Why did I choose to focus on Azure?

People believe that all the comes from Microsoft is a closed system. In fact, the opposite is what has happened since the awakening of this sleeping giant.

I've attended various meetups for a little over a year in the Denver metro area. "Drinking from the fire hydrant"... understanding what AWS and Azure provides, use cases and ultimately decided to take a step back and look at the territory that the current map provided. I then made my decision late last year and became immersed into the Azure eco-system. Pushing and then elevating my voice within the technical community. More importantly, listening to various Microsoft and non-Microsoft voices! Yes, I do still attend AWS meetups from time to time.

AI at the edge

What I saw was the following: (Yes, some of these items I've touched upon in various articles I've published thus far):

• More data-centers than AWS and Google Cloud combined = global presence and availability of services.
• Mixed Reality and amazing practical use cases via HoloLens - Yes, it isn't perfect with respect to FOV, etc..., but you have to look past that and see what that hardware is capable of and where they are going with it.
• AI first model. From AI in IoT to various cognitive services that are easily consumed via their APIs, e.g. Emotion API.
• Arrow Electronics using Azure as their cloud platform. (BTW, they can be seen time to time in our Mile High Azure meetup group.) Take a step back and think of the products from Arrow Electronics... AI at the edge?

If you haven't met me and spoken with me at great lengths, you wouldn't know that I was a car guy, among many other things. Learning and perfecting how to heel & toe, double clutching, rev matching goodness! Allegedly, I have even tried to beat another Ghia in my Ghia. Yes, was a stale mate, but fun nonetheless. Believe it or not, my very first automatic is in my current vehicle from BMW that I purchased in 2014. I am giddy to see what BMW is doing with Microsoft Azure! (Yes, BMW sent me a rejection letter when I sent them my resume without even speaking with me, but I can forgive their ATS recruitment model, as we all know it is currently broken. Let's see if my resume submission to Daimler has any luck!)

So, you can only imagine how excited I was to see my favorite car guy (MotoManTV) speak technology with BMW. BMW was my muse for my Connected Car article. If you aren't a car guy/gal, but love technology, you have got to watch this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zq_hYQmWsPw&feature=youtu.be

In the vein of MotoManTV...

Bis sp?ter