News and announcements:
- Amazon WorkSpaces supports CAC/PIV smartcard authentication
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/publicsector/amazon-workspaces-supports-cac-piv-smartcard-authentication/
- AWS Announces the global expansion of AWS CCI Solutions
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/machine-learning/aws-announces-the-global-expansion-of-aws-cci-solutions/
- Introducing message archiving and analytics for Amazon SNS
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/compute/introducing-message-archiving-and-analytics-for-amazon-sns/
- Monitor your Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) storage usage with Amazon CloudWatch
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2021/01/monitor-your-amazon-efs-storage-usage-with-amazon-cloudwatch/
- Amazon Aurora supports in-place upgrades from MySQL 5.6 to 5.7
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2021/01/amazon-aurora-supports-in-place-upgrades-mysql-5-6-to-5-7/
- Amazon EC2 API now supports Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6)
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2021/01/amazon-ec2-api-supports-internet-protocol-version-6/
- Amazon Lightsail now supports IPv6
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2021/01/amazon-lightsail-supports-ipv6/
- Amazon CloudWatch Container Insights now available on AWS Graviton2
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2021/01/amazon-cloudwatch-container-insights-available-aws-graviton2/
- Public IP SKU upgrade generally available
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/public-ip-sku-upgrade-generally-available/
- Simple Azure Marketplace Virtual Machine Offer: creating VM images and publishing in Partner Center
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/fasttrack-for-azure/simple-azure-marketplace-virtual-machine-offer-creating-vm/ba-p/2058093
- Breakout Rooms: Now available in Microsoft Teams
https://educationblog.microsoft.com/en-us/2021/01/breakout-rooms-now-available-in-microsoft-teams/
- Announcing GA of machine learning based trainable classifiers for your compliance needs
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-security-and/announcing-ga-of-machine-learning-based-trainable-classifiers/ba-p/2054416
- Powering open source healthcare research on Google Cloud
https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/healthcare-life-sciences/powering-open-source-healthcare-research-on-google-cloud
- Introducing Ruby on Google Cloud Functions
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/application-development/ruby-comes-to-cloud-functions
- Google Cloud, Nokia Partner to Accelerate Cloud-Native 5G Readiness for Communications Providers
https://cloud.google.com/press-releases/2021/0114/google-cloud-nokia-telecommunications
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Delivers New Low-code Service to Simplify Application Development
https://www.oracle.com/news/announcement/oracle-apex-application-development-service-011321.html
Trend sand opinions:
- AWS Hybrid Cloud Strategy Evolves With EKS Anywhere, Outposts Updates
https://www.datacenterknowledge.com/amazon/aws-hybrid-cloud-strategy-evolves-eks-anywhere-outposts-updates
- Working backwards: The story behind the AWS Cloud Development Kit
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/opensource/working-backwards-the-story-behind-the-aws-cloud-development-kit/
- Parler’s New Serverless Architecture
https://www.lastweekinaws.com/blog/parlers-new-serverless-architecture/
- Azure SQL Database named among the top 3 databases of 2020
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-sql-database-named-among-the-top-3-databases-of-2020/
- Top 5 trends for API-powered digital transformation in 2021
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/api-management/top-5-trends-for-api-powered-digital-transformation-in-2021
- Cloud Strategy Challenges
https://www.isaca.org/resources/news-and-trends/industry-news/2021/cloud-strategy-challenges
- Netwrix - 2021 Cloud Data Security Report
https://www.netwrix.com/download/collaterals/2021%20Netwrix%20Cloud%20Data%20Security%20Report.pdf
- How to Make Workloads in Cloud Faster: 7 Strategies
https://www.itprotoday.com/hybrid-cloud/how-make-workloads-cloud-faster-7-strategies
- 6 Organizational Challenges for Cloud Services
https://cloudtweaks.com/2021/01/6-organizational-challenges-for-cloud-services/
- 5 Reasons To Adopt Cloud During The Pandemic
https://www.comparethecloud.net/articles/cloud/5-reasons-to-adopt-cloud-during-the-pandemic/
- Kubernetes Maturity Model
https://www.fairwinds.com/kubernetes-maturity-model
- Accelerating to the Cloud, Responsibly
https://www.isaca.org/resources/news-and-trends/isaca-now-blog/2021/accelerating-to-the-cloud
- 5 challenges every multicloud strategy must address
https://www.reseller.co.nz/article/685588/5-challenges-every-multicloud-strategy-must-address/
- Yes, DevOps is a Role: You Just Do it Wrong
https://medium.com/@nhumrich/yes-devops-is-a-role-you-just-do-it-wrong-4db8402eb32b
Cost Management:
- Cloud, CapEx, and OpEx: Reframing the Conversation
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/enterprise-strategy/cloud-capex-and-opex-reframing-the-conversation/
- Getting insights into the utilization of SQL Server licenses on Azure to optimize cost
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-sql/getting-insights-into-the-utilization-of-sql-server-licenses-on/ba-p/2051320
- Save money by scheduling Cloud SQL
https://medium.com/google-cloud/save-money-by-scheduling-cloud-sql-7981e1b65ea3
- Ten things you can implement to save costs in your Azure environment
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/itops-talk-blog/ten-things-you-can-implement-to-save-costs-in-your-azure/ba-p/2056163
Security Related:
- How to approach threat modeling
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/how-to-approach-threat-modeling/
- Securing access to EMR clusters using AWS Systems Manager
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/big-data/securing-access-to-emr-clusters-using-aws-systems-manager/
- Masking field values with Amazon Elasticsearch Service
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/masking-field-values-with-amazon-elasticsearch-service/
- Azure and HITRUST publish shared responsibility matrix
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/azure-and-hitrust-publish-shared-responsibility-matrix/
- Stopping Azure subdomain takeovers
https://build5nines.com/stopping-azure-subdomain-takeovers/
- Using Azure Key Vault to manage your secrets
https://dev.to/azure/using-azure-key-vault-to-manage-your-secrets-546g
- Secure access to your VMs in Google Cloud
https://medium.com/google-cloud/secure-access-to-your-vms-in-google-cloud-ada97449c793
- Compute Engine explained: Scheduling the OS patch management service
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/compute/using-compute-engines-os-patch-management-service
- 4 best practices for ensuring privacy and security of your data in Cloud Storage
https://cloud.google.com/blog/products/storage-data-transfer/google-cloud-storage-best-practices-to-help-ensure-data-privacy-and-security
- Businesses need to take Teams security seriously
https://betanews.com/2021/01/08/businesses-teams-security-seriously/
- How To Ensure Security With Cloud Hosting?
https://www.comparethecloud.net/articles/cloud/how-to-ensure-security-with-cloud-hosting/
- Sysdig 2021 container security and usage report: Shifting left is not enough
https://sysdig.com/blog/sysdig-2021-container-security-usage-report/
- When the Levee Breaks: Protecting Vault Against Advanced Adversaries and Internal Threats
https://www.hashicorp.com/blog/when-levee-breaks-protecting-vault-against-advanced-adversaries-internal-threats
- Abusing cloud services to fly under the radar
https://blog.fox-it.com/2021/01/12/abusing-cloud-services-to-fly-under-the-radar/
Privacy Related:
- Data Residency Compliance with Distributed Cloud Approach
https://www.cpomagazine.com/data-protection/data-residency-compliance-with-distributed-cloud-approach/
- A Facebook case in Belgium could open the floodgates for GDPR privacy suits
https://fortune.com/2021/01/13/facebook-belgium-ireland-privacy-tracking-cjeu-bobek-max-schrems/
Training and Certifications:
- New beta exam for AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate
https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/training-and-certification/new-beta-exam-for-aws-certified-sysops-administrator-associate/
- 2021 resolutions: Kick off the new year with free Google Cloud training
https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/training-certifications/kick-off-2021-with-skill-badges-and-free-training
- Preparing For The Google Cloud Professional Data Engineer Exam
https://medium.com/datasparq-technology/preparing-for-the-google-cloud-professional-data-engineer-exam-ce74ce9cd5b3
- We’re taking Azure certifications for data and AI to the next level
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-learn-blog/we-re-taking-azure-certifications-for-data-and-ai-to-the-next/ba-p/1868370
