RunAs Radio

It's episode 900! Richard brings friend Dana Epp onto the show to talk a bit about the last one hundred episodes of RunAs Radio - and a little look to the future as well. With Dana around, you know there will be lots of security conversation. Over the past hundred shows, ransomware has had quite the story arc, especially around Exchange Server and other products. The conversation then turns to more future-looking topics, including the various Microsoft Copilots being built - could these be tools to help sysadmins? Probably a topic for episode 1000!Links:Windows SandboxMicrosoft VivaMicrosoft Purview Data Loss PreventionRecorded September 15, 2023

Your SharePoint is on-premises (at least for now), but you want to take advantage of some of those cool SharePoint Online features - is there a way? Richard talks with Sandy Ussia about her talk at the Thrive Conference in Slovenia about how on-premises SharePoint can use Power Automate and other tools to create powerful workflows. Sandy discusses the limits of the free version of Power Automate and how paying for the premium edition lets you build workflows that will more than cover the license cost. The conversation also dives into the subscription model of on-premises SharePoint 2019, which looks to be the final destination for on-premises SharePoint, with ongoing support and features being added!Links:Thrive ConferenceLightning ToolsUpgrade to SharePoint Server Subscription EditionPower Automate and SharePointPower Automate DesktopPower Automate PricingSharePoint On-Premises Data GatewayRecorded August 1, 2023

How do PowerBI and Microsoft Fabric work together? Richard talks to Mike Carlo about his experiences with Fabric so far. Mike explains how it is early days for Fabric and something you should experiment with, not roll out to production. The conversation dives into how we structure data analytics and the potential of Fabric to bring forward more of the pipeline work that analytics needs - so you can explore and get results faster. This leads to the idea of a new relationship between analysts and data engineers, one where you generate results first, then can optimize them with back-end engineering. There is enormous potential in PowerBI and Fabric together to change the data analytics game!Links:PowerBI.TipsDataBricksPowerBIAzure Synapse AnalyticsMicrosoft FabricAzure Data FactoryThe Infinite GameRecorded August 4, 2023

Sonia Cuff, IT expert, discusses doing more with less in IT organizations. She emphasizes the importance of measuring expenses accurately and associating costs with income. The conversation also explores new technologies that improve efficiency, like large language models. Leveraging past knowledge and merging generations in technology are highlighted for enhancing productivity.

How would your organization report a data breach? Richard talks to Troy Hunt about his experiences with Have I Been Pwned and some good and not-so-good breach reporting. Troy talks about the importance of planning - making decisions about how to report is hard to do when you're under stress. And who do you report to? Are there regulatory requirements? What about your customers? Most people want to know if the data they entrusted to you has been stolen. And if you did want to contact every customer involved in a breach, how would you do that? This is a conversation for the C-suite, but you can start it!Links:Have I Been Pwnedsecurity.txtBeg BountyRecorded July 17, 2023

Karoliina Kettukari, expert in M365 Copilot, discusses the features and benefits of M365 Copilot including using more of the Office suite, surfacing information from within organizations, and the need for policy and training around sensitive data. The podcast also explores the role of AI and co-pilots in the workplace and the use of bots in Microsoft Teams. Additionally, the importance of discussing security and preparations as well as navigating the M365 Copilot hype train are highlighted.

What is Microsoft Fabric, and why do you want some? Richard talks to Andrew Snodgrass of Directions on Microsoft about Microsoft's recently announced Fabric product. Andrew explains that Fabric is an effort to integrate the various data products, including PowerBI, DataLake, Data Factory, and Data Warehousing, under a standard banner. It is early days for Fabric, but it's a great time to take it out for a spin for those who haven't dug into Azure data analytics products. But if you have existing implementations of PowerBI and many other data products, test carefully - the migration paths aren't simple!Links:Microsoft FabricAzure Synapse AnalyticsAzure Data FactoryPower BIFabric WorkspacesOneLakeKusto Query Language (KQL)Parquet Files in FabricMicrosoft PurviewOneLake File ExplorerRecorded July 12, 2023

PowerShellGet V3 is getting close to release - what should we expect? Richard chats with Sydney Smith about the key features of PSG3 - especially the support for third-party and private repositories. Sydney talks about how developing the tool in the open on GitHub has helped steer the module into a great version. While there are some breaking changes, there's also a Compat module to help bridge the gap. And now PSG3 is part of PowerShell 7.4 - so we should see some exciting news this fall!Links:PSReadLinePowerShell 7.4 PreviewPowerShellGetPowerShell GalleryArtifactoryPowerShellGet 3 BetaPowerShellGet on GitHubRecorded July 10, 2023

How does Azure continue to evolve and grow? While at Build in Seattle, Richard chatted with Azure CTO Mark Russinovich about the evolution of Azure and where it is going. Mark talks about the challenges of the recent explosion in large language models like GPT3 and ChatGPT - the sheer amount of cloud computing resources necessary to generate these enormous models, much less operate them at scale. The conversation explores ongoing innovation in architecture and hardware design, including a discussion on the results of Project Natick, the underwater data center experiments of a few years ago. There are more innovations to come!Links:Project NatickRecorded May 25, 2023

What are your options for upgrading to Windows 11? Richard talks to Julie Andreacola about her experiences helping organizations make the move from Windows 10 to 11. Julie talks about the power of Windows Update for Business Deployment Services to simplify the OS update while still giving the users some control - you can set a deadline for when they must update, but the user can pick a time within that deadline to let it happen. Applications don't have a problem with the OS update, since, under the hood, it's Windows 10.1. Same for group policy - do some testing, but expect things to go well - the migration to Windows 11 looks good!Links:Windows 11 Onboarding ToolkitFocus AssistantWindows 11 Live CaptionsWindows Update for Business Deployment ServiceWindows AutopilotWindows Update for BusinessRecorded June 16, 2023