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SCOM Service Account Password Freedom at Last
Microsoft System Center Operations Manager (MOM and SCOM) administrators have for almost two decades needed to manage up to four (4) domain service accounts requiring passwords. A feature called Group Managed Service Accounts (gMSA) introduced in Windows Server 2012 is now supported by SCOM 2019 with its latest update (UR1). Converting existing SCOM 2019 instances […]
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Using Azure Sentinel: How much does it cost?
Microsoft’s cloud-based SIEM, Azure Sentinel, achieved general availability (GA) on 9/24/2019. Two previous articles Azure Sentinel: New Microsoft SIEM almost free to trial and Azure Sentinel updates: New Data Connector UX, AWS live, CyberArk coming walked through the Azure Sentinel basics and evolution during it’s almost 9 month preview period. Now that the product is […]
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Windows 10 platform: Getting value from Microsoft Stores for Business and Education
As many enterprises nearly complete their migrations to Windows 10, IT pros are turning their attention to optimizing the Windows 10 platform. One of the Windows 10 features that organizations can leverage is the Windows 10 user experience including interacting with the Microsoft Store…applications downloaded from the store install quickly, and automatically update from the […]
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Azure Sentinel updates: New Data Connector UX, AWS live, CyberArk coming
With little fanfare earlier this month, Microsoft released a significant UX (user experience) update to the Data Connectors component of Azure Sentinel, their new flagship cloud-based SIEM: Connect Data Sources to Azure Sentinel. Read more about the Sentinel Preview in my previous article. The new connector selection and configuration features are a big improvement and […]
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Azure Sentinel: New Microsoft SIEM almost free to trial
2019 is the year to invest in learning about Azure Sentinel. A key reason: during the Public Preview period Azure Sentinel services are provided at no extra charge. The economic motivation: popular cloud-based Enterprise SIEM services (Security information and event management) are among the most expensive and business critical cloud services large and high-value organizations […]
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Speaking at MMS 2019
I’m leaving tomorrow for Minneapolis to speak at the Midwest Management Summit in the Mall of America next week. I will be co-presenting at 3 breakout sessions and co-hosting a panel session. In order when they appear in the schedule, here are my sessions: Tuesday, May 7 • 12:00pm – 12:45pmNerds of a Feather – […]
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SCOM 2019: Fast track setup on an Azure VM
The newest release of System Center Operations Manager, SCOM 2019, recently became available to install and evaluate in March 2019. Microsoft continues to invest in the System Center product line and SCOM 2019 is a nice delivery of improved performance and new features. The most significant updates to SCOM seem to be in the hybrid […]
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WHITE PAPER: Automatic Remediation Tasks in the Hybrid Environment
Azure and SCOM solutions detailed and compared Situation: You have an Azure VM running Windows Server hosting a high-value website. You need to do two things: (1) monitor that the website is running, and (2) if the site is discovered to be stopped, you want to send a start command to the website. Tools available: […]
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Connect your firewall to Azure Log Analytics for security insights
A real-world practical deep dive into creating a simple but valuable custom solution in Azure Log Analytics. The focus is hooking up a common and popular firewall product from Fortinet, Inc. with an Azure Log Analytics workspace to gain insight and affect control into the Internet traffic through the firewall. This article is for organizations […]
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No-cost analytics accelerate successful upgrade to Windows 10
Do you need a plan to upgrade perhaps thousands of client computers to Windows 10 in the next year? Microsoft makes available an enormously useful Azure-based tool to help organizations plan a Windows 10 migration that is free to use in most scenarios: Upgrade Readiness. Why it’s important: Many organizations must execute Windows 7 upgrades […]