Microsoft MVP, Shehan Perera Sheds Light on Power Automate, Cyber Security, and Automation

The threat of cyber-attacks is a growing concern for organizations of all sizes, prompting an increased focus on security measures. With the rise of more sophisticated cyber-attacks, organizations are no longer wondering if they will be compromised, but rather when it will happen.

In response, Microsoft is leading the way with its Zero-Trust practices and products like Microsoft Defender, which provide cloud and on-premises infrastructure protection.

We invite leading industry professionals to speak on P2P relationships, Microsoft Business Solutions, and current technological trends for our segment, “Influencer Insights.” Today, we have with us Shehan Perera to talk about cyber security, Power Automate, and the features of Azure.

Let Us Quickly Get To Our Expert’s Point Of View.

Question 1- What, according to you, are some of the top Microsoft technology trends to watch out for in 2023?

Undoubtedly, the momentum for security is picking up like never before. The reason is that cyber-attacks are very sophisticated today, and everyone should discuss: "When will my organization get compromised." It's almost inevitable that the bad actors are always targeting organizations at any scale and trying to get in from the first attempt they could.

Microsoft focuses on Zero-Trust practices and products like Microsoft Defender that protect your cloud and on-prem infrastructure. Even more, Microsoft Sentinel will expand across all clouds, and with automation, it makes security management more accessible than ever. Identity is the new target of bad actors. It starts with a phishing attack and goes on to steal the topmost critical accounts.

Features like Conditional Access that continuously improves and device management products like Microsoft Intune will help the overall security posture and help organizations to focus on more important factors. At the same time, they make sure your environment is secure.

Question 2: What opportunities would you be looking at this year?

To learn more about Security, as I've mentioned, this has become a trending topic. I would like to work on projects that need to provide Identity and Access solutions and Device management solutions.

Automation: There are a lot of Azure features that can be used for automation, making everyone's lives easier. You can do a lot when you combine the power of Power Automate and Graph API. Personally, I have seen a lot of problems have been answered by using those in your solutions.

Azure AD Trusts: On-prem AD trusts are no stranger to anyone who is in the IT Infrastructure side of things. IT admins have been asking to allow Azure AD trusts from Microsoft for a long time, and finally, it's there. Where some features are still in preview at the time of the writing, this is the new trend. Organizations need day-one solutions when they do mergers and acquisitions, which should be quick and reliable. Thanks to Microsoft, it's a possibility now, and I hope they will add more features to the stack.

Question 3: Would you like to share some tips on Microsoft 365 implementation?

Best Practices: Follow the Best Practices provided by Microsoft. They are called best practices for a reason.

No one size fits all: M365 implementations always have their own set of challenges. Each challenge must be properly identified and needs to find an answer before implementation.

Proper Change Management: Most of the time, M365 implementations will go in environments that never used the cloud. Proper change management will help the upper management understand its benefits, and the end users can move to M365 seamlessly.

Question 4: What is the potential for Microsoft Partners in Australia?

It is an exciting time when new Microsoft products come into the market. Most of the time, the in-house skill needs to be improved to analyze the product, explain the cost benefits to the upper management, and run an end-to-end project. This is where Microsoft Partners would come in, and there is a huge potential for them to be advocates and ensure organizations will get the best bang for the buck.

Question 5: A piece of advice that you'd like to share with our readers?

Learning never stops. You may still be a beginner or an architect. There is always room to grow and learn. Technologies change and evolve every day; if we are up to date, we will be included. Unfortunately, that's the situation.

While it's challenging to be a jack of all trades, it is understandable that you can learn the general functionalities of technologies but master a relevant specific area. That relevancy may change over time; in that case, you should be able to adapt and be flexible to step out of your comfort zone to learn more and face a new challenge.

Get to Know Our Influencer

What is the best event that you attended recently? What were your key takeaways?

One of the events I'm really keen on attending is Microsoft Ignite. The pandemic made the event virtual, but it would be nice if the in-person event resumed. For me, this is the event of all events when it comes to Microsoft technologies. Exciting new announcements and new products are my two takeaways from this event. Always excited about that and to write my findings about it later.

What's your success mantra?

The Comfort Zone diagram. Whenever I feel lost or uncomfortable in my career, I look at this diagram from time to time or when in doubt and see what matches my current situation, and I always try to find an answer and challenge myself.

This is not me looking for a solution overnight but trying to understand the root cause while looking to improve myself.