Recent Discussions
How much does real-world practice matter compared to certifications when building skills?
Hi everyone, I’ve been spending time building skills through a mix of hands-on practice and certification preparation, and I’ve noticed there is often a gap between what exams test and what actually comes up in real scenarios. Certifications are useful for structure and validation, but in day-to-day work, troubleshooting, decision-making, and adapting to unexpected issues often seem just as important, sometimes even more. I’m interested in hearing how others here approach this and how they balance certification study with real-world practice. Did earning certifications help more in practical situations or mainly from a career and credibility point of view? And for someone early in their learning journey, what should be prioritized first?Meet the Microsoft Learn experts
The Microsoft Learn Community experiences are supported by technical subject matter experts, which are present throughout our community resources based on their area of expertise. Connect with this worldwide network of experts who have technical and training experience, are passionate about the community, and can offer unique knowledge to help you achieve your skilling goals. Find all the Microsoft Learn experts or join them in one of our learning rooms. Microsoft Learn expert Topic Area André Baltieri Azure Brian Gorman Azure Elkhan Yusubov Azure Hamid Sadeghpour Saleh Azure Jonah Andersson Azure Jorge Maia Azure Kazeem Adegboyega Azure Luke Murray Azure Marcos Nogueira Azure Martin Dimovski Azure Mohsen Akhavan Azure Rodrigo Kono Azure Saeid Dahl Azure Tiago Costa Azure Viknaraj Manogararajah Azure Viswanatha Swamy Azure Vlad Catrinescu Azure Dharanidharan Balasubramaniam Business Applications Doher Drizzle Pablo Business Applications Faisal Fareed Business Applications Goloknath Mishra Business Applications Haniel Croitoru Business Applications Jeevarajan Kumar Business Applications Julian Sharp Business Applications Kirti Prajapati Business Applications Nadeeja Bomiriya Business Applications Priyesh Wagh Business Applications Rishona Elijah Business Applications Arafat Tehsin Data and AI Armando Lacerda Data and AI Francis Msangi Masera Data and AI Dr. Gomathi Srinivasan Data and AI Hugo Barona Data and AI Indira Bandari Data and AI Jackson Felden Data and AI Janarthanan S Data and AI Juarez Junior Data and AI Narayan Solanki Data and AI Razwan Choudry Data and AI Stefano Demiliani Data and AI Usama Wahab Khan Data and AI Abdullah Altaf General Technologies Arash Aghajani General Technologies Ayodeji Folarin General Technologies Douglas Romão de Souza General Technologies Estelle Auberix General Technologies Gulnaz Mushtaq General Technologies Joshua Jones General Technologies Oluwaseyi Oluwawumiju General Technologies Renato Romão de Souza General Technologies Shinichi Kawara General Technologies Usman Lodhi General Technologies Amit Chandak Microsoft Fabric Ashraf Ghonaim Microsoft Fabric Chris Hyde Microsoft Fabric David Alzamendi Microsoft Fabric Mehrdad Abdollahi Microsoft Fabric Nikola Ilic Microsoft Fabric Pragati Jain Microsoft Fabric Shabnam Watson Microsoft Fabric Daniel Rey Modern Work Nanddeep Nachan Modern Work Sara Fennah Modern Work Sharon Weaver Modern Work Siddharth Vaghasia Modern Work Smita Nachan Modern Work David Okeyode Security, Compliance and Identity Dwayne Natwick Security, Compliance and Identity Eric Woodruff Security, Compliance and Identity Ibrahima Mbodji Security, Compliance and Identity Raphael Koellner Security, Compliance and Identity
Outlook.com not receiving emails from trusted senders
Hi I have problem by receiving emails. emails from different emails once blocked and unblocked , now added to safe sender list, safe mail list still I cant receive email. it is chronic problem since 2 years in my account. support Outlook didn't help.Why Entra ID attributes don’t always appear on Microsoft 365 profile cards
While working with Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft 365 profile cards, I ran into a behavior that often causes confusion: attributes like EmployeeType can exist in Entra ID and Microsoft Graph, yet not appear consistently on Microsoft 365 profile cards. This post breaks down why this happens, what’s actually happening behind the scenes, and what you can realistically expect when working with profile card attributes in real environments. Profile cards should be treated as a presentation layer, not a guaranteed real-time reflection of every Entra ID attribute. If you’ve seen similar behavior with other attributes or workloads, I’d love to hear how you’ve approached it in your environments.
Microsoft and BlackRock unveil a $30 billion fund for AI infrastructure development.
The collaboration reflects growing interest from major tech and investment firms in capitalizing on AI's potential. The fund will focus on improving AI's infrastructure, making it more scalable and robust for future innovations. How will Microsoft's cloud services, such as Azure, contribute to supporting the AI infrastructure?
How to Send POS Sales Data from Power Apps to Corporate API via Power Automate Using Static IP
I am currently using a POS system built with Power Apps, where sales transaction data is saved into SharePoint using Power Automate Cloud. From the Power App, users explicitly click a button to trigger a Power Automate flow, which then sends the sales data to an external corporate company’s database through an HTTP API. The corporate system enforces strict security policies and only accepts incoming requests from a whitelisted static public IP address. Since Power Automate Cloud runs in a Microsoft-managed multi-tenant environment, its outbound traffic originates from dynamic and shared IP addresses, which cannot be directly whitelisted. Due to security and compliance requirements, the solution must remain 100% cloud-based, and the use of Power Automate Desktop, on-premises data gateway, or any locally executed components is not permitted. I understand that Power Automate Cloud alone cannot provide a static outbound IP, and that the recommended pattern is to route outbound API calls through an Azure-hosted intermediary (such as Logic Apps single-tenant or a similar service) configured with a static public IP, which Power Automate Cloud can call via HTTP. I would appreciate confirmation that this is the correct and supported architecture, and any guidance on the simplest cloud-only approach for this scenario. Thank you in advance for your support.Cybersecurity for Business Professional Blueprint Survey Opportunity
Greetings! Microsoft is considering a credential for Cybersecurity for Business Professional, and we need your input through our exam blueprinting survey. The blueprint determines how many questions each skill in the exam will be assigned. Please complete the online survey by January 29, 2026. Please also feel free to forward the survey to any colleagues you consider subject matter experts for this certification. You may send this to people external to Microsoft as well. If you have any questions, feel free to contact John Sowles at josowles@microsoft.com or Don Tanedo at dtanedo@microsoft.com. Cybersecurity for Business Professional blueprint survey link: https://microsoftlearning.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cvwduCJLaOlIHtQ
Technical Issue during AB-900 Beta Exam - Pearson VUE Queue System Failure - Case #14052082
Hello Support Team, I am writing to request assistance regarding a technical issue I experienced during my AB-900 Beta Exam appointment on January 2nd, 2026. I had a voucher providing an 80% discount valid exclusively for that date. I successfully completed the check-in process on time, and my system passed all pre-exam requirements. However, I was placed in a waiting queue with 24 people ahead of me. After waiting for over 15 minutes, the system displayed a "Reschedule" button. When I clicked it, no dates were available, and I was unable to return to the exam session. I immediately contacted Pearson VUE support via chat. Despite following their instructions to restart the check-in process, the system blocked my access, stating it was past the allowed start time. I opened a formal case with Pearson VUE, and their final resolution (Case #14052082) was that I should reach out to Microsoft Support for further guidance and a "new authorization," as they claimed they could not provide a new voucher for this expired promotion. I prepared extensively for this certification and I was unable to take it due to a failure in the Pearson VUE proctoring queue system. Since the original voucher has now expired, I kindly ask for a new voucher or authorization so I can reschedule and take the AB-900 exam at the discounted rate I previously paid for. Exam: AB-900 Date: January 2nd, 2026 Pearson VUE Case Number: 14052082 Thank you for your time and assistance.Build AI-Powered Sales Solutions Blueprinting Survey Opportunity
Greetings! Microsoft is considering a certification for the Build AI-Powered Sales Solutions role, and we need your input through our exam blueprinting survey. The blueprint determines how many questions each skill in the exam will be assigned. Please complete the online survey by January 26 th , 2026. Please also feel free to forward the survey to any colleagues you consider subject matter experts for this certification. If you have any questions, feel free to contact John Sowles at josowles@microsoft.com or Don Tanedo at dtanedo@microsoft.com. Build AI-Powered Sales Solutions blueprint survey link: https://microsoftlearning.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bJfqHNUQ2h72NW6Season of AI - MCP
The Azure Cloud Commanders Skilling Room is delivering a free Workshop - Season of MCP so make sure to register and join us! Join us for Season of AI – MCP, a global, community-driven initiative by Microsoft developers, created for developers. This event is all about hands-on learning, collaboration, and innovation with Model Context Protocol (MCP). This session is your chance to: 🤝 Connect with like-minded innovators in your local community 💡 Learn how MCP works and how to build smarter AI-powered experiences 🛠 Work through C# guided labs and exercises 🚀 Exchange ideas, share challenges, and inspire new projects https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/event/905f6364-959b-4f0a-bb85-10c14d665ed6/season-of-ai---mcp/4468678
Taking Microsoft Fabric from POC to Production: Real World Lessons Learned
Hi everyone, I wanted to share some practical lessons learned from a real-world Microsoft Fabric implementation where we transitioned from an initial proof-of-concept to a fully operational, production-grade analytics platform supporting reporting and advanced analytics use cases. Architecture decisions early on made a significant difference. Defining a clear Medallion structure (Bronze, Silver, Gold) upfront helped set expectations around data quality, ownership, and consumption patterns. In practice, we found that being disciplined about what belongs in each layer reduced downstream rework and simplified troubleshooting as data volumes and use cases grew. Performance optimization was an ongoing process rather than a one-time task. As usage expanded, we had to iteratively tune ingestion patterns, storage layout, and semantic models especially when leveraging Direct Lake for reporting. Understanding query patterns, refresh strategies, and model design trade-offs was critical to maintaining consistent performance at scale. Governance proved essential for adoption. Implementing access controls, lineage, and certified datasets early helped build trust with business users and avoided the perception of Fabric as “just another data lake.” Clear ownership and metadata standards made it easier for teams to confidently self-serve analytics without compromising data integrity. Operational readiness often gets underestimated. Beyond building pipelines, we had to focus on monitoring, cost visibility, deployment practices, and support processes to ensure the platform could be sustained in production. Treating Fabric as an enterprise platform rather than a POC environment was a key mindset shift. I’m interested to hear from others in the community who have taken Microsoft Fabric into production. Have you encountered similar challenges around architecture, performance, governance, or operations? What approaches worked well for you, and what lessons would you share with teams starting their Fabric journey? Looking forward to learning from the community’s experiences..range in VBA with equation
There may be other ways to solve this. I want C3 to be a dropdown list, when I run the macro I want to grab the selection and move it to wsdatabase. However, it moves the entire dropdown list. My solution was to make F3=C3 for when the macro runs. Using the below, however, I get #REF! in wsdatabase. IF F3 is just data it is fine. How can I make this work if F3 is an equation? wsinput.Range("f3").Copy wsdatabase.Range("A" & nextrow) 'Copy dateDuplicate Microsoft Forms
我在複製我的Microsoft Forms時，出現we are having trouble getting your documents，然後我就無法讀取我所有的問卷檔案了，想虛心請教各位因如何解決? TRANSLATION: When I was copying my Microsoft Forms, I encountered the error message "We are having trouble getting your documents," and then I was unable to read all my questionnaire files. I would like to humbly ask for your help on how to resolve this issue.
Windows 11 lock screen bug
We are having an issue where some users cannot log back into windows 11 after going to a lock screen. Windows will tell you the password or username is incorrect even though the credentials are defiantly correct. The only solution I've found so far is to reboot the machine. What could be causing this? Our users are loosing unsaved work from having to reboot through out the day.Unable to login to Azure (blocked tenant)
Hi! I was trying to do the exercises to prepare for an Azure exam, however when trying to access my account at ai.azure.com or portal.azure.com, I got the following error: AADSTS5000225: This tenant has been blocked due to inactivity. I tried to contact support with no success - https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/topic/customer-service-phone-numbers-c0389ade-5640-e588-8b0e-28de8afeb3f2 On chat, I've received the response that I should contact the phone number as it's a business case, on the phone number however, I was connected to a bot which said that it can't help with login issues on the phone. When trying to recall, now the bot remembered the interaction and says the same thing. I've done some certifications in the past, and my account has been inactive meanwhile - so this explains why it was blocked - but now I would need it again. Is there any way to regain access to Azure now to complete the exercises for the certification?
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