In this issue:
Ace Aviator of the Month
March's Ace Aviator: Luís Rigueira
What is your role and title? What are your responsibilities associated with your position?
I am an Integration Developer, and my key responsibilities consist of working with my team and alongside clients, making the transition and integration of their products and services smoother.
Can you provide some insights into your day-to-day activities and what a typical day in your role looks like?
Sure, merging a portion of my activities, what I could express as day-to-day would be: I start by checking for any issues in our clients' production environments to ensure everything's running smoothly, and then my main activities will be implementing cloud integration solutions with Azure Integration Services. Occasionally, I also help the team on on-premises projects using BizTalk Server.
Also, one of my big activities is going deep into Enterprise Integration features and crafting new ways to archive specific tasks. Do proof-of-concept in new features, explore existing or new services, test those solutions, and find alternatives, for example, creating Azure functions as an alternative to the Integration Account and testing inside Logic App flows to use those Azure functions.
I'm always on the hunt for new solutions to any problems we face, and in doing so, there's a lot of documenting everything we do. This documentation is more than just busy work; it really helps by streamlining our processes and guides our team and community through troubleshooting. To ensure the importance of knowledge sharing, I actively produce informative content for our blog and YouTube Channel. This includes writing posts and creating videos that share our experiences, solutions, and insights with a broader audience.
I also contribute to enhancing our team's productivity by creating tools tailored to address specific issues or streamline processes that are later shared with the community.
What motivates and inspires you to be an active member of the Aviators/Microsoft community?
What really drives me to engage with the Aviators/Microsoft community is my passion for tackling challenges and finding solutions. There’s something incredibly rewarding about cracking a tough problem and then being able to pass on that knowledge to others. I believe we’ve all had that moment of gratitude towards someone who’s taken the time to document and share a solution to the exact issue we were facing. That cycle of giving and receiving is what motivates me the most. It’s about contributing to a community that has been so important in my own learning and problem-solving journey, and I’m inspired to give back and assist others in the same way.
Looking back, what advice do you wish you would have been told earlier on that you would give to individuals looking to become involved in STEM/technology?
I could say something about always having a passion for new technologies and staying up to date with what you are pursuing. There would be nothing wrong with it, but those sound like already-at-hand phrases to be exchanged without considering each individual's current state.
On a moment, and in a world where mental health is so important, let me share a simple tale that resonates with anyone at the crossroads of their career, whether they are new and confused about what to do, whether they're just starting, or contemplating a shift in direction. It's a gentle reminder that venturing into new territories can be daunting but immensely rewarding and that, at times, we may not even realize that our current paths could be detrimental to our well-being, professional growth, and personal relationships.
"There was once a man that went into the wilds of Africa, believing himself to be a hunter for many years. Despite his efforts, he found himself unable to catch any game. Overwhelmed by frustration and feeling lost, he sought the guidance of a Shaman from a nearby tribe.
Confessing to the Shaman, he said, "Hunting is what I live for, but I'm hitting a wall. There's simply nothing out there for me to hunt, and I don't know what to do."
The Shaman, who had seen many seasons and had a kind of wisdom you don't come across every day, simply put his arm on the hunter's shoulder, looked him in the eyes and said, "Really? Nothing to hunt for? This land has fed us for generations. There is plenty of hunt out there and yet you cannot see it? Maybe the problem isn't the land...allow me to ask you something very important, do you genuinely desire to be a hunter?"
This narrative goes much deeper than the act of hunting. It's a reflection on our passions, how we confront our challenges, and the realization that our perspective might need a shift.
If our passions no longer ignite us, or if our efforts to chase them lead nowhere, it might be a sign to let go, not in defeat, but in liberation, because, in the end, I want everyone to be happy with the career path they have chosen, so that would be my advice, to read this simple tale, apply it to your current situation and ask yourself, "Do I really want to do keep doing what I am doing right now?" And if you find that your current path is not worth pursuing, if your mental health is not in shape, or if you are hitting a wall, then yes, it is time to take the step!
Imagine you had a magic wand that could create a feature in Logic Apps. What would this feature be and why?
In a world where AI is at such a fast pace, one feature that I would personally like to have on Logic Apps is prompted AI-generated Logic App flows. What that would mean is you give a prompt to the designer of what you pretend, and you would have a generated, most efficient flow for what you have described. Of course, you will still need to configure some things, but I think AI-generated flows could outline and cover many scenarios, making our processes faster and more efficient.
AI is here to stay, whether we like it or not; it just doesn’t go away, so we could take advantage of it to create better, faster, and more efficient products or stay behind while we see others do it.
What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned throughout your career that surprised you?
One of the most surprising yet vital lessons from my career is the central role of relationships in keeping the ship sailing smoothly. Having positive communication and nurturing a positive work environment are crucial elements that empower a team to deliver top-notch results, remain driven, and maximize their daily potential. A car has four tires, and you need them all to get home safely.
Customer Corner:
Power transmission operator ELES gains agility with Microsoft Dynamics 365
Check out this customer success story on how Microsoft is helping to keep Slovenia's lights on by improving and modernizing ELES' operations. In 2012, ELES turned to Microsoft when they needed a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Today, ELES uses Azure Logic Apps to connect their ERP with other systems, improving collaboration between departments, streamline operations, and better manage their energy resources and infrastructure.
News from our product group:
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Announcing the availability of TLS 1.3 in Azure API Management in Preview Read more about updates to TLS 1.3, the latest version of the internet's most deployed security protocol. |
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IBM MQ Built-in (In-App) connector and Queue Handles: The math behind Queue Handles For those using the IBM MQ Built-in (In-App) connector available in Logic Apps Standard, check out this article explain more on Handles and how to calculate the max value to set in your IBM MQ server. |
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Public Preview of Azure OpenAI and AI Search in-app connectors for Logic Apps (Standard) Check out this article on our two new built-in connectors (Azure OpenAI and Azure AI Search) that are now available for public preview. |
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Common issues of Azure Automation connector in logic app(consumption) and logic app standard Learn about various issue scenarios related to the Azure Automation connector in both Logic App Consumption and Standard, along with its causes and resolutions. |
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Identify Logic Apps Consumption that are using deprecated V1 Actions and Triggers for SQL Connector V1 Actions/Triggers of the SQL Connector for Logic Apps will be deprecated by the end of March 2024. In this article, learn how to use a PowerShell Script to identify the Logic Apps still using the deprecated SQL Connectors so that you can change them to the V2 equivalent. |
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Integration Service Environment to Logic Apps Standard Migration ISE's retirement date is August 31st, 2024, so make sure you migrate any Logic Apps running on ISE to Logic Apps Standard. Check out this guide video from our FastTrack team that walks you through the whole process! |
News from our community:
From BizTalk to Logic Apps: A Real-World Integration Journey - February 2024
Post by Houston Azure User Group
Check out this recording from the February 2024 meetup for Houston Azure User Group where Azure customers dive into their journey from on-premises Biztalk to Azure Logic Apps hosted in an Integration Service Environment (ISE).
Deploying Multi-Line Values in ARM Templates
Post by Harris Kristanto
If you're deploying an ARM template due to multi-line secrets stored in Azure Key Vault, then make sure to read this article from Harris!
Friday Fact: When a HTTP Request is Received trigger can accept more http methods other than POST
Post by Luís Rigueira and Sandro Pereira
Check out this post and video from collaborators Luís and Sandro and learn about other HTTP methods you can use in your Logic Apps.
Building an API to call Logic Apps Consumption
Post by Mike Stephenson
Want to make life a bit easier and learn how to build an APIM API that exposes Logic App Consumption with Terraform? Then check out Mike's new video.
Using Managed Identity with Consumption and Standard Logic Apps with Azure Service Bus
Post by Stephen W Thomas
Read Stephen's quick tips and tricks for using Azure Service Bus to grant access to specific consumption or standard edition Logic Apps.
Easy Auth | Standard Logic App with Azure API Management
Post by Andrew Wilson
Learn about using Easy Auth with Logic App Standard and restricting to API Management as a Backend.
Migrating from MuleSoft to Azure Integration Services (AIS): Why and How
Post by Derek Marley and Tim Bieber
Watch this recording from a webinar hosted by Derek and Tim as they talk about the benefits of Azure's ecosystem and a step-by-step strategy for a smooth transition from MuleSoft to AIS.
Microsoft Fabric: Automating Fabric Capacity Scaling with Azure Logic Apps
Post by Soheil Bakhshi
Learn from Soheil about how to efficiently upscale and downscale your capacity based on specific workloads in this blog post.
Post by Sri Gunnala
Learn about Azure NAT Gateway and how to use it with Azure Logic Apps to solve business problems from Sri.