58. Accidental successful open source while being a consultant and managing different technologies - Jimmy Bogard

In this episode, we speak with Jessey Johnson, a Cloud Solution Architect and an Advanced Cloud Expert (ACE) at Microsoft, who serves as a bridge between business, IT, and technology. We delve into topics such as digital transformation, the evolving landscape of Azure, and address barriers to inclusion in the tech industry. Jessey shares her journey in assisting Dutch organizations to securely adopt cloud services and what ignited her passion for information security compliance. We explore Microsoft's emphasis on developing user-friendly security tools and discuss how cultural biases can hinder underrepresented groups. 

About this episode, and Jessey Johnson in particular: you can find Jessey on LinkedIn. 

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this special episode, Rick interviews Oscar. We talk about Oscar’s work at Virtual Vaults. For the people who don’t know, Oscar is the CTO of Virtual Vaults, a platform for M&A transactions. Mergers & Acquisitions, that is. We discuss the development of their SaaS platform, emphasizing security and compliance. Oscar highlights their focus on constant improvement through new features, evolving technologies, and an agile culture. He outlines their plans for the coming year, which include improving reliability, security, and developer experience through initiatives like moving to Azure Container Apps. We also cover topics like cloud adoption, software architectures, database choices, and lessons learned over the company's evolution.

About this episode, and Oscar van Tol in particular: you can find Oscar on @oscarvantol on X and GitHub. 

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Shay Rojansky. He is a Microsoft principal software engineer working on .NET data access and a performance member of the Entity Framework team. And he's a lead developer of Npgsql, the open source .NET data provider for PostgreSQL. We discuss various topics related to data and performance in .NET, such as the evolution of Entity Framework, debates on abstraction usage, database performance optimization, and breakthrough changes in software development. We share stories about improving performance for specific customer scenarios and benchmarking. Overall, we focus on gaining a full-stack understanding of software, using instrumentation to identify optimization opportunities, and emphasizing simple and accessible features over complexity.

About this episode, and Shay Rojansky in particular: you can find Shay on @shayrojansky on X and GitHub. Also, check out his website where you can read all his very interesting blogs.

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Sakari Nahi. He is responsible for the vision, brand, and quality of his company Zure. He is a Microsoft Regional Director and an Azure MVP. He has over twenty years of experience creating custom software and ten years of experience with Azure. He is the founder of the Finland Azure user group and a co-host at the Finnish podcast Ikkunastudio. They talk about the early days of Azure and public clouds, the evolution of services like Cosmos DB, and AI capabilities on Azure. Sakari shares some of his favorite features in Azure over the years. They also talk about the potential of AI and how it can help with productivity but may not replace developers' jobs.

About this episode, and Sakari Nahi in particular: you can find Sakari on @sakarinahi on X and LinkedIn. Also, check out his podcast Ikkunastudio, and the website of his company Zure.

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Gerben van de Wiel. He is a Principal Cloud Security Architect at Betabit, specializing in bolstering security through meticulous pen testing and detailed software assessments at YieldDD. Gerben's proficiency is not just limited to assessments; he is also adept at creating and conducting security-focused training programs to elevate the readiness to counteract cyber threats. They discuss Gerben's work in security assessments and training programs. They talk about how the cybersecurity landscape has changed over time, with more professional attackers and widespread ransomware attacks. Gerben describes the different types of security testing they perform such as white box testing using source code. They discuss challenges such as keeping up with new vulnerabilities and tools as the field changes rapidly.

About this episode, and Gerben van de Wiel in particular: you can find Gerben on GitHub and LinkedIn. Also, check out his many Betatalks videos in which he discusses even more security and development.

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we have a Christmas special. We talk with two very special guests, the hosts themselves. They look back at some of their favorite episodes from the past year, such as interviews with Jimmy Bogart about open source, Sarah Young about security, and Edward Keilholz about Azure Container Apps. They discuss how they enjoyed learning about topics outside their daily work and getting to know the people behind the technologies. 

We want to thank all our guests for an amazing year, and we hope to see you in 2024.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

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In this episode, we talk with Sherry List. She has worked with a variety of web technologies in the past and currently works as Senior Program Manager at Microsoft. Apart from her everyday job, she is chairperson of the board at Hack Your Future. She is also a co-founder of Synthetic AI Data and of the ngVikings and ngSpain conference, as well as some Meetups groups, such as ngCopenhagen, Women Techmakers Denmark and ForDevs. We talk about her work at Microsoft managing the Learn platform. They discuss how Learn brings together documentation, tutorials, Q&A, and the Architecture Center. Sherry also talks about her side projects - she is a co-founder of a startup called Synthetic AI Data that generates synthetic images to train AI models, and she is chairperson of HYF (Hack Your Future), an organization in Denmark that helps people from disadvantaged groups become web developers. We also dive into Sherry's motivations for helping others and the impact of her work.

About this episode, and Sherry List in particular: you can find @sherrrylst on X and LinkedIn. Also, check out HYF and her company website Synthetic AI Data.

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Rik Hepworth. He is a Chief Consulting Officer at Black Marble. That means his days are spent herding cats as he manages developers and consultants. He is proud to have been awarded Microsoft MVP in Azure since 2014 and he's been a Microsoft Regional Director since 2020. Passionate about community, Rik helps organise two community dev conferences in the UK and is a member of the central organising team for global Azure. We discuss the history and evolution of global Azure from an event focused on introducing people to Azure to one focused more on sharing knowledge and best practices. We talk about the challenges of running in-person events post-pandemic, like higher no-show rates and difficulties finding venues. We discuss the various ways people can get involved with global Azure, including organizing local events, speaking, attending, or sponsoring. The goal is to bring the Azure community together from around the world over three days to learn and share ideas.

About this episode, and Rik Hepworth in particular: you can find @rikhepworth on X and GitHub. Check out his website and read his blogs.

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Rudy Ooms. He is a Microsoft MVP and he has been working for Deltacom for 22 years as a Cloud Architect. He is also the owner of Call4Cloud. He does a lot of blogging and he might be the Intune engineering team’s worst enemy. We discuss endpoint security and device management with Intune. Rudy shares insights from his experience debugging Intune and finding bugs to report to Microsoft. We cover topics like Windows LAPS, Endpoint Privilege Management, declarative device management using desired state configuration, and services like MMPC that are improving how devices can be managed without requiring Azure AD join. We also dive into the future direction of Intune and related tools for securely managing devices in hybrid and cloud environments.

About this episode, and Rudy Ooms in particular: you can find Rudy on X @Mister_MDM & Reddit. Read all his interesting blogs and more on his website Call4Cloud. 

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel 

In this episode, we talk with Magnus Mårtensson. He is an entrepreneur, an MVP for Azure since the start of the cloud, and a Microsoft Regional Director. He is a consultant, architect, and product development lead, and he runs his own company Lofty Soft. As an international speaker, his passions include connecting with audiences and organizing conferences. We discuss Magnus' background working with Azure for many years and running community events like Global Azure. We talk about the early days of Azure and how it has evolved significantly over 15 years. We also dive into challenges large companies face in optimizing their cloud usage and developing a culture of automation. We touch on Magnus' consulting company Lofty Soft and how he helps customers optimize their cloud usage. We also cover the importance of physical wellness for those in sedentary jobs, and how Magnus uses a fitness tracker and activities like gardening and cooking to stay active.

About this episode, and Magnus Mårtensson in particular: you can find Magnus on Twitter @noopman & GitHub. Read all his interesting blogs on his website. And, don't forget to check out his company website Lofty Soft.

About Betatalks: have a look at our videos and join us on our Betatalks Discord channel