What are the technical skills that the modern IT Pro needs? Richard chats with Sonia Cuff about a recent blog post that digs into the array of technical skills she sees today. Many are old standbys, like networking and server configuration. And the cloud is undoubtedly an essential part of the current skill set. But there are newer aspects to explore, like source control for scripts and Infrastructure-as-Code. While you don't have to have every skill, it's worth thinking about how you're expandi...
May 25, 2022•44 min•Ep. 829
In Las Vegas, once again, this is the Q&A session from the SQL Server & Azure SQL Conference in April 2022. Richard moderated questions and answers from SQL luminaries, including Bob Ward, Buck Woody, Pam Lahoud, Bradley Ball, Des Fitzgerald, Davide Mauri, Rie Merritt, and Kevin Farlee. The conversation ranges over Azure SQL migration, new features in SQL Server 2022, challenges in scaling, reliability, disaster recovery, and more! Links: SQL Server and Azure SQL Conference Recorded April 7, 202...
May 18, 2022•49 min•Ep. 828
How can backups protect you from ransomware? Richard chats with Karinne Bessette about how backup technology has responded to the need for ransomware protection. Whether it's intelligent backup tape systems that automatically pop out tapes so they won't overwrite or other air-gap strategies for backups, you need to have a backup you can rely on to recover from a ransomware attack without paying the ransom. Backups can also be a part of the requirements for ransomware insurance - and if your back...
May 11, 2022•39 min•Ep. 827
Can we move away from Active Directory? Richard talks to Travis Roberts about the prospect of moving organizations off of Windows Active Directory and solely onto Azure Active Directory with Microsoft Intune. Travis talks about the critical aspects of Windows Active Directory - NTLM and Kerberos. Can your organization live without them? That means file shares and printing for most places. Microsoft has recommended that hybrid AD is the long-term solution, and for most sites, that's probably righ...
May 04, 2022•33 min•Ep. 826
How do you manage the sprawl of Teams? Richard chats with Erica Toelle and John Gruszczyk about the governance of Teams, starting with allowing a bit of sprawl in the first place - people give up on tools that are too locked down. You have to leave room to explore! But once folks engage with Teams and the sprawl gets a bit out of control, there are tools to help you protect people and information shared there. John talks about controlling access to different parts of Teams, depending on your rol...
Apr 27, 2022•36 min•Ep. 825
We all have those problem WiFi devices - how do you fix them? Richard chats with Ryan Woodings about Tonic, the latest product from MetaGeek that helps you analyze WiFi traffic by the device to understand its problems. Ryan talks about tracking WiFi-specific information, including what AP a client is connecting to and all the intimate details of WiFi connection negotiating. Tools like Tonic can identify a broken antenna in a device based on that traffic or just poor decision-making by the WiFi c...
Apr 20, 2022•34 min•Ep. 824
How do you keep your SQL queries fast? Richard chats with Monica Rathbun about her approaches to SQL Server query tuning. Monica starts with defining the problem - how do we know that the database is the performance bottleneck? The conversation dives into measuring query performance and the power of Query Store, but only on SQL Server 2016 and above, so get upgrading! Entity Framework is a standard tool for developers to automate access to SQL. Still, it can generate some pretty ugly queries, an...
Apr 13, 2022•36 min•Ep. 823
Ready to flex your Bicep? Richard talks to John Downs from Azure Fast Track about configuring Azure resources using Bicep. John talks about Azure Resource Manager (ARM) being the under-the-hood way to create Azure Infrastructure-as-a-Service, but folks don't enjoy working directly in the JSON that makes up an ARM template. Enter Bicep, a domain-specific language that generates the JSON for you. Today Bicep is Microsoft's recommended way to build Azure resources, offering access to source control...
Apr 06, 2022•37 min•Ep. 822
What's coming in the next version of PowerShellGet? Richard chats with Sydney Smith about PowerShellGet in general and version 3 specifically. Sydney talks about how PowerShellGet appears like a command in PowerShell but is a separate module installed by default with PowerShell and is getting more features and some breaking changes. But version 3 also includes some compatibility features so that you can use your scripts dependent on PowerShellGet 2 within PowerShellGet 3. While there are some br...
Mar 30, 2022•34 min•Ep. 821
What can Chocolatey do for you? Richard talks to Gary Ewan Park about the latest version of Chocolatey, including Chocolatey for Business. Originally a free, open-source product for application management primarily targeted at software developers, Chocolatey has evolved into a modern software automation product for managing software deployment on workstations and servers. Gary talks about keeping deployments self-contained and straightforward - use the Internet if you want to, but you can also d...
Mar 23, 2022•36 min•Ep. 820
Is Azure Arc a crucial part of bringing the cloud into your organization? Richard talks with Microsoft CVP Erin Chapple about how Arc helps with digital transformation. Erin discusses the challenges of adding the cloud into an organization from a governance, regulatory, and security perspective, how Azure Arc provides oversight and control for those issues, and more. The conversation also gets into a survey done by Harris Polls for Microsoft that showed how the digital transformation process con...
Mar 16, 2022•34 min•Ep. 819
How do you secure your email transport? Richard talks to Gareth Gudger about the various additional protocols and approaches essential to transporting email. Gareth reminds us that SMTP, like the Internet, was not designed with security in mind, so we have to add layers to try and improve things. It is an acronym soup of SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS, and DANE - but every acronym gets a definition! Sure, there is more to email security than just transport, but arguably, this is the place to start. A...
Mar 09, 2022•42 min•Ep. 818
Windows Virtual Desktop is now Azure Virtual Desktop! Richard chats with Jen Sheerin about how Windows Virtual Desktop has evolved to become Azure Virtual Desktop - it's much more than a name change! Jen talks about how AVD is fully integrated into Azure, using ARM for configuration, tied in with Insights, and all the other Azure products you count on to manage, monitor, and maintain infrastructure. The conversation also dives into the Azure Fast Track program to help you get started with AVD an...
Mar 02, 2022•36 min•Ep. 817
It's 2022, time for a new version of SQL Server! Richard chats with Bob Ward about Microsoft's latest release of their ubiquitous database. The conversation starts out with a little bit of history of how SQL Server has evolved over the decades - and how there's still a need for a database in organizations, but the feature set has changed. Bob talks about making hybrid really work, whether it's an on-premises database that backs up and fails over to the cloud, or how tools like Azure Purview can ...
Feb 23, 2022•38 min•Ep. 816
How does Microsoft Viva work alongside your Intranet? Richard talks to Tracy van der Schyff about her recent projects integrating Viva into existing intranet infrastructures. Tracy explains that Viva, specifically Viva Connections, does not change your Intranet but does assist in organizing access to various aspects of your Intranet with dashboards and the SharePoint App Bar. This leads to a conversation about managing both curation and customization of views of an organization to its employees....
Feb 16, 2022•41 min•Ep. 815
The Internet Explorer 11 desktop application retires and goes out of support on June 15, 2022. Are you ready? Richard talks to Joel Hawks about what retirement actually means - the IE11 icon disappears, and only the Edge browser remains. But IE is not gone, it runs inside of Edge instead. Joel talks about getting away from depending on IE at all, by going through an evaluation process of web applications to see whether or not they actually depend on IE, or can run properly using the Edge renderi...
Feb 09, 2022•34 min•Ep. 814
It's 2022, how do you manage your client machines? Richard chats with Julie Andreacola about modern client management. Julie talks about how the pandemic accelerated the need for modern client technologies, including being able to provision and configure computers that will never be in the office. The conversation digs into Windows Autopilot and Microsoft Intune compared with more traditional deployment and configuration approaches. While the new approaches are broader and don't have as many det...
Feb 02, 2022•33 min•Ep. 813
Back in Las Vegas and in person, this is the Q&A session from the SQL Server & Azure SQL Conference in December 2021. Bob Ward, Anna Hoffman, Buck Woody, Bradley Ball, Tim Chapman, Pedro Lopes, and a host of other great SQL speakers fielded questions from an audience of database professionals and developers - and the questions are wide-ranging! Links: SQL Server and Azure SQL Conference
Jan 26, 2022•57 min•Ep. 812
What's a security audit, and why do you need one? Richard talks to Paula Januszkiewicz about auditing security, technical reviews, and so-called penetration testing. Paula talks about needing outside experts who focus on the scope of exploits out in the world today to help make sure all aspects of your company's systems are reasonably secure - there is no such thing as perfect security! The conversation gets into the details around finding a good auditor, what to expect from them, and what they ...
Jan 19, 2022•38 min•Ep. 811
Getting your Public Key Infrastructure right can be tricky - and getting wrong can be very bad. Richard talks to Richard Hicks about the right way to go about setting up and operating a PKI infrastructure in your organization. Different from the public certificates you use for websites and servers, Richard focuses on how to use certificates to authenticate and authorize users and devices. Tools like Intune and Autopilot can help you get certificates out to devices and users, as well as bootstrap...
Jan 12, 2022•36 min•Ep. 810
2021 was a tough year for security - how can we do better in 2022? Richard chats with Jess Dodson about working to get better at information security in your organization. Jess talks about the log4j exploit as a great example of "what don't we know" - and the need for a software bill of materials as part of your configuration management database. Having a list of the libraries that internal applications depend on helps you respond in a time of crisis, being able to answer the question "where are...
Jan 05, 2022•40 min•Ep. 809
Happy holidays! Another year, another set of predictions around the life of IT Pros – now in 2022! The pandemic continues to evolve, with new variants appearing and vaccination levels getting high. Will the pandemic still be a significant factor next year? What about back-to-work plans? Or is working-from-home the new normal? The past year was tough on the security side of things with notable ransomware and business-email-compromise attacks – are you prepared? What will we be doing differently i...
Dec 29, 2021•33 min•Ep. 808
Does your organization need hybrid identities? Richard talks to Sonia Cuff about Hybrid Active Directory, connecting your on-premises Active Directory infrastructure to M365 and Azure. There's essentially no choice in larger organizations - too many identities and applications exist that replicating identities would be a huge problem. But what about a small organization? Sonia talks about folks living in the Small Business Server and Windows Essential worlds that really could make a go of moving...
Dec 22, 2021•34 min•Ep. 807
Basic authentication is going away in Exchange Online - how will it impact you? Richard talks to Greg Taylor about the long-planned end of basic authentication support in Exchange Online. Greg talks about the fundamental vulnerability of basic authentication systems like POP and IMAP - and how many systems still use them by default. Too many business email compromise and ransomware attacks happen through an email hack, and getting rid of basic authentication will help. Basic auth goes away in Oc...
Dec 15, 2021•43 min•Ep. 806
What's your adaptability quotient? Richard chats with Sara Caldwell and Angela Dugan about the ideas behind the adaptability quotient - the ability to respond to change. The pandemic certainly forced a lot of change on a lot of folks - and different people coped with the changes in different ways. Sara talks about thinking about your ability to adapt and strengthening that ability, starting with asking for help where needed. Angela digs into the changes that have happened for her and Sara just r...
Dec 08, 2021•34 min•Ep. 805
Christmas Gifts for IT Pros! Richard chats with Joey Snow and Rick Claus about their favorite gift ideas for your favorite IT Pros. Yeah, IT folks are hard to buy for, but here are some stocking stuffers and other gifts you will be excited to receive. Whether it's items that will help you work more effectively, home automation to make living a little easier, or maybe just something geeky and fun, there are many cool things to choose. And if you're an IT Pro listening to this show, share the list...
Dec 01, 2021•43 min•Ep. 804
Windows 11 Ships! So now what? Richard chats with Mary Jo Foley about her thoughts around the release of Windows 11. Mary Jo talks about how quiet the conversation has been around Windows 11, other than a few bits of outrage like the TPM requirements - which, as it turns out, aren't actually required. Is there a reason to move to Windows 11? Most IT folks seem happy to wait for further updates - there's nothing wrong with Windows 10. Maybe operating system releases just aren't as exciting as the...
Nov 24, 2021•39 min•Ep. 803
Is the cloud secure? Richard chats with Screaming in the Cloud's Corey Quinn about the latest spate of security issues in AWS and Azure - and the responses to those issues. Corey talks about the risks the cloud providers are creating, not being clear when an exploit is found, to let people know how much visibility they have into the problem. Mitigating an exploit is not enough - you have to be able to answer the question about whether or not the cloud is secure. The alternatives are worse! Links...
Nov 17, 2021•42 min•Ep. 802
Should you inject a little chaos into your systems? Julie Gunderson says yes! Richard chats with Julie about how deliberate failing portions of your system teach you more about your dependency and resiliency. But it's not just about breaking things - you need to build a hypothesis around how you see the reliability of the system and then create tests to challenge that reliability - and how to recover quickly if the test does harm to productivity! Julie talks about starting small, maybe just a de...
Nov 10, 2021•37 min•Ep. 801
Episode 800! Richard chats about making 800 episodes of RunAs with Microsoft Technical Fellow Jeffrey Snover. The conversation digs into the state of the IT business today, with the huge role of the cloud and digital transformation, and how it impacts the nature of work. Jeffrey talks about how the artificial intelligence in M365 is emerging as a tool to help people be more productive, by watching what they're working on and helping them to organize their information and efforts better. This lea...
Nov 03, 2021•52 min•Ep. 800
