Speaker

Thomas Van Laere

Thomas Van Laere

Microsoft Azure Consultant

Temse, Belgium

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I am a certified Microsoft Azure consultant from Belgium, who assists independent software vendors by leveraging Microsoft Azure and open source technologies.

Born and raised in East-Flanders, I started my journey into information technology at the age of six when my family bought a desktop computer that was powerful enough to run Windows 3.11. In the past, I have been a factory worker, a casual programmer and a Microsoft .NET consultant.

With my colleagues, I frequently produce presentations and workshops on the topic of DevSecOps. More recently I have discussed the workings of Windows Containers and how it fits into the container ecosystem. Along with Microsoft MVP Micha Wets, I was asked to talk about Kubernetes in a Microsoft world at the Microsoft Headquarters in Germany and about Azure Governance at CloudBrew in Belgium.

In May 2020, I was awarded the Azure Content Hero award by Microsoft for having created original content, sample code or learning resources and documented and shared experiences and lessons to help others to build on the Azure cloud platform.

Two years later, in 2022, I was honoured to receive the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award in the Microsoft Azure category.

Area of Expertise

  • Information & Communications Technology

Topics

  • Microsoft Azure
  • Web Development
  • Microsoft Stack
  • Microsoft Technologies
  • Windows Development
  • Kubernetes

Data Sovereignty with Azure Confidential Compute and Confidential Containers on AKS

In today’s digital world, the convenience of cloud computing often raises concerns about data sovereignty and security. Azure Confidential Computing can provide the confidentiality guarantees of a private data center while harnessing the power and scalability of the cloud by providing hardware-based trusted execution environments (TEEs) that ensure data remains secure even while in use!

This session will briefly explore Microsoft’s confidential computing offerings, but we will focus on the Confidential Containers project (CoCo) and its integration with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). This Cloud Native Computing Foundation project simplifies deploying confidential computing workloads to Kubernetes, ensuring that only the Kubernetes CoCo pod and confidential hardware are trusted.

We will look at how to leverage our existing Kubernetes knowledge and tools with CoCo. In doing so, we can quickly and effectively lift-and-shift our applications without needing deep expertise in confidential computing technologies. We'll also touch upon integrating these advancements into Confidential AI to further enhance the security and privacy of AI workloads.

- Technical Requirements: Attendees should have a basic understanding of Microsoft Azure, Kubernetes and containerization.

- Target Audience: This session is designed for cloud architects, security professionals, DevOps engineers, and IT managers who are interested in enhancing data security and sovereignty in the cloud.

To container, or to container, its no longer a question... Kubernetes in a Microsoft world

We've noticed a trend.. Perhaps you've seen it in your organisation as well. More and more applications and services have to be migrated to the cloud. But how do we go about doing this? We want to ensure high-availability, higher density and deliver value more frequently. How do we ensure our vision becomes reality?

In this demo focussed session we will take a look at Docker and Kubernetes. We will explain how these concepts can help when you're primarily running on a Microsoft technology stack. We will showcase some new innovations and improvements to Windows Server containers including managing container identities, running containerized DirectX apps with GPU acceleration and Windows nodes in conjunction with Kubernetes.

To deploy WVD, should I use Azure DevOps or GitHub Actions?

When you want to deploy WVD, you can do this in the Portal, but that's not the way you should do it, period!
If you search for an automated way, you can use Powershell or ARM templates, which is already a good step forward, but still not the end goal. You need a CI/CD pipeline deploying your ARM Templates for you. But which platform should you use?

In this session, you will get to know Azure DevOps & GitHub Actions, you will learn the differences between them but also see how you can use both Automation services to deploy WVD!

To container, or to container, its no longer a question... Kubernetes in a Microsoft world

We've noticed a trend.. Perhaps you've seen it in your organisation as well. More and more applications and services have to be migrated to the cloud. But how do we go about doing this? We want to ensure high-availability, higher density and deliver value more frequently. How do we ensure our vision becomes reality?

In this demo focussed session we will take a look at Docker and Kubernetes. We will explain how these concepts can help when you're primarily running on a Microsoft technology stack. We will showcase some new innovations and improvements to Windows Server containers including managing container identities, running containerized DirectX apps with GPU acceleration and Windows nodes in conjunction with Kubernetes.

Sure, we can migrate that!

"Oh what? Yes, certainly! Of course, it will work in the Azure Cloud!" Have you ever been in this situation but don't really know how to get started? Luckily for you, migrating to the Azure cloud is the easiest thing in the world. In this session, we will show you how!"

Jurassic Governance - Rescue your resources from extinction with some life saving tips

"Ooh, ah," that's how it always starts. But then later there's running and screaming. Disaster is bound to happen, so let's see how we can store our embryos in a secure location. Prevent Doctor Who from creating any hybrid monsters. And make sure our fences are always working and that our assets are highly secured.

Jurassic Governance - 10 tips to save your resources from extinction

"Ooh, ah," that's how it always starts. But then later there's running and screaming. Disaster is bound to happen, so let's see how we can store our embryos in a secure location. Prevent Doctor Who from creating any hybrid monsters. And make sure our fences are always working and that our assets are highly secured.

CloudBrew 2022 - A two-day Microsoft Azure event Sessionize Event

November 2022 Mechelen, Belgium

Azure Back to School 2022 Sessionize Event

September 2022

Tech&Trend Days @ HOGENT

Getting started with infrastructure as code

February 2022 Gent, Belgium

Azure Summit Sessionize Event

September 2021

Cloud Summit 2021

Featured session, co-presented with Yannick Dils: "Sure, we can migrate that!"

June 2021

PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit 2021

"The signature event of the DevOps Collective the PowerShell + DevOps Global Summit is the annual gathering of PowerShell + DevOps professionals and enthusiasts from around the world!"

Featured session, co-presented with Micha Wets: "GitHub Actions Vs. Azure DevOps: A toolkit extravaganza!"

April 2021

Technine - March Updates for IT Pro's

Azure Policies and Guest Configurations. Presented along with Micha Wets.

March 2020 Lochristi, Belgium

BEEMUG - BEETALKS Winter Edition

Azure Policies: How to tailor it to your organisation through Azure Subscription & Azure Management Groups.

December 2019 Antwerpen, Belgium

CloudBrew 2019 - A two-day Microsoft Azure event

Azure Policies and Azure AD PIM breakdown

December 2019 Mechelen, Belgium

TECHNINE - October Update

Modernize legacy apps with Windows Server containers

October 2019 Antwerpen, Belgium

ASPEX - Journey to the Cloud

Kubernetes in a Microsoft world.

July 2019 Antwerpen, Belgium

Azure Saturday 2019 Sessionize Event

May 2019 Munich, Germany

Thomas Van Laere

Microsoft Azure Consultant

Temse, Belgium

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