foreword
I’ve been a part of Azure’s journey since its earliest days. In those formative years, we weren’t just building a product, we were helping shape a new way for developers and businesses to think about computing.
Today, Azure is growing and evolving faster than ever. AI is being woven into every layer of the stack, services are scaling globally in seconds, and millions of developers around the world are now able to solve in weeks complex problems that once took years. Behind each of these projects is a team of engineers making thoughtful decisions about architecture, performance, security, and cost.
This is why cloud engineers are more essential than ever. Azure provides the building blocks, but it’s your expertise that transforms them into solutions that were never possible before.
I first met Lars at TechEd Sydney in 2014, where he was doing what he does best: making complex technology feel approachable and energizing. That same clarity and enthusiasm run through every page of this book. Lars doesn’t just explain what Azure can do; he offers a hands-on guide to making Azure work for you and your customers. It’s a great road map to navigating the cloud with confidence and purpose.
I can’t wait to see what you build.
—Scott Guthrie
Executive Vice President of the Microsoft Cloud + AI Group