We recently had a lot of fun connecting with Koos Goossens to talk about Microsoft Sentinel. Koos has a wealth of knowledge and shared some great tips on getting started with Sentinel, the importance of cost management and why a product != process. Koos Goossens is passionate about all things Microsoft Cloud and Security related. In his current role. he has been focussing on implementing Microsoft Sentinel and improving Security Operation Centers by helping with the development of new detections and fine-tuning, but also applying processes for automatic enrichments and investigations. KQL and Azure Logic Apps are two of my new best friends. You can connect with Koos on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/koos-goossens/) and can also check him out on Medium (https://medium.com/@koosg) Here's a link to Koos's blog on how to Optimize your Microsoft Sentinel pricing (https://medium.com/wortell/optimize-microsoft-sentinel-pricing-ca9901840b75) Click the icon below to listen.        

This episode is all about certifications. I sat my first industry certification exam in the late 1990's and it's safe to say that certifications and the way the industry views them has changed a lot over the years. Are certifications important or even relevant anymore? This can be a very polarizing topic, I recently asked Sly Gittens from Tech Simplified all about it. Sly Gittens is a Partner Technology Strategist at Microsoft and runs the Tech Simplified YouTube channel. A lifelong learner and ever-curious about the world, Sly is committed to personal and professional development for myself and for those around him. His YouTube channel provides resources to help simplify the cloud certification journey. Sly is also incredibly passionate about supporting Women In Technology and has a WIT interview series were he talks to Women who keep moving forward no matter the obstacles in their way. You can connect with Sly on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/slygittens/) and can also check him out on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiZFfxc52ANSYp0Qxm3CKIA) Click the icon below to listen.        

We recently had the pleasure of talking to a long time friend of the show Jay Gundotra. Jay is incredibly passionate about the community and you have most probably seen the ENow Software booth or attended one of their parties at Ignite or some other industry event. We talk about his journey from Exchange Server specialist to Founder and CEO and how everyone has a unique journey. We also get deep about how it is important to learn from our own experiences - good or bad and how self care is vital to longevity in our industry today. Jay Gundotra is the technical founder and CEO of ENow, a leader in the Microsoft systems management space. With over 20 years of experience in Unified Communications and Network computing, he has led ENow to deliver effective monitoring and analytics software to customers in over 130 countries. This has included enterprise companies like Coca Cola, Volkswagen, NYSE, Facebook, DirectTV, CBRE, NBA and Wendy’s. You can connect with Jay on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jay-gundotra-19079a/) Click the icon below to listen.        

In this episode we had the pleasure of talking to Kexin Ye and hearing her inspirational story of personal growth and how she went from selling Fair trade "coffee to fighting to tech". We also talk about chaos engineering, technical debt and the importance of a sound cloud strategy. If you're interested in chaos engineering, here are some additional links you might want to check out: Chaos engineering (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/framework/resiliency/chaos-engineering) & What is Azure Chaos Studio Preview (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/chaos-studio/chaos-studio-overview) Kexin Ye is a Woman in Tech, 3rd culture kid, entrepreneur at heart and one of the top contestants on Asia’s The Apprentice: ONE Championship Edition. You can connect with Kexin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kexin-ye) Don't forget to check out our blog: https://thearchitects.cloud/2022/03/16/episode-61-inner-warrior/ Click the icon below to listen.        

We're back for our first episode of 2022! We had so much fun catching up in-person in Cape Town last month to record this one. In this episode we're joined by fellow MVP Alistair Pugin to talk through some of our predictions for 2022. Will 2022 be the year of spend? We talk about hybrid cloud, organizational maturity, in-person conferences and Exchange "bugs". I tried to find a link to the Microsoft product rename site referenced in episode, but I can't figure out where I saved it - if this is your project or you know about it, please let us know on twitter. Alistair has worked in various capacities in multiple verticals from retail – manufacturing to government, spanning 50 to 50000 users utilizing all aspects of pure Enterprise Information Management. His current role as a Microsoft Azure and Office Apps and Services MVP in South Africa, provides him with a mechanism to assist companies with designing their Cloud collaboration environment using “best of breed”, proven methodologies to foster innovation and growth through an Content Services framework while incorporating a Knowledge Management strategy. You can connect with Alistair on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AlistairPugin) Click the icon below to listen.        

I really miss in-person conferences and I'm sure I'm not the only one. We've always enjoyed being able to connect with new and old friends and peers, not to mention how incredibly enjoyable it is for us to record our episodes in person. In this episode we talk to Microsoft's Laurent Bugnion about conferences and events - we cover everything from imposter syndrome, why in-person events may never be the same again and how they have worked tirelessly to scale and make virtual events more engaging for everyone. During the episode, Laurent talks about the following resources: * Laurent's Website - https://galasoft.ch * Learn Live - http://aka.ms/learnlive Laurent Bugnion works as Senior Cloud Developer Advocate for Microsoft after almost 10 years spent working for IdentityMine and Valorem, two leading firms in Microsoft technologies. He is one of the foremost experts for XAML and C# based development. He codes in Windows, WPF, Xamarin (iOS and Android), Unity, ASP.NET. During his free time, Laurent writes for technical publications such as MSDN Magazine, and his blog is on blog.galasoft.ch. He is a frequent speaker at conferences such as Microsoft MIX, Build, TechEd, VSLive, TechDays and many other international events. You can connect with Laurent on Twitter - https://twitter.com/LBugnion Click the icon below to listen.        

Data Security is top of mind for many organizations at the moment with so many of them transitioning to a permanent work from home or hybrid working model. There is however so much more to protecting your data than encrypting it or implementing a DLP tool. In this episode we have a great conversation with Ernie Anderson about Data Security - what it is, where to start, what to consider and why you shouldn't just run out and buy a tool right away. Ernie Anderson has over 20 years of professional experience in Information Technology, of which 19 have been focused on cybersecurity consulting. He has a proven track record of working with cross-industry Chief Information Security Officers (“CISOs”) and Chief Information Officers (“CIOs”) to define cybersecurity strategies and establish risk-driven cybersecurity programs that are both enablers of the business and a value proposition to customers. Ernie’s technical foundation enables him to translate strategic vision into tactical solutions and implementation projects. He currently leads Kudelski Security's Services practice, which includes strategic leadership and the development of capabilities, staff planning, opportunity identification and capture, and the delivery of projects. You can connect with Ernie on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/ernieanderson/ Click the icon below to listen.        

Ever wondered what a SIEM is? How about SOAR? In this episode we have a fantastic conversation with ML who helps us understand what these are, how they are different and even how they can work together. We also cover a few other security-related topics and ML shares some great insights and recommendations. Mari-Louise (ML) is the co-founder and director of Port443 (Pty) Ltd. Focusing on platform based cyber security automation and orchestrations, Port443 democratizes security across all industries across MEA. Prior to starting Port443, she performed multiple functions for over 6 years at Internet Solutions (a Division of Dimension Data), most notably responsible for technical product development across multiple solutions. In 2019 ML took on the role of Head of Product & Technical development for Dimension Data Security (the MEA regions for NTT Security). Responsible for the deployment and development of Managed Security Services across Middle East and Africa. She has keen eye for identifying breakthrough technologies and a mantra that “everything is figoureoutable”, enjoys innovation and the pursuit of efficiency via software based platforms. You can connect with ML on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mari-loui...) Click the icon below to listen.        

If you follow the Microsoft productivity space, you have no doubt seen or heard about the "Autodiscovering the Great Leak" research paper recently published by Amit Serper, a security researcher at Guardicore. The paper details more than five months' research into the Autodiscover service used by Microsoft Exchange. Amit's research was picked up and in many instances misreported by the tech press, which in turn caused a certain degree of panic. We're deeply passionate about Exchange and have been for a very long time, so we thought it would be a good idea to sit down with Amit to talk through his research and better understand his findings. During the episode, Amit talks about the following resources: * https://detectionlab.network * https://autodiscover-vulnerable-tlds.com Amit Serper is a security researcher that spent almost a decade in the Israeli intelligence community where he worked in vulnerability research, exploit development and designed the architectures of uniquely complicated, highly reliable, one-of-a-kind communication systems. During his 9 year tenure in the IDF and Israeli government, he received 4 certificates of excellence and two commendations. During his career he has been on both the red and blue sides, joined an early stage start-up to build EDR products from scratch on various operating systems, conducted low level operating system research, reverse engineered malware, performed countless IR engagements, helped build a global research team and brand, and stopped a few global attacks (NotPetya, BadRabbit, Operation softcell to name a few). Amit is a frequent public speaker at security conferences all over the world and shares his research and knowledge in various blog posts, conferences, and podcasts. You can find Amit on Twitter - https://twitter.com/0xAmit Click the icon below to listen.        

We've often joked on the show that Microsoft is the world's largest security vendor and when you consider their massive investment in security-related R&D and innovation it really isn't far from the truth. We had a great time sitting down with Microsoft's Stephen Revel recently to talk about the security features and functionality available to customers in Microsoft 365 and hopefully debunk the myth that you can't be secure without having an M365 E5 license or additional investments in third-party solutions. Stephen Revel is a Modern Workplace Senior Technical Specialist for security at Microsoft with almost 18 years’ experience designing, implementing and migrating Microsoft based infrastructures. You can find Stephen on Twitter (https://twitter.com/technical_drunk) or connect with him on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenrevel/) Click the icon below to listen.