Top 10 resources I use to keep up to date with new innovations on the Azure Platform

Guest post by Rachel Peck, Partner Business Evangelist, Microsoft Australia

On average, new functionality and innovations are released on the Microsoft Azure platform every 36 hours. Trying to keep abreast of all these new innovations is hard, and when you add to that the complexity of everyone's individual learning preferences, there isn't a "one size fits all" answer to keeping up to date.

Top 10 resources I use to keep up to date with new innovations on the Azure Platform:

  1. Microsoft Azure Blog
  • My first point of call for all new announcements, product team points of view, insights and guides. This lands as an RSS feed on a daily basis in my inbox
    https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/blog/
  1. Microsoft Azure Services Updates
  1. Microsoft Azure Roadmap
  • This product roadmap is the place to find out what's new, and what's coming next. I know a lot of partners use this before they build out any of their own IP. You can also subscribe to notifications, so you'll always be the in the know
    https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/roadmap/
  1. Microsoft Azure Feedback Forum
  1. Microsoft Azure YouTube Video Channel
  • Short sharp videos on Azure services, customers, and partners. From quick introductions to detailed "How to?" guides. I use this to get the 101 on any of the New Azure services.
    https://www.youtube.com/microsoftazure
  1. Microsoft Azure Podcast
  • Short Podcasts on Azure covering a weekly roundup of announcements, and then a drill down into a specific service or feature. The podcast is released weekly, and it has a mixture of Microsoft, Customer and partner contributors. As an avid runner, I use these to clock up the miles, and learn at the same time.
    https://azpodcast.azurewebsites.net/
  1. Microsoft Azure Newsletter
  1. Endjin Azure Weekly newsletter
  • It's not just Microsoft issuing great content. Azure Weekly hits my inbox on a Monday morning, and it provides a great summary of the week's top news in the Microsoft Azure ecosystem. Created by Microsoft Gold Cloud Platform partner Endjin (https://endjin.com/), it's aimed at developers, architects, IT Managers, infrastructure folk, or anyone trying to keep on top of the latest Azure developments.
    https://azureweekly.info/
  1. Microsoft Azure Advisors
  • With Azure Advisors, you can learn about new product updates early, and influence the design and functionality. This is a private engineering feedback community for organizations that want a direct relationship with the engineering teams behind the Azure. It is designed to facilitate the exchange of feedback, ideas and best practices between engineers.
    Microsoft Azure Advisory Council
  1. Use your FREE Azure time to discover New Azure Services