Herding Code 171: Magnus Martensson talks Continuous Delivery on Windows Azure and the Global Windows Azure Bootcamp

At NDC, Jon and K Scott talked to Magnus Martensson about continuous delivery on the Windows Azure platform and the Global Windows Azure Bootcamp he helped run.

Download / Listen:

Herding Code 171: Magnus Martensson talks Continuous Deliverery on Windows Azure and the Global Windows Azure Bootcamp [audio://herdingcode.com/wp-content/uploads/HerdingCode-0171-NDC-Magnus-Martensson-on-Azure.mp3]

Show Notes:

  • Continuous Delivery on Windows Azure
    • (00:20) Jon asks Magnus about what he’ll be speaking about at NDC.
    • (00:45) Jon asks about the difference between continuous integration and continuous delivery. Magnus says continuous integration just runs tests and builds, but it doesn’t go anywhere; continuous delivery actually deploys the code to an environment – staging, possibly production.
    • (02:06) K Scott asks about Azure support for continuous delivery. Magnus says you can do it with cloud services, but there’s a delay; with Windows Azure Web Sites the deployment is extremely fast and easy.
    • (03:00) K Scott asks about the steps of setting up continuous delivery for a web application for deployment including non-git source control. Magnus talks about the setup, new offerings for dev / test scenarios, and asks why anyone wouldn’t integrate this into their development process.
    • (05:02) Jon asks what recent Azure changes were announced. Magnus discusses both pricing and policy changes for MDSN subscriptions.
    • (05:47) Jon asks what some of Magnus’ demos include. Magnus talks about using your own TFS service, other git repos, etc. He talks about a his secret demo – the non-Microsoft demo that uses TeamCity, NUnit, and GitHub.
    • (07:45) K Scott mentions all the new Azure SDK language support.
  • Migrating to the cloud and surprise business transformations
    • (07:54) Jon asks how this relates to Magnus’ work. Magnus works at Active Solution, which employs both of Sweden’s Azure MVP’s. Cloud development is really a hot field in Sweden right now.
    • (08:45) Jon asks about some common challenges. Magnus says the biggest thing is learning the platforms – there are a lot of architectural and strategic things they haven’t even considered.
    • (10:23) K Scott asks if businesses think they can’t move to the cloud because they have custom processes or protocols.
    • (10:59) Jon asks if they often do hybrid solutions. Magnus says that multitenant solutions are common, and the process allows companies to transform themselves from product to service companies.
  • Global Windows Azure Bootcamp
    • 12:21 Jon asks about the Global Windows Azure Bootcamp that Magnus helped organize. Magnus tells the story of how they started talking to a few MVPs and things spiraled out of control. In the end they had all timezones, 92 locations, over 5000 attendees. They had some big turnout in some unexpected locations: Nepal, Brazil, Africa.
    • 14:08 Jon asks what happened at the event. Magnus talks about the content in the Windows Azure Training Kit and a shared demo with nearly 5000 coordinated worker roles in a giant render farm passed the rendering power of some Pixar films.
    • (16:13) Jon asks about the relationship with Microsoft for the event. It was community run, but Microsoft helped out with things like attendee giveaways.
    • (16:52) Jon asks if they’ll do this again. Magnus says yes and talks about some of the scaling challenges. He calls out the sponsors, who gave away $18 million in license giveaways. It scales because each location is independent, so each location just needs to run one event. 
    • (18:36) Jon says this reminds him of Corey Haines’ Global Day of Code Retreat.
    • (18:52) Jon asks what Magnus is up to next. Magnus says he’s moving and calls out the upcoming CloudBurst conference – in Sweden and live streamed.

Show Links:

CategoriesUncategorized