Today, I had the pleasure of attending the MS Champs - Month of January, hosted at Microsoft Sri Lanka by the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador - Sri Lanka team. The event was an incredible blend of knowledge-sharing, hands-on demos, and interaction with tech enthusiasts.
Event Overview
The MS Champs event aimed to bring the tech community together to explore and learn cutting-edge technologies in the Microsoft ecosystem. With a strong lineup of speakers, the event covered various domains, including cloud infrastructure, DevOps, and cybersecurity.
Session Highlights
🎤 Dineth Siriwardana
Beta Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador, Software Engineer at ProDigit.in
Topic: Terraforming Azure – Crafting Cloud Solutions with Azure Infrastructure as Code
Dineth kicked off the session by introducing the concept of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and its importance in modern cloud computing. Using Terraform, an open-source IaC tool, he demonstrated how developers can create, manage, and provision Azure infrastructure in a declarative manner.
Key takeaways:
- Benefits of IaC: Simplifies infrastructure management, improves consistency, and enables automation.
- Terraform Basics: How to write configuration files to define Azure resources, including Virtual Machines, Storage Accounts, and Networking.
- Demo: Dineth showcased a live demo, where he used Terraform scripts to deploy a complete Azure environment in minutes. He also highlighted best practices for managing state files and avoiding common pitfalls.
🎤 Sineth Dhananjaya
Beta Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador, Intern Software Engineer at WSO2
Topic: From Code to Cloud – Jenkins on Azure
Sineth’s session delved into the DevOps lifecycle, focusing on Jenkins for Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) in Azure. He explained the step-by-step process of setting up Jenkins on Azure, integrating it with repositories like GitHub, and automating the deployment process.
Key insights:
- Why Jenkins? It’s one of the most widely-used tools for CI/CD, offering plugins to extend its capabilities.
- Setting Up Jenkins on Azure: Sineth provided a hands-on demo of deploying Jenkins on an Azure Virtual Machine, configuring pipelines, and using Azure DevOps extensions.
- Live Demo: The highlight of this session was a live demonstration where Sineth created a pipeline that automatically built, tested, and deployed a sample application to Azure App Service.
🎤 Senuk Dias
Beta Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador, Ethical Hacking & Network Security UG at NIBM
Topic: World of Threat Intelligence Using Microsoft Sentinel
Senuk’s session explored the world of Threat Intelligence and how Microsoft Sentinel can help organizations detect, investigate, and respond to security threats. As a powerful SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) solution, Microsoft Sentinel integrates with various sources to provide comprehensive security insights.
Key points:
- What is Threat Intelligence? The process of collecting, analyzing, and using data to understand potential threats and vulnerabilities.
- Microsoft Sentinel Features:
- Log analytics for identifying unusual patterns.
- AI-driven incident detection and response.
- Built-in integrations with Azure and third-party tools.
- Live Demo: Senuk demonstrated how to set up Sentinel, connect it to a data source, and create custom workbooks for visualizing security metrics. He also showcased a simulated attack scenario and how Sentinel detected and responded to the threat.
Interactive Sessions and Demos
What stood out about this event was its interactive nature. Each speaker not only shared theoretical knowledge but also walked the audience through practical demos, allowing us to see these technologies in action. The hands-on approach made complex topics much easier to understand.
Conclusion
The MS Champs - January Edition was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the latest advancements in Azure, DevOps, and cybersecurity. Events like this remind me of the importance of staying updated in the fast-evolving tech landscape.
A huge thank you to the Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador - Sri Lanka team and the speakers for organizing such an insightful event. I left with a deeper understanding of how to leverage Microsoft technologies to solve real-world problems.
If you’re interested in these topics, I highly recommend attending similar events in the future. The knowledge and connections you gain are invaluable!
