RunAs Radio

What does it take to be ready to deploy M365 Copilot in your organization? Richard talks to Nikki Chapple about her latest incarnation of the M365 Copilot Readiness Checklist, working step-by-step to bring M365 Copilot into the organization without causing data leak issues. Nikki discusses utilizing existing tools to accurately identify sensitive data, archiving outdated information, and monitoring data usage by both users and agents - allowing you to detect issues before they escalate. The conversation also delves into the process of identifying issues, discussing policy changes, and how to communicate those changes so that people can take advantage of the power of these new tools without feeling threatened. It's a journey!LinksMicrosoft PurviewSharePoint Advanced ManagementDefender for Cloud AppsRestricted SharePoint SearchMicrosoft 365 ArchiveSharePoint Restricted Content DiscoveryData Security Posture Management for AINikki's Readiness ChecklistM365 Copilot Oversharing BlueprintMicrosoft Purview Secure by Default BlueprintPrevent Data Leaks to Shadow AI BlueprintRecorded November 7, 2025

The seasonal gift show is back - Joey Snow and Rick Claus bring their lists of great gifts for sysadmins. You know they're impossible to buy for, so we are making it easier for you with a range of prices and seriousness for your favorite sysadmin. Useful gadgets, upgrades to older devices, and some fun stuff that reminds the sysadmins in your life that you get their struggles. Share this show and toy list with everyone you know who struggles to find the right thing!LinksUSB TesterBattery DaddyUSB Air DusterSmart Soldering IronPro Tech Go ToolkitEffing Candle CoDumpster Fire Pencil HolderNES Cartridge Hard Drive EnclosurePicoKVMCO2 MeterWireless HeadphonesDigital Photo FrameSuper-Knips with Lead CatcherInkplate 6COLORInsta360 Link 2Home Assistant VoiceThrow Throw BurritoBose Ultra Open EarbudsUbiquiti Cloud Gateway FiberRecorded October 30, 2025

How can Azure Site Reliability Engineering Agents help your Azure infrastructure? While at Techorama in Utrecht, Richard chatted with Deepthi Chelupati about the LLM service that helps you build and maintain more reliable applications and infrastructure in Azure. Deepthi talks about monitoring deployment problems, handling errors in production, and application telemetry in operation as areas where Azure SRE Agents can help catch issues earlier and let you respond faster. The conversation dives into the array of capabilities and where you can provide information to administrators so they can decide how to proceed—perhaps pushing information to development or starting a recovery process of some kind. How you use Azure SRE Agents is up to you!LinksAzure SRE AgentPagerDutyAzure MonitorAzure DevOpsRecorded October 28, 2025

How resilient are your Azure deployments? Richard chats with Chris Ayers about his work on Azure reliability - not only for customers using Azure, but for Azure itself! Chris focuses on the Well-Architected Framework as a guideline for thinking through all the elements of resiliency in Azure. As with all things, there are trade-offs of cost and reliability - you'll want to build a spreadsheet to balance the cost of an outage against the expenses of resiliency services in Azure - and your own labor to maintain it! Chris provides his own talks and an extensive list of links for you to build up a comprehensive analysis of resiliency options - check it out!LinksFastTrackAzure StatusAzure Well Architected FrameworkVirtual Machine Scale SetDeployment Stamps PatternAutomatic Scaling in Azure App ServiceAzure MonitorAzure Command-Line InterfaceCopilot in AzureAzure AdvisorAzure Proactive Resiliency Library v2Azure Front DoorChris' Azure Resiliency TalkRecorded October 3, 2025

The future of updating Windows is here! Richard talks to Aria Hanson about Windows Autopatch, the consolidation of Microsoft's various update mechanisms to keep your managed Windows devices current. Aria discusses the deprecation of Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) and the move to always-on cloud updates. The conversation turns to the various techniques for quickly rolling out updates to machines while still allowing the process to stop if there are problems, whether you first update IT workstations, then beta testers, and so on. There's also the Windows Roadmap to give you a heads-up on new features and updates coming, so you can decide in advance whether they will be available on your machines, without changing your overall update policies!LinksWindows AutopatchWSUS DeprecationWindows Update Client PoliciesMicrosoft IntuneEntra GroupsIntune App ManagementAutopatch Group PoliciesWindows RoadmapRecorded October 27, 2025

How can the new AI tools help DBAs? Richard chats with Grant Fritchey about his experiences using various types of LLMs to help with his work as a DBA. Grant discusses having an LLM open as a side window to pass questions by, such as ideas for tuning, query optimization, scripts, and so on. Not all LLMs are the same - it's worth experimenting with different tools! The conversation delves into the long-term picture of AI supporting the DBA role, enabling more work to be accomplished in less time. Some of the work that used to be complex or tedious has become easier, but the need for people to assess outcomes remains essential.LinksPostgreSQLPerplexityCopilot for SQL Server Management StudiodbverseGitHub Copilot in VS CodeRecorded September 29, 2025

How do you become a cybersecurity expert? While at Cybersecurity Intersection in Orlando, Richard chatted with Paula Januszkiewicz about her career in cybersecurity. Paula talks about insatiable curiosity to understand how things work the way they do - why an exploit happens and following the twists and turns that lead to root cause and permanent solutions. The conversation delves into the balance between education and experience, the types of work available in cybersecurity, and pursuing your passion!LinksCybersecurity Architect ExpertMicrosoft EntraMicrosoft SentinelMicrosoft Defender for CloudKusto Query LanguageRecorded October 5, 2025

It's time to retire NTLM - but how? Richard chats with Steve Syfuhs about the need and challenge of retiring an ubiquitous authentication protocol first used in the 1990s. While guidance to move away from NTLM has been available since 2010, it has only become feasible in the past couple of years, and Microsoft is now providing tooling to make the transition easier. Steve discusses enabling auditing of NTLM usage - recent improvements will allow you to view which services rely on NTLM. Sometimes, a configuration change can resolve the problem, and now there is Microsoft Negotiate to help as an intermediary in determining which protocol to use. Retiring NTLM won't happen overnight, but it will happen, and you can start preparing for it today. And if you need help or advice, email ntlm@microsoft.com!LinksNTLM Blocking and YouDeprecating NTLM is Easy and Other LiesMicrosoft NegotiateRemote Desktop Gateway RoleKerberos on Windows ServerThe Evolution of Windows AuthenticationRecorded September 25, 2025

How do you manage for failure? While at KCDC, Richard chatted with Amy Norris about building a culture that supports dealing with failure in a healthy way. Amy focuses on clear communication - about expectations, positive feedback, negative feedback, and more! The challenge is creating a safe place for people to ask questions and talk clearly about what they see happening in the environment. We can only get better when we can see the problems folks are having - it takes time, patience, and lots of communication to make that happen! LinksAtlas 9Recorded August 14, 2025

How do you know if one of your accounts has been part of a security breach? Richard chats with Troy Hunt about HaveIBeenPwned, a free service that allows individuals to receive notifications when their accounts appear in a security breach. Troy discusses other services available alongside HaveIBeenPwned for sysadmins, including password checking, identifying accounts associated with a specific domain, and more. When considering the cost of managing a customer with an exploited account, being able to prevent or mitigate potential risk is highly valuable. LinksHaveIBeenPwnedPark Mobile SettlementSnowflake Data BreachRecorded September 25, 2025

You're down - is it your servers, or someone else's? While at the Kansas City Developers Conference, Richard sits down with Mandi Walls from Pager Duty about her experiences dealing with incidents involving vendor services. It might be your cloud provider, or some other SaaS element of a pipeline, or even an open-source library dependency in an important internal application that can cause a problem. What are the next steps? Mandi talks about having a software and services bill of materials so that you know what dependencies you have, where to check their status, and how to get help when you need it. Our systems are more complicated than ever - you need a plan to deal with the incidents!LinksAzure StatusSBOM ToolVendor Incidents with Jeff MartinsRecorded August 14, 2025

The days of the one-year SSL certificate are coming to an end - are you ready? Richard chats with Todd Gardner about the upcoming requirement from the Certification Authority Browser Forum to limit SSL certs to 200 days starting March 2026 - and they keep getting shorter until by 2029, certificates will last no longer than 47 days! If you haven't already automated certificate renewal, it's time to start moving in that direction. Todd talks about CertKit as a new approach to automating certificate renewal across various services, making it much easier. Still in the experimental phase, you can be part of the process and make your certificate life easier now!LinksLet's EncryptACME Client ImplementationsThe Great SSL Certificate PanicCertification Authority Browser ForumZeroSSLtrackjsCertKitRecorded August 19, 2025

How do you get your organization trained up to use AI tools? Richard talks to Stephanie Donahue about her work implementing AI tools at Avanade and with Avanade's customers. Stephanie discusses how many workers are bringing their own AI tools, such as ChatGPT, to work and the risks that represent to the organization. Having an approved set of tools helps people work in the right direction, but they will still need some education. The challenge lies in the rapidly shifting landscape and the lack of certifications. However, you'll have some individuals eager to utilize these tools, often on the younger side, and they can help build your practice. The opportunities are tremendous!LinksChatGPT EnterpriseLearning M365 CopilotSecure and Govern Microsoft 365 CopilotMicrosoft PurviewResponsible AI at MicrosoftMicrosoft Viva EngageRecorded July 18, 2025

Episode 1000! Richard Campbell invites Paul Thurrott to join him to celebrate the milestone episode and answer questions from listeners. From the creation of the podcast to the role of Windows in the modern world, the impact of ARM, Cloud, and many other technologies - all addressed in this super-sized episode. And yes, artificial intelligence is part of the conversation—and will be part of the workflows that sysadmins utilize on a day-to-day basis. Thanks to all the folks who sent in questions for this special show - and thanks for listening!LinksDoes Windows Still MatterWindows Server 2025ARM in AzureAzure FastTrackCloud Adoption Framework for AzureMicrosoft VivaRecorded August 31, 2025

What are common mistakes folks are making with their Azure tenant(s)? While at the Kansas City Developers Conference, Richard chatted with Scott Sauber to run down his top ten list of issues he checks on for all his customers using Azure. From tenant ownership to naming conventions, policies, identities, and cost controls - there are a lot of things you can do to make your Azure experience more reliable, cost-effective, and efficient. Check out the links for more details on each of the potential issues!LinksAzure Service GroupsAzure Naming ConventionsAzure Naming ToolAzure Tagging StrategyAzure PolicyManaged IdentitiesDefaultAzureCredentialTLS in Azure App ServiceSSL LabsFederated Identity CredentialsBudgets and Cost AlertsAzure ReservationsAzure Savings PlanRecorded August 14, 2025

How do you secure your organization's data to let AI technologies work safely? Richard chats with Martina Grom about her experiences helping sysadmins responsibly bring the power of Microsoft M365 Copilot into their organizations. Martina discusses setting up security and monitoring with tools like Microsoft Purview, enabling visibility into where copilots are working and who is using them. Once the measuring tools are in place, you can begin to establish limitations for the AI without compromising regular employee workflows. Check the show links for a list of great tools you can use to get M365 Copilot working for your organization safely!LinksGovernance Toolkit 365EU AI ActData, Privacy, and Security for Microsoft 365 CopilotTranslating with CopilotConfiguring SharePoint with Entra IDMicrosoft PurviewData Loss PreventionMicrosoft Purview Compliance ManagerData Security Posture Management for AISharePoint Advanced ManagementCopilot in Microsoft 365 Admin CentersRecorded July 16, 2025

Are you tapping the power of Microsoft Graph? Richard chats with Tony Redmond about his work teaching people to leverage Microsoft Graph and all the insights it can provide about their organization. Tony views Graph as one of the key skills a sysadmin needs to manage an M365 tenant, alongside Exchange Online, SharePoint, and Teams. Throw in some Entra ID skills with Graph and you're ready to take on the rest - and there's a lot! Tony is also responsible for the excellent Office 365 for IT Pros book, now in its 12th edition for 2026. These are the fundamentals that can help you embrace the Copilot future we're all facing - and there's a lot to learn!LinksGraph PowerShell SDKAzure AutomationOffice 365 for IT Pros 2026 EditionMaesterAgent Governance in M365Secure Future InitiativeLinkable Identifiers in Microsoft EntraRecorded July 24, 2025

What can the financial services sector teach us about adopting Copilot in our organizations? Richard chats with Christina Wheeler about her work at Microsoft, where she helps companies leverage large language model technologies. Christina discusses data security, which is crucial in the financial services industry due to its numerous regulations. The data security mindset of using tools like Purview and Data Loss Prevention helps to carve out data sets that can be used with Copilot. The conversation also turns to the Power Platform arena and Dataverse, tools that make it easy to embrace Copilot. There's a progression of security and capability, from internal apps to assisting staff with online work, to ultimately providing a means for customers to interact with a Copilot. There's a lot to learn, but the tools are there to make it possible!LinksMicrosoft PurviewPower Platform Data Loss PreventionPower Virtual AgentsMicrosoft DataverseCopilot StudioAzure AI FoundryRecorded July 7, 2025

How do you get from ClickOps to DevOps? While at Build, Richard chatted with Steven Bucher about using Copilot in Azure to help build PowerShell scripts with Azure CLI to get you moving down the path of repeatable deployment. Steven talks about interacting with Copilot in Azure through the Portal, Azure CLI, and PowerShell. Using tools like GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code can help you start making Infrastructure as Code in Bicep or Terraform to move you along the path of automating reliable deployments!LinksCopilot in AzureAzure CLITerraformAI ShellPowerShell 7.5BicepGitHub Copilot on VS CodeRecorded May 19, 2025

How do you bring AI agents to your organization? Richard chats with April Dunnam about her experiences with Copilot Studio, Microsoft's tool for building various agents for your organization. April discusses the multiple approaches available today for utilizing generative AI and the benefits of leveraging template-driven and low-code solutions to capitalize on the latest features in agentic AI. The conversation also delves into the relationship between M365 Copilot and Copilot Studio for creating extensions and focused functionality. There's a significant amount of power here if you take the time to learn the tools!LinksMicrosoft Copilot StudioBuild your First Copilot Studio Agent in MinutesPlayright MCPTesting Copilot Studio AgentsAgent FlowsDataverse MCPApril's Copilot EstimatorRecorded July 8, 2025