🚀 My day at CollabDays in Brussels

This is a recap of my day at CollabDays in Brussels. I will be talking about the sessions I attended and the things I learned.

CollabDays is a Microsoft event that promises a day filled with learning, networking, and enjoyment. This community-driven event is completely free of charge and welcomes participants to join in. The main focus of the event revolves around Microsoft 365, with additional sessions on the Power Platform and Azure. Attendees have the opportunity to explore a range of informative sessions delivered by expert speakers. By attending CollabDays, participants can expand their knowledge, connect with like-minded individuals, and have a great time.

📝 Calling APIs, Consuming Services and Exposing Data using Power Automate

During the presentation, Ahmad Najjar provided a concise demonstration of utilizing Power Automate to access an API and retrieve data from it. Additionally, he illustrated how to leverage Power Automate to consume a service and expose data. Ahmad demonstrated this by employing the Yelp API to acquire relevant information and subsequently utilizing the retrieved data to generate a Power Automate flow, displaying a list of restaurants.

📝 PowerShell and MS Graph API demystified

In his informative session, Michael Seidl provided instruction on utilizing the MS Graph API in conjunction with PowerShell. He guided us through the process of accessing data from the API and effectively updating users and groups within the tenant using the MS Graph API. To conclude, Michael demonstrated his expertise by creating a dynamic todo list utilizing the Microsoft To Do API, adding an impressive touch to his presentation. 😎

📝 Blazor + Bot Framework = a Microsoft Teams Platform Dream Team

During their presentation, Stephan Bisser and Thomas Goelles provided an insightful demonstration on leveraging Blazor and the Bot Framework to develop a bot specifically for Microsoft Teams. Recognizing the pivotal role of tabs and bots in the future of Microsoft Teams, this session served as an excellent introductory exploration of the topic. The duo guided us through the process of bot creation using the Bot Framework, as well as creating a Blazor app that can function as a tab within Microsoft Teams. Moreover, they showcased the integration of the Bot Framework with Azure AI, empowering the bot to intelligently respond to user queries based on its knowledge base.

📝 IT Insecurity - Understanding the Threat of Modern Cyber-attacks

In a highly informative session, Micheal Noel delivered an excellent introduction to the realm of IT security. He adeptly demonstrated the utilization of Microsoft Defender for Identity as a means to fortify our identities, while showcasing the effectiveness of Azure Sentinel in monitoring our environment. Additionally, Micheal provided valuable insights into safeguarding our cloud applications through the use of Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps. The session also shed light on the implementation of next-generation firewalls for enhancing the security of our overall environment.

📝 Real World Infrastructure Deployment with Bicep: Hype versus Reality

In an informative session, Spencer Harbar enlightened us on the concept of Bicep and its comparison to ARM. He emphasized the benefits of infrastructures as code as a powerful approach to deploying infrastructure, highlighting Bicep as an exceptional tool for accomplishing this task. Spencer demonstrated the practical usage of Bicep in deploying both infrastructure and applications, showcasing the versatility of the tool.

📝 How to deploy your Power Platform solution company-wide: Azure DevOps can help with CI/CD

Azure DevOps is an exceptional tool for deploying Power Platform solutions, offering valuable assistance with CI/CD and facilitating the automation of solution deployment. Additionally, it proves highly beneficial for application deployment. In an enlightening presentation, Felien Parein demonstrated the effective utilization of Azure DevOps for deploying both Power Platform solutions and applications. Furthermore, PowerShell emerged as another excellent tool for automating the deployment of solutions and applications, providing further support in the deployment process.

🤔 My thoughts on the sessions

I had a great time at CollabDays and I learned a lot of new things that aren’t necessarily seen at school. Overall it was a great event and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform. We had some time to talk to the speakers and ask them questions. We also had some time to network with other people & talk about the job market.