Microsoft

Being named a Microsoft MVP is a special honor that recognizes community leaders who are passionate, knowledgeable, and skilled in Microsoft products. As in past years, attending the MVP Summit 2025 at the Microsoft campus in Redmond at the end of March was a great experience. This year, the MVP Summit brought together about 1800 MVPs from around the world in person, and even more online, to celebrate, learn, and collaborate. Microsoft is celebrating Azure’s 15-year anniversary, which was a momentous occasion to reflect on the incredible growth and impact of Azure over the years. The summit included various sessions on cloud computing, AI, cybersecurity, and tech trends. Led by Microsoft product teams, these sessions gave MVPs valuable insights and the latest updates on Microsoft’s advancements. ...

On March 18, 2025, we had the pleasure to organize and enjoy the Global AI Bootcamp Vienna. About 70 tech-savvy individuals gathered to dive into the world of artificial intelligence with Microsoft Azure AI Services, in two tracks, at the Microsoft Austria office. You can find the details of the event here. Martina and I were thrilled to organize the Global AI Bootcamp in Vienna for the first time and to attract so many attendees and great speakers even at such short notice. The enthusiasm and participation we witnessed were truly inspiring and we enjoyed networking. We see this event as the beginning of a new chapter for our group, with great potential for growth in Austria, and we hope to continue this series with even more interested people in the future (as we experienced with our cloudusergroup more than a decade ago). ...

Back in 2022, I began celebrating Women’s History Month, which takes place every March, by highlighting women in technology who inspired me. March 8th is celebrated worldwide as International Women’s Day. At the end of March 2022, it became clear that I wanted to continue the series because we are many. Every woman makes an impact in the industry, and I want all of them to shine. Each of these women has made significant contributions to the tech industry, breaking barriers and paving the way for future generations. ...

Great news for developers! GitHub Copilot, the AI-powered coding assistant, is now available for free in Visual Studio Code (VSCode). This new plan, announced on December 18, 2024, allows anyone with a GitHub account to access Copilot without any trial, subscription, or credit card requirements. ## What Does the GitHub Copilot Free Plan Include? With the free plan, users get: 2000 code completions per month: That’s about 80 completions per working day, which is quite substantial. 50 chat requests per month: This includes access to advanced models like GPT-4o and Claude 3.5 Sonnet. These features make it easier for developers to leverage AI in their coding workflows, enhancing productivity and efficiency. ## New Features and Capabilities ...

Microsoft Ignite 2024 has once again set the stage for innovations and new Microsoft Cloud features. This year’s event was packed with exciting announcements, particularly in the realms of Azure, AI, and Copilot. Here are some impressions from the event in Chicago. ## Book of News First things first: For a comprehensive look at all the exciting announcements and detailed insights from Microsoft Ignite, be sure to visit the Microsoft Ignite 2024 Book of News. This resource is packed with in-depth articles, videos, and updates on the latest innovations in Azure, AI, Copilot, and more. Explore the future of technology and how it can transform your business and daily life. ...

In today’s data-driven world, the ability to quickly analyze and visualize data is crucial for making informed decisions. Microsoft Power BI has long been a powerful tool for business intelligence, and with the introduction of Copilot, it has become even more versatile. See the following resources for activating Copilot for Power BI in your organization. Copilot leverages advanced AI capabilities to assist users in creating reports, analyzing data, and generating insights more efficiently. Enable Copilot in Power BI as described here, to ensure you can take full advantage of this innovative feature. ...

We enjoyed being part of this year´s TechCon 365 conference in Dallas, Texas. From November 3-7, 2024, the conference center in Dallas Irving became the center of Microsoft 365 and Power Platform Know How as more than 500 tech enthusiasts gathered for the TechCon 365 event. This year’s conference was a melting pot of knowledge, and networking opportunities, featuring over 130 sessions and 25 workshops led by top experts in Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Azure, AI, and more. ...

In my use of Azure Key Vault with code and flows with Managed Identities, I moved to role-based access control (RBAC) to manage access to secrets and certificates. However, I encountered a problem when using the “Key Vault Reader” role as it denied me the required access to secret content. This experience highlighted the importance of understanding the specific roles within Azure Key Vault, and I want to share this insight to help others avoid similar pitfalls. ...

Microsoft Entra Privileged Identity Management (PIM) allows administrators to manage role assignments efficiently, ensuring that users have the necessary permissions only when needed. By following a few simple steps, administrators can make users eligible for specific roles, activate roles as required, and manage both built-in and custom roles. This process enhances security by minimizing the duration and scope of privileged access, making it a crucial tool for maintaining a secure and compliant environment. In this article, we explore how to read a user’s Microsoft Entra roles and history using PIM and the Microsoft Graph REST API. ...

As reported in most media, we would like to inform you about a global outage caused by a erroneous software update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike today, on July 19th. This Endpoint security solution is used in many organizations, from hospitals to tech companies, education, airports and many other industries. Crowdstrike rolled out an update to its customers that caused Windows 10 computers to crash, see the CrowdStrike Statement on Falcon Content Update for Windows Hosts. The affected computers no longer start correctly, but instead produce a Windows BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death). Such computers are getting stuck at the “Recovery” screen. See how to resolve this if your Windows computer is affected by the CrowdStrike update. ...