Hello Folks,
I’ve always believed that one of the true roles of IT in any organizations is to help the business units achieve their goals while maintaining adequate control over company resources. This is not an all-encompassing rule. It’s just my own personal view of our role.
But to perform that role, we need to ensure that resources that are deployed are at the very least adequately inventoried, protected, monitored, and operated. Basically, we need to ensure that all the facets of the operation lifecycle of our resources are covered.
That means that when deploying a new VM in Azure for example you need to ensure you’ve enrolled it in the following services:
- VM Insights Monitoring
- Backup
- Azure Security Center
- Microsoft Antimalware
- Update Management
- Change Tracking & Inventory
- Azure Guest Configuration
- Boot Diagnostics
- Azure Automation Account
- Log Analytics Workspace
These services if performed manually one by one could take you a significant amount of time. And yes, I know… This can be automated through Azure Resource Manager (ARM) templates, through PowerShell scripts, Azure CLI Scripts, and other means. However, when you do that, you now have to manage your environment AND your custom code.
In comes Azure Automanage… A new service, currently in preview (at publishing time) that helps you automate this process without the need to create your own code for it. For a demo of Azure Automanage you can see Sarah Lean's first look video.
I meet with Dean Wells, Principal PM Manager for Azure Automanage. He shared the genesis of the service, the current state and the roadmap for added functionality.
Even if this service is in preview, there are resources available for you to lean and try this new functionality.
Resources:
- Provide your Feedback – ITOpsTalk-Feedback@Microsoft.com or directly to Dean Wells at Dean@microsoft.com
- Learn more about Azure Automanage: Azure Automanage | Microsoft Azure
- Get Started https://aka.ms/AutomanagePreview
- General docs: https://aka.ms/automanage
Check it out and let us know what you think.
Cheers!
Pierre