Mscloudnews

Microsoft announced the public preview of HDInsight on Azure Kubernetes Service, an open-source big data service with two new workloads. General Manager Balaji Sankaran discussed the capabilities of HDInsight. The offering is able to handle Apache Spark, Apache Flink, and Trino workloads, and is integrated with Monitor, Data Factory, and Power BI.

Microsoft CTO and technical fellow Victor Bahl discussed Azure Operator Nexus. Microsoft bills the offering as a next-generation hybrid cloud platform for communications service providers (CSP), capable of deploying Network Functions across different network settings, from cloud to edge. Joining MSCloudNews gives you free, unlimited access to news, analysis, white papers, case studies, product brochures, and more.

Oracle and Microsoft announced Oracle Database@Azure, a way for customers to directly access Oracle database services running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, deploying in Azure datacenters. Together, the two companies aim to deliver the availability of Oracle Database on OCI with the security and scalability afforded by Azure. Through the expanded partnership, customers will gain new ways to leverage data with Azure OpenAI Service, according to the two companies.

Azure pros discuss top web application risks when using Azure, Review Assessment for Azure Landing Zones, and cost optimizing Azure SQL Database. Top web application risks when using Azure Writing on Build5Nines, Chris Pietschmann discussed some of the top web application security risks while using Azure. Increasingly, Azure customers host web apps in the cloud heightening some security risks.

Microsoft partner G42 announced plans to deliver sovereign cloud and AI capabilities in the United Arab Emirates, as well as expanding existing datacenter infrastructure. Through the partnership, Microsoft is providing public sector and regulated industries in the UAE enhanced privacy and regulatory compliance capabilities. G42 has a preexisting specialization in UAE sovereign cloud requirements.

Back in October 2022, Microsoft announced that it would establish a more “transparent cadence” to align Azure cloud pricing to US dollar prices so that customers around the world would have consistent pricing based on exchange rates. In July, the company went a step further, implementing price list changes to standardize prices to global levels and achieve local pricing stability for on-prem. New prices are set to take effect on September 1, 2023.

Illumio is working with Microsoft on microsegmentation support for Azure Firewall, with the introduction of new Illumio capabilities in general availability. The technology is intended to support customers in their efforts to achieve Zero Trust Segmentation that goes beyond traditional application filtering. Microsoft announced new container options for customers, with the init containers feature in Azure Container Apps entering general availability.

IBM Consulting announced that it is working with Microsoft to accelerate the deployment of generative AI for customers. IBM has an existing partnership with Microsoft that it is now expanding to scale Azure OpenAI Service, including by launching a managed AI service for developers and data scientists to deploy large language models based on Codex and GPT. IBM identified key areas of focus for generative AI.

Microsoft General Manager Nidhi Chappell, together with CVP Eric Boyd, explored some of the recent developments in generative AI. Microsoft has rapidly expanded its AI capabilities around Azure OpenAI Service in recent months, most recently making the GPT-4 and GPT-3S-Turbo models available in new regions.

Microsoft announced that Epic electronic health record customers, starting with Mount Sinai Healthcare System in New York City, will be able to use Azure Large Instances to handle up to 50 million database accesses per second. Mount Sinai has already migrated many of its workloads to Azure. The change is part of a broader emphasis by Microsoft on supporting scalability and cost savings for healthcare organizations. Microsoft aims to enhance agility and reduce risk with a cloud first strategy.