The Microsoft Azure IP Advantage program provides comprehensive protection against intellectual property (IP) risks with uncapped indemnification and access to a portfolio of thousands of Microsoft patents. With Azure IP Advantage, developers can focus on writing code without worrying about companies that sue developers, and customers can grow their business with confidence. Join David Giard as he welcomes CVP Erich Andersen and Director of Marketing for Azure Tanuj Bansal to the show as they give us an overview of the program as well as how developers and organization can benefit from it. [1:18] How is Azure doing these days?[3:03] What are some of the challenges people are facing today with their move to the cloud?[8:10] Are you providing legal assistance to customers? What is the Azure IP Advantage Program?[11:45] How's the customer response been so far?[16:14] How does this service compare to other cloud providers?[19:09] Where do people go to learn more about this program?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: David Giard's BlogLearn more about the Microsoft Azure IP Advantage program

The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), also known as Illinois Tech, is a private, technology-focused, research university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, architecture, business, design, human sciences, applied technology, and law. Microsoft recently teamed up with Illinois Tech’s Interprofessional Projects Program (IPRO) to create an easy-to-update client application and a serverless computing back-end to greatly speed IPRO course attendance taking. Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes Jeremy Alexis, Director of the Idea Shop at Illinois Tech, and Sr. Technical Evangelist, Martin Schray to the show as they discuss how they built this application using Azure Functions and WPF. [3:24] What is the Idea Shop at Illinois Tech?[7:14] Describe the project for us, what did you guys work on together?[10:42] What solution did you come up with?[13:43] How does this work? What's the technology behind this?[15:53] Why WPF over UWP for this project?[18:02] Why Azure Functions and not just a web service? What was the benefit here?[23:41] How long did this project take to complete? Did it meet your expectations?[32:30] What does Version 2 look like? Did I hear Facial Recognition correctly?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogMartin Schray on TwitterIllinois Institute of Technology

Chefs For Seniors provides personalized in-home meal preparation for senior citizens on a weekly basis that aligns with dietary restrictions. The service includes grocery shopping, help with meal selection, in-home cooking, and companionship during meal prep. Currently, the chefs at Chefs For Seniors handle their planning and operations by carrying large binders with them to their clients’ homes and to the grocery store to ensure they are purchasing the right ingredients and are fully prepared to cook all of their upcoming meals. Chefs For Seniors needed to build an app as they scale in order to make operations more manageable. Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes the team from Nathan Allman from Chef for Seniors as well as the team from Microsoft – Lauren Tran and Ian Philpot – as they discuss how they created a cross-platform app using Xamarin, HockeyApp and Azure App Service to improve daily operations at the company. [6:00] Tell us a little bit about Chef for Seniors. What do you do?[10:52] Does the Chef wear the hat when they visit?[11:36] How did this project get started? What were you guys trying to build?[15:36] How complicated did the architecture look for this? How does this work?[18:40] What was your impression of the overall solution?[20:18] We used Prism for this particular Xamarin.forms application, what were the benefits here?[22:19] You also introduced HockeyApp into the project, right? Why?[29:10] What's next for Chefs for Seniors?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogIan Philpot on TwitterLauren Tran on TwitterChefs for Seniors

Shelfie and Microsoft teamed up in a hackfest to build a mobile social media platform to create fundraising photo and video campaigns for nonprofits. Its aim is to build communities around a cause, enhancing awareness, engagement and retention while increasing donations and contributions to the campaigns. Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes the team from Shelfie, Brendan Barbato and Nathan Geyer, as well as the team from Microsoft, Gavin Bauman and Adina Shanholtz, to the show as they discuss how they implemented Xamarin.Forms and Azure Mobile Services to deliver a cross-platform app for iOS, Android and Windows users that talks to a Ruby on Rails back end migrated from AWS to Microsoft Azure. [8:04] What does Shelfie do and what problem are you trying to solve?[11:54] How did you get started?[14:05] What was your first impression of Xamarin?[15:00] What was the experience like moving from AWS to Azure Mobile Services? Any roadblocks?[17:48] Tell us about working with Xamarin Forms – how was it?[24:42] Where are things headed for Shelfie? What's next for you?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogGavin Bauman on TwitterAdina Shanholtz on TwitterShelfie

Hykso makes a device that boxers and MMA fighters can use to capture performance data, helping them to measure and improve their punching skills. The company wanted to expand the device’s capabilities, so they worked together with Microsoft and devised a multi-user scenario where they were able to extend the senor data from the local device to the cloud using Azure Event Hubs and Stream Analytics. Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes Charles Lambert, Lead Developer from Hykso and Startup Evangelist, Steve Seow from Microsoft, as they discuss this project in detail as well as provide valuable advice and best practice tips. [5:47] What does Hykso do?[7:30] Tell us a little bit about the hardware and how this works?[9:15] Sports and IoT innovation seem to be hand-in-hand right now. How do you think this will play out in the future?[12:38] How did Microsoft play into this project?[15:12] What do fighters and trainers think when you show this to them?[19:20] How do you start to calculate complicated things like movement or speed?[22:10] When will this device be available and where can people find it?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogSteve Seow on TwitterHykso

Hendrick Motorsports, which fields several prominent NASCAR teams, worked with Microsoft to expand the capabilities of its race crew chiefs with a cross-platform mobile app that can help them keep track of crucial race details. This web app follows over 1,100 tasks to complete a car as well as information for the crew chief from past race events so they can build that same car and add in what they learned from the last race. Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes Sr. Tech Evangelists, Shahed Chowdhuri and Dave Voyles to the show as they describe how they used Xamarin and Microsoft Azure to create their cross-platform app. [3:12] How did you meet up with Hendrick Motorsports and what type of problem were they trying to solve?[6:00] What solution did you devise for them?[7:50] Tell us a little bit about Xamarin and how it worked out for Hendrick?[9:27] What’s the criteria for choosing forms as the right solution?[11:11] How was data handled in this app?[15:18] How was the development experience working with all of these moving parts in Xamarin and Azure?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogDave Voyles’ BlogShahed Chowdhuri’s Blog Hendrick Motorsports

FuseThru capitalizes on the growth and miniaturization of electronics. Working with existing sensors and modular tools, it provides easy upgrades for OEMs looking to improve product features so users can experience the benefits of the Internet of Things (IoT). Microsoft teamed up with FuseThru to prototype a new system designed to monitor atmospheric variables, both inside and outside of the Flatiron Building in Atlanta, GA – an 11-story building built in 1897 and the city’s oldest standing skyscraper. Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes the team from FuseThru – Jared Rhodes and Marshall Corry – as well as Ian Philpot from Microsoft, as they describe how their IoT solution collects data about a multitude of conditions and then uses Azure IoT Hub to stream and interpret this data in real time. [2:27] Tell us a little bit about FuseThru. What do you do?[6:27] What's the "Smart City" initiative in Atlanta and how does this relate to the project you worked together on?[10:05] How are these devices able to send these large amounts of data? How did you process all this data?[17:58] You mentioned SignalR. Why did you decide to use this?[21:09] Walk us through the decision to use two hubs -- Event and IoT hub? Why did you go this route?[28:17] What's next for FuseThru?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogIan Philpot on TwitterFuseThru

RockStep Solutions creates world-class scientific data management tools for research. Its innovative software system – Climb - is designed to transform and modernize information management in a laboratory setting. As research facilities have thousands of units to house animals, and these units need to be checked on a regular basis to ensure the conditions are within compliance, Microsoft joined RockStep to develop a multi-tenant IoT solution that helps reduce operating and maintenance costs for their clinical trial customers. By reducing the number of visits to each unit they can cut maintenance and operating costs and improve the overall health of animals. Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes the team from RockStep – Abigail Ames and Keith Sheppard – as well as James Sturtevant and Nick Landry from Microsoft as they describe how the implemented this solution – from concept to deployment – in a matter of a few days. [3:38] Tell us a little bit about RockStep[6:13] What can you tell us about the project RockStep and Microsoft worked on together?[9:55] What was the initial vision for this project?[11:30] How did you manage the volume of data coming through these devices?[12:35] Why might a regular server crumble under a huge volume of IoT data? How does Azure IoT Hub compare?[17:40] What did you do with Stream Analytics and why was this beneficial?[19:50] So now that you have this in place, what are you able to do with this data?[22:50] How scalable is a solution like this? How fast can a proof of concept go to being implemented in a large scale organization?[35:10] What's next for RockStep?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogJames Sturtevant’s BlogNick Landry on TwitterRockStep Solutions

Rex Animal Health is seeking to transform the animal health and agriculture industries with a suite of innovative data-driven tools that track and analyze animal disease. Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes Rex CEO Amado Guloy, and Microsoft Technical Evangelists Rachel Weil and Tim Reilly to the show as they discuss how by moving to Microsoft Azure they improved Rex Animal Health’s workflow for developing, deploying, and hosting web applications built on Python and Angular. [4:07] Tell us a little bit about Rex Animal Health. What do you do?[6:18] Can you describe the project that Rex Animal Health and Microsoft worked on together?[10:35] How was the migration process to Azure from AWS?[14:58] How valuable was this project for Rex Animal Health?[19:46] Azure Machine Learning also played a role into this project. Can you describe how it was used?[22:07] What's next for Rex Animal Health? If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogRachel Weil on TwitterTim Reilly’s BlogRex Animal Health

One of the toughest and most time-consuming tasks for home buyers is researching whether the location of a prospective home will fit their needs. They need to consider factors such as schools, public transit, safety, shopping, traffic, and more for every listing they are interested in, whether it comes from an agent or online search. Comparing these factors across multiple listings makes it even more complex. Homitat can help solve this tough problem with its intuitive iOS and Android apps. In just a few minutes, users can set their preferences and then score and compare prospective homes on how they match up to their lifestyles. It takes away the guesswork and saves time.Join Jerry Nixon as he welcomes Raj Konduru, Managing Partner from Homitat and Sr. Technical Evangelist from Microsoft, Mostafa Elzoghbi to the show as they discuss how Microsoft and Homitat teamed up to help automate the process of sending messages to Office 365 groups for its subscribed users. [2:10] What does Homitat do?[4:30] Can you describe the project that Homitat and Microsoft worked on together?[6:11] How does Outlook fit into the solution?[9:11] What's the user experience you hoped customers would have?[17:17] How does Azure App services work into this?[26:00] What's next for Homitat?If you're interested in learning more about the products or solutions discussed in this episode, click on any of the below links for free, in-depth information: Websites & Blogs: Jerry Nixon's BlogMostafa Elzoghbi on TwitterHomitat