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The Cloud Architects


A podcast about cloud, technology and the people using it


  1. Episode 27: Modern Hybrid In Exchange (and little old ladies)

    The Microsoft Office 365 Hybrid Configuration Wizard (HCW) has come a long way since it was first introduced in Exchange 2010 SP2, prior to that configuring a hybrid deployment required ~50 manual steps. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Greg Taylor and Georgia Huggins while in Redmond recently to talk about the evolution of the HCW and what challenges the newly released Hybrid Agent solves for customers. …


  2. Episode 26: "There is no choice... that is do nothing and stay secure"

    We often talk about “The long tail of previous best practices” and how in today’s ever-evolving cloud landscape it is very important to follow updated guidance, this includes keeping our security policies up to date. Nic sat down with Tarek and Mark from Microsoft to talk about Azure AD security, the evolution of identity management and the need to modernize legacy applications. …


  3. Episode 25: The Legendary Ross Smith IV

    If you’ve ever used the Exchange Server Role Requirements Calculator or consulted The Exchange Preferred Architecture you’ll be very familiar with the work of our guest, Ross Smith IV. Nic and Warren caught up Ross to talk about his 19-year tenure at Microsoft and his new role in Intune Engineering, giving us a sneak peak into some of the innovation we can look forward to in Outlook for iOS and Android. …


  4. Episode 24: Organizational Change Management and Adoption

    There is no denying that the only constant with cloud services is change, the nature and rate of this change often brings about some interesting challenges for organizations. We sat down with Anna Donnelly to talk about organizational change management, driving user adoption and how a sound change management strategy is essential to the success of your cloud adoption project. …


  5. Episode 23: Phoummala Schmitt - Azure Governance - Hong Kong

    When sitting having our morning breakfast at the Grand Hyatt in Hong Kong, we started a conversation with the incredible Phoummala Schmitt about Azure Governance, Nic thought it was great and pulled out the recording devices. So here we are, a super informal interview about Azure Governance. Enjoy! …


  6. Episode 22: Governance with Antonio Maio

    Governance is a big word and is a concept that is often thrown around. It seems to confuse a lot of organizations, even those who have successfully navigated the cultural and technology changes often brought on by cloud adoption. The ‘on by default’ nature of many cloud services has made it even more important for organizations to plan their governance strategy before adopting these services, so we sat down with Antonio Maio to talk about the need for governance and why it isn’t something that should be overlooked. …


  7. Episode 21: Get-IoTEpisode -GuestName "Anthony Bartolo"

    The Internet of things (IoT) seems to be everywhere these days. Anything from connected light bulbs and door bells to sensors that monitor and report the drying and curing of concrete in real time, there seems to be an IoT solution for every problem but IoT is so much more than just a sensor connected to a Raspberry PI. Microsoft’s Anthony Bartolo sat down with us at Ignite to explain what IoT is, why IT Pros should pay attention and how to get started. Here are some of the links mentioned in the episode: …


  8. Episode 20: The Incredible Tech that glues Office 365 Together and gives us Identity - Azure Active Directory and B2B

    We take for granted everyday that we can login securely to our Office 365 or Azure accounts, but do we ever wonder how that works or why it works the way it does? Identity is a very large part of every organisation and this is the team that makes Identity possible. From Business 2 Business, Azure AD Connect, Guest access and all the pieces that fit together to make Identity in the Cloud work. In this episode we talk with Program Manager Elisabeth Olson and Principle Program Manager Rob Lowe. They both work with the Azure Active Directory teams at Microsoft. They give us some amazing answers to some burning questions as well as some insight into how the beast that is Azure AD works. You can find links to their socials below. …


  9. Episode 19: Unsung Heroes

    Documentation is something we all rely on, especially in today’s rapidly changing cloud world where the only constant seems to be change. Perhaps I’m a little obsessive, but I constantly use Microsoft’s documentation to confirm things, even when I already know the answer. Like many people though, I never really considered what goes into making sure I have something to refer to and keeping it up to date with all the change going on. Nicolas and I had the pleasure of sitting down with Brenda Carter and Joe Davies from the Microsoft Documentation Team at Ignite recently to talk about how they do what they do, how you can help and what it takes to be a technical writer. …


  10. Episode 18: The One with Exchange Goddess

    Diversity and inclusion in tech was one of the powerful themes at Microsoft Ignite this year and I’m excited to see if get bigger every year. Nicolas had the distinct privilege of being able to sit down with Phoummala Schmitt, a.k.a Exchange Goddess to talk about diversity in tech, community and her new role at Microsoft. …