CloudSkills.fm

149: Best Career Advice After 4 Years of Podcasting (Signing Off) Jul 04, 2022

In this episode Mike sums up the most common career advice over the past 4 years and explains what's up next for him in his own career journey.

You can subscribe to Mike's new YouTube channel here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuoEOqepPoBrnpL5C3P6Ehg

148: Thomas Stringer on Linux, Kubernetes, and Open Source Development Jul 04, 2022

In this episode Mike catches up with Thomas Stringer to discuss Linux, Kubernetes, and Open Source Development.

Thomas is a Principal Software Engineer Lead working on Open Source at Microsoft.

Follow Thomas on these channels:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trstringer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/tr_stringer
Personal Website: https://trstringer.com/
GitHub: https://github.com/trstringer

147: Hiring Top Talent in 2022 Jul 04, 2022

In this episode Mike chats with the team at Apex Systems about Hiring Top Talent in 2022.

Hiring tips for managers (Apex Systems):
https://www.apexsystems.com/careers/career-resources?crt=73

Erica Woods

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericawoods

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawoodsgo

Cameron Buck

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cameronpbuck

Marissa Montgomery

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marissamontgomery5

- Twitter: https://twitter.com/marissanne2014

146: Learning Kubernetes in the Real World with Richard Hooper May 13, 2022

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer chats with Richard Hooper about working with Kubernetes, learning Azure, and what customers are dealing with when moving towards cloud native.

Richard Hooper

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%E2%98%81-richard-hooper-598a1412/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Pixel_Robots
Website: https://pixelrobots.co.uk
YouTube (Azure Cloud Native): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2Pk9GcHhlVV0R9CQIU6gLw

Mike Pfeiffer

https://linktr.ee/mikepfeiffer

145: Taylor Dolezal on the Importance of Community in Tech May 05, 2022

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer chats with Taylor Dolezal about the importance of community in tech.

Taylor specializes in Kubernetes, Terraform, cloud, and distributed systems, and currently serves as Head of Ecosystem at the CNCF.

In this episode we talk about:

Taylor’s career origin story as a developer, systems engineer, and technology advocate working at places like Disney and Hashicorp.
Taylor’s current work at the CNCF focsed on serving the Cloud Native end-user community, giving back through research & assets, and running events like KubeCon + CloudNativeCon.
Importance of community in tech, including the challenges of building a community and how to get organizations to recognize the value.

Taylor Dolezal

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/onlydole/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/onlydole
CNCF Bio: https://www.cncf.io/people/staff/?p=taylor-dolezal

Mike Pfeiffer

https://linktr.ee/mikepfeiffer

144: Matt Davis on Web3, NFTs, and Startup Culture Apr 29, 2022

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer catches up with Matt Davis about Web3, NFTs, and Startup Culture. Matt is a Developer Advocate for 3Box Labs and previously worked at GitHub.

Follow Matt Davis on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mattdavis0351

Connect with Matt Davis on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdavisit/

Check out Ceramic Network:
https://ceramic.network/

Check out 3Box Labs:
https://3boxlabs.com/

Follow Mike Pfeiffer on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mike_pfeiffer

143: Andrew Brown on Learning Multi-Cloud In the Real World Apr 12, 2022

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer chats with Andrew Brown recently who's an expert in all things Cloud, DevOps, Data, ML, Security, K8s and Serverless.

In this episode, we talk about...

How to build the skills you need to survive in a multi-cloud world
Why hands-on skills are important now more than ever before
Bleeding edge tech including Cloud Native and Web 3.0

Follow Andrew Brown on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/andrewbrown

Follow Mike Pfeiffer on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/mike_pfeiffer

Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3Q55OA7N1E

142: Kevin Evans on Building Your Azure Cloud Career Feb 18, 2022

In this episode Mike catches up with Kevin Evans, Azure Customer Engineer at Microsoft, about how to build your Azure cloud career.

Kevin on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TheKevinEvans

Kevin on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinevans01/

141: Service Level Objectives with Kit Merker Feb 11, 2022

In this episode Mike catches up with Kit Merker, Chief Operating Officer at Nobl9, about Site Reliability Engineering and implementing effective Service Level Objectives (SLOs).

Kit on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitmerker

Kit on Twitter
https://twitter.com/KitMerker

SLOConf
https://www.sloconf.com

140: Reinventing Training and Education with Wayne McCulloch Feb 02, 2022

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer chats with Wayne McCulloch, Chief Customer Officer at WalkMe, to discuss reinventing training and education.

Connect with Wayne on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/waynemcculloch

The Seven Pillars of Customer Success:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0921XBHWG

WalkMe - Digital Adoption Platform:
https://www.walkme.com

139: Cloud Strategy, Tactics, and Leadership with Andrew Wertkin Jan 20, 2022

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer chats with Andrew Wertkin, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) at BlueCat, about cloud strategy and tactics, along with leadership and mentoring.

Watch on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvE2swZJAes

Follow Andrew on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/awertkin

Connect with Andrew on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/awertkin/

Visit BlueCat:
https://bluecatnetworks.com/

138: Web Assembly, Distributed Apps, and Cloud Native with Kevin Hoffman Jan 11, 2022

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer chats with Kevin Hoffman, author of Programming Web Assembly with Rust and CTO of Cosmonic.

Follow Kevin on twitter:
https://twitter.com/KevinHoffman

Check out Kevin's book:
https://amzn.to/3faH92m

Check out wasmCloud:
https://wasmcloud.com/
https://www.youtube.com/c/wasmCloud/

Check out Cosmonic:
https://cosmonic.com/

137: From Help Desk to DevOps Engineer with Rishab Kumar Jan 04, 2022

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer catches up with Rishab Kumar about his journey into the cloud and how he has climbed his way up from Help Desk to DevOps engineer.

Rishab's website:
https://rishabkumar.com/

Rishab on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/rishabk7

Rishab on GitHub:
https://github.com/rishabkumar7

learntocloud - 6 month guide to the fundamentals of Cloud Computing:
https://learntocloud.guide/

136: Hiring Trends and In-Demand Skills for 2022 Dec 15, 2021

In this episode Mike chats with Roger Wahman, CTO at Apex Consulting, and Darin Stevenson, Director of Strategic Solutions and Technical Recruiting at Apex Systems.

Learn about the trends Roger and Darin are seeing across their client base and learn about the in-demand skills that cloud professionals should be picking up in 2022.

Learn more about Apex:
https://www.apexsystems.com/

Connect with Roger on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rogerwahman/

Connect with Darin on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/darin-stevenson-4617594/

135: Exploring Data Warehouses, Kubernetes, and Big Data with Robert Hodges Nov 12, 2021

In this episode Mike catches up with Robert Hodges, CEO of Altinity, to discuss data warehouses such as ClickHouse, Big Data, and Kubernetes.

Follow Robert on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/berkeleybob2105/

OSA CON 2021
https://altinity.com/osa-con-2021/

Fully Managed ClickHouse in the Public Cloud
https://altinity.com/

134: Chris Hughes on Cloud Security Lessons and Pitfalls Nov 03, 2021

In this episode Mike chats with Chris Hughes, CISO and Co-Founder of Aquia, to discuss cloud security lessons and pitfalls.

Follow Chris on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-h-97680442/

Check out the Resilient Cyber Podcast
https://www.linkedin.com/company/resilient-cyber-podcast/

133: John Grange on Building Your Skills with Hands-On Practice Oct 27, 2021

In this episode Mike chats with John Grange, CTO and Founder of OpsCompass. John shares his journey and how he keeps his skills currently while running a startup.

Follow John on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/jmgrange

Follow John on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-grange-190ba652/

OpsCompass: Visibility, multi-cloud security, cost management, and compliance from a single dashboard.
https://opscompass.com/

132: In Conversation with John Lunn on Cloud Career Progression Oct 16, 2021

In this episode I catch up with John Lunn (aka jonnychipz) about building up your cloud skills and how to start mapping out your career strategy.

Subscribe to John's Channel
https://www.youtube.com/cloudtalkwithjonnychipz

Follow John on Twitter
https://twitter.com/jonnychipz

Follow John on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/japlunn/

131: Gwyneth Peña-Siguenza on Cloud Advocacy and Joining Microsoft Oct 14, 2021

In this episode Gwyneth Peña-Siguenza is back on the show to talk about her journey into cloud advocacy and joining Microsoft. She also shares a ton of tips for anyone getting into the game of producing content.

Follow Gwyn on Twitter
https://twitter.com/madebygps

Check out Gwyn's GitHub for resources mentioned on the show:
https://github.com/madebygps

130: 3 Tips on Perseverance Oct 10, 2021

The past couple years have been tough on all of us. Here are 3 things you can lean on when you're not feeling it.

Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSapGWLGGdQ

129: Derek Smith on Cloud Evangelism, Getting started on Social Media & Managing the Chaos Oct 07, 2021

In this episode Mike chats with Derek Smith about Cloud Evangelism, Getting started on Social Media & Managing the Chaos.

Follow Derek on Social Media
https://linktr.ee/considercloudds

128: Tim Davis on DevOps Advocacy, DevRel, & Building Your Personal Brand Sep 30, 2021

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer catches up with Tim Davis to discuss DevOps Advocacy and how to build your personal brand while you study.
Follow Tim on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/vtimd
Check out Env0:
https://www.youtube.com/c/envZer
https://www.env0.com/

Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izChYG4AQTM

127: Reinventing Your Tech Career, Playing the Long Game, and Getting Culture Fit Aug 27, 2021

How do you invent or reinvent your career in a way that helps you succeed on the most progressive teams in the world? In this episode Mike Pfeiffer shares tips on how to think about your cloud career for the long term, even if you haven't started yet.

Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpI8JTuF98w

126: Stay Technical or Move into Management? Aug 13, 2021

Should you hang on to your technical skills or consider going into management as you move through your career in the cloud? I'm sharing my thoughts on this episode along with 3 tips you should consider to help make the decision.

125: How to Become an Azure Certified Network Engineer - Exam AZ-700 Jul 26, 2021

My guest this week is fellow MVP Tim Warner, and we'll be talking about the new AZ-700 exam and how you can become an Azure Certified Network Engineer.

Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfsgmnE-sHk

Check out our AZ-700 course:
https://cloudskills.io/courses/az-700

124: Tim Warner on Building Your Azure Cloud Skills Jun 24, 2021

In this live stream we're catching up with Tim Warner, Microsoft MVP, Microsoft MCT Regional Lead, Pluralsight staff author, and legendary Azure solution architect about keeping up with all things Azure.

Follow Tim on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/TechTrainerTim

123: Closing the Cloud Skills Gap with Tristan Morel L'Horset Jun 16, 2021

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer catches up with Tristan Morel L'Horset, Senior Managing Director at Accenture.

Tristan is the Growth lead of Accenture's North America Cloud First business and he has a passion for the intersection of Cloud, Technology and Business.

Here's what we cover in this episode:

Overcoming barriers to cloud adoption
Technical and non-technical skills organizations are building
The importance of building skills for Cloud Sustainability

Follow Tristan on Social Media:
https://twitter.com/tlhorset
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tlhorset/

Start your cloud career at Accenture:
https://www.accenture.com/cloudcareers

Check out the Green Software Foundation
https://greensoftware.foundation/

122: Jack Naglieri on Cloud-First Security Jun 12, 2021

In this episode we catch up with Jack Naglieri, Founder & CEO at Panther Labs, and we're chatting about detecting and responding to security breaches in the cloud.

Check out Panther Labs
https://runpanther.io/

Follow Jack on Twitter
https://twitter.com/jack_naglieri

121: Don Jones on Building Your Cloud Career Jun 09, 2021

In this episode we're catching up with Don Jones, Head of Software Developer Skills at Pluralsight, about building your cloud career.

Don's new book:
https://www.manning.com/books/own-your-tech-career
Don's new club:
https://ampere.club

120: Thomas Maurer on Azure Arc and Cloud Governance May 26, 2021

In this live recording of the CloudSkills FM podcast we're catching up with Thomas Maurer from Microsoft about all things Azure Arc and Cloud Governance.

In this episode we discuss:

Azure Arc
Azure Cloud Adoption Framework
How to Stay Current with Certifications
What you should focus on learning

Check out Thomas' blog:
https://www.thomasmaurer.ch

119: Testing with Terraform 0.15 May 18, 2021

In this live recording of the CloudSkills.fm podcast Michael Levan chats with Luke Orellana about testing with Terraform 0.15.

In this episode we talk about:

Infrastructure-as-Code security
Securing Terraform code
Terraform security for the enterprise
Infrastructure-as-Code security concerns

Watch this episode on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3pVYFECVgs

118: How to Get Into Teaching & Public Speaking (Plus My Entire Gear List) May 14, 2021

Have you ever wanted to give a talk or a presentation but weren't sure where to start?

In this episode Mike Pfeiffer shares his best tips for public speaking, teaching online, and recording podcasts and online courses...

Plus, Mike Pfeiffer and Michael Levan share their entire gear list, which is one of the most common questions they've gotten over the past couple years.

In this episode, we talk about...

Why You Should Teach
How Teaching Impacted My Career
Speaking Frameworks
Effective Speaking Tips
Gear Recommendations and My Office Setup

You can grab the entire gear list here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gLVlyjigd08kBUFZ10Ug20MwfvlxiNFZIiubIsum4_Y/

117: Azure Cloud Adoption & Strategy with Chris Nicholas May 03, 2021

In this live recording of the CloudSkills.fm podcast we're talking all things Cloud Adoption & Strategy with Chris Nicholas, Managing Director of Cloud Solutions at Trace3.

Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/

Chris Nicholas, Managing Director, Cloud Solutions Group at Trace3
https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-nicholas-01420a90/

116: Fireside Chat: Infrastructure as Code in 2021 Apr 23, 2021

In this episode Mike catches up with HashiCorp Ambassadors Ned Bellavance, Michael Levan, and Luke Orellana to discuss all things Infrastructure as Code. Which tools and services are people using, what are the pitfalls, and how do you get started? We answer these questions, plus more from a live audience.

115: Running SAP on AWS with Eamonn O’Neill Apr 14, 2021

Michael is chatting today with Eamonn O’Neill, the founder and EVP at Lemongrass Consulting. This company focuses on helping customers get their SAP on AWS, which makes for a really interesting conversation topic.

In this episode, we talk about…

Eamonn’s career journey and how he has moved from a more technical role to a more business-minded role.
How Eamonn was at the forefront of SAP adoption back in the 90s and has stuck with that technology over the decades.
How SAP is a German-based software company that has made its name based around the ERP concept and which has recently broadened into SaaS operating.
The importance of automation services and how Lemongrass focuses on both efficiency and quality for their customers.
The role that Azure plays in the world.
How and why Eamonn got into tech and why he believes it’s important to know the technical side of what you’re doing, even if you’re a project manager or entrepreneur in the field.
How to proceed and what to look for if you’re interested in getting into SAP. However, the market is pretty saturated unless you’re also a programmer and/or infrastructure aware.
New use cases for SaaS.

Links to resources:

Eamonn O’Neill: Twitter |LinkedIn

Lemongrass Consulting

Michael Levan: Twitter

Join the Cloudskills Community

Make sure to subscribe to our mailing list at

cloudskills.io/subscribe

for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

114: David Cobb on Learning & Teaching Azure and AWS Apr 07, 2021

Mike is chatting today with David Cobb, an Azure and AWS Trainer! They’re catching up on all the awesome things David has been up to the last few years both in the Cloudskills Community and in the industry. You won’t want to miss all the insight he has, especially around life-long learning and teaching.

In this episode, we talk about…

David’s background and career journey, from IT Help Desk work to web applications work to his current work on the cloud and teaching students.
How teaching opened up a lot of additional career opportunities for David. And why teaching actually helps you learn things better, because it forces you to know subjects inside and out, well enough to explain them to other people.
Different ways to teach and add value, such as public speaking, blogging, other content creation, and new social media apps like Clubhouse.
Why it’s important for everyone, no matter what level, to admit that they are still learning and figuring things out.
The pros and cons of learning new skills by studying as an individual versus joining a community. And why social learning is a true game-changer for anyone trying to learn cloud skills.
The benefits of multi-cloud competition and why it’s important to keep an open mind and speak all of the languages.
The best career advice David’s ever gotten, which involves learning and growing from our own mistakes. And how this can only happen if you’re first willing to try new things and fail.

Links to resources:

David Cobb: Cloudskills Page | Github

David’s hour-long AWS Command Line training video on Youtube

Mike Pfeiffer: Twitter

For a safe space to learn and grow, join the Cloudskills Community.

Microsoft TEALS: Computer Science Volunteer Program
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/teals/volunteers

Make sure to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

113: Soft Skills with Jason Alba Mar 30, 2021

Today’s subject is very important but often overlooked - polishing your soft skills. It can be so easy to focus on technical skills and forget about things like leadership, communication, and listening. But we absolutely need these skills for a strong career, too. Mike has Jason Alba on the podcast to discuss why you need these skills and how to build them. Jason has been in IT a long time and is also an expert on soft skills. He blogs, writes books, and authors courses on Pluralsight about professional development.

In this episode, we talk about…

Why soft skills are so important.
Jason’s courses on subjects like leadership, listening, emotional intelligence, and more.
How more intentional communication and better empathy can help you build relationships and advance your career.
How these skills will benefit you even if you have no interest in moving into management or if you fall into the stereotypical category of the tech person who doesn’t like talking to other people.
Tips to help you get started improving these soft skills right now.
Jason’s career journey and how he got started with Pluralsight.
The importance of long-term thinking in your career - we can’t have things right away.

Links to resources:

Jason Alba: Twitter | LinkedIn

Jason’s Courses on Pluralsight

Jason’s job search CRM, JibberJobber.com

Mike Pfeiffer: Twitter

Join the Cloudskills Community

Make sure to subscribe to our mailing list at

cloudskills.io/subscribe

for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

112: Corey Knapp on Azure Landing Zones, Career Development, and Personal Branding Mar 23, 2021

Mike is talking with cloud expert Corey Knapp today. Corey has 20 years of cloud experience, specializing in Azure, dev ops, and more. He is also a great mentor who enjoys teaching others and he has a lot of wisdom to share with you on the podcast.

In this episode, we talk about…

What Corey has been up to lately, his career background, and how he got started in this industry.
The importance of landing zones, so that you have a proper foundation to expand from, and how to deploy them successfully.
Why you need to lose your ego to thrive in this business and be willing to surround yourself with people you can learn from.
Why everyone in the industry needs to share their knowledge, rather than trying to keep it to themselves. IT is a team sport!
Tips for folks looking for a team to work with in tandem, like posting blogs, social media, and being open to constructive criticism.
How starting a blog or putting your code out on the internet can serve as a portfolio and help you prove your experience in interview situations.
Why if you want to learn Azure, the best thing to do is make up some small projects for yourself and just start doing and practicing.
How the Cloud is here to stay, so now is the time to learn all the skills you need.
The best career advice Corey has gotten - which is all about not being afraid to ask for help and to reach out to mentors.

Links to resources:

If you want Corey’s help with learning these skills, feel free to reach out to him!

Corey Knapp: Twitter | LinkedIn

Mike Pfeiffer: Twitter

Join the Cloudskills Community

Make sure to subscribe to our mailing list at

cloudskills.io/subscribe

for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

111: Serverless in Today's World with Niall Dalton Mar 19, 2021

On the podcast today, Michael Levan is hosting and chatting with guest Niall Dalton, who came from a systems engineering background and now has his own company. He’s the co-founder of Seaplane, a serverless company that’s working to help people not have to spend all their time managing infrastructure.

Niall’s career background and how he came to co-found a company.
How going serverless lets people concentrate on shipping their app rather than the nuts-and-bolts side of things.
Why it’s important to go global with your app right from the beginning.
How Seaplane works and how it isn’t trying to replace the cloud, but rather, it’s providing a better and more efficient way to consume it.
The importance of recognizing the granularity your project needs and how to match your service to that need.
How serverless features are still super new, but already are proving to be letting the cloud fulfill the function we all wanted it to.
Examples of programs and web applications that have revolutionized industries (like Excel for finance or e-commerce platforms for small businesses) and how serverless technology is also changing the game.
Niall’s opinion of what advances in serverless will do to the environment of current system admin and dev ops jobs.

Resources from this episode:

Niall Dalton on LinkedIn
Check out seaplane.io

110: Luke Orellana on Working at Microsoft as an SRE, Infrastructure Development, and Terraform Mar 10, 2021

Mike is joined by special guest Luke Orellana, an SRE at Microsoft. Luke has a ton of great experience to share and has been up to a lot of fun things, like infrastructure development and terraform, that you’ll enjoy hearing all about.

In this episode, we talk about…

Luke’s background and how he ended up working for Microsoft.
The basics of terraform and an in-depth dive into how Luke manages the cloud infrastructure with terraform.
The most common question that Luke hears about terraform.
The different versions of terraform available, their pricing, and their advantages.
How you can go about getting started in terraform (it’s fairly easy to get started, and then build on your skills later so that you can take on more complex projects).
What it’s like working at a giant software company like Microsoft and how Luke prepared for the grueling interview process.
The best career advice Luke has ever gotten -which is to learn whatever skills you’re interested in, whether you’re using them for your company right now or not.
How if you want to get into producing content like a blog, you need to start doing it and you will get better as you go.
How content creation can get you noticed and level up your career.
What an SRE (site reliability engineering) does and how it’s becoming a sought-after skill set for many companies.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Luke on Twitter
Check out Luke's Terraform course

109: Brianna McCullough on Engineering at Google, Work-life balance, & Professional Networking Mar 03, 2021

Mike is joined by Brianna McCullough who has had a very interesting career journey in the tech industry and who currently works for Google. You’ll want to listen to this one, especially for insights about how to up your networking game.

In this episode, we talk about…

Brianna’s background, how she got into the tech industry, and why Minnesota is surprisingly a great place to launch a career.
The importance of community and networking throughout your career, but especially when starting out.
How Brianna was able to learn loads of skills on the job, which is a good lesson for folks who want to change career paths but don’t yet have the background they need.
How Brianna got into public speaking and how it has furthered her career.
Why going to conferences is so valuable in terms of keeping your communication skills sharp, refining your elevator pitch, meeting mentors, developing interview skills, and more.
Work-life balance while working at Google, how the 20% time policy works, and the culture of Google’s workplace (which is very autonomous and encourages everyone to be a leader).
The importance of getting really good at something before trying to move on to something else. Don’t look for shortcuts.
The best career advice Brianna has ever gotten, which is that feelings are not facts and that everyone’s race is their own to run.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Brianna on Twitter
Check out Brianna's Blog

108: Cyber Security and Career Progression with Chris Ray and Jake Rajnovich Feb 25, 2021

Today Michael is chatting with two guests at once! He’s got Chris Ray, a Chief Information Security Officer, and Jake Rajnovich, Director of Product Development at Syntervision. They’ve been building an exciting new cybersecurity product called Oasis, and they have lots of interesting things to share about it.

In this episode, we talk about…

XDR Platforms and why they’re worth investing your time.
The fundamentals of security hygiene.
How Oasis works and how to interact with it.
How Oasis has grown with the needs of their customers over the years as the guys learned more and implemented changes.
How everything within Oasis is custom-built, and therefore very tightly integrated.
How Chris got to where he is within cyber security and his advice for those who want to get there.
The value of being willing to say yes to new opportunities -even if it’s a skill you don’t yet have. You can put in the time to learn it and make yourself indispensable.
Why you should follow what interests you -the field is so broad that there is a niche for you out there.
How Jake got to where he is within platform integration and his best piece of career advice.

107: Michael Cade on Cloud Data Migration, Backup, and Disaster Recovery Feb 23, 2021

Mike is sitting down to chat today with vExpert and Cisco Champion Michael Cade, a senior global technologist over at Veeam. Michael has spent the last 18 months or so diving deep into the Cloud, and he’s a great resource for folks looking to expand that skill set.

In this episode, we talk about…

Michael’s experience with Azure versus AWS.
What Michael has been working on at Veeam -which has been seeing a huge shift of many more people moving over into the public cloud.
Several interesting use cases for data migration projects Michael has worked on, and what he learned from them.
How Veeam works efficiently to back up data for its customers.
Why Michael has been geeking out over educating families who aren’t able to afford computers to learn about technology like raspberry pi that helps folks who need to get online for virtual work or remote learning.
The best career advice Michael has ever gotten -which is that the feeling of imposter syndrome isn’t always a bad thing.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Michael on Twitter
Check out Michael's Blog
Check out Veam

106: Steve Buchanan on Cloud Native, DevOps, GitOps, Kubernetes, and Azure Feb 18, 2021

Previous guest Steve Buchanan is back to chat with Mike about a whole host of skills you can add to your toolbox to level up your career. Steve is a Director for Avanade, a large consulting organization, who works in cloud transformation. Since his last appearance on the podcast, he’s been staying busy with DevOps, Kubernetes, and Azure, so he has lots of great insights to share.

In this episode, we talk about…

Steve’s thoughts on how skills in GitOps and Kubernetes are critical to technologists in today’s world. Large companies are using them or planning to implement them soon.
How Dice.com has named these skills as the most important tech skills, so you should start learning them if you haven’t yet.
The difference between Git and GitOps and what it means for you as someone who needs to learn the skills.
Where to go if you want to get started learning GitOps.
The importance of diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.
How there are many opportunities for a great career within SAP, which is becoming easier to break into than it was previously if you also have cloud skills to bring to the table.
The best career advice Steve has ever gotten, which is centered around the importance of networking.

Resources from this episode:

105: Developer Advocacy and Specialization with Tom Granot Feb 11, 2021

For many, the industry is seeming a lot more complex these days, and a lot of folks are feeling pressured to have to learn everything. In fact, you could say that generalization is the new specialization! On today’s podcast, Michael is sitting down with Tom Granot, a Developer Advocate at Lightrun, to discuss what to do about this new trend.

In this episode, we talk about…

Tom’s journey to the tech world, after his very diverse background of different careers, and how he ultimately ended up in advocacy.
Why Microsoft Excel is still considered King in much of the finance world, but how Tom felt he could build better software, and it drove him into software development.
Why advocacy is a fantastic career direction for folks who love talking to people and the social side of working in software.
How Lightrun works to mitigate the gap between software devs and ops.
Tom’s opinion on generalization vs specialization in the tech field, and how to decide what’s best for you.
Tips and strategy if you’re looking to specialize in something but don’t know where to begin or feel overwhelmed.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Tom on Twitter
The Hacker’s Diet by John Walker

104: John Lunn on Remote Work, Live Streaming, and Learning Cloud Feb 09, 2021

Today, Mike is sitting down with John Lunn, aka Johnny Chipz! John has been working with Microsoft technology for about 15 years as an IT pro, and now is big into the Azure live-streaming world. He’s got all sorts of great takes on the current state of the industry and how everyone can best focus their attentions to gain new skills they’ll need in the coming years.

In this episode, we talk about…

John’s background and journey into the live-streaming world and how he has been growing his channel (and home office setup!) over the last few months.
How John has been encouraging other folks to get involved with streaming, too.
The #100DaysofCloud Challenge, which is a commitment to learning something new for one hundred days.
John’s take on the transition to GitOps and the learning a lot of folks are having to do now to keep up as the industry evolves.
Different specific things John has been studying and learning to prepare for the new direction the industry has been taking.
How John joined a user group in Wales with like-minded people that focuses on Azure.

Resources from this episode:

Follow John on Twitter
John on YouTube
#100DaysofCloud Challenge
Join the Welsh Azure User Group

103: Artificial Intelligence with Simon Crosby Feb 04, 2021

Artificial Intelligence is becoming more and more important to the world we live in. Mike’s guest today is Simon Crosby, the CTO at Swim.ai. Swim builds digital twins that are always learning because if you rely on an approach where you store data first and then analyze it later, you’re always behind. Swim is revolutionizing the AI landscape by analyzing the data and making predictions before the data gets stored.

In this episode, we talk about…

Various reasons why analyzing data on the fly in today’s world is so necessary (ie traffic patterns in a city being sent to a company like Uber needs to be done in real-time, not later)
How the big question in the AI Ops world is about how to build a model, train it, and deploy it.
How Swim works to build a model as the data comes in, analyze it, and then stream those predictions to their customers.
The refresh rate on these Swim web agents that are continuously learning. Other models might respond to a user query, but this one is constantly working, so it just sees the data.
How Simon got into AI, and the best direction for someone to move if they want to get into AI today.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Simon on Twitter
Check out Swim.ai

102: Learning Application Security with Tanya Janca Feb 02, 2021

Tanya Janca, who was on the podcast last year, is back! Since the last time we talked, she’s been very busy founding her own company, We Hack Purple. Tanya’s an expert on App Security, and through her company, she’s sharing those skills with online on-demand courses.

In this episode, we talk about…

Tanya’s new community centered around her online academy, which has been a positive and kind space for discussing related topics.
Why, if you’re a software developer, you should learn about app security and have a strategy to talk to management to get what you want and legitimize your job.
Tanya’s book and how she teaches each lesson within it several different ways to make it accessible for various learning styles.
Tanya’s current free mini-course offering about scaling your security program and security team.
The best career advice Tanya has ever gotten.
The importance of mentors in everyone’s careers and why it’s very important to build a community.

Resources from this episode:

Follow Tanya on Twitter
Check out the We Hack Purple Academy
Read Tanya's new book: Alice and Bob Learn Application Security
Join the We Hack Purple Newsletter

101: Windows Virtual Desktop with Travis Roberts Jan 28, 2021

In this episode we're catching up with Travis Roberts to chat about all things Windows Virtual Desktop, Azure, and a lot more.

In part due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020 saw the use of Windows Virtual Desktop soar. Many companies are in the process of switching their networks over to the Cloud. Mike’s guest today is Travis Roberts, the Senior Networking Systems Administrator at RBA Consulting. Travis has a background of working in corporate IT for over 20 years, but he made a switch when he realized he wanted to focus less on management and more on consulting. He has lots of experience with Windows Virtual Desktop (and more) and creates content online to help others learn how to better utilize this technology.

In this episode, we talk about…

Travis’s background, how he got into consulting, and what the transition was like coming to that from corporate jobs.
How Azure has been ramping up and is currently neck and neck with AWS.
Why, at this point, most Systems Administrators are essentially Cloud Developers, as well.
How you have to think a bit differently when using ARM templates and PowerShell.
Why moving to the Cloud can save a business a lot of overhead expenses.
The mindset shift involved in maintaining a server rack with manual switches and buttons, versus working within Azure.
Why setting up a virtual network within Windows Virtual Desktop is so much faster than the traditional means.
Why you need to continuously learn given the way technology is shifting now -and how if you learn it sooner, you can help others as they shift to the Cloud during the next decade.
How building a brand can help you, and if you’re interested, you should start writing a blog or making Youtube videos.
The importance of Source Control and how Travis has been using Github.
The switch from using JSON to using HCL.
How Travis has been seeing that he’s been needing to learn more about Continuous Integration.

Resources from this episode:

Travis on Twitter
Travis onYouTube
Travis on LinkedIn
Udemy Course Discount: Zero to Hero with Windows Virtual Desktop

100: Cloud Career Tips & Strategy for 2021 Jan 22, 2021

In this episode I’m sharing by best career tips & strategy for 2021. What should you focus on? What do you need to think about to start building a successful career in the cloud? Those are some of the questions we answer in this episode, along with Q&A with a live audience.

In this episode, we talk about…

2021 industry predictions from Forester & Gartner
How to become multi-dimensional as an engineer
Soft skills you need to be building, in addition to hard skills
How to run experiments to gather data
How to get more hands-on experience
Q&A with a live audience

099: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for Azure Pros with Elkhan Yusubov Jan 15, 2021

Though there are many challenges when training across cloud platforms, there are many similarities that make the process easier. Mike’s guest today is Elkhan Yusubov, a principal cloud architect, an Azure subject-matter expert, and an Azure Technical Trainer. He’s here to talk about cross-training on Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for Azure pros. Elkhan’s goal is to help other people as cross-platform expertise can only benefit everyone!

In this episode, we talk about…

Elkhan’s hot take on what he has seen at GCP
Getting multiple teams to work together within multi-cloud environments
Main challenges with learning GCP for those experienced in Azure
The Associate Cloud Engineer Certification for GCP
Things that have happened in Elkhan’s career since he started sharing his journey
Skills that can be transferred from one cloud platform to another
Architective framework that covers the low-hanging fruit
Focus on delivering value to clients rather than personal interests
Developments since COVID changed the world
Biggest motivations for Elkhan during his cloud journey
Why failure is vital to success in your cloud journey

Resources from this episode:

Elkhan on LinkedIn
GCP Certification: Associate Cloud Engineer
Azure for GCP Professionals
Google Cloud for Azure professionals

098: Infrastructure Development with Brandon Olin Jan 06, 2021

Learning new frameworks is always tough, but it’s incredibly important to build your foundation from the basics. Mike’s guest today is Brandon Olin, an MVP in Cloud and Datacenter Management, Site Reliability Engineer at Stack Overflow, and author of Building PowerShell Modules. Stack Overflow provides community-building and knowledge-management within its client companies through Azure technology. Brandon specializes in Infrastructure Development and is here to talk about different frameworks that he uses to do that!

In this episode, we talk about…

How COVID has affected Brandon’s life and work
Diving into Brandon’s work at Stack Overflow
Breaking down the responsibilities of an SRE
Using different framework and tools build out Stack Overflow’s platform
What readers can expect to learn from Building PowerShell Modules
How GitHubAction helps in automating software workflows
The build process for a PowerShell Module
What PowerShell testing looks like with Pester and other frameworks
Testing Terraform code for those who have never done it before
Transitioning to PowerShell Core for beginners and experienced scripters
Updates on PowerShell DSC and how Brandon uses it
Best career advice that Brandon has ever gotten

Resources from this episode:

Brandon on Twitter
Brandon's Blog
Brandon's Book: Building PowerShell Modules
Recommended Reading: The PowerShell Conference Book

097: Programming in Go with Michael Levan Dec 04, 2020

Though its usage is not widely known, more and more people from both the development and infrastructure side are beginning to program in Go.

Mike’s guest today is Michael Levan, back on the show to discuss his shift from writing production-level code to content creation, and back to writing production-level code. He is now working at Octopus Deploy as a Developer Advocate, focusing on all the different types of integrations that tie into Octopus.

Michael is here to talk about the increase of programming in Go and just how much this programming language is being used already!

In this episode, we talk about…

Day-to-day breakdown of Michael’s job at Octopus Deploy
Diving into Go as a widely-used programming language
Michael’s book, Quality Code with Go
Who is using Go and what they are using it for
Go’s adoption on the infrastructure side with things like Terraform configurations
How Go helped Michael when learning to write Terraform
The best way to start with Go completely from scratch
Michael’s advice for anyone looking to go down the path of DevRel
Thoughts on public speaking for beginners

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-097

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

096: Cloud Security with Eric Kedrosky Nov 10, 2020

With constant cloud innovation, the need for effective cloud security becomes more pertinent every day. Mike’s guest today is Eric Kedrosky, Director of Cloud Security Research and CISO for Sonrai Security, a company that helps businesses fortify their public cloud spaces. Eric has spent his career gathering a wealth of experience that has allowed him to become an expert in cloud security. Listen in to hear about the kinds of people that Eric is currently looking to hire!

In this episode, we talk about…

Eric’s journey to becoming a Director of Cloud Security
The uncomfortable feeling of moving to the cloud that everyone went through
Things that Sonrai is working on right now to better serve its customers
S3 bucket breaches are just the tip of the iceberg
Common patterns amongst today’s security breaches
Difficulties in covering the constantly-changing platforms
Advice for those that are entering security as a practitioner
Where certifications fall in cloud security
Desirable characteristics when hiring a Security Engineer
Educating others while understanding their perspective
Breaking down Sonrai's metadata platform
Advice for those learning cloud security

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-096

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

095: AWS Security in Practice Oct 16, 2020

In this episode I chat with Dylan Shields about his new book AWS Security. Dylan is a software engineer working on Quantum Computing at AWS. Previously, Dylan was the first engineer on the AWS Security Hub team. He has also worked at Google Cloud, focusing on the security and reliability of their serverless data warehouse, BigQuery.

In this episode, we talk about…

Dylan breaks down his history in IT and the inspiration behind his book
Why IAM and AWS can be intimidating to a lot of people
Taking people through policies, JSON Syntax, and API operations
Examining the AWS pattern of building IAM roles and handling some of the setups
Covering AWS Security and best practices in the book
Dylan has worked in other parts of the cloud platform
Digging into security certifications and security specialties at AWS
Diving into the concepts in the book and applying them to different applications
Some of the most common attacks that customers are defending against
New integrations to manage DDoS protection and VPC
Difficulties of keeping up with AWS innovations

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-095

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

094: Azure Networking & Security with Derek Smith Oct 09, 2020

In this episode I chat with Derek Smith about Azure Networking & Security. Derek is a Senior Azure Technical Consultant at Ahead, working to help clients with their Azure cloud journey.

In this episode, we talk about…

How Derek got into Azure and tech in general
Past networking experience has strengthened Derek as an Azure specialist today
A few common networking snags that customers tend to have trouble with
How to start with networking from scratch in Azure
Breaking down the AZ500 certification and the focus of Azure going forward
Microsoft’s possible future specialty in networking
Most people have difficulty working with dedicated circuits
Software-defined networking forced Derek to unlearn certain things
What happened with CenturyLink and their backend network issues
One of the most underrated services that Azure offers right now
How Sentinel was built to augment security capabilities
Breath in all, depth in one; advice to remember for a career in the Cloud
The best career advice that Derek has ever gotten

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-094

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

093: Microsoft Identity for Developers Oct 01, 2020

In this episode I'm catching up with Christos Matskas and J.P. Dandison, both PM Developer Advocates from the Microsoft Identity team, about building apps with the Microsoft Identity Platform.

In this episode, we talk about…

COVID has caused an unexpected acceleration in Microsoft’s clients’ Cloud plans
Identity struggles that are being seen in the move to Cloud
J.P. and Christos work to assist people from as many industries as possible
Microsoft has built a protected identity system so that companies don’t have to
Developers need not worry because they know that Azure Active Directory is going to scale
Breaking down the disconnect for what B2C really is
.NET Core has a brand new library that has plenty of exciting features
Microsoft is increasing live streaming to developers for identity challenges and beyond
Microsoft is actually the largest security company in the world

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-093

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

092: Azure Architecture with Thomas Maurer Sep 25, 2020

In this episode we dive into Azure Architecture with Thomas Maurer. Learn about Enterprise Scale Landing Zones, Azure Bicep, the Well Architected Framework, and more.

Thomas Maurer works as a Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft. As part of the Azure engineering team (Cloud + AI), he engages with the community and customers around the world to share his knowledge and collect feedback to improve the Azure platform.

In this episode, we talk about...

Thomas is working with Azure Architecture to make it easier for clients to operate cloud tech
Azure Architecture is made up of three main parts
Reasons that people have not heard about Azure Arc
Cloud Adoption Framework will assist those looking to build their company with Azure
Enterprise Scale Landing Zones help plan and set up Azure environment
How the automation for the Visio landing zone operates
Azure Bicep makes it easier to write and write ARM templates
It is still very early on in the development of Azure Bicep
Microsoft Learn helps people learn all about Microsoft, not just Azure
Microsoft Build provides a 24/7 video platform as a learning resource
Advice for those that want to get into content creation
Collaborating with others is incredibly important for growth
Well-Architected Framework vs. Cloud Adoption Framework at Microsoft
It never helps anyone to act like a jerk; be polite
Even bad advice provides value if you look at it correctly

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-092

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

091: How to Start Your Cloud Journey with Chirag Nayyar Sep 18, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Chirag Nayyar who is working towards helping businesses make that shift into the cloud. Chirag comes from a background in computer science and shares the experience of his journey into the cloud coming straight out of university.

In this episode, we talk about…

Chirag’s background and journey into the Cloud field
Starting on the Azure platform gave Chirag a good foundation in the Cloud space
Getting good at one platform allows one to make sense of other platforms
The Google, AWS, and other Cloud communities have played a major part in (guest name) career
People struggle with the intimidation that comes with having conversations and speaking
Practice is always required no matter how much confidence you may have
Thoughts on the Alibaba Cloud platform and it’s presence in Asia
Great certification tips from the plethora of certificates that Chirag has under his belt (24)
Understanding the implementation of certified knowledge is one of the biggest setbacks
Challenges presented when coming from a background in computer science
Leverage your existing experience rather than starting from scratch in a career switch

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-091

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

090: Cloud & DevOps with Bart Castle Sep 10, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Bart Castle, an Expert Trainer at CBT Nuggets where he spends his days making training content while consulting on the side. Though Bart began in the blue-collar sector, he quickly found his way into DevOps which led him into the consulting side of the Cloud-computing world. Now, he is in the position to shape the content that those in the cloud and DevOps sector want to consume!

Bart Castle is an IT professional with over eighteen years of experience, Bart has become a trusted leader and subject matter expert in the Cloud Computing arena.

Bart teaches a variety of DevOps, Networking, Telephony, and traditional enterprise technology courses. He also assists organizations of all sizes by providing cloud-migration strategy and support through Castle IT Consulting.

In this episode, we talk about…

Bart’s background and how he got into cloud computing
Behavioral problems are difficult to fix with technology
A light bulb went off in Bart’s head that led him to the training space
The Cloud Credential Council gave Bart the knowledge to create effective training content
Certifications are where the real-world implementation can get lost
This multimedia world has created innovative and unique ways to learn
Content that Bart is working on right now that act as a holistic approach to learn those skills
Cloud is only going to continue to grow, so there is plenty of content opportunity
Holistic learning might be a better way to go than the certification route
AWS is putting out exciting framework and server lenses that drive businesses
There are plenty of opportunities to add extra income streams right now
Network-compute infrastructure driven areas that hold hidden opportunity
COVID has changed the world of virtual training forever

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-090

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

089: Partnering with Tech Recruiters Sep 03, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Erica Woods and Ryan Sedwitz with Apex Systems. Learn how agency recruiters can help you showcase your abilities, how to build up your personal brand, refine your resume, LinkedIn profile, and more.

Erica Woods is the Director of Contractor Programs and Philanthropy at Apex Systems. Her focus is on overseeing programs, teams, communication channels, and other resources that support and add value to their IT Contractor Community of 16,000+.

Ryan has been with Apex Systems for 14 years, during this time he has developed strong relationships with both Enterprise clients and the software engineering community at large. Over his career Ryan has placed over 2,000 Software Engineers with Fortune 1000 clients and start-ups. As a result he is considered a subject matter expert in technical staffing, with a focus on placing highly technical professionals and building well rounded agile development teams for fast-paced IT clients; with a focus on Software Engineering and Technical Leadership hiring across skill-sets such as Mobile, Cloud Engineering, Functional Programming, Full Stack Development, SDET, Devops, and Platform Engineering. Ryan has consistently been a top performing recruiter, who was named a National Recruiter of the Year in 2010, 2014, 2015 and 2017, and a Regional Recruiter of the Year for 12 years in a row 2008-Present.

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-089

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

088: Pulumi in Action with Christian Nunciato Aug 27, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Christian Nunciato full-stack developer and staff software engineer at Pulumi. We discuss Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and how developers can use languages like typescript to write their infrastructure code.

Christian Nunciato is a full-stack developer and staff software engineer at Pulumi. Previously, he was a principal engineer at Chef, where he helped build Chef's open-source application automation platform Habitat.

Win a copy of "Pulumi in Action":
https://kingsumo.com/g/0zxps1/pulumi-in-action

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-088

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

087: Learning Azure with Gwyneth Pena Aug 20, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Azure MVP Gwyneth Pena to discuss how you can get started on your journey into the Azure cloud.

Gwyneth Pena is a Cloud Consultant, content creator, and Microsoft Azure MVP. Before deciding to work for herself, Gwyn was a Cloud Engineer at an Energy startup and was responsible for all the company's Azure Infrastructure. She is an advocate for diversity and inclusiveness in the field and creates content not only on skills she's learned, certifications she's studying for, but also shares her story and tips that helped her get into the field.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-087

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

086: How to Get Started with Ansible Aug 14, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Josh Duffney, author of the new book 'become Ansible'.

Should you be using Ansible or Terraform? Maybe both? And if so... we all know everyone is super busy, so how do you get up and running quickly? Those are the questions that we answer while doing some Q&A with a live audience.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-086

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

085: Building Self-Service Cloud Environments Jul 30, 2020

In this episode we catch up with Ohad Maislish, CEO & Co-founder of env0, and we discuss challenges and solutions for teams that need to manage their own cloud environments in AWS, Azure and Google.

The env0 is platform is built on top of Terraform, so this is a must-listen episode for anyone who is interested in Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

Resources from this episode:

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-085

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. You can also text me your questions at 1-480-530-8694.

084: How to Become a Certified Azure Solutions Architect Jul 24, 2020

In this livestream Tim Warner and I explain what’s going on with the new Azure Solutions Architect certification exams, answer questions and provide tips for studying for AZ-303 and AZ-304.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-084

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. You can also text me your questions at 1-480-530-8694.

083: Learn Kubernetes in a Month of Lunches Jul 15, 2020

In this episode we catch up with Elton Stoneman about his new book: Learn Kubernetes in a Month of Lunches

Elton Stoneman is a 10-time Microsoft MVP and a Docker Captain. After several years working for Docker, Elton now offers consulting services for organizations at every stage in their container journey. He is a regular speaker and workshop instructor at conferences and the author of Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches.

Want a 40% discount when checking out on Manning.com (good for all our products in all formats)?

Use code podcskill19 during checkout for 40% off

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-083

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. You can also text me your questions at 1-480-530-8694.

082: Starting Your DevOps Career from Scratch Jul 09, 2020

In this episode I answer some listener questions and provide tips on how you can create a strategy to launch your own DevOps career from scratch. What does it take? What should you focus? I answer those questions in this episode.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-082

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. You can also text me your questions at 1-480-530-8694.

081: Microsoft Certified DevOps Engineer (AZ-400) Jun 18, 2020

In this episode I talk about the recent changes to the AZ-400 exam and provide some tips and resources you can use to start studying right away.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-081

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. You can also text me your questions at 480-530-8694.

080: Do Certifications Really Matter? Jun 11, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Josh Duffney to discuss the value of technical certifications. Tons of tips and insights from Q&A with a live audience.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-080

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

079: Getting Started with Google Firebase Jun 03, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Gareth Brown who is a front-end web developer and an expert when it comes to building apps with Google Firebase.

Gareth Brown is a software engineer with years of experience developing all kinds of web applications. We've partnered with Manning Publications to give away five (5) copies of Building Web Applications with Firebase. Just email team@cloudskills.io and the first 5 people will get a copy of the course.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-079

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

078: Changing Your Career Path with Jeff Brown May 28, 2020

In this episode I catch up with fellow Pluralsight author Jeff Brown about how to change your career path while working in the tech industry.

Jeff Brown is a System Engineer and Cloud Administrator with 13+ years of experience in server and application administration. He's worked across various industries including government, non-profit, and Fortune 500 companies. Jeff currently specializes in Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft 365, Azure, and PowerShell. He has authored several courses covering Azure and Microsoft Teams and is an avid blogger.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-078

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

077: Fireside Chat with Kelsey Hightower May 21, 2020

In this episode I sit down with Kelsey Hightower, Dan Wahlin, and Anthony Nocentino for a fireside chat at the Kubernetes Day One event. Tons of awesome takeaways for anyone interested in Kubernetes.

Follow Kelsey, Dan, and Anthony
Watch Kubernetes Day One for Absolute Beginners

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-077

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

076: Breaking into Tech with Adrienne Tacke May 13, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Adrienne Tacke, Senior Developer Advocate at MongoDB, author, and software engineer about breaking into the tech industry, teaching others, and helping people ramp up on the Azure cloud.

Make sure you follow her Adrienne on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-076

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

075: Building on AWS with Carlos Rivas May 06, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Carlos Rivas to talk about building solutions on the AWS cloud platform. Carlos is a Cloud Architect and online instructor for LinkedIn Learning and Udacity.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-075

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

074: High Performance Team Structure Apr 30, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Manuel Pais, DevOps and Delivery Coach, Consultant, and co-author of the book Team Topologies.

Manuel on Twitter
DevOps Topologies website
Team Topologies book
Team Topologies remote training, delivered by the book authors
Team Topologies remote assessments, delivered by the book authors
Team Topologies for Project Managers

Need help restructuring your teams? You can schedule a time with Manuel via this link for a 30 minute discovery session.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-074

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

073: Kubernetes on GCP in the Real-World Apr 22, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Miles Matthias who is a Solutions Architect at Stripe and founder of CTOLunches.com. Miles and his team have designed and implemented Kubernetes for some of the largest customers running on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-073

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072: AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Apr 17, 2020

In this episode I catch up with fellow MS MVP Tim Warner to discuss the AZ-104 Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification exam and what you should do to prepare.

AZ-104 Beta Exam
AZ-104 Skills Measured
Tim's YouTube series on Azure Fundamentals
Thomas Maurer's AZ-104 Study Guide
Join us for the Azure Administrator (AZ-104) Exam Prep Workshop

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-072

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

071: Learning and Teaching Azure with Lars Klint Apr 15, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Lars Klint, fellow Microsoft MVP, software developer, and Azure instructor at A Cloud Guru.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-071

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

070: Securing DevOps in the Cloud Apr 09, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Julien Vehent who leads the Firefox Operations Security team at Mozilla. Julien is a security architect, DevOps advocate, and is responsible for the security of Firefox’s high-traffic cloud services and public websites.

Julien on Twitter
Julien's book on Manning.com
Enter to win a copy of Securing DevOps: Security in the Cloud
The Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP)

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-070

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

069: Developer Perspectives on Cloud & DevOps Apr 01, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Elkhan Yusubov to understand the developers perspective when it comes to working with in cloud and DevOps.

Elkhan is a Developer Advocate, Speaker, and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) with 18+ years in software delivery/automation (including healthcare, tech-training, manufacturing, retail).

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068: How to Build Your Personal Brand Mar 27, 2020

In this episode I catch up with tech industry legends and fellow published authors Dan Wahlin and Tim Warner about how to build your personal brand.

Connect with us on social media:

Helpful guides:

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

067: Breaking into Cloud and DevOps Mar 18, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Michael Levan on his journey into cloud and DevOps, and we share some ideas on how you can do the same.

Resources from this episode:

Michael's website:
https://www.clouddev.engineering/

Michael on Twitter
https://twitter.com/TheNJDevOpsGuy

The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win
https://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Project-DevOps-Helping-Business/dp/1942788290/

Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations
https://www.amazon.com/Accelerate-Software-Performing-Technology-Organizations/dp/1942788339

The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations
https://www.amazon.com/DevOps-Handbook-World-Class-Reliability-Organizations/dp/1942788002

How to Make the Transition to DevOps Engineer
https://cloudskills.io/devops

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-067

066: Cloud Transformation Foundations Mar 12, 2020

What's working well for organizations on their cloud journey? What are some the patterns and best practices of those having the most success? I share some of my thoughts about cloud adoption in this quick episode.

Related resources:

Cloud center of excellence
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/organize/cloud-center-of-excellence

What is Azure Blueprints?
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/governance/blueprints/overview

Cloud governance methodology
[https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/govern/methodology

Microsoft Cloud Adoption Framework
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cloud-adoption-framework/

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-066

065: Cloud Transformation in the Enterprise Mar 06, 2020

In this episode I chat with Patrick Hubbard from SolarWinds about cloud transformation in the enterprise, what to consider when it comes to multi-cloud computing, and how to get started with monitoring applications in the cloud.

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-065

064: The Truth about Cloud Certifications Feb 26, 2020

In this episode I chat with Ned Bellavance and Ethan Banks about the foggy path to cloud certification. What if you chose poorly? How do you prepare? And how do you deal with failure? We answer these questions in this episode and share our own experiences with cloud certification.

AWS Certifications
https://aws.amazon.com/certification/

Microsoft Certifications
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/learning/certification-overview.aspx

Google Cloud Certifications
https://cloud.google.com/certification/

Certified Kubernetes Administrator – CNFC
https://www.cncf.io/certification/cka/

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-064

063: Azure Hybrid Cloud with Thomas Maurer Feb 19, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Thomas Maurer to discuss Azure hybrid cloud scenarios and we answer a bunch of questions from a live audience.

Thomas Maurer is a Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft and is part of the Azure engineering team (Cloud + AI) and engage with the community and customers around the world. He's located in Switzerland, focusing on Microsoft technologies, especially cloud and datacenter solutions based on Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack and Windows Server.

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-063

062: Infrastructure as Code with Ned Bellavance Feb 12, 2020

In this episode I chat with fellow Pluralsight Author and MS MVP Ned Bellavance about working with Terraform, Packer, ARM Templates, Multi-Cloud, and much more.

Ned is an IT professional with almost 20 years of experience in the field. He has been a helpdesk operator, systems administrator, cloud architect, and product manager. In his newest incarnation, he is the Founder of Ned in the Cloud LLC. As a one-man-tech-juggernaut, he develops courses for Pluralsight, runs two podcasts (Day Two Cloud and Buffer Overflow), and creates original content for technology vendors.

Ned has been a Microsoft MVP since 2017 and holds a bunch of industry certifications that have no bearing on anything beyond his exceptional ability to take exams and pass them. Ned has three guiding principles: Embrace discomfort, Fail often, Be nice.

Ned on Twitter
Ned's website https://nedinthecloud.com/
Ned's latest book Introducing Azure Kubernetes Service
Ned's course on Implementing Terraform on Microsoft Azure
Ned's course on Managing HashiCorp Vault
Exam Review: Terraform Associate Certification

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-062

061: Dive into Kubernetes with Nigel Poulton Feb 05, 2020

In this episode I catch up with world renowned Docker and Kubernetes author Nigel Poulton. We had a great conversation about how to navigate the world of cloud native computing in 2020 and beyond.

Nigel Poulton is a techoholic who spends his life creating books and training videos on the latest and greatest cloud technologies. He's the author of best-selling books on Docker and Kubernetes, as well as the most popular online training videos on the same topics. He's a Docker Captain. Prior to this, Nigel has held various infrastructure roles for large enterprises (mainly banks). When he's not playing with technology, he's dreaming about it. When he's not dreaming about it, he's reading and watching sci-fi. He wishes he lived in the future so he could explore spacetime, the universe, and tons of other mind-blowing stuff. He likes cars, football (soccer), and food. He has a fabulous wife and three fabulous children.

Nigel on Twitter
Nigel's Docker and Kubernetes courses
Nigel's books
Magic Sandbox Hands-on Kubernetes Learning

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-061

060: Operations Anti-Patterns with Jeff Smith Jan 29, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Jeff Smith to discuss his new book called "Operations Anti-Patterns: DevOps Solutions" from Manning Publications.

Jeff Smith has been in the technology industry for over 15 years, both as management and individual contributor. He has managed DevOps transformations at Centro, an ad-tech firm, and Grubhub, an online ordering platform.

Jeff on Twitter
Jeff's new book: Operations Anti-Patterns: DevOps Solutions

Win a free copy of Jeff's new book Operations Anti-Patterns: DevOps Solutions:

Join the giveaway

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career. If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-060

059: How to Decide Between Azure and AWS? Jan 22, 2020

In this episode I catch up with fellow cloud architects Nicolas Blank, Warren du Toit, and Chris Goosen to discuss the determining factors of choosing Azure or AWS.

With the explosive growth of cloud services, many organizations suddenly find themselves having to manage multiple cloud environments, either intentionally or by coincidence due to mergers, acquisitions or other such events. With Azure and AWS being two of the most popular choices, we talk to Azure MVP Mike Pfeiffer who is also AWS certified about the parallels between the two services, things to consider when running two clouds and discuss if multi-cloud makes more sense as a transitional state or long-term mode of operation.

Make sure you check out The Cloud Architects podcast from Nicolas, Warren, and Chris for more episodes about cloud, technology and the people using it.

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-059

058: DevOps vs. SRE Jan 15, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Josh Duffney to discuss the differences between DevOps and Site Reliability Engineering (SRE).

Here are the resources we discuss on this episode:

Josh Duffney is a DevOps engineer with 10 years of systems administration and engineering experience. Josh is a Pluralsight author of several courses on the topic of automation and infrastructure development and blogs at duffney.io. Josh enjoys being an active member of the PowerShell and DevOps community where he gets to share his knowledge but more importantly enjoys learning from others in the industry. Outside of his professional work Josh is a practitioner of digital minimalism who strives to find balance in a digital world. Josh also spends his time weight lifting and training in the art of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-058

057: Azure DevOps in the Real-World Jan 08, 2020

Abel Wang is a Principal Cloud Advocate and DevOps Lead with a background in Azure and application development. He is currently part of Donovan Brown’s League of Extraordinary Cloud DevOps Advocates. Before joining Microsoft, Abel spent seven years as a Process Consultant and a Certified Scrum Master helping customers globally develop solutions using agile practices and Team Foundation Server. Prior to that, Abel founded and sold his own software company. When not working, Abel is either writing code (yes, that’s what he does for fun), playing his guitar or training for The Great Wall Marathon. Recently winning his battle against cancer, Abel spits in the face of cancer and will never quit.

Abel on Twitter: @AbelSquidHead
What is Azure DevOps?
Abel's Blog series on Real World DevOps
Microsoft's Official Azure DevOps Blog

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-057

056: Kubernetes in 2020 with Kelsey Hightower Jan 01, 2020

In this episode I catch up with Kelsey Hightower about how to navigate your career in tech and what the Kubernetes landscape is going to look like in 2020.

Kelsey Hightower is a Staff Developer Advocate at Google Cloud Platform and has worn every hat possible throughout his career in tech but most enjoys leadership roles focused on making things happen and shipping software. Kelsey is a strong open source advocate focused on building simple tools that make people smile. When he is not slinging Go code, you can catch him giving technical workshops covering everything from programming and system administration, to his favorite Linux distro of the month.

Kelsey on Twitter: @kelseyhightower
Kelsey's KubeCon 2019 Keynote
Kubernetes the Hard Way
Promise Theory—What Is It?
Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Program

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

If you'd like to read the full text transcript for this episode head over to cloudskills.io/blog/episode-056

055: Orchestrating Containers on AWS Dec 26, 2019

In this episode I catch up with Michael Wittig about running containers on AWS, Infrastructure as Code, and much more.

Michael on Twitter: @hellomichibye
Michael's New Book: Rapid Docker on AWS
Michael's Company: Cloudonaut.io
Free Resources from Cloudonaut.io: cloudonaut.io/free-resources/

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

054: DevSecOps, AppSec, and Cloud Security Dec 19, 2019

In this episode I catch up with Tanya Janca to discuss DevSecOps, AppSec, and Cloud Security.

Tanya on Twitter: @SheHacksPurple
Tanya on dev.to: dev.to/shehackspurple
Tanya on Medium: medium.com/@shehackspurple
Tanya on YouTube: youtube.com/shehackspurple
Tanya's Newsletter

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

053: Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches Dec 11, 2019

In this episode I catch up with fellow Microsoft MVP Elton Stoneman to discuss his new book "Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches" from Manning Publications.

Elton on Twitter
Elton's new book: Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches
Elton's Blog
Docker and Kubernetes for .NET Developers

Manning Publications has given us free copies of Elton's new book Learn Docker in a Month of Lunches to giveaway as part of a contest.

Enter to win a copy here: https://bit.ly/DockerLunch

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career.

Full transcript of this episode is available at cloudskills.io/blog/episode-053

052: How to Amplify Your Career with Michael Teske Dec 04, 2019

In this episode I catch up with fellow Pluralsight Author Michael Teske at Microsoft Ignite 2019. We had a great conversation and discuss how to navigate your career in the cloud, along with some new things happening in Azure.

Michael on Twitter
Michael's Pluralsight Author Profile
Michael's articles on Petri - IT Knowledgebase
Michael on LinkedIn

Don't forget to subscribe to our mailing list at cloudskills.io/subscribe for weekly updates, exclusive training, and advice on how to amplify your career

051: Azure Arc and Hybrid Cloud Management Nov 27, 2019

In this episode I'll chat with Michael Greene from Microsoft about Azure Arc, hybrid cloud, governance, end-to-end management, and more!

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to my emails and ask away!

050: Microsoft Ignite 2019 with Dan Wahlin and John Papa Nov 21, 2019

In this episode I catch up with industry legends Dan Wahlin and John Papa at Microsoft Ignite 2019. We discussed some of the announcements, and had a great conversation about the current state of serverless, containers, k8s, and more.

Dan on Twitter
John on Twitter
Dan's latest Pluralsight Course on Kubernetes for Developers: Core Concepts
John's latest Pluralsight Course on Vue: Getting Started
Visual Studio Online - Cloud-powered dev environments accessible from anywhere
Azure Functions Premium Plan Now Generally Available
PowerShell for Azure Functions Now Generally Available

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to my emails and ask away!

049: Serverless Automation with PowerShell and Azure Functions Nov 13, 2019

In this episode I had a chance to catch up with Eamon O'Reilly, Principal Program Manager on the Azure Functions team at Microsoft Ignite 2019. Find out how you can take advantage of PowerShell in Azure Functions, including native support for PowerShell Core 6 as well as the Azure Az modules, and more, to build event-based solutions.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to my emails and ask away!

048: Microsoft Ignite 2019 with Tim Warner Nov 10, 2019

In this episode I catch up with fellow Microsoft MVP Tim Warner at Microsoft Ignite 2019. We discussed some of the announcements, along with Tim's sessions, and we shared tips that will help you learn the Azure platform as Microsoft continues to innovate.

Tim on Twitter
Video: Secure VM administrative Access with Azure Bastion
Video: Exam Prep: AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals
Video: Exam Prep: AZ-301 Microsoft Azure Architect Design
Upcoming book: Exam Ref AZ-300 Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to my emails and ask away!

047: Azure Tips, Tricks, & Community Nov 07, 2019

In this episode I chat with Michael Crump from Microsoft about Azure Tips and Tricks.

Here are some of the resources we discussed on the show:

Michael on Twitter
Michael's Blog
Azure Tips and Tricks azuredev.tips
Michael's Twitch Channel
The Developer’s Guide to Azure

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to my emails and ask away!

046: Azure Arc and Hybrid Cloud Management Nov 06, 2019

In this episode I chat with Thomas Maurer, Senior Cloud Advocate at Microsoft, about the new Azure Arc service and how to get started with hybrid cloud management.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to my emails and ask away!

045: Cloud Certification Q&A Nov 01, 2019

This episode is from a LinkedIn livestream where I did Q&A on cloud certifications related to Azure and AWS.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to my emails and ask away!

044: Getting Started with IBM Cloud, Red Hat OpenShift, & Serverless Containers Oct 23, 2019

In this episode I discuss getting started with IBM Cloud, Red Hat OpenShift, and serverless containers, with my guest, John Hanley, Alibaba Cloud MVP, Google Cloud Platform GDE, and AWS Expert.

John on Twitter
John's IBM and OpenShift Blog
What is the IBM Cloud platform?
What is OpenStack?
Serverless Containers: Azure Container Instances, Google Cloud Run, AWS Fargate
Manage pods, containers, and container images with Podman

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to my emails and ask away!

043: Multi-cloud Architecture, Hybrid Deployments, & Infrastructure as Code Oct 16, 2019

In this episode we answer listener questions about Azure, Terraform, deploying apps across multiple clouds, and more, with my guest Nick Colyer, Chief Architect at Ahead and Co-Founder of Skylines Academy.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned on the show:

Nick's Courses on Skylines Academy - 50% off for CloudSkills.fm listeners until October 31st, 2019
Terraform on Azure
Infrastructure as Code with Pulumi

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

042: The #1 Thing You Need To Succeed In Your Career Oct 09, 2019

In this episode you'll learn my #1 tip for career success in the tech industry.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

041: Kubernetes Q&A Oct 02, 2019

In this episode I answer listener questions about Kubernetes with fellow Microsoft MVP Anthony Nocentino.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned on the show:

Anthony's Kubernetes Courses on Pluralsight
Learn Kubernetes on Katacoda
Learn Docker on Play with Docker Classroom

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

040: What to Do When You Don't Have Experience Sep 26, 2019

In this episode I share some ideas on how you can build up your cloud experience and start making your career transition into roles focused on Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and more.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

039: Azure Fundamentals Certification (AZ-900) Sep 19, 2019

In this episode I talk to fellow Microsoft MVP Tim Warner about how to prepare for the Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900) Certification exam.

Tim on Twitter
Watch this episode on YouTube
AZ-900 Exam Page (note the "skills measured")
Azure Fundamentals Learning Path (Free Training)
Exam Ref AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals

You can find a full transcript of this episode on our blog:
https://cloudskills.io/blog/episode-039

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

038: Azure Automation, DevOps, & Infrastructure as Code Sep 12, 2019

In this episode I answer a bunch of listener questions about Azure Automation, DevOps, & Infrastructure as Code.

Here are the resources I discuss throughout this episode:

Azure Automation and Serverless Functions
- Introduction to Azure Automation
- PowerShell in Azure Functions
Infrastructure as Code
PowerShell
Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

037: Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Sep 04, 2019

In this episode I chat with Google Developer Expert John Hanley about Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and what you need to know to get started.

John on Twitter
John's Blog
John's Google Developer Expert (GDE) profile
GCP Hands-On Labs via Qwiklabs
GCP Quickstarts
Other resources mentioned on this episode: Microsoft Azure, AWS, Alibaba Cloud, and Pluralsight

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

036: Azure vs. AWS Aug 28, 2019

In this episode I chat with fellow Microsoft MVP Tim Warner and we discuss the differences and similarities of the Azure and AWS cloud platforms.

Azure for AWS Professionals
AWS to Azure services comparison
Tim on Twitter and LinkedIn
Tim's latest Azure course on Pluralsight about Batch Data Processing
You can pre-order our new book: Exam Ref AZ-300 Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies published by Microsoft Press

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

035: Staying Motivated in the IT Industry Aug 22, 2019

This week I'm switching up the format of the show because of a gap in our editorial calendar. Instead of interviewing a guest, I'm sharing an interview I did a couple of months ago where I explain how I stay motivated, what I'm focusing on, and how I recharge.

Next week I'll be chatting with fellow Microsoft MVP Tim Warner about Azure vs. AWS.

Until then, don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

034: Cloud Native Patterns and Practices Aug 14, 2019

In this episode I chat with Cornelia Davis, VP of Technology at Pivotal Software, about her new book "Cloud Native Patterns Designing change-tolerant software".

Cornelia on LinkedIn
Cornelia on Twitter
Cornelia's new book Cloud Native Patterns from Manning Publications
Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF)
The twelve-factor app methodology

Enter the Giveaway to win a free copy of Cornelia's latest book from Manning Publications!!!

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

033: Thriving Through Cloud Career Transition Aug 08, 2019

In this episode I chat with the legendary Jeffrey Snover, Microsoft Technical Fellow, Architect for Office 365, and Inventor of PowerShell about how to navigate your career as the industry shifts to a cloud first world.

Jeffrey on Twitter and LinkedIn
Jeffrey's Talk on Digital Transformation at DOES18

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

032: High Performance Computing in the Cloud Jul 31, 2019

In this episode I had a chance to chat with Rob Lalonde VP & GM of Cloud at Univa Corporation. We discuss high performance computing (HPC) and why cloud providers now offer HPC nodes with state-of-the-art CPUs, GPUs, and high-performance storage and networking.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

031: Serverless with AWS Lambda and Node.js Jul 24, 2019

In this episode I talk to Slobodan Stojanović and Aleksandar Simovic, AWS Serverless Heros, about serverless development with AWS Lambda and Node.js.

Slobodan and Aleksandar are the co-authors of Serverless Applications with Node.js from Manning Publications, and we're giving away five (5) copies of their book.

Serverless Applications with Node.js: Using AWS Lambda and Claudia.js

Enter to win a copy of Serverless Applications with Node.js!

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

030: Cloud Native Ops with Ansible and Kubernetes Jul 17, 2019

In this episode I had a chance to chat with Chris Short from the Ansible team at RedHat. We discuss Ansible, Kubernetes, and the importance of building up your Linux skills as the industry transitions into a cloud native world. Chris is also a CNCF Ambassador and runs the DevOps, Cloud Native, and open source focused newsletter DevOps’ish.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

029: Building Serverless Apps on AWS Jul 11, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Yan Cui, independent consultant and AWS Serverless Hero who has been running production workloads at scale in AWS since 2009.

Check out Yan's latest video course from Manning Publications:

Production-Ready Serverless Operational Best Practices

Enter to win a copy of Production-Ready Serverless!

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

028: Leveraging Your Existing Skills in the Cloud Jul 03, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Javed Sikander, CTO and VP at NetEnrich, about the current state of public cloud and how you can leverage your existing skills when making a transition to a cloud-focused role.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

027: Closing the Cloud Skills Gap Jun 27, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Bhanu Singh, SVP at OpsRamp, about solving the talent crisis for the Cloud, DevOps, and Site Reliability Engineering skills, and how AIOps can help teams build solutions for the modern enterprise.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

026: Deep-Dive Penetration Testing in the Cloud Jun 18, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Benjamin Caudill and Spencer Gietzen from Rhino Security Labs about cloud security and deep-dive penetration testing in the cloud.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

025: The Continuous Delivery of Value with DevOps Jun 11, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Donovan Brown, Principal DevOps Manager with Microsoft, about the importance of adopting DevOps practices, and the continuous delivery of value to your end-users.

You can read a full transcript of this episode on our blog: cloudskills.io/blog/episode-025

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

024: Lessons Learned from Early Cloud Adoption Jun 04, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Jeff Aden, Founder of 2nd Watch, about lessons learned from early cloud adoption.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

023: Cloud Development and Automation with PowerShell May 28, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Adam Driscoll, Software Architect and Microsoft MVP, about cloud development and automation with PowerShell.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

022: Building Distributed Real-Time Apps in the Cloud May 22, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Simon Crosby, CTO at Swim.ai, about building real-time distributed apps in the cloud.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

021: Continuous Automation with Chef May 14, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Nell Shamrell-Harrington, Principal Software Development Engineer at Chef Software, about continuous automation in the cloud.

Nell on Twitter
Learn Chef
AWS OpsWorks
Chef Automate on AWS
Chef on Azure
Operation Code - The largest community dedicated to helping military veterans and families launch software development careers.

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020: Multi-Cloud Computing with Kubernetes May 07, 2019

In this episode of CloudSkills.fm I talk to Sheng Liang, Co-founder and CEO at Rancher Labs, about deploying and managing multi-cloud workloads with Kubernetes.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

019: Microsoft Azure Cloud Ops Apr 30, 2019

In this episode I talk to Michael Bender about IT ops and PowerShell in the Azure Cloud. Michael is a Cloud Advocate at Microsoft working to change the world and skill-up the IT/Ops community.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

018: Programming Cloud Infrastructure Apr 23, 2019

In this episode I talk to Joe Duffy, Founder and CEO of Pulumi, about programming cloud infrastructure.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

017: How To Become a DevOps Engineer Apr 18, 2019

In this episode I talk to Josh Duffney about his transition into a career as a DevOps engineer. Josh is a PowerShell advocate, DevOps engineer, and Pluralsight author.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

016: Azure Application Development Apr 16, 2019

In this episode I talk with Scott Allen about building and running applications in the Azure cloud. Scott is a legendary software developer, conference speaker, trainer, and Pluralsight author.

Scotts's Blog
Scott on Twitter
Scott on LinkedIn
Pluralsight courses mentioned: Play by Play: Visual Studio Live Share, Developing with Node.js on Microsoft Azure, Developing with .NET on Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Azure for .NET Developers

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

015: Managing Your Cloud Career Apr 09, 2019

In this episode I talk with Steve Buchanan about managing both the technical and non-technical aspects of your career in the cloud computing industry. Steve is a seven-time Microsoft MVP, author of several technical books focused on Azure and System Center, and serves as the Midwest Containers Services Lead at Avanade.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

014: Multi-Cloud DevOps and Automation Apr 02, 2019

In this episode I talk to Jamie Phillips about build automation, release pipelines, infrastructure as code, and team culture when practicing DevOps in the cloud. Topics also include Azure Resource Manager Templates, CloudFormation, Terraform, Packer, and more. Jamie is a Senior Software Development Engineer working on mulitple cloud platforms and is an active contributor to the technical community.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

013: Cloud Infrastructure in the Real World Mar 26, 2019

In this episode, I talk to Eric Stoltze, Director Cloud Infrastructure Services at Neudesic. We had a great discussion about what Eric and his team are working on in the field with customers who are running workloads on Azure, AWS, and GCP.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

012: The Journey from Apprentice to Master Mar 19, 2019

In this episode, I talk to the legendary Don Jones about the journey from apprentice to master. Don is a VP at Pluralsight and is a well-known tech industry author and speaker who has written over 70 books throughout his career.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

011: Cloud Certifications and Azure DevOps Services Mar 12, 2019

In this episode, I talk to Gregor Suttie about tackling the Azure certifications and how to get started working with the Azure DevOps suite of services. Gregor is the Head of Development Services for Sword and he helps run the Glasgow Azure User Group.

Gregor's Blog
Gregor on Twitter
Gregor on LinkedIn
Global Azure Bootcamp 2019 - Glasgow
Glasgow Azure User Group
Tools & Services: Azure DevOps Services, Azure Boards, Azure Pipelines, Azure Repos

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

010: Adventures in Building a Startup Mar 05, 2019

In this episode, I talk to Adam Bertram about building and running a startup in the cloud. He's the founder of TechSnips.io, a Microsoft Powershell MVP, Pluralsight and Udemy training course author, and technology writer for both print and online tech publications.

TechSnips
Adam, The Automator
Adam on GitHub
Adam on Twitter
Adam on LinkedIn
Tools & Services: Airtable, Zapier, Azure DevOps

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

009: Docker, Kubernetes & Microservices Feb 26, 2019

In this episode, I talk to Dan Wahlin about the current state of Docker and Kubernetes, and why microservices are so hot right now in the tech industry. Dan is a legendary software developer and Chief Software Architect at Wahlin Consulting. He's a Microsoft Regional Director and MVP as well as a Docker Captain and Google Developer Expert (GDE).

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

008: How to Overcome Your Fear of the Cloud Feb 19, 2019

In this episode, I talk to Phoummala Schmitt, Sr Cloud Ops Advocate from Microsoft, about how to overcome your fear of the cloud. Prior to joining Microsoft, Phoummala held Systems Engineering and Architecture roles building and maintaining systems that included Microsoft Exchange, Collaboration Technologies, Virtualization, Storage and Backup. She is a VMware vExpert and co-hosts The Current Status Podcast. Today, she's focusing on Azure and Hybrid environments for the IT Professionals.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

007: Cloud Q&A Feb 12, 2019

In this episode, I answer listener questions about career strategy, make some predictions and recommendations for going forward, and I share how I'm staying on top of current trends in the modern era of cloud computing.

Here are some of the resources I mention on the show:

Role-based certifications for Azure, AWS, and GCP
RSS feeds for Azure, AWS, and GCP
Reddit communities r/azure, r/aws, r/devops, and r/docker
Medium publications for Azure, DevOps Links, GCP, and ACG
Reference architectures for Azure and AWS
Azure ExpressRoute FAQ

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

006: Cloud Career Strategy Feb 05, 2019

In this episode, I talk to Tim Warner about cloud career strategy. Tim is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) in Cloud and Datacenter Management who is based in Nashville. His professional specialties include Microsoft Azure, cross-platform PowerShell, and all things Windows Server-related.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

005: Automation with PowerShell Jan 29, 2019

In this episode, I talk to Jeff Hicks about automation with PowerShell. Jeff is the author of numerous PowerShell books, and he's a well known Pluralsight Author and Microsoft MVP. He recently published a book called "The PowerShell Practice Primer," and we get his thoughts on working with PowerShell in this episode.

Here are the resources mentioned on the show:

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

004: Get Started with Kubernetes Jan 22, 2019

In this episode, I talk to Anthony Nocentino about getting started with containers and Kubernetes. Anthony is the Founder and President of Centino Systems, well known Pluralsight Author, and Microsoft Data Platform MVP. He recently published a course on installing and configuring Kubernetes and shares his thoughts on this emerging technology in this episode.

Here are the resources mentioned on the show:

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list at askmike.io/subscribe for weekly updates. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

003: Cloud Migration Strategy Jan 15, 2019

In this episode, I answer listener questions about cloud migration strategy and career transitioning into the cloud.

Here are the resources I mentioned on the show:

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list for weekly updates as well. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

002: Infrastructure as Code in the Cloud Jan 08, 2019

In this episode, I answer some listener questions and share some thoughts on Infrastructure as Code.

Here are the resources I mention in the show:

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list for weekly updates as well. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

001: Show Kick-Off and Overview of CloudSkills.fm Jan 01, 2019

In this episode, we'll talk about what this show is all about, who it's for, and how you can get involved.

I'll also be sharing some thoughts about cloud certification and my recent experience with an Azure exam that I took a couple of days ago.

Don't forget to subscribe to my mailing list for weekly updates as well. If you want me to answer your question on the show, just reply to your welcome email and ask away!

Here are the Azure exams covered in this episode:

I also recommend you follow my fellow Azure MVP Tim Warner who is constantly sharing valuable certification tips and content.

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