AD FS migrations and if you should consider it. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes AT&T says criminals stole phone records of ‘nearly all’ customers in new data breach Largest password database leak exposes nearly 10M credentials Post-Breach...

Welcome to Episode 379 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben and Scott take a look at Azure Verified Modules, a new initiative from Microsoft to consolidate and set the standards for what a good Bicep and/or Terraform module looks like. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Ember Temperature Control Smart Mug 2, 14 Oz, App-Controlled Heated Coffee Mug with 80 Min Battery Life and Improved Design, Black Azure...

Welcome to Episode 378 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode we discuss Azure Compute Fleet, a new Preview service announced at Microsoft Build 2024. Azure Compute Fleet is a new Azure infrastructure service that lets you deploy Azure compute capacity across different virtual machine SKUs, availability zones, and pricing models. It's all about acquiring VM capacity at scale. If you're familiar with AWS EC2 and Spot fleet, this is effectively the equivalent in Azure. Like...

Welcome to Episode 377 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben and Scott talk about a recent incident at Google Cloud where one of their customer accounts was completely wiped out without notice. Then they dive into Microsoft Copilot for Security. Ben has been getting hands on with it and it is expensive. They discuss pricing for Copilot for Security, how to think about approaching the multiple embedded experiences in it, and how to think about building a corpus of...

Welcome to Episode 376 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode. Ben and Scott discuss some of the announcements from the Microsoft 365 Community Conference. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Microsoft 365 Community Conference Microsoft launches SharePoint eSignature integration with Adobe and Docusign SharePoint eSignature Set up SharePoint eSignature Securely digitize document workflows with eSignature...

Welcome to Episode 375 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, where we discuss Microsoft's Global Secure Access offering. We explain how Global Secure Access brings identity, network, and endpoint access together under one service and how it combines with Defender for Cloud Apps and is built around the capacity of the Microsoft WAN. Join us as we take a deep dive into the world of digital security and learn how Global Secure Access can help you secure your digital world. Like what you hear...

Welcome to Episode 374 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast where Ben and Scott break down Azure Trusted launch virtual machines - what they are, how they're different from Gen 1 Azure VMs, and how you can enable them for your new and existing workloads. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes * Trusted launch for Azure virtual machines * Supported SKUs * Enable Trusted launch on existing Azure VMs * Deploy a VM with...

Welcome to Episode 373 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast where Ben and Scott close out their review of Microsoft Intune and its third pillar - Endpoint security. They discuss the core components of Endpoint security, including antivirus, disk encryption, and firewall configuration. Ben also takes Scott on a tour of some more hidden gems in Endpoint security, including managed installers along with endpoint detection and response policies. Like what you hear and want to support the...

Welcome to Episode 372 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, where we'll be discussing more of Microsoft Intune, one of the most powerful tools for managing your organization's devices, apps, and endpoint security. In this episode, we continue our discussion on the three pillars of Intune - Devices, Apps, and Endpoint Security - with Apps. We'll cover App protection policies, touch on the management experience, how MDM and MAM come into play, and how App protection policies protect your...

Welcome to Episode 371 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, where we'll be discussing Microsoft Intune, one of the most powerful tools for managing your organization's devices, apps, and endpoint security. In this episode, we'll start exploring the three pillars of Intune: Devices, Apps, and Endpoint Security. We'll cover what devices you can enroll, how to onboard them, and what configurations are available. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership...

The restrictions have been lifted for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing and you can now purchase licenses in tenants with less than 300 users. With the flood gates open, Ben and Scott revisit Microsoft 365 Copilot now that they both have access to it in their own tenants. Is it just a summarization tool? Is it any good for helping out Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Teams? Listen in and find out! Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership...

In Episode 369, Ben and Scott explore the new Backup and Archive options for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 workloads - Microsoft 365 Archive and Microsoft 365 Backup. These two features may sound similar, but they have different functionalities. Microsoft 365 Archive provides coverage for SharePoint, while Microsoft 365 Backup provides coverage across SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange. We will be discussing why you should use these features, how to set them up, and their options....

In Episode 368, Ben and Scott talk through the differences between Notion and Microsoft Loop with a sprinkling of Confluence. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes * Microsoft officially launches Loop, its Notion competitor * Loop vs. Notion: Microsoft’s new document app is a promising mess * Is Microsoft Loop A Notion Alternative? * Microsoft Loop - A Smarter Way to OneNote? * Get started with Microsoft Loop *...

In Episode 367, Ben and Scott kick off 2024 with a discussion of Azure Files. They start out reviewing a customer scenario Ben encountered and how they would approach it, breaking down the options available with Azure Files, hosting traditional SMB shares in Azure, and how a hybrid deployment can be the best of both worlds. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes * Planning for an Azure Files deployment * Replace or extend...

In this episode, Ben and Scott touched on some updates on their social media presence due to some recent happenings in the social media services space. As they transition into the Microsoft cloud world, they discuss updates to cloud computing software and user experience design. They also provided some insight into conditional access policies and break-glass accounts and examined strategies for managing these elements for optimal efficiency. They wrapped up their conversation on a...