Azure Weekly Issue 86: 31st July 2016

Following on from the Cloud Platform Comparison poster we announced last week, we also have a companion Cloud Migration Poster. Many organisations struggle with the complexities of evaluating & executing different cloud migration strategies; our process looks at: drivers (business strategy, organisational readiness, stakeholders), constraints (risk & compliance, identity & security, data sovereignty, workload performance & scale, network, business value, and budget), enterprise architecture, solution architecture, service architecture, And how these all feed into the delivery plan which drives the service implementation, organisational change and legacy integration.

It also provides a set of Key Performance Indicators that can be used to measure the progress of the migration process, and contains a handy reference of Azure services. It's available for free under a Creative Commons license. We'd love to hear any feedback you have on this and any of our other posters.

On the endjin blog, James Broome covers Querying the VSTS Work Items API directly from Power BI.

Dinesh Murthy announces Azure Storage Node.js GA and Francis Yu shares a Microsoft Azure Storage Service version removal update.

Karan Batta reveals the Big Compute Product Team will be at Siggraph 2016, while Rakefet Galazan looks at Unified proactive diagnostics in Application Insights.

Finally Sunitha Muthukrishna announces that the EpiServer CMS is now in the Azure Marketplace, and Sarah Fender unveils that Azure Security Center is now generally available and proven to improve security.

AI + Machine Learning

Covering: Azure Batch AI, Azure Bot Service, Microsoft Genomics, Machine Learning services, Machine Learning Studio, Cognitive Services, Bing APIs, Computer Vision API, Content moderator, Custom Services, Emotion API, Face API, Language Understanding (LUIS), Linguistic Analysis API, QnA Maker API, Speaker Recognition API, Text Analytics API, Translator Speech API, Translator Text API, Web Language Model API

Analytics

Covering: Azure Databricks, HDInsight, Data Factory, Stream Analytics, Data Lake Analytics, Event Hubs, Power BI, Azure Analysis Services, Apache Spark for HDInsight, Apache Storm for HDInsight, R Server for HDInsight, Data Catalog

• On MSDN, Saveen Reddy (@saveenr) describes Introducing File and Folder ACLs for Azure Data Lake Store
• On the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Matt Matsui explains how to Give Predictive Analytics a Boost with the Human Touch
• On The R-Bloggers site, Bruno Rodrigues explains how to Merge a list of datasets together
• Also on The R-Bloggers site, Daniel Emaasit provides A Gallery of ggplot2 Extensions
• Also on The R-Bloggers site, David Smith (@revodavid) describes R moves up to 5th place in IEEE language rankings, covers R moves up to 5th place in IEEE language rankings and discusses R moves up to 5th place in IEEE language rankings
• Also on The R-Bloggers site, 'Placidia' explains how to Eclipse – an alternative to RStudio – part 2 and explains how to Eclipse – an alternative to RStudio – part 2
• Also on The R-Bloggers site, 'Riddhiman' discusses Plotcon 2016 – Speakers and topics in R and blogs about Plotcon 2016 – Speakers and topics in R
• Also on The R-Bloggers site, Sascha W. discusses Troubles with cell labels in mosaic plots and how to solve them.
• Also on The R-Bloggers site, Thinking Inside The Box discusses RcppGetconf 0.0.1
• On the GoorooTHINK blog, AUTHOR talks about The Most Common R&233sum&233 Errors—Dashes

Compute

Covering: Virtual Machines, Functions, Batch, Service Fabric, Virtual Machine Scale Sets, Cloud Services, Linux Virtual Machines, SAP HANA on Azure Large Instances

• On the endjin blog, Jess Panni (@JessPanni) discusses AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud Platform – Compute and discusses AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud Platform
• Richard M. Hicks covers DirectAccess Now a Supported Workload in Microsoft Azure
• On InfoQ, Irwin Williams discusses Microsoft Updates High Availability Guidance for Cloud Apps
• On the Azure blog, James Staten (@Staten7), Chief Strategist, Cloud + Enterprise, blogs about IaaS isnt your only path to outsized gains

Containers

Covering: Container Registry, Container Instances, Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Web App for Containers

Databases

Covering: Azure SQL Database, Azure Cosmos DB, SQL Data Warehouse, Redis Cache, SQL Server Stretch Database, SQL Server on virtual machines, Table storage, Azure Database for PostgreSQL, Azure Database for MySQL

Developer Tools

Covering: Visual Studio, Visual Studio Code, SDKs, Developer tool integrations, CLIs, Blockchain Workbench

DevOps

Covering: Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), Azure DevTest Labs, DevOps tool integrations, Azure DevOps Projects, Azure Lab Services

Identity

Covering: Azure Active Directory, Multi-factor Authentication, Azure Active Directory Domain Services, Azure Active Directory B2C

• On the Kloud blog, Darren Robinson (@darrenjrobinson) discusses Goodbye Set-MsolUser, Hello Set-AzureADUser & Azure Graph API
• Also on the Kloud blog, Simon Waight (@simonwaight) discusses Creating Azure AD B2C Service Principals with PowerShell
• John Savill (@NTFAQGuy) discusses Microsoft Announces Upcoming Release of New Authenticator App
• On the Unity site, AUTHOR describes Tonys Office 365 Snippets – July 29
• On the Azure blog, Swaroop Krishnamurthy announces that Azure Active Directory B2C is now generally available in North America
• Christos Matskas (@ChristosMatskas) discusses Copying blob data between storage accounts on Azure. Did you say scale part 1

Integration

Covering: Service Bus, Logic Apps, Event Grid

• Jon Gallant (@jongallant) describes Power BI Offering Index - A Complete List of all Power BI Products, Services and Developer Resources
• On InfoQ, Kent Weare covers Azure Premium Messaging Service Reaches General Availability
• On the Azure blog, Shubha Vijayasarathy delves into Service Bus and the new Azure portal
• James van Den Berg (@JamesvandenBerg) writes about What is Operations Management Suite OMS Video MSOMS Azure Sysctr Linux

Internet of Things

Covering: IoT Hub, IoT Suite, IoT Edge, IoT Central, IoT solution accelerators, Time Series Insights, Azure Maps, Azure Sphere

Management and Governance

Covering: Backup, Site Recovery, App Insights, Azure Advisor, Sceduler, Automation, Log Analytics, Azure Monitor, Security & Compliance, Protection & Recovery, Automation & Control, Insight & Analytics, Azure Service Health, Microsoft Azure portal, Azure Resource Manager, Cloud Shell, the Azure mobile app, Azure Policy, Cost Management, Azure Managed Applications

• Chris Webb (@Technitrain) writes about Happy First Birthday Power BI and covers Value.ResourceExpression And Query Folding In Power BI
• On the Kloud blog, Darren Robinson (@darrenjrobinson) writes about Simple reporting from the FIM/MIM Metaverse to PowerBI using the Lithnet FIM/MIM Sync Service PowerShell Module
• On Channel 9, Greg Duncan (@gduncan411) talks about Kinect + PC + Holographic Screen Awesome and VNTANA HOLLAGRAM
• Bill Zack (@WilliamHZack) writes about My Favorite Azure References
• On the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Carla Johnson describes How Does Your Customer Experience Measure Up
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Chris Trottier writes about Why Your Social Media Follower Counts Mean Zip
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Cmswire Staff writes about Why Oracle Spent $9.3B on NetSuite, More News
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Daniel Cohen-Dumani describes Microsoft Power BI: A Look Under the Hood
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com David Hillis discusses Spelling Out the Advantages of a Decoupled CMS
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com David Roe writes about Happy Birthday, Windows 10 My, How You've Grown and talks about Microsoft Follows in Gmail's Footsteps with Focused Inbox
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Dom Nicastro discusses Oracle Acquires NetSuite for $9.3 Billion and covers Looking Back: Small Strides Toward Better CX
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Erika Morphy talks about Online Ads Still Annoying Consumers and describes Twitter Numbers Disappoint But Oh, That Data
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Fabio Matsui describes How to Captivate Your Audience with an Interactive Video Wall
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Frank Palermo writes about Artificial Intelligence: There's Still Hope for the Human Race
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Gia Lyons discusses Navigating Digital Workplace Pitfalls
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com James Dellow describes The Digital Workplace Should Shape Up or Ship Out
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Jed Cawthorne writes about Your Digital Workplace Mid-Year Health Check
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Joe Shepley blogs about Presentation Tips That Skip the Software Dog and Pony Show
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Laurence Hart provides A Man Walks Into an Airport Bar ... A Tale of Poor Customer Experience
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Shana Smith lists the Top B2B Industry Events July 27 to Sept. 30, 2016
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Siobhan Fagan describes CMSWire Tweet Jam: Where Are We With CX Maturity cxmchat
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Virginia Backaitis blogs about LinkedIn Buys PointDrive to Raise Its Social Selling Play and writes about Will Dropbox Win Over IT with AdminX
• Jon Gallant (@jongallant) covers Fiddler Extension Development Tips, explains How to Automatically Email Yourself When You Like a Tweet with IFTTT.com and explains How to Save Open Live Writer Drafts to Dropbox or any other location
• On the MSSQL Tips site, AUTHOR describes SQL Server DBCC CHECKDB Overview, blogs about Transforming Cartesian Coordinates to Spherical Coordinates in SQL Server with T-SQL, writes about 6 Tips for Writing a Strong Cover Letter, blogs about Power BI Data Import and Export with Excel, blogs about ColumnStore Index Recommendations using SQL Server 2016 Upgrade Advisor, covers Altering lock escalation for SQL Server tables, describes Creating a SQL Server 2014 Linked Server for an Oracle 11g Database and covers Monitor SQL Server IDENTITY Column Values to Prevent Arithmetic Overflow Errors
• On The R-Bloggers site, Simon Jackson talks about Plot some variables against many others with tidyr and ggplot2
• Greg Low (@greglow) writes about Happy Birthday Power BI from all of us and writes about Happy Birthday Power BI from all of us
• Trevor Sullivan (@pcgeek86) covers Change Allocation Method for Azure Network Interface
• John Savill (@NTFAQGuy) blogs about View Fault and Update Domains in Azure Resource Manager
• On the Azure blog, Mike Gresley, Senior Program Manager - Application Insights, writes about New visual alerts added to Application Insights metric widget for VSTS dashboards and talks about Application Insights: Work item integration with GitHub
• Also on the Azure blog, Tejas Karmarkar announces that ANSYS CFD and Microsoft Azure perform best HPC scalability in the cloud
• On the GoorooTHINK blog, AUTHOR blogs about Introduction to Microsoft Dynamics AX AX 7 / Rainier.
• James van Den Berg (@JamesvandenBerg) describes Migrating Microsoft SQL Server Databases to Azure Guidelines

Media

Covering: Media services, Encoding, Live and On-Demand Streaming, Azure Media Player, Content Protection, Media Analytics, Video Indexer

Microsoft Azure Stack

Covering: Azure Stack

Migration

Covering: Azure Database Migration Service, Azure Migrate, Data Box

Mobile

Covering: App Service (Mobile), Notification Hubs, Mobile apps, API apps, Visual Studio App Centre, Xamarin

Networking

Covering: ExpressRoute, Azure DNS, Virtual Network, Traffic Manager, Load Balancer, VPN Gateway, Application Gateway, Network Watcher

• On the Azure blog, Christina Compy announces that Announcing Internal Load Balancer and Resource Manager VNet support

Security

Covering: Azure Information Protection, Key Vault, Security Center, Azure DDoS Protection, Azure Advanced Threat Protection

Storage

Covering: Storage, StorSimple, Data Lake Store, Blob Storage, Disk Storage, Managed Disks, Queue Storage, File Storage, Storage Explorer, Archive Storage

• On the MSSQL Tips site, AUTHOR covers Solutions for Azure SQL Database Throttle Log Wait of HADRTHROTTLELOGRATEGOVERNOR
• John Savill (@NTFAQGuy) writes about On-premises components required when using Azure Site Recovery with VMware
• On the Azure blog, Aditi Gangwar writes about Incremental backups on Microsoft Azure Backup: Save on long term storage

Web

Covering: App Service (Web), API Management, Content Delivery Network, Azure Search, Web apps, Azure SignalR Service

• On the Azure podcast, AUTHOR talks about Episode 137 - Live from Redmond
• On Channel 9, Greg Duncan (@gduncan411) talks about Coding4Fun July 2016 Round-Up
• Also on Channel 9, Greg Duncan Petri Wilhelmsen Shenchauhan talks about TWC9 in the Forest This Week On Channel 9
• Also on Channel 9, Scott Hanselman Seth Juarez talks about Exploring the Azure Service Profiler Azure Friday
• Also on Channel 9, Seth Juarez talks about Power BI Embedded with Josh Caplan
• On the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Derek Walter blogs about Speeding Mobile Checkout Can Save Sales
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Hyoun Park writes about Sorry to Say Marketers, But Pokemon Go is Shaping Your Future
• Also on the CMS Wire site, Prcmswire.com Lori Alcala covers Looking Back: IoT Growth and Struggles
• On the MSSQL Tips site, AUTHOR explains how to What's New in SQL Server Integration Services 2016 - Part 1
• On the .NET Curry blog, Subodh Sohoni (@subodhsohoni) covers Cross Platform Mobile Development in a Team using Xamarin, VSTS and Azure
• Scott Hanselman (@shanselman) talks about Exploring a minimal WebAPI with .NET Core and NancyFX
• Shahed C covers Azure Angelbeat
• On the Azure blog, Frank Weigel announces Azure Logic Apps general availability