Microsoft

Azure AD Connect is the synchronization tool formerly known as “Azure AD Sync” which was formerly known as “DirSync”. Regardless of what you call it, Azure AD Connect is the tool you’ll use to synchronize your on-premises Active Directory with Azure AD. With each name change, new features have been added to the product. Below […]

This week at the Microsoft Connect() 2015 conference there were many new features and updates Microsoft Azure and rest of the Microsoft developer stack. Among these updates was the announcement of the all new Azure Storage Explorer being added to the set of Azure SDK tools. The Azure Storage Explorer is a stand-alone application that […]

If you are a Yammer customer, you will know that the identity and directory synchronization has been separate from the rest of Office365. This means that you need separate servers and software installations to sync users from your on-premises AD and provide SSO capabilities to Yammer. If you are unsure about this configuration, check out […]

On a call with Microsoft this morning, they referenced this public case study. I thought it was a really nice example of using a multitude of Azure services to innovate their business – Machine Learning, Mobile Services, IoT Hubs, and Dynamics AX. Check out the video below and the full description here – https://customers.microsoft.com/Pages/CustomerStory.aspx?recid=12792

The Sitecore User Group Conference 2015 was a great event organized by the community for the community. In addition to everything I learn, Sitecore events also give me a chance to catch up with colleagues (present – former – future), vendors and friends, and I always leave with renewed vigor and focus. Below are a couple of quick takeaways […]

Every developer knows that builds are an integral piece to the Application Lifecycle. Using an automated build and testing process will help speed the time to market for your application. Visual Studio and Team Foundation Server offers a number of features to help with this process. To use Team Foundation Build for automated building and testing […]

Azure Site Recovery now provides native support for SQL Server AlwaysOn. SQL Server Availability Groups can be added to a recovery plan along with VMs. All the capabilities of your recovery plan—including sequencing, scripting, and manual actions—can be leveraged to orchestrate the failover of a multitier application using an SQL database configured with AlwaysOn replication. […]

Azure Backup can now back up your on-premises application workloads, including Microsoft SQL Server, Hyper-V VMs, Microsoft SharePoint, and Microsoft Exchange. You can back up your applications to a local disk or to Azure, allowing you to eliminate local tape libraries and leverage the unlimited storage capability of Azure. You can also manage all your […]

I had the opportunity to attend SharePoint TechFest Houston last week and was duly impressed with the level of continued interest in SharePoint as a platform and the future of the product. Here are a few takeaways from the conference: To kick things off, Synxi CTO Naomi Moneypenny delivered the keynote address focusing on the […]

Azure Mobile Engagement is a SaaS-delivered, data-driven user-engagement platform that enables real-time and fine-grain user segmentation, app user analytics, and context-aware, smart push notifications across all connected devices. You can maximize your app usage, retention, and monetization with this powerful platform. It allows developers, app owners, and line-of-business decision makers to directly contact app users […]

Exciting news for Linux customers! From today’s announcement – The partnership we are announcing today with Red Hat extends our commitment to offer unmatched choice and flexibility in an enterprise-grade cloud experience across the hybrid cloud. With more than 80 percent of the Fortune 500 using Microsoft’s cloud, for us to team with the leader […]

I wanted to share a few recent changes to Yammer that you may have started to notice. Some of them are small or effected features that no one used. Others, like External Groups, are rather major updates. In addition, Gartner has recognized Microsoft as a leader in the Social Software space for the seventh consecutive year!! […]