Networking Planet - IT Solutions

     Hybrid cloud models provide organizations with an opportunity to leverage cloud resources without going all in right from the start. Many companies today have extensive technical infrastructures that are hosted mainly on-premises or in a private cloud. With a hybrid cloud model these existing resources can be extended with public cloud hosted services without a large-scale migration project. These services can provide improved management, security, and intelligence to a wide range of resources. In this post I will cover a few key areas where Azure services can provide immense value in a hybrid model.      Management Services: Azure provides several services that allow organizations to manage all of their resources in a central location. One of the main services offered is Azure Monitor, which can connect to cloud or on-premises environments to provide insights on the performance and identify any potential issues with the connected resources. Another...

     Power Automate is an innovative service that allows low-code implementation of automated processes for a variety of tasks. These processes can connect to nearly any data source through prebuilt connectors or publicly available APIs. Power Automate also provides a large set of prebuilt templates that can be implemented out-of-the-box for common automation tasks. In this post I will highlight some of the latest updates that make Power Automate so valuable.      Unstructured Document Processing: Using Power Automate and AI Builder documents of nearly any kind can be parsed and processed without human intervention after set up. By simply providing the model with a few samples and training it on what data to record you can have a fully operational processor in no time. The model supports documents in over 150 languages and can even process handwritten text. While only in preview, Feedback Loop is a tool included that allows documents to be selected to re...

       As several legacy systems, including SQL and Windows Server 2012, reach their end of support it is essential to consider how a cloud modernization project could benefit your organization. Cloud migrations may seem like a daunting task, but they can provide immense value and with the help of a trusted partner can be implemented very efficiently. When migrating your workloads to the cloud there are several options that allow you to tailor your solution to achieve maximal value. Some of the greatest benefits you can expect when leveraging cloud resources include:      Hybrid Cloud Models: When first modernizing your workloads it may not be prudent to move all of your assets at once. Luckily, Azure provides several methods of leveraging cloud benefits without going all or nothing. With services such as Azure Arc and Azure Stack you can extend the capabilities of existing resources to take advantage of cloud benefits like scalability, security, an...

     Many companies today have critical assets spanned across data centers, clouds, and on-premises environments. Managing all of these moving parts can become complex, time-consuming, and labor intensive very rapidly. Companies with similar infrastructures can greatly benefit from Azure Arc and its ability manage these various resources in a centralized and cohesive solution. As Microsoft Ignite 2022 took place last month there were several updates and added functionalities announced for a wide range of products and services. In this post, I’ll provide an overview of a few features that I believe bring tremendous value to Azure Arc. Azure Automanage      Automanage is a brand-new feature, available for use now, that assists in configuration and management of Arc-enabled servers and Azure VMs through the use of automation. To use Automanage the user defines a configuration profile in the Azure Portal that entails rules to be applied across all included ...

      Model-driven apps are built based on data models stored only in Dataverse. These apps are relatively similar in functionality but will differ based on the data model specific to your company. Though model-driven apps provide less flexibility than canvas apps they allow for rapid development, simple migration between environments, and many tedious features such as screen sizing are handled automatically. Once your data model is fully defined you are able to add several components and functionalities to make the app as simple or complex as you would like. The rapid development ability of model-driven apps allows you to go from an idea to a valuable asset in no time fostering a new wave of innovation. Some best practices to adhere to when creating model-driven apps include:         Distributing as Part of a Solution: A solution will allow for the app to be seamlessly transferred across environments by packaging the app into a zip file be...

Canvas Apps use a drag and drop style interface along with Power Fx expressions to provide developers full freedom in regard to data source connections, navigation, controls, and overall UI/UX. With Canvas apps you are able to access data from any source using connectors for cloud-based sources, and gateways for on-premises data that you would like to integrate. For any source that does not have a prebuilt connector you are able to build one and integrate that data into your app. Canvas apps are best suited for situations where you need complete control of the functionality, and your data is stored in an external source not in Dataverse. A huge benefit of canvas apps is that the license comes free with a range of other Microsoft services, less licensing needs directly translates to less administrative tasks and lower costs. Best practices to keep in mind when building your canvas app include: ·         Limiting Data Connections and Controls: No more...

     The importance of security cannot be understated especially when working with apps that contain business critical and confidential information. Ensuring the security of your data while being able to utilize it in a robust application can provide near limitless value to your organization. The threat of being hacked is present at all times and will continue to grow as time goes on. Microsoft and the Power Platform provide many security mechanisms by default, but in order to take full advantage and handle any missing pieces these areas must be considered: ·    Environments: By default, all users will be added to the Environment Maker role of the default environment in Power Apps. This can allow users to obtain information and permissions that were inadvertent.   Consider creating separate environments and assigning roles only as necessary to ensure no additional permissions are assigned to people that should not have that access. Using the Zero Trust p...