Uploading custom Teams Backgrounds

Instructions on how to Add a personalised meeting Background to your MS Teams Meetings and Calls.

Website that allows people to create corporate branded Teams and Zoom backgrounds.  Take a look and let me know what you think!

Teams meetings backgrounds

Overview:  I like to use a background in my Teams meetings as I don't need to worry about what people and clients can see in my home.  I recommend using a branded background that includes your company logo and your name.

APIM debugging, tracing, monitoring tricks and tips

Debugging APIM requests from Visual Studio code 

Has an extension for debugging APIM.

Azure API Management - Visual Studio Marketplace

It's also useful to have a APIM requesting/client extension installed

Tracing APIM

To get a full trace add the HTTP header "Ocp-Apim-Trace: true" to the request and the response shall contain a URL to retrieve the trace information.

Documentation Tips

Ensure you fill in relevant descriptions and summaries.  It's also key to provide examples.  

https://swagger.io/docs/specification/adding-examples/

APIM documentation updates on the Developer portal (after re-publishing).  It has a great UI, but ensure the summaries are added for param/attributes to get a truly rich integration set of documentation (it will save so many questions and time).   I also like to add a getting started guide, keep it short and simple and most importantly have a simple explanation of security/authentication and connectivity.

- in: query

  name: age

    schema:

      type: integer

      maximum: 3

    examples:       # Multiple examples

      max: # Distinct name

        value: 3   # Example value

        summary: The age is dependent on dob, min is 0, can't be negative 

PB APIM Series:

APIM Notes

APIM Testing with Postman (this post)

APIM Mocking

APIM Mocking part 2

APIM Mocking part 2

Secure APIM with AAD B2C

APIM debugging, tracing, monitoring tricks and tips

Encryption Options for Azure SQL

Overview:  With all IT storage, we are looking for encryption at rest and making sure the data is encrypted “over the wire” until it is stored storage.  For encryption in transit, Azure SQL supports TLS/SSL versions 1.0, 1.1,and 1.2.  If possible got for TLS 1.2.

Azure SQL Server Transparent Data Encryption (TDE) related to encryption at rest by encrypting the log and data files on the storage; Azure enforces TDE as the default on databases.  TDE can be turned off on your Azure SQL instance.

Backups should also be encrypted, and if TDS is enabled on Azure, your backups are also automatically encrypted.  Tip: Validate your restore of Azure Backups to another instance.

Column encryption is useful for encrypting a column within a table.  I prefer to use a Key Vault and use a SQL column to point to the database for things like tokens and secrets, but something like credit card numbers column encryption is ideal.

Always Encrypted allows for one or more columns to be encrypted within a database.  Client application shall decrypt and provides for separation where database owners/access cannot validate/view the encrypted column/columns.

Tree Testing

I was speaking to two Ux experts in a meeting and they referred to Tree Testing when discussing Information Architecture and the users working there way around a new SaaS product.  "Tree Testing" is not a term I had heard before so they showed me this site and it fantastic.

https://www.optimalworkshop.com/learn/101s/tree-testing/

API Economy Technology Breakdown for Strategy Leadership

 

AIP and Sensitivity Labels

Overview:  AIP has had many names and twists over the past few years.  The functionality has been improving, but the naming and changes made it difficult to implement well.  Finally, I feel Microsoft Azure Information Protection is implementable at scale.

Summary: Sensitivity labels have have the ability to allow documents and email to be classified to protect email and files.  One can track, and encrypt documents/email.  You can also use sensitivity labels to protect SharePoint sites, Teams sites and Microsoft 365 Groups.  Within AAD (B2C) I can assign sensitivity labels to Microsoft 365 Groups.