Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’

I don’t think it is well-known but it proves that Windows Azure is not just a Microsoft platform. Windows Azure supports Oracle and Java! They don’t have pre-configured images yet, though they’re planned to be available in the near future. For now to work with these technologies you have to configure your own images and […]

I talk about Windows Azure at several events, such as: SQL Saturdays, Code Camps and User Groups in my region. One thing I hear about when people sign-up is that they don’t want to supply a credit card just to try the services. Now MSDN subscribers are no longer required to provide payment information. MSDN […]

This article was pointed out to me by a colleague, and I found it a pretty compelling read:  How Microsoft helped this bar figure out that vodka was costing it a fortune. Of particular interest to me is the Natural Q&A feature, which is mentioned prominently. Now, my time in the data warehousing trenches tempers my […]

If you have used Windows Azure Cloud Services for any length of time, one of the features you would have wanted is AutoScale. AutoScale allows you to scale your applications based on usage and performance. Being able to dynamically scale your applications based on performance and other factors is a now a reality, as AutoScale is […]

If you have used Windows Azure for any length of time, one thing you should have noticed is the rate of change. When I say change, I’m not referring to things being taken away either. The change is almost always improving what already exists or adding more capabilities. The new SDK adds support for the […]

External federation within Lync is one of the most powerful B2X communication mechanisms available on the market – the ability to contact other users, across platforms, across providers, completely through the power and openness of the Internet.  With Lync 2010 and with the RTM release of Lync 2013, the SIP Federated Providers list was pre-populated […]

I’m thrilled to share that for the third time in four years Perficient has been honored with Microsoft’s Health Provider Partner of the Year award.  I can’t tell you how honored we are that the Microsoft Healthcare team has chosen to recognize Perficient’s commitment and expertise in the Healthcare vertical year after year. From the […]

With the July updates to Windows Azure, some great enhancements have been made to SQL Database. I already talked about one of the great features, “Automated SQL Export.” So now I’ll let you know about another great feature, “Premium Databases.” Since the “Premium” feature is a preview feature you will need to specifically sign up […]

With the July updates/enhancements of Windows Azure some changes have been made to SQL Database. In this article I’m going to talk about Automated SQL Export. Previously you had to manually export your database for backup. Now you can automate the export/backup schedule. If you need a Windows Azure subscription here is the link for […]

So, have you heard about Power BI yet?  The whiz-bang new cloud-centric BI front end tool from Microsoft?  Well, this video from the 2013 WPC breaks down the story — in a very entertaining manner…  So, having watched, let’s assume we all remember Mariah’s chart-toppers and instead review the greatest hits of the Power BI […]

Windows Azure Web Sites have been around for a while now, and one of the great features about them is deployment via source control. You have several options for source control deployment as well: you can use GitHub, CodePlex, TFS or even DropBox to keep your sites integrated and up to date. In this post […]

Introduction If you follow the SQL Server community at all, you’ve probably heard a lot of buzz around PDW (Parallel Data Warehouse).  This is the first in a series of blogs I am going to be writing about PDW.  In this series, I am going to cover everything from PDW nuts and bolts to how […]