015: Behind the Scenes of Microsoft Azure IoT

Welcome to episode #15 of IoT Product Leadership, a podcast featuring in-depth conversations with product leaders on what it takes to build great IoT products. I’m your host, Daniel Elizalde.     I have a very insightful episode for you today. My guest is Sam George, Director of Program Management for Azure IoT at Microsoft. Azure IoT has become one of the leading IoT Platforms in the market, so I’m very excited to go behind the scenes and talk to Sam about his approach and experience leading the Azure IoT team.    In this episode, Sam shares his strategy for market research and his approach for understanding the needs of dissimilar users across a big horizontal space and across many verticals. Sam also shares his advice on how to align your organization behind your product vision and strategy.     Whether you are building end-to-end products or IoT platforms, this episode will provide you with actionable insights on what it takes to create and scale great IoT products.     To learn more about Sam, about Azure IoT, and to access the resources mentioned in this episode, visit iotproductleadership.com.     There you’ll find the show notes for all episodes, including this one.   Plus if you are looking to take your IoT skills to the next level, in that page you’ll also find links to my online IoT courses, including my popular IoT Product Manager Certificate Program. The only IoT strategy program designed specifically for Product Managers. Once again, the URL is iotproductleadership.com.     About Sam George: Sam George is the Director of Microsoft Azure IoT Engineering Team on the Program Management side, delivering a broad portfolio of features and capabilities that help our customers and partners realize the full potential of the Internet of Things. He is responsible for Microsoft IoT Central, Azure IoT Suite, Azure IoT Edge, Azure IoT Hub, Azure IoT Device Provisioning Service, our IoT Device SDK, the Microsoft Connected Vehicle Platform and more. An accomplished industry leader, Sam’s contributions during his 18-year tenure at Microsoft include impact on a number of technologies including video, smartphone, PC and cloud services.     Topics we discuss in this episode: Sam shares his background and about Microsoft. Microsoft’s Azure IoT and Sam’s philosophy to IoT solutions. How to research and roadmap to satisfy the needs of diverse customers in different verticals and applications. Keeping alignment with the overall product vision and strategy when you are responsible for a large portfolio of IoT products. How to ensure your roadmap and all development activities in the IoT platform space lead to differentiation in the market. Providing strong Developer Experiences across the end-to-end platform when your customers are developers, VARs, and system integrators. What to look for when hiring Product Managers for your IoT teams. Advice for Product Leaders who are new at developing IoT solutions. To learn more about Sam and Microsoft Azure IoT: Microsoft Azure IoT Sam on LinkedIn On Twitter @samjgeorge Sam’s IoT Blog