Course Overview
Microsoft Azure is no longer just a platform for large enterprises. Small and medium businesses are increasingly relying on Azure to host critical workloads, replace on‑premises infrastructure, and deliver secure, always‑on IT services. However, operating Azure effectively requires a very different mindset, toolset, and set of best practices compared to traditional on‑premises environments.
Azure Operations for Small and Medium Businesses is a practical, operations-focused training course designed specifically for SMB IT professionals, consultants, and Microsoft partners who are responsible for day‑to‑day Azure environments.
This course goes beyond deployment and architecture theory. It focuses on how Azure actually works, how to operate it reliably, how to monitor and secure workloads, and how to avoid the most common (and expensive) mistakes seen in real-world SMB Azure environments.
The course is built around real-world scenarios, hands-on labs, and lessons learned from supporting SMB Azure tenants at scale.
Who Should Attend?
This course is ideal for:
- IT professionals responsible for operating Azure environments
- SMB internal IT teams managing Azure workloads
- Microsoft Partners, MSPs, and consultants supporting SMB customers
- System administrators moving from on‑premises infrastructure to Azure
- Anyone who understands basic Azure concepts and now needs to run Azure properly
It is particularly well suited to organisations that:
- Run or plan to run virtual machines in Azure
- Use Azure storage for files, backup, or application data
- Require monitoring, alerting, backup, and cost control
- Need secure and reliable Azure networking
Prerequisites
- Basic familiarity with Microsoft Azure concepts
- Experience administering Windows Server and/or Linux systems
- No development or scripting experience required
What You Will Learn
By the end of this course, attendees will be able to:
- Understand how Azure tenants, subscriptions, and resources really work
- Design practical subscription and resource group strategies for SMBs
- Implement monitoring, diagnostics, and alerting that actually work
- Operate and troubleshoot Azure networking, including VPNs
- Secure workloads using Network Security Groups (NSGs) and segmentation
- Deploy and operate Azure Virtual Machines safely and cost-effectively
- Implement backup, recovery, and patch management in Azure
- Control and predict Azure costs using native cost management tools
- Avoid common Azure operational and security pitfalls seen in SMB environments
Instructor
Aidan Finn
Microsoft MVP – Azure (18 years)
Founder, Cloud Mechanix
Aidan has been working as a consultant and system administrator since 1996, specialising in Windows Server, virtualisation, and Microsoft Azure. He works extensively with small and medium businesses and Microsoft partners, helping them design, secure, and operate Azure environments in the real world.
More information:
- https://aidanfinn.com
- https://cloudmechanix.com
The course is a virtual/online-only class. Details of how to join will be shared after registration is completed.
The course runs for 2 days on April 13-14, starting at 10:30 and finishing at 17:30 Berlin/Paris/Oslo/Amsterdam time (09:30-16:30 Dublin/London time).
The daily agenda will be (Berlin/Paris/Oslo/Amsterdam time):
- 10:30 Start
- 11:30 15-minute break
- 13:00 45-minute lunch
- 14:30 15-minute break
- 17:30 End
Attendee Requirements
The only technical requirement is a free Zoom client.
Fees & Refunds
Each attendee must purchase 1 ticket. The per-person cost for the earlybird ticket is €400. After February 28th, the price will be €500. A 20% discount will be applied to all purchases exceeding 2 tickets.
A full refund will be given if:
- An attendee cancels on/before 31st March, 2026.
- If the class is cancelled by the organiser at any time.
Refunds shall not be given if an attendee cancels after 31st March, 2026.
