About Christian Longstaff

Hi. I work for Microsoft Australia as the Azure Business Development Manager, helping partners grow their businesses with the Microsoft Cloud platform. I have been with the company for over 12 years in various partner facing, business development and technical marketing roles. This blog covers a variety of topics but I am especially interested in Partners adopting, selling, developing and supporting Microsoft Azure, but also any software, services and communities. I would love to hear from you if you have a great powered-by-Azure example, especially around Mobile, Social Media Apps or Websites. To contact me, please email christian dot longstaff at microsoft dot com

Summary of Azure Security Blog Posts

Hammad Rajjoub, an Architect Advisor in Singapore has collated this list of Azure security posts. Learn more at Global Foundation Services Online Security. The Global Foundation Services team delivers trustworthy, available online services that create a competitive advantage for you and for Microsoft’s Windows Azure.

Part 1: The Challenges, Defense in Depth. This post describes the threat landscape and introduces the plan for your application to employ defense in depth in partnership with Windows Azure.

Part 2: What Azure Provides Out-of-the-Box.This is an overview that security with Windows Azure is a shared responsibility, and Windows Azure provides your application with important security features. But then again, it also exposes other vulnerabilities that you should consider. In addition, I’ll explore how Microsoft approaches compliance.

Part 3: Identifying Your Security Frame. This post explores how you can examine your application and identify attack surfaces. The idea of a Security Frame is a way for you to look at your application to determine treats and your responses, before you even begin coding. He point you to checklists that you can use when you are architecting your application.

Part 4: What Else You Need to Do. In addition to protecting your application from threats, there are additional steps you should take when you deploy your application. We provide a list of mitigations that you should employ in your application development and deployment.

Part 5: Claims-Based Identity, Single Sign On. User identification represents the keys to accessing data and business processes in your application. In this section, I describe how you can separate user identity and the roles of your user out of your application and make it easier to create single sign on applications.

Part 6: How Azure Services Extends Your App Security. Finally, he shows how other services in Windows Azure provide secure identity mapping, messaging, and connection to on premises application. This section suggests how you can use Windows Azure Active Directory, Windows Azure Connect, and Service Bus for your cloud applications, on premises applications, and hybrid applications.

Part 7: Tips, Tools, Coding Best Practices. here are a few more items you should consider in securing your Windows Azure application. Here are some tools, coding tips, and best practices: running on the operating system, error handling, and how to access to Azure Storage

Moving from credit card to invoice payments

I have spoken to a few customers recently who have asked:

What’s the best way to purchase Windows Azure?

There are two ways to do this today.

  1. Pay-As-You-Go credit card payments
    this is a flexible way of paying for Azure without up front costs. There’s no long term commitment and you only pay for what you use.
  2. A subscription or invoice payments
    These come in 6, 12 and 36 month options with at least 20% discount for compute/database purchases and 39% for storage.

Visit http://www.windowsazure.com/en-us/pricing/purchase-options/ for more information and pricing.

I am a pay as you go customer paying by credit card. Can I move my account to a subscription?

“This option is available upon request and may require a credit review.  Most Microsoft Volume Licensing customers will not require a credit review and can have this ability enabled right away. Customers can contact OCP customer service directly to request this.”

If you have been through this process, please get in touch. I’m keen to understand what the process was like… was it easy? Hard? Any tips to share with others about to embark on the same process?

Windows Azure Training February 2012

Microsoft Partner, Breeze and their Integration Specialists will share with you some of their experiences helping customers maximise their existing investments as well as future scalability. Bring along your questions!

 

Title Description Date Registration Link
Introducing the Windows Azure Platform Cloud computing looks like the biggest change to hit our industry in many years. But taking advantage of the shift requires understanding this new approach and how to exploit it. In this presentation, we will look at the Windows Azure platform and what it means for organizations that create, use or sell software. The topics he covers include an overview of the Windows Azure platform, covering both technology and business model, and typical application scenarios for using it. The goal is to provide a foundation for thinking about the Windows Azure platform, then offer guidance on how to make good decisions for using it. Feb 13th
2-4 pm
Register
How the Cloud can help you integrate With the excitement of technology moving towards “the Cloud” come and learn exactly what this means to your business and how your development projects can leverage the Windows Azure Platform without re-architecting your environment. Should you invest in private cloud, move your application to the public cloud, choose a hybrid approach or keep the application on-premise?
Hear about Microsoft’s cloud strategy and computing platform ‘Azure’ and what this provides with scalable computing power and storage, as well as a number of other online services hosted on Microsoft datacentres.
Learn how to make this happen in the real world with measurable results. Integration Specialists will share with you some of their experiences in the field with helping customers maximise their existing investments as well as future scalability by utilizing the Azure platform with their integration development projects to date.
Feb 29th
9-11 am
Register
Inside Windows Azure, the Cloud Operating System Join the Session, for an under-the-hood tour of the internals of Microsoft’s new cloud OS. Topics include datacenter architecture, cloud OS architecture, and what goes on behind the scenes when you deploy a service, a machine fails or comes online and a role fails. Mar 12th
2-4 pm
Register
Ten Must-Have Tools for Windows Azure Any platform, by its own nature, creates an ecosystem for third-party tools and helpers. Windows Azure is no different. In this session we look at a variety of the third-party tools available in the Windows Azure ecosystem. Included are tools for both developers and IT professionals. We look at tools that will help manage storage and resources, migration, scaling, diagnostics and software components that will help you build cloud applications. April 3rd
2-4 pm
Register
Managing Windows Azure Applications So you just made your first Windows Azure deployment. Now what? Is it healthy? How many instances do you need? What will my bill be? When do I need to scale up? Was that a DoS attack? Will auto-patching break me? Getting an application into Windows Azure is the first step, now you have to run the application for the next three years. Come to this session and see how to manage and operate your Windows Azure applications. May 4th
2-4 pm
Register
Connecting Cloud and On-Premises Applications Using Windows Azure Virtual Network Windows Azure Virtual Network is a component of Windows Azure that enables customers to setup secure, IP-level network connectivity between their Windows Azure compute services and existing, on-premise resources. This eases enterprise adoption by allowing Windows Azure applications to leverage and integrate with a customer’s current infrastructure investments. For example, using the Windows Azure Virtual Network a customer can migrate a line-of-business application to Windows Azure that requires connectivity to an on-premise SQL Server database which is secured using Active Directory-based Windows Integrated Authentication. In this session, we will give an overview of Windows Azure Virtual Network’s functionality, discuss usage scenarios, and walk through the steps involved in setting up and managing a Virtual Network. June 8th
2-4 pm
Register

Imagine Cup Australia – no dream too big!

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From world hunger to disease to environmental change, our planet faces many challenges. But when met with imagination and ideas, obstacles turn into opportunities.

Imagine Cup is a global competition for student teams who combine inspiration with technology to tackle some of the world’s toughest problems. Every year, students come up with amazing solutions that use technology to improve education, help environmental sustainability, and reduce poverty and child mortality.

If you are a student, or know students, assemble your team together, put your thinking caps on and start imagining how you can help create a better future! Winning teams have a chance to share their ideas at the Imagine Cup 2012 Worldwide Finals right here in Australia and compete for cash grants and other prizes! The skills and experience you could gain while developing your ideas, the confidence that comes with presenting your innovations, and the access you get to influential business leaders could be life changing – as they’ve been for many previous contestants.

If you can imagine how technology could help solve the world’s toughest problems, it’s time to enter Imagine Cup 2012.

Kick-start your career by getting involved in The Imagine Cup 2012 today! REGISTER NOW

Aussie Comps: All you need is an idea at Round 1 – it’s that easy!

  • Game Design14 Feb (AEDT) – If you love gaming and exploring virtual worlds, why not have a shot at creating a game that will make a positive impact in the real world? By entering, you’ll learn the art of game design and take the first steps towards a career in game development. Round 1 submission deadline is 14 February 2012.
  • Software Design13 March (AEDT) – Unleash your ideas and technical talent to create cutting-edge software applications that can help make the world a better place. Get a team together and get cracking – round 1 submission deadline is 13 March 2012.

Online Challenges

Add Spending Limits For New Risk-Free Windows Azure Sign-Up

The new Windows Azure Trial accounts and MSDN Accounts are now completely risk-free given the institution of “spending limits”. By default all new trial accounts and newly provisioned MSDN benefits are created with a spending limit of $0. That means that if you exceed the monthly allotments of gratis services, your services will automatically be shut down and your storage placed in read-only mode until the next billing cycle. Then you can redeploy your services and take advantage of that month’s allotment (if any remains).

We do require you to enter a credit card (which helps verify your identity as a legitimate Azure users). But it will not be charged with the new default spending limit.

To see the steps, see Jim O’Neill’s post The New, Improved No-Risk Windows Azure Trial. He shows how you can sign up in just a few steps.

This is courtesy of the December release of Windows Azure has unveiled a new Windows Azure site and sign-up experience. In the past, one of the biggest concerns and roadblocks was that you could overspend on your free trial.

Introduction

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For the launch of Windows Azure in Australia, we hired a sky writer to write Azure in the skies above Sydney. Funnily enough, reading the Twitter stream, most people in the city thought it was a new brand of perfume being launched.

I had no idea at the time that I would be the new Partner Strategy & Marketing Manager driving Azure adoption amongst Australia’s partners. If you have, or planning to build a business on Azure, this blog is for you. I’ll include resources, things I learn being new to role and hopefully receive some feedback from you on what is going well and where we need to improve.