Taking your Azure skills from “Zero to Hero”

Everyone has a pace and approach to learning, whether it’s reading, watching, listening, or utilizing hands-on labs to build those necessary skills and keep them honed. From personal experience (even with a busy family of four), I can assure you that spending anywhere from 15-60 minutes each day will do wonders for your understanding of Azure, and keeps you in the know while this fast-paced daily cloud platform advances! I hope that some (or all) of the tips below will help you grow wherever you are in your cloud adoption and learning journey!

Blogs:

https://aka.ms/LastWeek (A Microsoft blog that covers announcements from the previous week)
http://aka.ms/azure-learning
Azure MVP Thomas Thornton: https://thomasthornton.cloud/
Azure MVP Gregor Suttie: https://gregorsuttie.com/
Azure MVP Richard Hooper: https://pixelrobots.co.uk/
https://buildazure.com/
http://azureweekly.info/

Podcasts:

The Azure Podcast: http://azpodcast.azurewebsites.net/
This is always loaded up on my iPhone: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/videos/azure-friday/
https://channel9.msdn.com/Shows/Tuesdays-With-Corey

Learning Paths and Labs:

First and foremost, if you don’t already have an Azure/Microsoft Account that is tied to Azure, follow the details here to avoid any unnecessary charges (including a first month $200 on-the-house bonus): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/billing/billing-avoid-charges-free-account. I also strive to spend at least 15-60 minutes a day reading up on new features, preview features, and things that I don’t yet know just to stay fresh on Azure – it’s a time commitment that I’m hoping will pay off very soon!

Resource links:

Azure Blog: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/
Azure Updates (my favorite resource, which now includes the roadmap): https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/
Azure Getting started: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/index?view=azure-cli-latest#pivot=get-started
Azure Resource Manager: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/features/resource-manager/
ARM templates and JSON (must know for Azure): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-resource-manager/resource-group-authoring-templates AND https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/templates/
Azure Architecture (pay special attention to the “purple” balloons in Docs, as this is the information you will definitely need to know): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/index?view=azure-cli-latest#pivot=architecture AND https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/architecture/guide/
Azure Hybrid Use Benefit (huge savings for clients/customers): https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/hybrid-benefit/
Azure LogAnalytics and Azure Monitor (another favorite tech space in Azure): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/log-analytics/log-analytics-queries
Azure Policy (including Management Groups and Blueprints, two of the very coolest newly released features): https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/azure-policy/

Quick (must know) links:

Cool and valuable tools:

Comprehensive list of all Azure Services (Yes, I have clicked on each one of these, and have at least read 5-10 minutes worth of each feature – no lie, it’s time consuming but worth the price of admission): https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/
Azure Pricing Calculator: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/calculator/
Azure Storage Explorer: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/features/storage-explorer/
Azure CLI: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cli/azure/install-azure-cli?view=azure-cli-latest
Azure Explorer from RedGate: https://www.red-gate.com/products/azure-development/azure-explorer/index
Azure Heat Map: https://azurecharts.com/?vm=aue
Azure Speed test: http://azurespeedtest.azurewebsites.net/
AppService migration assistant: https://www.movemetothecloud.net/
Azure Mobile App to keep resources at bay when on the road: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/features/azure-portal/mobile-app/
Project Kudu as part of Azure AppService: https://github.com/projectkudu/kudu
Azure Migration and Assessment tools: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/migration/assess/#tools
Azure Cost Management (Cloudyn acquisition): https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/cost-management/

Training links:

Free Pluralsight training: https://www.pluralsight.com/partners/microsoft/azure?aid=7010a000001xDURAA2
MS Learn (one of my favorites, as it’s now immersive and live lab-driven): https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/
Udemy, which is dirt cheap this time of year for around $10/course: https://www.udemy.com/the-complete-walkthrough-of-microsoft-azure-services/ AND https://www.udemy.com/getting-started-with-microsoft-azure/

Email Channels:

Azure Newsletter: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/community/newsletter/subscribe/

Note that this is just a primer of tools and locations that have helped me on my learning journey to and through Microsoft Azure – as always, your mileage may vary and you may find additional resources that are just as (or even more) valuable than what has been posted here. I will continue to review this list to update resources as they become available, or become deprecated, so that we learn together as a community of “Azure heroes”! Hope that this helps you all on your own journeys!