Starting 2024 the right way… Foundational Azure takeaways from 2023

Background Just over a year ago (time flies!), I wrote a post about the importance of the right foundation when working with Cloud Environments – it’s an area that I talk to customers, both new and existing, about all the time. The right foundation in my view is absolutely integral to ensuring success in Cloud environments, and is also essential […]

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Festive Tech Calendar 2023 – An Introduction to Azure Terraform

This month I have been participating the Festive Tech Calendar Event – a great community event filled with loads of awesome sessions! You can find out more about the event and all of the sessions here: https://festivetechcalendar.com/ My Session – An Introduction to Azure Terraform! My session is a video that provides an introduction to Azure Terraform – you can […]

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Upcoming changes to outbound access for Azure VMs – Exploring the Terraform Options

As you may be aware, default outbound access for Azure VMs will change on 30th September 2025 – and the recommendation is to transition to an explicit outbound method. It’s worth noting that existing VMs will continue to work – however, there is still a recommendation to transition: You can read more about this announcement here: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/default-outbound-access-for-vms-in-azure-will-be-retired-transition-to-a-new-method-of-internet-access/ Default outbound access […]

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Testing out my Azure Demo Lab with Terraform Cloud

Demo Environment Overview Diagram

Recently I have been working with Terraform Cloud to deploy Azure Environments, and in my previous post I wrote about an overview of Terraform Cloud, Prerequisites for Azure Deployment, and shared some tips and links to get started. You can read this post here. ✅ In this post I wanted to expand further by running through my own Demo/Lab Environment […]

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Azure Back to School 2023 – My Sessions Recap and Resources

Azure Back to School 2023 Logo

Last month I had the pleasure of taking part in Azure Back to School 2023 – a community event that takes place in September and hosts a range of contributors and content to share knowledge with the community! You can read more about Azure Back to School here – https://azurebacktoschool.github.io/.  ✅ There’s a huge list of awesome sessions and speakers […]

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Azure Deployment using Terraform Cloud – Overview, Prerequisites, Sample Code, and Resources

I’ve been using Terraform Cloud to create Azure Environments for some time, and in this post, I wanted to share an overview of Terraform Cloud, the prerequisites for deploying Azure environments using it, and provide additional resources to help get started. Note – this article is not exhaustive, and there are other ways of getting started and different potential setups […]

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Resources to help study for the AI-102 Exam

Recently I took and passed the AI-102 Exam, Designing and Implementing a Microsoft Azure AI Solution – which earns the Certification Microsoft Certified: Azure AI Engineer Associate. I must admit, I have found the AI exams to be challenging, as they are a totally new topic to me, requiring time spent reading the learning materials, as well as creating test and […]

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Azure Advisor – Testing the Cost Optimization Workbook Public Preview

Public preview: Assess cost optimization opportunities using new workbook template in Azure Advisor

Recently the Azure Advisor Cost Optimization Workbook was made available in Public Preview. This workbook aims to provide a centralised location that enables a number of common methods for identifying cost optimization opportunities, aligned to the Well Architected Framework Cost Optimization Pillar. It is a great place to start a cost optimization journey and make effective changes to ensure optimal […]

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Azure Cross-Region (Global) Load Balancer – Demo Environment

As you may have seen, the Cross-Region (Global) Azure Load Balancer has recently become Generally Available (10th July 2023) – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/updates/azure-s-crossregion-load-balancer-is-now-generally-available/. I decided therefore to create a test and demo environment for it – whereby a quick example can be deployed to get started. ✅ For a detailed overview of Cross-Region Load Balancer, please see here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/load-balancer/cross-region-overview  Overview The Cross-Region […]

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EUC Forum July 2023 Meeting – Resources and Slides

This week I had the pleasure of presenting at the EUC Forum Meeting, which was hosted in Manchester. Alongside my friend and fellow MVP Jon Jarvis, we presented the session “Unleashing the Power of Code-Driven Virtual Desktop Deployments for AVD & Windows 365“.  Click here to find out more about the awesome EUC Forum! This session focused on the tooling required […]

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Testing Terraform Import in v.1.5.0+ with Azure Resources

HashiDays London Banner

Yesterday I attended HashiDays London, which was an awesome day of sessions covering numerous HashiCorp Products. In particular, the Terraform, Boundary, Vault and Consul updates and sessions were really interesting, and I left with a huge list of things that I’ll be testing out in my lab in the coming weeks! You can catch up on sessions on-demand if you […]

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Experts Live Netherlands 2023 – Exploring the benefits of Azure Virtual WAN

Last week I had the pleasure of attending Experts Live Netherlands 2023, and presenting a session called “Exploring the benefits of Azure Virtual WAN“. The event brought together people throughout the Microsoft Community, and covered a wide range of topics and sessions – it was a brilliant event, and one I’d recommend to anyone keen to learn more and network! […]

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