Kurt Shintaku's Blog

Building a Zero Trust Security framework with 20+ vendors has zero chance of success. This is why budgeting for Microsoft Defender XDR for Zero Trust Security must be at the forefront of a modern cybersecurity strategy for organizations of any size that are running Microsoft Windows or Office 365.

Microsoft Defender XDR allows you to consolidate over 27 security vendors into one integrated platform. That means one vendor for support calls, one single pane of glass to perform digital forensic analysis, and the entire suite is connected via the Microsoft Intelligent Security Graph. (Not to mention seamlessly built-in to the productivity suite that millions of you use every day.)

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Read more at the blog post:

• Budgeting For Microsoft Defender XDR And Zero Trust Security – Infused Innovations
  https://www.infusedinnovations.com/blog/secure-intelligent-workplace/budgeting-for-microsoft-defender-xdr-and-zero-trust-security

If you’re using Microsoft Sentinel and are interested in saving on ingestion & storage costs for log data, this 15min video may be just what you need to see:

In this episode, we talk to Julian Gonzalez about several new features that provide cheaper ways to ingest and retain your data in Microsoft Sentinel. For more information visit:

Blog post:
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sentinel-blog/ingest-archive-search-and-restore-data-in-microsoft-sentinel/ba-p/3195126

FAQ:
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-sentinel-blog/faq-search-basic-ingestion-archive-and-data-restoration/ba-p/3205600

View the video here:

• Ingest and retain your data at cheaper rates – Microsoft Sentinel in the Field #5
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cX6NL_s5P_w&feature=youtu.be

In the fifth annual Barron’s ranking of America’s Most Sustainable Companies, shares of the 100 companies on out list returned 34.4% on averages, in 2021, besting the S&P 500 index’s 28.7%.  Overall 47 of the companies beat the index.

Microsoft jumped up to #35 for 2022, rising from #75 last year.

• NEWS: Barron’s 100 Most Sustainable Companies
  https://webreprints.djreprints.com/58833.html

I joined Microsoft in 1995 (Los Angeles) but I actually interviewed for positions in 1989 (Redmond) & 1992 (Irvine) coming out of high school & college respectively. Each involved 6 interviews & lasted all day & while my persistence was what eventually got me into Microsoft, I kinda always wondered what would have happened had I’d gotten one of the other jobs I interviewed for.

I stole the following guidance from Microsoft’s South Regional VP Mary Carol Alexander because it was so good. I wish these resources had been around in the late 80’s.

Calling all soon or recent graduates… sharing some awesome resources if you’re interested in a career with Microsoft. I made the leap 7 years ago and always wish I had done it sooner.

• Attend an upcoming Microsoft Virtual Recruiting Event: https://lnkd.in/dnS2vZ-S
• Leverage prep resources such as How to prepare for Microsoft technical interviews: https://lnkd.in/dqmdTW8z and Resume and Personal Branding Workshop: https://lnkd.in/d89YU5m6
• Connect with recruiters via our Microsoft University Recruiting LinkedIn Group: https://lnkd.in/dnk_2YGY
• LinkedIn Student Profile Checklist from our partners at LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/dfE4f7dB
• Ultimately students who are interested in career opportunities at MSFT should start here Students and Graduates at Microsoft: https://lnkd.in/dbg-p3_3 and for info on specific programs and opportunities in the US, they can look here: https://lnkd.in/dp5JkVrn

From Mark Kashman:

Here is the deck used to present the "What’s new for File Experiences in OneDrive, SharePoint, and MicrosoftTeams in @Microsoft365" – session (MS37) this week in Vegas:

1. File Experiences in Microsoft 365 (Windows, Teams, MacOS, Web)
2. Collaboration (Year of Sharing, Teams meeting recordings)
3. Compliance & Protection (Sync Admin, Reports updates, Sync Ideal State in Windows 365)

• DOWNLOAD: “What’s New for File Experiences in OneDrive, SharePoint & Microsoft Teams”
  https://aka.ms/M365Conf/OneDriveFiles

We often asked the question:

“Why’d we call it Cloud PC? Why not just call it VDI?”

The reason is simple: There are some amazing new features that differentiate Windows 365 Cloud PCs from legacy VDI solutions:

Windows 365 is now in a category of its own with:

• Windows 365 app, providing a direct path to Windows 365 from the Task Bar or Start menu with a personal, customized experience that can be tailored to each individual.
• Windows 365 Switch providing the ability to easily move between the Cloud PC and the local desktop using familiar keyboard commands, as well as a mouse-click or a swipe gesture
• Windows 365 Boot enabling you to log directly into your Cloud PC and designate it as the primary Windows experience on the device. This is a great solution for shared devices, where logging in with a unique user identity takes you to your own personal and secure Cloud PC
• Windows 365 Offline, which will enable work in Windows 365 even when disconnected. When connectivity is restored, the Cloud PC will automatically resync with the service without data loss, so your experience and workflow are persistent.

Read more here:

• What’s next in Windows 365 for hybrid work
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/windows-it-pro-blog/what-s-next-in-windows-365-for-hybrid-work/ba-p/3276122

Learn how to build modern chatbot services using Microsoft Power Virtual Agents.

Register for a free event:

https://events.microsoft.com/en-us/allevents/?search=Power%20Virtual%20Agents%20in%20a%20Day&language=English&clientTimeZone=1&startTime=08:00&endTime=17:00

For individuals looking to bring back many aspects of the Windows 10 user interface that were removed in Windows 11, ExplorerPatcher is a 3rd party project designed to do that just that.

One of the features that ExplorerPatcher brings back is the classic TaskBar.  People that preferred things like:

• Individual (uncompressed) program icons
• Right mouse click to access Task Manager

…will find it returned with ExplorerPatcher.

• ExplorerPatcher: This project aims to bring back a productive working environment on Windows 11
  https://github.com/valinet/ExplorerPatcher

Enterprise Agreement customers now have a great way to run their development and testing workloads on Azure, with numerous advantages:

• Ideal for teams, multiple subscriptions allowed
• Access to Dev/Test images in the Gallery, including Windows 8.1 and Windows 10
• Special lower Dev/Test rates on Windows Virtual Machines, Cloud Services, SQL Database, SQL Managed Instance, HDInsight, App Service (Basic, Standard, Premium v2, Premium v3) and Logic Apps
• Additional savings with Reservations for one-year or three-year commitment on VMs, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance
• Same great EA rates on other Azure services
• Centralized management via the Azure Enterprise Portal
• No separate payment—just use the funds already on your Enterprise Agreement

Only active Visual Studio subscribers with standard subscriptions can use the Azure resources running within an Enterprise Dev/Test subscription, though end users can also access the application to provide feedback or perform acceptance tests. Use of resources within this subscription is restricted to developing and testing applications, and no uptime guarantee is offered.

• Enterprise Dev/Test | Microsoft Azure
  https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/offers/ms-azr-0148p/ 
• Creating Enterprise Azure Dev/Test subscriptions
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devtest/offer/quickstart-create-enterprise-devtest-subscriptions

The annual SQL Server conference, “PASS Summit” is back in Seattle!

This year’s PASS Data Community Summit is more than a conference – it’s a homecoming. Reconnect with old friends, build new relationships, gain new skills, and get the world-class training you need to take that next step in your data career.

Summit will be taking place online and in-person in Seattle from November 15-18, 2022, so register today and get inspired by your global data community!

Register here!

• PASS Data Community Summit November 15-18 2022
  https://passdatacommunitysummit.com/