Information Technology Navigator

In today’s cloud-driven world, controlling cloud costs without sacrificing performance is a key challenge. Microsoft Azure FinOps (Financial Operations) is a framework that brings a strategic approach to managing cloud expenditures, transforming it from a guessing game into a structured process. For businesses utilizing Azure, learning FinOps fundamentals can unlock new cost-saving opportunities and enhance collaboration across finance, IT, and business teams.

Daymark Solutions’ comprehensive Azure FinOps workshop offers hands-on labs, expert-led discussions, and interactive exercises designed to teach critical cost management skills. Participants dive into rightsizing Azure resources, managing orphaned resources, and leveraging Azure’s unique cost-saving options like Azure Hybrid Benefit, Reserved Instances, and Azure Savings Plans. Each session balances theory with practical exercises to build a solid foundation for financial governance within Azure environments.

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Microsoft has recently issued some retirement notices that impact VM default internet access on Azure and Basic Public SKUs. While there is runway on both of these notices, Microsoft recommends planning all new deployments with these changes in mind. We at Daymark agree. Here’s a quick summary of the announcements:

Default Internet Access Retirement

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Government organizations today face an unprecedented need for innovation and efficiency. From delivering public services to safeguarding national security, the challenges are immense, and the stakes are high. This is where Microsoft's Azure for US government (Azure Government), a proven and trusted cloud for US government agencies, in conjunction with Azure OpenAI, can step in as a transformative force. In this blog post, I’ll explore why government agencies and organizations that support the government should be taking note of the capabilities and benefits of Azure Government with Azure OpenAI.

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There’s no doubt that Generative AI is an extremely disruptive technology, shaking up nearly all industries and rapidly being deployed in businesses today. For anyone paying even the slightest bit of attention to what’s happening in Generative AI, the recent hype surrounding OpenAI is impossible to ignore. GPTs (Generative Pre-Trained Transformers) are multimodal large language learning models that are essentially machine learning algorithms that respond to input with human-like text.

The enhancements in GPT-4 over the previous 3.5 version, such as image recognition, advanced reasoning, increased accuracy, and multilingual support, to name a few, are remarkable. The ability to handle increased complexity and understand nuanced instructions delivers dramatic results. OpenAI reports being able to create a functional website from a drawing on a piece of paper in minutes and scoring in or near the top 90^th percentile on standardized tests like the SAT, LSAT and GRE.

How to Leverage OpenAI, Including ChatGPT-4, Safely and with Scale:

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Microsoft’s Azure Virtual Machine (Classic) is approaching its full retirement date of September 1, 2023. "Classic" in IaaS VMs refers to VMs managed by Azure Service Manager (ASM). While ASM has full IaaS capabilities and many enhancements over the years, the management of IaaS VMs through Azure Service Manager was deprecated by Microsoft in February 2020. ASM is the old control plane of Azure, responsible for creating, managing, and deleting VMs as well as performing other control plane operations. It’s estimated that 10% of IaaS VMs are still using Azure ASM. Those organizations need to start planning their migration today, given that full retirement is less than three months away.

Impact of this Retirement Notice

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The popularity and wide adoption of Microsoft Azure public cloud has transformed the way millions of businesses operate. It provides a wide range of services where customers can choose to develop and scale applications in a “pay for what you use” model. Getting the most out of Azure in a cost-effective way requires technical acumen, attention to detail and strong organizational skills.

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Azure Sentinel is a cloud native Security Information Event Management (SIEM) and Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) solution from Microsoft. It was the topic of discussion at one of our recent Daymark Cloud Clinics where our technical cloud consultants offer complimentary technical training and tips on a wide range of Azure and Office 365 features.

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Given the current cyber threat landscape, protecting data has never been more critical. We’ve been helping organizations architect and deploy secure data center and cloud environments for over 20 years. We are a Microsoft Gold Partner, Tier 1 Microsoft Direct Cloud Service Provider and AOS-G, GCC and GCC High reseller. We have the proven expertise and technical certifications to design, implement and provide on-going support for highly customized secure enclaves or “greenfield” environments in Microsoft Azure, Azure Government, and Microsoft 365 Commercial and Government community clouds to meet compliance requirements of NIST 800-171 and CMMC 2.0. We can help your team jumpstart the adoption of a cloud platform with Microsoft 365 and Azure.

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Microsoft’s Azure Government has become a trusted cloud for US government agencies, contractors and the Defense Industrial Based (DIB), providing unified security to protect the nation's data, and solutions for secure remote collaboration. Microsoft’s Azure Government uses the same underlying technologies as Azure, which includes the core components of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The increased security is achieved because it is a physically isolated sovereign cloud environment dedicated to US federal, state, local, and tribal governments, and their partners. It provides an extra layer of protection to mission-critical workloads through contractual commitments regarding storage of customer data that is subject to various US government regulations such as Export Administration Regulations (EAR) and International Traffic in Arms (ITAR). Azure Government offers additional security by relying on screened US personnel.

Azure Government and CMMC

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