Meet a recent Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador graduate: Jason Chee

Meet a recent Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador graduate: Jason Chee

by | Jul 8, 2022 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

This is the next segment of our blog series highlighting Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors who achieved the Gold milestone and have recently graduated from university. Each blog in the series features a different student and highlights their accomplishments, their experience with the Student Ambassador community, and what they’re up to now. 


  


Today we meet Jason Chee who is from Singapore and recently graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Computing (Honors) degree in Computer Science and a Minor in Communications and New Media.


 


20220223 - FrontHAUS Photoshoot 2.jpg


 


Responses have been edited for clarity and length.  


 


How has the Student Ambassador community impacted you?


I initially joined the community in July 2012 when it was the Microsoft Student Partners program while I was in Junior College.  I focused on developing Microsoft technologies to the detriment of my studies, but after interning at Microsoft Singapore in the Developer and Platform Evangelism (DPE) Group as a Program Lead for the local charter of Microsoft Student Partners, I pursued further studies at my current university and rejoined the Student Ambassador community in August 2018.


 


The community holds a dear place in my heart because it played a tremendous role in shaping where I am today. The majority of the DPE team were predominantly ex-Student Partners. The culture this created meant the Student Partner/Student Ambassador network in Singapore was extremely strong with great opportunities to work for or with Microsoft. To this day, many of these people are still in contact. We have formed startups together and still very much keep in contact with the DPE team of the past, even though none of them still work for Microsoft.


 


Ultimately, it was the idea of a community passionate about technology that enthralled me. This was a group of like-minded people who aimed to make the world a better place through technology and have fun while doing it.


 


 


In a unique element to myself, this community is what set me on a path traditionally seen as less successful locally, but one I excelled in. I witnessed firsthand how the combined strengths and wisdom from the local Student Partners came together with Microsoft Singapore’s backing to give aspiring developers the opportunities they could otherwise not afford or come to know of. This is what I wanted to cultivate in my time as a Program Lead.


 


What were the accomplishments that you’re the proudest of and why?


Overseeing 350 Microsoft Student Partners during my time as Program Lead would be my highlight. Creating this network was an absolute joy and has paid off as the strong friendships and professional connections this cultivated are a sight to behold.  We ran extremely popular and successful events throughout the campuses such as one called Campus Surprise, a collaboration between various departments at Microsoft — DX, Education, Philanthropies, and Xbox. It was a roadshow event we ran simultaneously across every institute of higher learning in Singapore, showcasing the very best of Microsoft technologies and onboarding students to Office 365 and Microsoft Azure. Each segment of Microsoft Student Partners had free reign to craft the event. One institution even ran an Escape Room challenge to bring in visitors.


 


I was the Microsoft Student Partner of the Year in 2015. Out of 9,000 Student Partners globally, I was one of the few selected to attend the Student Partner Summit in Redmond, where I received the title for my contributions to the program and because of the success of the Singapore charter.


 


What are you doing now that you’ve graduated? 


I founded a startup with two other ex-Student Partners/Student Ambassadors. We run an events-tech company called FrontHAUS, a play on the term “front of house” which is essentially the ticketing booth. Our company focuses on next generation ticketing experiences and the transformation of traditional events into a digital or hybrid format.


 


We also run a company called HelloHolo, an official Mixed Reality partner for Microsoft that brings in MR/VR/AR technologies such as the Microsoft HoloLens to the local market and builds solutions for them.


 


If you could redo your time as a Student Ambassador, is there anything you would have done differently? 


I think it is important to live life in the forward direction without regrets. I am proud to say that there is nothing I would have done differently in my time in Microsoft Student Partners and Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors.  I did everything in my power to ensure its continued survival.


 


If you were to describe the community to a student who is interested in joining, what would you say about it to convince him or her to join? 


The community truly provides one with the tools they need to learn more about Microsoft technologies and get ahead of their peers in terms of premier tools and certifications. It also comes with an enormous global network of like-minded people.


 


What advice would you give to new Student Ambassadors? 


Learn as much as you can, do as much as you can, and above all, connect with as many people as you can.


 


What is your motto in life, your guiding principle? 


Celebrate others’ success often and know that it does not diminish your own.


What is one random fact about you that few people are aware of? 


I am terrible at math. I never viewed programming as a science or math puzzle and have always viewed it as a language. In that sense, I am more of an “arts” student compared to a “science” / STEM student and therefore am an avid patron of the arts. I seek out musicals and theater when I can, and love absolutely anything Disney.


 

 

 


_________________________________________________________________________________________


 


Good luck to you in all your endeavors, Jason!


 


Readers, you can find Jason on LinkedIn.


 


 


 

Newest Poll – Shaping our products for Government organizations

by | Jul 7, 2022 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Microsoft is looking to understand employee experience sentiment in government organizations. Fill out our quick poll question below to help shape our products! Microsoft would love to hear from you! Which answer best fits you?


 


 


https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=v4j5cvGGr0GRqy180BHbR0Hi6pBULXhKuqk2vjrgjgxUOFBEN0pGODlFVkY0SVJJWTQ4RzZTRlRYRy4u&embed=true


 


* Please take a few minutes to complete our survey. Please ensure you are authorized to provide this information and not violating any company policies. Your responses will be kept confidential with restricted access. For more information, see the Microsoft Privacy Statement. If you have questions about this survey, please contact TechCommunity@microsoft.com 

How has Microsoft training and certification impacted your career?

by | Jul 6, 2022 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Microsoft invites you to participate in the annual IT Skills and Salary Survey led by Skillsoft. The Microsoft community have been strong supporters of the annual IT Skills and Salary Survey by Skillsoft for over eight years. If you’ve taken any Microsoft training or earned a Microsoft fundamentals, role-based, or specialty certification, we want you to represent Microsoft. 


 


Here are some key themes from the Skillsoft 2021 IT Skills and Salary Report, which will be available to download here. 



  • IT salaries continue to increase. 

  • IT values certifications. 

  • Certifications deliver value to organizations and employees. 

  • The skills gap remains a critical challenge. 

  • Investing in employee development can close skills gaps and help retain top talent. 

  • For the second year in a row, Cloud and Cybersecurity skills are the most in-demand, as IT decision-makers continue to struggle to hire in these areas.  

  • Once again, Microsoft holds the number one position in our top ten areas of focus for IT departments. 


 


All contributions collected in the survey are confidential and will offer insight into industry salaries, in-demand certifications, skill gaps, and the existing career landscape. Survey results help generate an annual report used by industry insiders, hiring managers, and IT professionals. Please help us contribute and take the 15-25 minute survey by 11:59 ET on Sunday, July 31, 2022. Don’t forget to invite your IT colleagues and communities to complete it as well!  


 


At the end of the survey, participants who request an advanced copy of the 2022 report before it’s published will be automatically entered to win a $100 gift card from Skillsoft. 


 


Take the IT Skills and Salary Survey now. 

How to build a modern field service organization

How to build a modern field service organization

by | Jul 6, 2022 | Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Field service organizations have traditionally operated under the break-fix modelthat is, responding to a device failure after the customer reports an issue. This operating model has grown antiquated due to rising costs and inefficiencies in labor and operations. It is also proving less than effective in satisfying the customer’s growing expectations.

The field service industry is evolving quickly in new and exciting directions with cutting-edge technology continuing to enter the arena. These innovations in technology and workflows are helping to transform field service by providing customers optimal device uptime, along with greater visibility, efficiency, and profitability. The evolution of field service includes automation, AI, new learning tools, and mixed reality to help technicians achieve success.  

The ability to capture, digest, and derive actionable insights from data is critical in modernizing a field service organization. Intelligent, predictive systems driven by AI can automate time-consuming manual tasks like collecting data, diagnosing problems, and identifying the best solution to resolve an issue. AI can optimize resource management, empower field teams through mixed reality and mobilization, and can improve customer service with proactive and predictive service. In short, AI is providing organizations the ability to optimize the delivery of field service.

While service organizations lay frameworks of sensors and solutions to capture data across every facet of their organization, AI and machine learning represent the next steps that organizations are taking to leverage the value of the captured information. The ultimate goal is to transition from a reactive, break-fix service model to one that is proactive and predictive, achieving a near constant uptime. 

One organization leveraging mixed reality and field service is Burckhardt Compression. The leading global compressor company adopted Microsoft Dynamics 365 Remote Assist and Dynamics 365 Field Service so that engineers can quickly collaborate with ship technicians in remote locations and provide specialized mechanical expertise. They successfully reduced costs, decreased its carbon footprint, and can now respond to customer needs in mere minutes instead of days.

Improve the customer experience

Field service customers need stability and reliability in their businesses. They want visibility into their assets and need to minimize downtime when breakdowns occur.

Prior to AI-empowered systems, the customer would have to actively reach out to report that the device had failed. Depending on the type of failure, work using the device could be slowed or blocked for days or weeks until a technician could complete the repairs. Without intelligent support, the technician may need to return for follow-up visits, unnecessarily wasting both time and money.

AI allows for automated, remote self-healing and predictive forecasting, monitoring, and analyzing connected devices for potential issues. If one is identified, the system can remotely attempt to resolve problems through self-healing processes, like having the device restart itself during an off-time to mitigate an overheating failure. Using historical device data and predictive analytics, the system might make a recommendation to schedule a technician site visit to head off future problems, notifying the customer of the work order. The customer could then plan around the scheduled downtime and even track the technician’s arrival to the appointment in real-time.

During the visit, using recommendations from the system, the technician would be able to discuss additional products and services with the customer that meet their specific usage and operating needs. Ultimately, the customer gains more control over their assets, and the field service organization is empowered to provide improved service delivery capabilities.

Increase technician productivity

To be the most effective and prevent costly return visits, technicians must have complete access to the information and real-time guidance they need. The technician could utilize a digital twin of the device to learn about its status and operating condition, and to train on the particular problem that requires repair. AI’s cognitive capabilities can even help optimize repairs before a technician arrives, taking care of routine diagnostics and testing for common or similar issues. These capabilities ensure the technician is better prepared for the work and that their timeand the customer’sis used efficiently.

The technician’s mobile service app empowers the technician to better manage appointment schedules and access turn-by-turn driving directions to the customer site. Onsite, this app can highlight the top two to three possibilities that might be wrong with the device. Chatbots can assist in locating customer, product, and work order information. Mixed reality tools, like Dynamics 365 Remote Assist, can create 3D renderings overlaid directly onto the device, highlighting missing or broken parts and allowing the technician to view performance data. AI can use data from predictive analytics to make just-in-time recommendations. A headset can be worn to identify irregularities and help maintain focus on the right issues without having to stop and troubleshoot, ensuring work is completed correctly the first time. And the technician can obtain assistance from a more experienced technician through Microsoft Teams if the issue is beyond their current skill set.

Optimize resource management

And finally, effectively managing resources, such as inventory and technician time, is at the heart of the challenge for any field service organization, creating a powerful competitive advantage when performed well. 

In a traditional field service organization, technicians are often dispatched based on availability, not proximity to the customer or experience with a specified device. A technician may arrive on-site with limited access to customer information and device history, impacting the ability to complete the repair on a first visit and driving up overall costs for the customer and the field service organization.

As an example, let’s look at a manufacturing customer experiencing a device failure. When a work order is scheduled in an intelligent system, assignments are optimized using multiple factors, such as a technician’s experience in handling the specific failure, the customer’s preferred technician, or the proximity to the site. Leveraging machine learning, this intelligent system can automatically assign the work order to the closest, best available technician matching specific criteria.

If the device were outfitted with an Internet of Things (IoT)-connected sensor, a real-time alert would be sent, triggering an automatic service request. The system would attempt to self-heal the issue first, and if unsuccessful, a technician would then analyze the data and commit a repair remotely, often without the customer ever knowing there was a problem. Sending the technician for an onsite visit would be the last option if the device could not be repaired remotely.

As more requests come in, the system would then optimize the technician’s schedule to create the most efficient path to navigate, allowing the technician more time to perform additional calls per day and driving greater revenue.

Real-time inventory management ensures that the replacement part is available on the scheduled date and that the technician has access to the tools needed to complete the repair. The system can identify the best parts to replace, where they should be purchased, and provide more accurate lead time predictions for the organization. Field service managers and technicians alike can synchronize and track inventory down to the truck level with real-time visibility to increase first time fix rates.

Get started today

AI enables field service organizations to evolve from the break-fix model by empowering technicians, optimizing resources, and improving customer experiences.

Microsoft offers a unique combination of world-class IoT, intelligence, scalability, and end-to-end field service capabilities. 

Learn more aboutDynamics 365 Field Service and how it can transform your service organization.

Get started today with a live demo or a free trial today.

The post How to build a modern field service organization appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Cross region replication using Data-in replication with Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server

Cross region replication using Data-in replication with Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server

by | Jul 5, 2022 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

MySQL workloads are often read-heavy and support customers with operations in different geographical locations. To provide for Disaster Recovery (DR) in the rare event of a regional disaster, Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server offers Geo-restore. An alternate option for DR or read scaling across regions is to create an Azure Database for MySQL flexible server as the source server and then to replicate its data to a server in another region using Data-in replication. This set up helps improve the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) as compared to geo-restore and the Recovery Point Objective (RPO) will be equal to the replication lag between the primary server and the replica server.


 


Data-in replication, which is based on the binary log (binlog) file position, enables synchronization of data from one Azure Database for MySQL flexible service to another. To learn more about binlog replication, see MySQL binlog replication overview.


 


In this blog post, I’ll use mydumper/myloader and Data-in replication to create cross region replication from one Azure Database for MySQL flexible server to another in a different region, and then I’ll synchronize the data.


 


Prerequisites


To complete this tutorial, I need:



  1. A primary and secondary Azure Database for MySQL flexible server, one in each of two different regions, running either version 5.7 or 8.0 (it is recommended to have the same version running on the two servers. For more information, see Create an Azure Database for MySQL flexible server.


    Note: Currently, this procedure is supported only on flexible servers that are not HA enabled.





  1. An Azure VM running Linux that can connect to both the primary and replica servers in different regions. The VM should have the following client tools installed.




  1. A sample database for testing the replication. Download mysqlsampledatabase.zip, and then run the included script on the primary server to create the sample classicmodels database.

  2. The binlog_expire_logs_seconds parameter on the primary server configured to ensure that binlogs aren’t purged before the replica commits the changes.

  3. The gtid_mode parameter set to same value on both the primary and replica servers. Configure this on the Server parameters page.

  4. Networking configured to ensure that primary server and replica server can communicate with each other.



  • For Public access, on the Networking page, under Firewall rules, ensure that the primary server firewall allows connection from the replica server by verifying that the Allow public access from any Azure service…check box is selected. For more information, in the article Public Network Access for Azure Database for MySQL – Flexible Server, see Firewall rules.

  • For Private access, ensure that the replica server can resolve the FQDN of the primary server and connect over the network. To accomplish this, use VNet peering or VNet-to-VNet VPN gateway connection.



Configure Data-in replication between the primary and replica servers


To configure Data-in replication, I’ll perform the following steps:



  1. On the Azure VM, use the mysql client tool to connect to the primary and replica servers.

  2. On the primary server, verify that log_bin is enabled by using the mysql client tool to run the following command:

    SHOW VARIABLES LIKE 'log_bin';​



 


3. On the source server, create a user with the replication permission by running the appropriate command, based on SSL enforcement.

If you’re using SSL, run the following command:


 


 

CREATE USER 'syncuser'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'yourpassword';
GRANT REPLICATION SLAVE ON *.* TO ' syncuser'@'%' REQUIRE SSL;

 



If you’re not using SSL, run the following command:


 


 

CREATE USER 'syncuser'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'yourpassword';
GRANT REPLICATION SLAVE ON *.* TO ' syncuser'@'%';

 


 


4. On the Azure VM, use mydumper to back up the primary server database by running the following command:


 


 

mydumper --host=<primary_server>.mysql.database.azure.com --user=<username> --password=<Password> --outputdir=./backup --rows=100 -G -E -R -z --trx-consistency-only --compress --build-empty-files --threads=16 --compress-protocol --ssl  --regex '^(classicmodels.)' -L mydumper-logs.txt​

 


 


  –host: Name of the primary server


  –user: Name of a user having permission to dump the database.


  –password: Password of the user above


  –trx-consistency-only: Required for transactional consistency during backup.

For more information about using mydumper, see mydumper/myloader.


 


5. Restore the database using myloader by running the following command:


 


 

myloader --host=<servername>.mysql.database.azure.com --user=<username> --password=<Password> --directory=./backup --queries-per-transaction=100 --threads=16 --compress-protocol --ssl --verbose=3 -e 2>myloader-logs.txt

 


 


–host: Name of the replica server.


–user: Name of a user. You can use server admin or a user with readwrite permission capable of restoring the schemas and data to the database.


–password: Password of the user above.



  1. Read the metadata file to determine the binary log file name and offset by running the following command:

    cat ./backup/metadata​


    In this command, ./backup refers to the output directory specified in the command in the previous step.

    The results should appear as shown in the following image:



image1_crossregion.png 


 



  1. Depending on the SSL enforcement on the primary server, connect to the replica server using the mysql client tool, and then perform the following the steps.


    If SSL enforcement is enabled, then:

    a. Download the certificate needed to communicate over SSL with your Azure Database for MySQL server from here.
    b. In Notepad, open the file, and then copy and paste the contents into the command below, replacing the text “PLACE PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATE CONTEXT HERE“.

    SET @cert = ‘-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
PLACE PUBLIC KEY CERTIFICATE CONTEXT HERE 
-----END CERTIFICATE-----'


    c. To configure Data-in replication, run the updated command above along with the following command to set @cert

    CALL mysql.az_replication_change_master(‘<Primary_server>.mysql.database.azure.com’, ‘<username>’, ‘<Password>’, 3306, ‘<File_Name>’, <Position>, @cert);

     


    If SSL enforcement isn’t enabled, then run the following command:

    CALL mysql.az_replication_change_master(‘<Primary_server>.mysql.database.azure.com’, ‘<username>’, ‘<Password>’, 3306, ‘<File_Name>’, <Position>, ‘’);

     




–Primary_server: Name of the primary server


–username: Replica user created in step 4


–Password:  Password of the replica user created in step 4


–File_Name and Position: From the information in step 7


8. On the replica server, to ensure that write traffic is not accepted, set the server parameter read_only to ON.


 


 

call mysql.az_replication_start;

 


 



  1. On the replica server, to ensure that write traffic is not accepted, set the server parameter read_only to ON.


 


Test the replication


On the replica server, to check the replication status, run the following command:


 


 

show slave status G;

 


 


In the results, if the state of Slave_IO_Running and Slave_SQL_Running shows “Yes” and Slave_IO_State is “Waiting for master to send event”, then replication is working well. You can also check Seconds_Behind_Master, which indicates how late the replica is. If the value is something other than 0, then the replica is still processing updates.


For more information on the output of the show slave status command, in the MySQL documentation, see SHOW SLAVE STATUS Statement.


For details on troubleshooting replication, see the following resources:



 


Optional


To confirm that cross region is working properly, you can verify that the changes to the tables in primary have been replicated to the replica.



  1. Identify a table to use for testing, for example the Customers table, and then confirm that it contains the same number of entries on both the primary and replica servers by running the following command on each server:


 

select count(*) from customers;

 


 



  1. Make a note of the count of entries in each table for later comparison.


To confirm that replication is working properly, on the primary server, add some data to the Customer table. Next, run the select count command each of the primary and replica servers to verify that the entry count on the replica server has increased to match the entry count on the primary server.


Note: For more information about how to monitor Data-in replication and create alerts for potential replication failures, see Monitoring and creating alerts for Data-in replication with Azure Database for MySQL-Flexible Server.


Conclusion


We’ve now set up replication between Azure Database for MySQL flexible servers in two different regions. Any changes to primary instance in one region will be replicated to the server in the other region by using the native replication technique. Take advantage of this solution to scale read workloads or to address DR considerations for potential regional disasters.



If you have any feedback or questions about the information provided above, please leave a comment below or email us at AskAzureDBforMySQL@service.microsoft.com. Thank you!