How do you manage the sprawl of Teams? Richard chats with Erica Toelle and John Gruszczyk about the governance of Teams, starting with allowing a bit of sprawl in the first place - people give up on tools that are too locked down. You have to leave room to explore! But once folks engage with Teams and the sprawl gets a bit out of control, there are tools to help you protect people and information shared there. John talks about controlling access to different parts of Teams, depending on your role in the organization and external guests. Erica dives into labeling data as sensitive and how the Data Loss Prevention tooling can help protect data and indicate where it might be exposed inappropriately. There are many approaches to controlling sprawl. You can choose what is best for your organization!Links:Microsoft TeamsMultifactor AuthenticationAccess Governance in TeamsData Loss Prevention PolicyPower AutomateVirtual AgentsTeams and SharePoint IntegrationRecorded March 3, 2022

We all have those problem WiFi devices - how do you fix them? Richard chats with Ryan Woodings about Tonic, the latest product from MetaGeek that helps you analyze WiFi traffic by the device to understand its problems. Ryan talks about tracking WiFi-specific information, including what AP a client is connecting to and all the intimate details of WiFi connection negotiating. Tools like Tonic can identify a broken antenna in a device based on that traffic or just poor decision-making by the WiFi chipset - and what you can do about it!Links:Signifi for BusinessWireSharkRecording March 3, 2022

How do you keep your SQL queries fast? Richard chats with Monica Rathbun about her approaches to SQL Server query tuning. Monica starts with defining the problem - how do we know that the database is the performance bottleneck? The conversation dives into measuring query performance and the power of Query Store, but only on SQL Server 2016 and above, so get upgrading! Entity Framework is a standard tool for developers to automate access to SQL. Still, it can generate some pretty ugly queries, and Monica talks about different ways to improve them, including the old standby of writing a stored procedure. Lots of ideas for folks struggling to make their databases go fast!Links:Monitoring Performance with Query StoreCommon Table ExpressionsCursors in SQL ServerSQL Server ProfilerGlenn's SQL Server Performance BlogRecorded February 22, 2022

Ready to flex your Bicep? Richard talks to John Downs from Azure Fast Track about configuring Azure resources using Bicep. John talks about Azure Resource Manager (ARM) being the under-the-hood way to create Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service, but folks don't enjoy working directly in the JSON that makes up an ARM template. Enter Bicep, a domain-specific language that generates the JSON for you. Today Bicep is Microsoft's recommended way to build Azure resources, offering access to source control, testing, and automation that makes your Azure site more reliable and easier to maintain!Links:Bicep DocsAzure Resource ManagerBicep ModulesBicep RegistryTesting BicepAzure AD Privileged Identity ManagementLearn BicepRecorded March 3, 2022

What's coming in the next version of PowerShellGet? Richard chats with Sydney Smith about PowerShellGet in general and version 3 specifically. Sydney talks about how PowerShellGet appears like a command in PowerShell but is a separate module installed by default with PowerShell and is getting more features and some breaking changes. But version 3 also includes some compatibility features so that you can use your scripts dependent on PowerShellGet 2 within PowerShellGet 3. While there are some breaking changes, they make it easier to find and install the packages you need from the PowerShell Gallery or any other PowerShell repository you want to access.Links:The PowerShell GalleryMyGetPowerShell GalleryPowerShellGet Preview 12Desired State ConfigurationPowerShellGet vNext on GitHubRecorded February 17, 2022

What can Chocolatey do for you? Richard talks to Gary Ewan Park about the latest version of Chocolatey, including Chocolatey for Business. Originally a free, open-source product for application management primarily targeted at software developers, Chocolatey has evolved into a modern software automation product for managing software deployment on workstations and servers. Gary talks about keeping deployments self-contained and straightforward - use the Internet if you want to, but you can also do all deployments from a local package manager as well. With self-service and central management tools, you should look at the latest version of Chocolatey for Business!Links:ChocolateyChocolatey for BusinessPuppetChefBoxstarterChocolatey Community RepositoryWindows AutopilotRecording February 17, 2022

Is Azure Arc a crucial part of bringing the cloud into your organization? Richard talks with Microsoft CVP Erin Chapple about how Arc helps with digital transformation. Erin discusses the challenges of adding the cloud into an organization from a governance, regulatory, and security perspective, how Azure Arc provides oversight and control for those issues, and more. The conversation also gets into a survey done by Harris Polls for Microsoft that showed how the digital transformation process continues in most organizations, with hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure being a common outcome. All the more reason to use Azure Arc to manage it all!Links:Arc at FergusonArc at NokiaArc at Siemens HealthineersHybrid & Multicloud Perceptions SurveyMultiCloud and Hybrid Using Azure Arc with Jeremy WinterInside Azure for ITRecorded February 17, 2022

How do you secure your email transport? Richard talks to Gareth Gudger about the various additional protocols and approaches essential to transporting email. Gareth reminds us that SMTP, like the Internet, was not designed with security in mind, so we have to add layers to try and improve things. It is an acronym soup of SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS, and DANE - but every acronym gets a definition! Sure, there is more to email security than just transport, but arguably, this is the place to start. And after that - focus on identity security!Links:Office 365 for IT ProsHAFNIUM ExploitMTA-STS for Exchange OnlineEmail Encryption in M365Advanced Message EncryptionM365 MapsSPF in M365Gareth's BlogRecorded February 15, 2022

Windows Virtual Desktop is now Azure Virtual Desktop! Richard chats with Jen Sheerin about how Windows Virtual Desktop has evolved to become Azure Virtual Desktop - it's much more than a name change! Jen talks about how AVD is fully integrated into Azure, using ARM for configuration, tied in with Insights, and all the other Azure products you count on to manage, monitor, and maintain infrastructure. The conversation also dives into the Azure Fast Track program to help you get started with AVD and the kind of proof-of-concept projects you can build. There are many choices, but the best time to start is now!Links:Windows Virtual Desktop QuickStartAutoscale Preview for Azure Virtual Desktop Host PoolsWhat is Azure Virtual Desktop?Windows Enterprise Multi-session Remote DesktopAzure Virtual desktop for on-premises Azure StackFastTrack for AzureAzure Active Directory Domain ServicesUS Azure Virtual Desktop User GroupAzure MigrateAzure ExpressRouteAzure Data BoxRecorded February 15, 2022

It's 2022, time for a new version of SQL Server! Richard chats with Bob Ward about Microsoft's latest release of their ubiquitous database. The conversation starts out with a little bit of history of how SQL Server has evolved over the decades - and how there's still a need for a database in organizations, but the feature set has changed. Bob talks about making hybrid really work, whether it's an on-premises database that backs up and fails over to the cloud, or how tools like Azure Purview can live in the cloud and help monitor and govern on-premises databases. And if you do choose to migrate to the cloud, these hybrid options make life easier - especially with SQL 2022!Links:Azure SQL RevealedSQL Server 2022Azure SQL Managed InstanceAzure Synapse AnalyticsSQL Query Store with Erin StellatoAzure PurviewAzure ArcRecorded January 13, 2022