Welcome to Episode 396 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben walks Scott through a ransomware attack on an on-premises VMware environment. As they discuss the attack and the results of it, they also talk through some lessons and considerations that could have helped mitigate such an attack. Your support makes this show possible! Please consider becoming a premium member for access to live shows and more. Check out our membership options. Show Notes How Long Does It Take for...
Feb 27, 2025•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 395 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive into Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) and how it enables organizations to deliver secure, scalable Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) in the cloud. Whether you’re looking to modernize remote work, enhance security, or optimize IT costs, AVD provides a flexible solution for accessing virtualized Windows desktops and applications from anywhere.Topics covered include: What is Azure Virtual Desktop? A breakdown of AV...
Feb 13, 2025•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 394 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we explore everything you need to know to get your Microsoft 365 tenant ready for Copilot. From licensing requirements to deployment best practices, we break down the steps to ensure a seamless setup.Key topics include: Understanding Copilot licensing, including E3, E5, and Business Premium options. Ensuring compatibility with Microsoft 365 Apps, OneDrive, Teams, and Outlook. Exploring Copilot’s data protection and au...
Jan 30, 2025•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 393 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben is joined on the show by Alex Mooney from Logitech. The two of them discuss the integration of technology into meetings. They start out discussion AI for transcribing in-person meetings, highlighting some of their benefits and then shift into discussion various meeting room systems for Microsoft Teams. They discuss some of the offerings from Logitech including the Rally Bar Huddle, Rally Bar Mini, and Rally Bar an...
Jan 17, 2025•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 392 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben interviews AvePoint CTO John Peluso. Listen in as they discuss Copilot in Microsoft 365 and how to govern and gain insights on your Copilot usage in your organization. Copilot in Microsoft 365 is becoming a critical tool to supporting modern work. As Microsoft continues to iterate and improve on Microsoft Copilot, partners such as AvePoint help to augment the administration and analytics of Copilot adoption in you...
Jan 03, 2025•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 391 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Scott sits down with Kamal Srinivasan from Parallels to talk how you can think about delivering applications and desktops to your users in post-Citrix world. As the traditional “Citrix” model faces disruption, we explore how remote work, hybrid scenarios, and cloud-based computing are redefining how organizations deliver applications and desktops to end users. Key topics include: The shift away from static, on-prem de...
Dec 19, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 390 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, live from Microsoft Ignite 2024! In this episode Ben sits down for a chat with Melissa Grant, head of product marketing for Windows 11 Enterprise, Windows 365, and Azure Virtual Desktop at Microsoft. Melissa discusses her tenure at Microsoft and the evolution of cloud-based Windows offerings, starting with the launch of Azure Virtual Desktop (AVD) five years ago and transitioning into Windows 365. They also discuss Windows 365 Link, M...
Dec 05, 2024•18 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 389 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this special episode, we recap the game-changing announcements from Microsoft Ignite, Microsoft’s premier conference unveiling innovations across Microsoft 365 and Azure.We explore advancements in Agentic AI and multi-modal models that seamlessly accept and produce text, voice, and graphics. Discover how Copilot is evolving with features like reasoning over on-screen content (coming to Teams in CY25) and enhanced capabilities in to...
Nov 21, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 388 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive into Azure Bicep, Microsoft’s streamlined language for defining cloud infrastructure. If you’re new to Infrastructure as Code (IaC) or looking to simplify your Azure deployments, listen in to learn how easy it is to get started with Azure Bicep. We walk through the essentials, from setting up the necessary tools such as Visual Studio Code and the Azure Bicep extension, to exploring the intuitive features that ...
Nov 07, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 387 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Scott and Ben dive into a discussion around Ben's newly purchased Surface Pro 11th Edition - a Copilot Plus PC running on an ARM processor. Ben gives his takes on the state of the hardware and how Windows 11 runs on a native ARM processor. Scott also gives his experience running Windows 11 daily for work on Parallels Desktop on Apple Silicon. Scott's hot take - virtualizing Windows 11 on a Mac is better than running i...
Oct 25, 2024•37 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 386 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we explore three powerful tools designed to improve automation, testing, and security in modern development and operations workflows: Maester, Pester, and SCUBA. Whether you’re a DevOps engineer, PowerShell enthusiast, or security professional, this episode is packed with valuable insights on how to streamline your processes and strengthen your infrastructure using these powerful tools. Tune in to level up your automa...
Oct 10, 2024•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 385 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive into deploying, managing, and optimizing Microsoft’s leading cloud-native SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solution. Whether you’re new to Microsoft Sentinel or looking to deepen your expertise, this episode is packed with actionable insights to help you secure your Azure environment effectively. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes What ...
Oct 02, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 384 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we tackle a wide range of essential topics to help you monitor, secure, and streamline operations across your Azure estate. From access control strategies to virtual machine agents and everything in between, this episode gives you a high-level overview of Microsoft Defender for Cloud and the suite of Azure services it protects. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Not...
Sep 12, 2024•35 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 383 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode we continue our discussion on security, transitioning from Microsoft 365 to Azure (Episode 382 – Securing the Modern Workplace: Exploring Microsoft Entra ID Security Defaults, Conditional Access Policies, and Microsoft Secure Score) to Microsoft Azure. We begin with Azure security logging and auditing, discussing the importance of capturing and analyzing security logs to detect and respond to potential threats. Next, w...
Aug 29, 2024•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 382 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, we dive into three essential tools for safeguarding your organization in the cloud-first world: Security Defaults in Microsoft Entra ID, Conditional Access Policies, and Microsoft Secure Score. Join us as we talk through and rationalize each solution, including when and why you might want to use each depending on your maturity with the Microsoft Cloud. Whether you’re an IT administrator, security professional, or just...
Aug 15, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 381 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode we discuss Microsoft Graph Data Connect, a service that allows organizations to access and manage data from Microsoft 365 in a secure, scalable, and efficient manner. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Elgato's New Stream Deck POWER-UPS make streaming even easier USB Hub - Multiport adapter for Stream Deck + Helping our customers through the CrowdStrike outage ...
Aug 01, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 380 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode we discuss some of the latest security breaches that you should be on the lookout for and then we get into AD FS migrations and if you should consider it. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes AT&T says criminals stole phone records of ‘nearly all’ customers in new data breach Largest password database leak exposes nearly 10M credentials Post-Breach Fixes: Snowfla...
Jul 18, 2024•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 379 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben and Scott take a look at Azure Verified Modules, a new initiative from Microsoft to consolidate and set the standards for what a good Bicep and/or Terraform module looks like. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Ember Temperature Control Smart Mug 2, 14 Oz, App-Controlled Heated Coffee Mug with 80 Min Battery Life and Improved Design, Black Azure Verified M...
Jul 04, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 378 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode we discuss Azure Compute Fleet, a new Preview service announced at Microsoft Build 2024. Azure Compute Fleet is a new Azure infrastructure service that lets you deploy Azure compute capacity across different virtual machine SKUs, availability zones, and pricing models. It's all about acquiring VM capacity at scale. If you're familiar with AWS EC2 and Spot fleet, this is effectively the equivalent in Azure. Like what yo...
Jun 06, 2024•34 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 377 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode, Ben and Scott talk about a recent incident at Google Cloud where one of their customer accounts was completely wiped out without notice. Then they dive into Microsoft Copilot for Security. Ben has been getting hands on with it and it is expensive. They discuss pricing for Copilot for Security, how to think about approaching the multiple embedded experiences in it, and how to think about building a corpus of knowledge ...
May 23, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 376 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast. In this episode. Ben and Scott discuss some of the announcements from the Microsoft 365 Community Conference. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Microsoft 365 Community Conference Microsoft launches SharePoint eSignature integration with Adobe and Docusign SharePoint eSignature Set up SharePoint eSignature Securely digitize document workflows with eSignature in Microsoft 365 |...
May 09, 2024•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 375 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, where we discuss Microsoft's Global Secure Access offering. We explain how Global Secure Access brings identity, network, and endpoint access together under one service and how it combines with Defender for Cloud Apps and is built around the capacity of the Microsoft WAN. Join us as we take a deep dive into the world of digital security and learn how Global Secure Access can help you secure your digital world. Like what you hear and w...
Apr 25, 2024•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 374 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast where Ben and Scott break down Azure Trusted launch virtual machines - what they are, how they're different from Gen 1 Azure VMs, and how you can enable them for your new and existing workloads. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Trusted launch for Azure virtual machines Supported SKUs Enable Trusted launch on existing Azure VMs Deploy a VM with trusted launch enabled Enable Tr...
Apr 11, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 373 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast where Ben and Scott close out their review of Microsoft Intune and its third pillar - Endpoint security. They discuss the core components of Endpoint security, including antivirus, disk encryption, and firewall configuration. Ben also takes Scott on a tour of some more hidden gems in Endpoint security, including managed installers along with endpoint detection and response policies. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Chec...
Mar 28, 2024•36 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 372 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, where we'll be discussing more of Microsoft Intune, one of the most powerful tools for managing your organization's devices, apps, and endpoint security. In this episode, we continue our discussion on the three pillars of Intune - Devices, Apps, and Endpoint Security - with Apps. We'll cover App protection policies, touch on the management experience, how MDM and MAM come into play, and how App protection policies protect your corpora...
Mar 14, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast Welcome to Episode 371 of the Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast, where we'll be discussing Microsoft Intune, one of the most powerful tools for managing your organization's devices, apps, and endpoint security. In this episode, we'll start exploring the three pillars of Intune: Devices, Apps, and Endpoint Security. We'll cover what devices you can enroll, how to onboard them, and what configurations are available. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Sh...
Feb 29, 2024•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast The restrictions have been lifted for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing and you can now purchase licenses in tenants with less than 300 users. With the flood gates open, Ben and Scott revisit Microsoft 365 Copilot now that they both have access to it in their own tenants. Is it just a summarization tool? Is it any good for helping out Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Microsoft Teams? Listen in and find out! Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes...
Feb 15, 2024•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 369, Ben and Scott explore the new Backup and Archive options for Microsoft 365 and Office 365 workloads - Microsoft 365 Archive and Microsoft 365 Backup. These two features may sound similar, but they have different functionalities. Microsoft 365 Archive provides coverage for SharePoint, while Microsoft 365 Backup provides coverage across SharePoint, OneDrive, and Exchange. We will be discussing why you should use these features, how to set them up, and their options. Additionally, w...
Feb 01, 2024•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 368, Ben and Scott talk through the differences between Notion and Microsoft Loop with a sprinkling of Confluence. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Microsoft officially launches Loop, its Notion competitor Loop vs. Notion: Microsoft’s new document app is a promising mess Is Microsoft Loop A Notion Alternative? Microsoft Loop - A Smarter Way to OneNote? Get started with Microsoft Loop Loop components in Whiteboard Get started...
Jan 18, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast In Episode 367, Ben and Scott kick off 2024 with a discussion of Azure Files. They start out reviewing a customer scenario Ben encountered and how they would approach it, breaking down the options available with Azure Files, hosting traditional SMB shares in Azure, and how a hybrid deployment can be the best of both worlds. Like what you hear and want to support the show? Check out our membership options. Show Notes Planning for an Azure Files deployment Replace or extend Windows file servers wi...
Jan 04, 2024•47 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
