The secret sauce behind today's most successful firms can be summed up with a single word: CULTURE!  Listen in as Sana Khan explores this most profound insight.

BIO: Sana Khan is a Sr. Cloud Solution Architect in the Customer Experience & Success team at Microsoft, focused on Azure Data & AI at global and local customer organizations based in the Northeast region.  Specifically, Sana advises customers on where, when and how to: leverage CAF to transform their data, application, product and process lifecycles; grow into intelligent analytics by incorporating enriched data, analytics and AI into their product offerings; transform in-house technology platforms to power creativity, innovation, business growth and overall vision, and productionalize use cases in Azure that help achieve and maintain customers’ competitive edge and leadership in the marketplace.  

In her personal time, Sana invests in initiatives that combine her academic roots in Math, Art, History, Economics and International Strategic Communication with her professional work in Analytics/AI, Design Thinking, Inclusive Thought, Applied Empathy, Allyship and Transformation. Which is why, in addition to her core CSA role at Microsoft, Sana is honored to serve as one of Microsoft’s WW Champs for the Azure Data & AI Business, Lead for the Microsoft Northeast Region AI Ambassador team, Co-Founder and Co-chair for the Women at Microsoft NY Chapter, and Core Team Member of the MS OneNY Ambassador Council, NY ERG Leads team and MSUS Digital Transformation D&I team.

LINKS: Microsoft Global Diversity & Inclusion; Culture Is The Most Surprising Reason Microsoft Stock Will Keep Rising; How Microsoft “Renovated” Its Culture by Following These 3 Steps

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); Sana Khan (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azure-success.com for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected] 

Contrary to popular belief, our customer's like to play in more than one cloud (say it isn't so, coach; say it isn't so!)  They even like to keep some of their workloads on-prem.  Never fear, however, because Microsoft has one platform to rule them all: Azure Arc.  Listen in as Vlad "Not the Impaler" Tomsa lets us in on the secret.

BIO: Vlad is a Cloud Architect with a passion for technology and its ability to transform the world around us. He has extensive experience on the Cloud Infrastructure, Datacenter Migration, Applications, Identity and Networking. Before joining Microsoft in 2008, he worked as a System Administrator at several firms. At Microsoft, he was first responsible for supporting Enterprise Customers with design reviews and solving complex problem. Then he moved to a Consulting role, designing and implementing Identity, Security and Messaging projects with EMEA customers, after which he became a Cloud Solution Architect working with Belux and now US  customers on their digital transformation and journey to the cloud.

LINKS: Azure Arc, Welcome to Azure Arc, Azure Arc | Bring Windows Server and SQL Server into Azure Arc management (2020)

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); Vlad Tomsa (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azure-success.com for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]

An Azure sale isn't your everyday ordinary transaction.  No, to effectively do-the-do requires a true symphony of talented voices.  Listen in as Julie Dabrowski helps us Azure Sellers work nice together.

BIO: Julie Dabrowski is an Azure Data Sales Director in Microsoft’s Northeast Region. She has been with the company for almost 8 years in a variety of roles, including Data Platform Specialist, Account Executive and Services Support Sales Manager. Prior to Microsoft, Julie spent time at both EMC and VMWare in direct and channel sales roles. Julie’s passion and experience is in collaborating with different teams across Microsoft to align and deliver the best possible experiences with our customers that drive differentiated business outcomes. Julie also serves as the Team Manager/Rec Soccer Coach for her two sons.

LINKS: Azure Cognitive Services (Customer Stories); Innovate Faster with Azure Data Services; Artificial Intelligence

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); Julie Dabrowski (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azure-success.com for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]

Pump up your cloud with the five pillars of architectural excellence: Cost Optimization, Operational Excellence, Performance Efficiency, Reliability, and Security; a more than toothy mouthful made palatable by a pair of Microsoft's top thought leaders: David Stanford and Jason Roberts.

BIO: David Stanford is a Principal PM on the patterns and practices team in Developer Relations.  He has spent the last eight years working in the cloud helping customers build successful workloads across a variety of different industries.

BIO: Jason Roberts is a PM Manager with the patterns & practices team in Developer Relations.  He has worked in the cloud migration and cloud native development space for the last 5 years, primarily in driving data-center oriented enterprises to cloud-native globally-distributed solutions. 

LINKS: The Microsoft Azure Well-Architected Framework; Azure Well-Architected Review; Azure Architecture Center; Recommended naming and tagging practices 

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); David Stanford & Jason Roberts (Guests); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azure-success.com for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]

The Azure world may be awash in training resources, but all too few of those are pitched to the technical seller.  Listen in as Cloud Solutions Architect Jose Arias introduces us to one of the best (if all too rare!) technical sales training programs for Azure sellers: The "Northeast Technical Sales Cross-Training Sales Program".  Yes, it a bit of a mouthful, but well worth the listen.

BIO: Jose is a Cloud Solution Architect that has been at Microsoft for 3 years and before that working at HPE/DXC for close to 8 years. His background is Database Administration for SQL Server and Oracle as well as Account Delivery Management. Jose has a BA in Computer Engineering and MA in Economic Development and Social Responsibility, he was also an Executive Director of a non profit organization from 2010-2015 in Costa Rica.

LINKS: Please feel free to email Jose at [email protected], and if you're a Microsoft employee, be sure to ask him to send you a link to the "CSAs and Specialists (Cross-functional) Group" SharePoint site.

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); Jose Arias (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azure-success.com for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]

Our customer's apps and data are either in the cloud, being moved to the cloud, or an increasingly irrelevant dead-weight.  Listen in as Joan Novino makes the case for both Azure and Microsoft being the best bet for Digital Migration.

BIO: Joan Novino is a senior member of the Microsoft Azure team as a Principal Platform Specialist supporting high value customers, focused on helping customers with their Digital Transformation journey on the Microsoft Cloud platform.  Recognized by Microsoft top leadership, Joan has earned multiple award such as Platinum Club Outstanding Achiever, Platinum Club Founders Award and Platinum Club Top Attainment. Joan is a co-founder and director of the Thomas Meehan Memorial fund, a nonprofit organization that holds a tuition scholarship fund for high school students in need.

LINKS: Financial considerations for cloud migration; Stay ahead of attacks with Azure Security Center; Azure.com Part 1: Design principles and best practices; Azure.com Part 2: Technology and architecture; Protecting Windows Virtual Desktop with Azure Security Center

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); Joan Novino (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azure-success.com for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]

It's one thing to collect great big gobs of data, but quite another thing to draw insights and understanding from that information.  Listen in as Christian Gero makes the case for Power BI (surprise: he loves it; absolutely loves it!).

ABOUT: Christian Gero is a Data & AI Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft. A recent MBA graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Christian’s career has spanned roles in product management, technical start-ups, and the live music industry. His goal is to help customers realize value from their entire end-to-end digital transformation journey. A data science geek focused on democratizing AI, Christian is one of the dozen people left in the data world who still prefers R to Python.

LINKS: Power BI Desktop (Download); Microsoft Power BI Docs; Free Power BI Training (YouTube), Power BI Whitepapers; follow Christian on LinkedIn

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); Christian Gero (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azuresuccess.buzzsprout.com/ for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]

Listen in as Jay Kumar introduces us to Microsoft's Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF), the secret sauce behind many of of our most successful cloud migrations.  Better still, Jay will discuss one of his own personal Venn Diagrams: converging high-end audio and marital relations.

ABOUT: Jay Kumar is a Sr. Cloud Solution Architect, who specializes on App and Infra at Microsoft. Jay possesses 15+ years of industry experience in Software Design and Development, Enterprise Architecture, On-premises and Cloud Infrastructure, DevOps, IT Operations and Service Delivery, and Program Management. At Microsoft, as a trusted adviser of his customers, Jay helps customers in their digital transformation journey and provide guidance for Digital Transformation, Application Modernization and Cloud Adoption and Migration.

LINKS: Cloud Adoption Framework, CAF - Microsoft Learn, Azure Friday – CAF Part 1, Azure Friday – CAF Part 2, Azure Academy – CAF Series, Cloud Assessment Tools, Strategic Migration Assessment and Readiness Tool, CAF Benchmark Tool, Find a CAF Partner

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); Jay Kumar (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azuresuccess.buzzsprout.com/ for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]

It might seem paradoxical to want to "sell" open source, but lo these many years into the open source revolution, many organizations have yet to get the message.  Listen in as  James Genus helps us make sense of it all, giving us the insights we need to convince the laggards to get onboard.

WARNING: The audio for this episode can only be described as . . . horrible.  Even so, the magical interview with James went so very well that it would be a crime to consign it to the bin, so thanks for your forbearance.  We'll certainly do better in the future!

ABOUT: Microsoft Principal Cloud Solution Architect James Genus Jr. has been working in the technology field for over 20 years. Working across multiple industries including manufacturing, construction, research and technology, open source solutions have been trusted companions helping to solve technical and business challenges.

LINKS: OpenSource.net, Open Source Blog (Microsoft), Open Source Initiative

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); James Genus (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azuresuccess.buzzsprout.com/ for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]

Making sense of Azure's many data offerings can turn out to be a more than daunting task, but listening to Sr. Cloud Solutions Architect Kevin Howell should give you a good leg up.  Along the way we also discuss the joys of welding, plus the merit's of Kevin's unusual nickname: Stitch.

ABOUT: As a Data & AI Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, Kevin focuses on evangelizing the business value of the Microsoft data platform and providing technical sales support on a wide array of data and analytics products.  Kevin’s passion and expertise are targeted on researching and implementing best practices for customers in order to deliver optimal designs for scalable, enterprise solutions.  While not toppling data challenges of epic proportions, Kevin enjoys building & creating all manner of things from 3D prints to wood and metal backyard structures with his wife and three kids.

LINKS: Azure Synapse, Azure Charts, Azure Architectures, Power BI Data Gallery, Kevin’s SQL Site

CREDITS: Louis Berman (Host); Kevin Howell (Guest); Dan Phillipson / PremiumBeat (Music); Anne Lamb (Intro/Outro); East Coast Studio (Editing)

MORE: visit https://azuresuccess.buzzsprout.com/ for additional episodes, plus transcripts, and more ways to listen to the show. As to your comments and suggestions, please feel free to email your host, Louis Berman, at [email protected]