In this issue:
Ace Aviator of the Month
April's Ace Aviator: Stephen W. Thomas
What is your role and title? What are your responsibilities associated with your position?
Azure Integration Architect and Developer. I work with clients to solve their integration needs, which vary from project to project. Recently, I have worked on BizTalk to Azure migrations and brand-new Azure-based integration solutions. I usually help design and build the solution, including team mentoring along the way. I was proud of myself for completing a rather complex BizTalk map a few months ago, it is just like riding a bike!
Can you provide some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like?
I usually spend at least some part of my day building solutions based on requirements I have helped define. I also spend a lot of time in meetings that are usually cross-department or cross-company working through integration-related issues like adding new fields or changes to business processes.
What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community?
Back in 2004, when BizTalk 2004 was first released, it was a complex product to learn. Working with others in the community worldwide to work through tough problems was challenging but fun! I love to meet new people and to hear we have talked before, sometimes many years ago.
Looking back, what advice do you wish you would have been told earlier on that you would give to individuals looking to become involved in STEM/technology?
That being an “integrator” is not just about integration. It is about understanding data and business processes, sometimes better than anyone else at the company for the areas we work with. It is about solving problems across teams and companies while navigating all the politics that come with it. It is about touching systems no one wants to look at or has looked at in years.
With these skills, we can end up with many different roles. For example, on one project I was the ecommerce catalog lead for a few months and another I was the SQL schema master.
What has helped you grow professionally?
Working on projects with many different clients has helped me grow professionally. To see and work with over 50 different integration environments, I can build from all that experience for my next endeavors.
Imagine you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps. What would this feature be and why?
I would like to add comments and notes at the Logic App level. I had to go back to a client where I wrote the Logic Apps over five years ago and that would have really helped. Plus, a Comment Only view of a workflow might be nice. Something I could print and review the process flow with the business.
Customer Corner:
Discover this customer story about how Microsoft Azure API Management is transforming the banking sector in the Netherlands in collaboration with Backbase. By seamlessly integrating banking systems, this partnership enhances collaboration across departments, streamlines operations, and optimizes customer experiences, shaping the future of banking technology and innovation.
News from our product group:
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Introducing the New Azure Logic Apps Designer for Consumption: Faster, Smoother, and More Reliable Read this article about the general availability of the designer experience that has been unified across all our support platforms. |
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Clustering the BizTalk EntSSO Master Secret Server, SQL and MSDTC services on Azure IaaS For customers conducting a gradual hybrid migration to Azure from Biztalk, check out this article. |
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Migrating managed X12 decode to built-in X12 decode in Logic Apps Standard If you're having issues with the preview release of X12 built-in connector, specifically with the X12 decode response being different from the managed X12 connector response, read this article for the solution. |
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Connect to Azure Cosmos DB using Managed Identity from Logic App Check out this post to learn how to use the Azure Cosmos DB managed connector to properly use Logic App managed identity. |
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Announcing the Microsoft Automation and Integration Day in Toronto! This blog post has all the information you need to know about this unique upcoming opportunity happening on April 25th. |
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Deploy Workflows to Logic App Standard using AZ CLI Task in DevOps Pipeline with Append Option Read this tutorial for using an Azure CLI task to give you flexibility on whether to overwrite the files/folder or not. |
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Azure Integration Services Quarterly Highlights and Insights 2024'Q1 Read the first of many in a new quarterly blog series where you can catch all the Azure Integration Services news and updates! |
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Deploy Logic App Standard to storage account with private endpoints using Terraform In this follow-up post, you can see an example on how to create a Standard Logic App to storage account with a private endpoint using Terraform. |
News from our community:
PowerShell script to identify all SQL V1 actions and triggers inside Logic Apps Consumption
Post by Luís Rigueira and Sandro Pereira
Thanks to Luís and Sandro, this super handy PowerShell script will help with the deprecation of SQL V1 actions and triggers!
Azure Function Troubleshooting Guide
Post by Sri Gunnala
Watch this video to learn from Sri how to best troubleshoot your Azure Function app using the smart systems like Application Insights.
Post by Diogo Formosinho
With Diogo's help, you can solve this deployment limitation for switching triggers from topics to queues.
Getting Started with Azure Logic App Connectors
Post by Stephen W Thomas
New to Logic Apps? Watch this informative video from this month's Ace Aviator about in-app and Microsoft-managed connectors.
Post by Sebastian Meyer
Read one of the first articles about an overview of Azure Integration Services published on the new Aviators Germany site by their own Community Host, Sebastian.
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