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SoftwareArchitect.ca

Author: Scott Duffy

  • Azure World Newsletter – Issue 1.3

    Azure World Newsletter – Issue 1.3

    Welcome to the THIRD edition of this bi-weekly newsletter, covering the world of cloud computing and Azure.

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    I’ve been traveling for the past two weeks, but I was still able to sit down and pick a few things to talk about. I’ll be back home tomorrow, so things should return back to normal then. Let’s get into it!

    ONE.

    Microsoft cloud income up 62% to $50 billion annual run rate.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-microsoft-results/microsoft-cloud-revenue-regains-momentum-sending-profit-above-street-estimates-idUSKBN1ZS2Z5

    “This quarter was an absolute ‘blow out quarter’ across the board with no blemishes and in our opinion speaks to an inflection point in deal flow as more enterprises pick Redmond for the cloud,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note

    More enterprises are picking Azure. As I’ve said in previous newsletters, AWS seems to have more customers and charges those customers more, but Azure is picking up more large business customers.

    This makes sense, as Microsoft has a long history of success in the Enterprise. So the fact that this success appears to be extending into the cloud space was perhaps inevitable.

    TWO.

    As luck would have it, Microsoft released the details of the new Azure exams just hours after my last newsletter went out. Once they did that, I released a video where I covered the differences between the old and new exams. You can see that here.

    In fact, the new AZ-204 Azure Developer exam goes into beta in two weeks’ time. On Feb 24, 2020.

    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/certifications/exams/az-204

    People have been asking whether they should take the old exams before they expire, or wait and take the new exams. That’s a tough question, and there’s no clear cut answer at the current time.

    You have to weigh the pros and cons of taking the existing exams.

    Pros of taking the existing exams: plenty of study materials out there, get the results right away, the exam itself is shorter, move on with your life, certification is good for 2 years so you don’t have to think about it again until 2022.

    Cons of taking the existing exams: you might not qualify for some future benefit that only recognizes the new exams not the old one

    Honestly, when I compare it written down like that, I say take the existing exam. There is no benefit to waiting that I can think of.

    If you can think of one, feel free to reply and let me know what the benefit to waiting might be.

    THREE.

    Global Knowledge released their top 15 IT certifications list for 2020, based on a salary survey that they do.

    Last year, Azure wasn’t even on the list. But in 2020, I’m happy to report that Azure is in there, but the results are a bit surprising.

    Forbes Image: https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/02/10/15-top-paying-it-certifications-in-2020/#26b8ab7d358e

    Azure Fundamentals is the highest paying Azure certification, at $126,652 annual salary!

    That’s a bit crazy. #1 is Google Cloud Architect, #2 is AWS architect, and Azure architect is not even on the list.

    Something is a bit broken with that report…

    Anyways, that’s an interesting list for sure.

    https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/articles/top-paying-certifications/

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    AZURE PLATFORM UPDATES.

    There were a lot of little announcements from Azure over the past two weeks. Here are a select few that caught my eye.

    • Azure Site Recovery now supports customer-managed keys
    • Azure Point-to-Site VPNs now support Azure Active Directory authentication
    • Azure Key Vault now supports private endpoints – finally
    • API Management now integrates with Azure App Service

    Be sure and check out the Azure Updates page if any of these affect you.

    https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/

    COMING UP FOR ME.

    Last week, I was down in California recording for LinkedIn Learning. As much as I love working with them, I am also glad it’s over. I fly back home tomorrow and can turn my attention back to a couple of projects that have been lingering.

    You can expect to see glimpses of the course updates for AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-303, and AZ-304 over the coming weeks. I don’t want to rush those updates out too fast because those exams are not even in beta. But I do want the changes to be there for those that would like the updated content.

    I want to finish up DP-200/DP-201 too. I’ll do that as quickly as I can.

    I also want to re-record my TOGAF courses for 9.2. Not Azure related, but it’s on my agenda.

    WHERE TO FIND ME.

    Thanks for sticking it out this far! This is the end of issue 1.3! Hopefully, you found it valuable, at least a little bit! 

    What is your favorite platform to be on? Perhaps we can connect there.

    Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/getcloudskills/ 

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottjduffy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getcloudskills.ca/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottjduffy

    Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/user/scottduffy2/

    LinkedIn Learning: https://www.lynda.com/Scott-Duffy/1993589682-1.html

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    See you in two weeks!

  • Azure World Newsletter – Issue 1.2

    Azure World Newsletter – Issue 1.2

    One of the goals that I set for myself in 2020 was to start a newsletter. While I really enjoy creating (and watching) videos, a good part of my job involves writing (scripts and slides). So writing a newsletter like this is a natural fit.

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    Every two weeks, I want to send out 2 or 3 things that caught my eye that you might also be interested in. These will be in the form of news articles, videos, or blog posts from other Azure community members that I think you might be interested in.

    ONE.

    The big news of the last week was the changes to the Azure exams that are coming up in February and March. Microsoft outlined that changes are coming here.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/community-blog-post.aspx?BlogId=8&Id=375281

    There are no details in terms of the changes to the content of the exams.

    Now, the exams do change every few months normally. Azure changed a few of the exams in December in fact. But, it seems to be an annual event where they make major changes to the exam, not minor ones. 

    There’s really nothing we can do today in advance of these changes. If you were about to take the current exams, I would go ahead and do that. You’ll still be awarded a certification if you pass, and that certification is valid for two years.

    If you haven’t started studying yet, it might make sense to wait to see what is changing with the exams. But it will take another two months (March 2020) before that is clear.

    You can be sure that I’ll cover the changes here when more details announced.

    NOTE, After the publication of this newsletter, Microsoft has since come out with the details, which I cover here.

    TWO.

    According to careers website Indeed.com, Azure remains a highly searched skill. In fact, people searching for jobs using the keyword Azure increased, while searching for AWS or Google Cloud has decreased in the past year.

    https://virtualizationreview.com/articles/2020/01/22/cloud-jobs.aspx?m=1

    As far as jobs go, the number of jobs being posted continues to increase for all cloud platforms.

    I don’t know why they put AWS in blue and Azure in gold. Poor UI choice if you ask me. But if you can ignore the colors, it appears that the growth in Azure jobs slightly outpaces the growth in AWS jobs.

    It’s a good time to be a cloud practitioner.

    Multi-cloud is continuing to be a trend, as knowing more than one cloud platform sets you apart from the competition in the job market.

    THREE.

    It looks like Microsoft Ignite will be in New Orleans this year, instead of Orlando! To me at least, that’s unexpected. I just assumed it would be in Orlando every year.

    The date has been pushed back to September. September 21–25, 2020. So a bit earlier than in past years.

    I’ve never been to New Orleans, so that should be interesting.

    I’ve already reserved my spot, although tickets are not yet available.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/ignite

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    AZURE PLATFORM UPDATES.

    I realize that Azure goes through periods of intense announcements and periods that are quieter. But here are a select few announcements you might be interested in:

    • Azure Storage – ability to create SAS tokens for Active Directory access
    • Azure Functions runtime 3.0 is now GA

    Be sure and check out the Azure Updates page if any of these affect you.

    COMING UP FOR ME.

    I just wrapped up scripts and slides for two new Linkedin Learning/Lynda courses. Flying down there next week to record. I do love working with that team.

    Once I get back, I’ll look into the changes to the core Azure exams, and have some interesting things coming up after that.

    WHERE TO FIND ME.

    Thanks for sticking it out this far! This is the end of issue 1.1! Hopefully, you found it valuable, at least a little bit! 

    What is your favorite platform to be on? Perhaps we can connect there.

    Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/getcloudskills/ 

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottjduffy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getcloudskills.ca/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottjduffy

    Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/user/scottduffy2/

    LinkedIn Learning: https://www.lynda.com/Scott-Duffy/1993589682-1.html

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    See you in two weeks!

  • Azure Exam Changes – New Details Released for AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-303 and AZ-304

    Azure Exam Changes – New Details Released for AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-303 and AZ-304

    Here’s some brand new content from the SoftwareArchitect.ca YouTube channel that you might find interesting.

    I examined the Azure exam syllabus changes that were just released today, and give you my first impression of each exam.

    I talked about AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-303 and AZ-304 in this video.

    As more details come, I’ll definitely be the first to bring them to you here.

    Azure Exam Changes – New Details Released for AZ-104, AZ-204, AZ-303 and AZ-304

    Or you can see the video directly on YouTube.

  • New AZ-303 and AZ-304 Exams Replace AZ-300 and AZ-301 – What We Know!

    New AZ-303 and AZ-304 Exams Replace AZ-300 and AZ-301 – What We Know!

    Here’s some brand new content from the SoftwareArchitect.ca YouTube channel that you might find interesting.

    Today’s announcement of the new exam codes coming in March 2020 has some interesting clues.

    Read the blog post here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/community-blog-post.aspx?BlogId=8&Id=375281

    In this video, I go over what we know for AZ-303 and AZ-304.

    New AZ-303 and AZ-304 Exams Replace AZ-300 and AZ-301 – What We Know!

    Or you can see the video directly on YouTube.

  • New AZ-104 Exam Replaces AZ-103 – What We Know!

    New AZ-104 Exam Replaces AZ-103 – What We Know!

    Here’s some brand new content from the SoftwareArchitect.ca YouTube channel that you might find interesting.

    Today’s announcement of the new exam codes coming in March 2020 has some interesting clues.

    Read the blog post here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/community-blog-post.aspx?BlogId=8&Id=375281

    In this video, I go over what we know for AZ-104.

    New AZ-104 Exam Replaces AZ-103 – What We Know!

    Or you can see the video directly on YouTube.

  • Azure World Newsletter – Issue 1.1

    Azure World Newsletter – Issue 1.1

    One of the goals that I set for myself in 2020 was to start a newsletter. While I really enjoy creating (and watching) videos, a good part of my job involves writing (scripts and slides). So writing a newsletter like this is a natural fit.

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    Every two weeks, I want to send out 2 or 3 things that caught my eye that you might also be interested in. These will be in the form of news articles, videos, or blog posts from other Azure community members that I think you might be interested in.

    ONE.

    Recently, Goldman Sachs did a survey of 100 top CIO executives from Global 2000 companies that places Azure in a large lead over AWS in terms of mind share.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/07/microsoft-azure-cloud-winner-at-big-companies-goldman-sachs.html

    “The latest survey showed that 56 executives are using Azure for cloud infrastructure, versus 48 using AWS. Across cloud infrastructure and platform as a service put together, Microsoft’s lead which has been increasing since December 2017, according to the analysts.”

    I always find these surveys so interesting when compared with the news articles found in the mainstream press when talking about the cloud computing space.

    It’s an interesting counter-narrative. Most articles you read simplify the fight between AWS and Azure by comparing the revenue numbers. Including the CNBC article above.

    “The analysts repeatedly pointed out that workload usage doesn’t line up exactly with actual revenue. In the third quarter AWS captured $9 billion in revenue. Microsoft doesn’t specify quarterly Azure revenue but analyst Jay Vleeschhouwer of Griffin Securities, who has a buy rating on Microsoft, estimated that Azure revenue in the quarter was about $4.33 billion.”

    Clearly, revenue alone is not the only thing you should use to compare the market shares of these companies. But I also understand, numbers like this are easy to understand metric. And the press loves “easy to understand.”

    But most of us in technology don’t mind a bit of complexity. It’d be hard to survive in IT if we couldn’t deal with complexity actually. So we are able to process the top-line facts in aggregate.

    • AWS appears to have a roughly double lead in revenue over Azure
    • Azure appears to be growing at a much faster pace of 59% vs 35% for AWS
    • Azure appears to be used by more large enterprises than AWS

    These facts are not contradicting each other. But unfortunately, some news articles haven’t yet dealt with the Azure’s rapid rise.

    We can see this in the articles around the Pentagon’s JEDI contract. AWS is going to court this week to dispute the result. 

    https://www.zdnet.com/article/amazon-we-want-to-stop-microsoft-working-on-jedi-contract/

    But if you look at the facts “in aggregate” that I outlined above, it’s not surprising that the Pentagon has discovered that Azure meets all of their needs as much or more than AWS does.

    TWO.

    Regarding that court case above, where AWS is trying to get a judge to grant an injunction, I wonder what they are expecting to happen.

    Imagine this. You’re in the market for a new car. You test drive a Ford and a Chevy. You have a tough choice, and really take your time with it. Finally, you choose to buy the Ford.

    And then Chevy sues you to ask you to reconsider. They get an injunction to stop you from picking up your Ford from the dealer. 

    What would Chevy expect to happen there?

    That you would realize you made the wrong choice, and choose Chevy?

    That’s never going to happen. 

    If the injunction is granted, the Pentagon would be prevented from moving forward on this project. If I worked in the Pentagon on the selection committee, I’d not be too happy with Amazon right now. Bezos is questioning their ethics. And if I worked in the IT department, and have been waiting a few years for this new “cloud” project to start, I’d also not be too happy about being delayed.

    So even if AWS wins, they lose. Nobody is going to be happy if they win. And the Pentagon will probably just select Azure again PLUS be mad at Amazon.

    Maybe AWS is trying to ensure nobody wins. They don’t want to win anymore, but they don’t want Azure to win either. I’m really curious as to their strategy here.

    THREE.

    I spent a couple of days last week attending Microsoft Ignite: The Tour in Toronto. (I don’t think there’s a cool abbreviation for that, unfortunately.) Microsoft Ignite: The Tour is occurring this month and next around the world, so check out the official website for a location near you.

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/ignite-the-tour/

    It’s free. And you get a FREE Microsoft exam voucher for attending. 

    Plus you get to attend many interesting talks on various tech topics given by industry experts. You can grow your network by meeting people. And it’s good to get out of the office.

    I enjoyed this conference. I think I enjoy “The Tour” more than I enjoy the big Ignite event in Florida each year. There’s something nicer about this being here in my home town, and the venue is smaller and easier to walk around. It was more personal.

    I do recommend going to an event near you if you can.

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    AZURE PLATFORM UPDATES.

    I realize that Azure goes through periods of intense announcements and periods that are quieter. But here are a select few announcements you might be interested in:

    • Azure Lab Services – ability to automatically shut down a machine once a user logs off of RDP
    • Azure Migrate – can now assess physical servers, in addition to its support of VMware and Hyper-V
    • TLS 1.2 being enforced across several Azure services
    • New capabilities for Azure Batch.

    Be sure and check out the Azure Updates page if any of these affect you.

    COMING UP FOR ME.

    I’m working on two more courses for Linkedin Learning/Lynda. I’ll let you know when those are ready. I can’t say much at the moment, but I really enjoy working with the people at LinkedIn. 

    More revisions for AZ-300 coming this week. I have always worked to keep all my courses up to date, and so this status might be true quite often. But I am getting some good feedback from students and will be adding more quiz questions and hands-on labs to that course (among others).

    WHERE TO FIND ME.

    Thanks for sticking it out this far! This is the end of issue 1.1! Hopefully, you found it valuable, at least a little bit! 

    What is your favorite platform to be on? Perhaps we can connect there.

    Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/getcloudskills/ 

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottjduffy/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getcloudskills.ca/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/scottjduffy

    Udemy: https://www.udemy.com/user/scottduffy2/

    LinkedIn Learning: https://www.lynda.com/Scott-Duffy/1993589682-1.html

    Sign up for this bi-weekly newsletter

    See you in two weeks!

  • Happy New Year – Azure Course Sale

    Happy New Year – Azure Course Sale

    Thank you so much for being here with me in 2019. I hope these courses have been able to help you in some way.

    The New Year is a great time to focus on new goals and new achievements.

    I’ve recently updated my main Azure courses (AZ-900, AZ-103, AZ-300 and AZ-301) for the latest exam requirements just announced this month. You’ll always get updated content here first.  (AZ-203 didn’t need any updates.)

    In 2020, I plan to revisit every one of those courses and ensure all the latest UI changes are reflected in the videos. As well as some of the recent product name changes. As you can expect, updating 1000+ videos isn’t easy. But you’ll get those updates for free of course.

    If you’re looking to expand your Azure knowledge in 2020, Udemy’s New Years sale has just kicked off. All courses for USD $9.99 or local equivalent. I would appreciate if you used my links below to pick up the courses if you’re planning to buy some in the next few days.

    The coupon code NEWYEAR2020 gets you any of my Udemy Azure courses for $9.99. Expires Jan 8, 2020.

    Azure Video Courses:

    Azure Exam Practice Tests:

  • New Azure Feature – Spot Virtual Machines

    New Azure Feature – Spot Virtual Machines

    Here’s some brand new content from the SoftwareArchitect.ca YouTube channel that you might find interesting.

    Brand new Azure Feature announced today. Azure Spot Virtual Machines.

    Blog post here – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/announcing-the-preview-of-azure-spot-virtual-machines/
    Azure Docs here – https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/windows/spot-portal

    I’m excited by this. What do you think?

    New Azure Feature – Spot Virtual Machines

    Or you can see the video directly on YouTube.

  • Azure Certification Paths

    Special shout out to Gregor Suttie and Richard Hooper (@PixelRobots) for doing an Azure Advent Calendar 2019 this year.

    Azure Advent Calendar 2019 can be found at https://azureadventcalendar.com/

    My contribution on Day 3 is to talk about the options available for certification. Certification is a great way to learn Azure because:

    A) its a measurable learning goal that you can set, and you can easily tell that you’ve achieved it. You say, “I’m going to learn Azure Administration in the next 45 days”, you book the test, you study, you take the test, you pass. And you can say, goal achieved! A motivational way to learn.

    B) it forces you to venture into parts of Azure you are not exposed to on a daily basis, even if you work with Azure every day. it’s so easy to be comfortable learning one part of Azure (like development), and also easy to ignore parts that we are not comfortable with (like networking). But certification forces you into those parts. You learn more because you pursued a certification.

    C) it qualifies you for jobs you might not have been previously qualified for. I’m not saying there are tons of jobs out there that list “must be Azure Developer certified” or something. But it’s a competitive job market. If you are competing for a new job (or a new project at work) against 4 other equally qualified people, but you have certification and they don’t, this could give you an edge. This could get you called to an interview you otherwise would not have been called to. Certification gives you answers to some common interview questions. It also proves you are self-motivated to improve your own skills and that you don’t rely on an employer to train you. All good things.

    Certification isn’t required for a job, but it’s going to help in several ways.

    D) it’s the harsh truth that what we learned in school is no longer sufficient to get us through to the end of our careers. Lifelong learning is a requirement for the modern job market. And so what you need to remain employable until retirement is a lifelong learning habit. You need to constantly be learning new things. You need to be near the front of new skills, not near the back. It’s not optional.

    Certification is a good learning path to reinforce the habit of lifelong learning. The certifications expire in 2 years, so you can’t just learn Azure in 2017 and say you know it in 2020. It’s changed. You should change with it.

    Here’s a video I did expanding on the reasons why you should get certified and the options there are. There are literally 30 different certificates you can go for. It’s not Pokemon though – don’t try to get them all.

  • Azure Certification Roadmap

    Found this great image from Microsoft’s website. Click the image to see it full size and use your browser to zoom in to see the details.

    Certification Roadmap