TL;DR Minimise Tokens Every token costs money – send the fewest necessary in prompts, and cap model outputs. Reuse & Cache Don’t repeat yourself – cache identical or similar queries and avoid re-sending static context. Plan & Monitor Treat AI usage as a FinOps priority – set budgets, pick the right model for each job, …
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Date: 19th November 2025Location: VirtualTopic: Building Scalable Voice Solutions with Azure Communication Services (ACS)Speaker: Fabrizio Volpe, Senior Consultant at Exponentially A Warm Welcome to the Community The Welsh Azure User Group wrapped up its final event of 2025 with an engaging virtual session focused on Azure Communication Services (ACS). Hosted by John Lunn and Matthew …
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n 23rd September 2025, the Welsh Azure User Group marked a major milestone—its 5th anniversary—with a vibrant virtual meetup that blended community spirit, technical innovation, and a healthy dose of nostalgia. Hosted by long-time organisers John Lunn and Matthew Fortunka, the event brought together Azure enthusiasts from across the UK to reflect on the journey …
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Britain’s data platforms are too often bloated patchworks, promising a “single source of truth” but delivering duplication and delay. The fix is not more technology, but discipline: start small, simplify ruthlessly, and make data a board-level asset. Do that, and companies can turn sludge into a trusted foundation for AI and growth.
The Welsh Azure User Group’s August virtual meetup was a whirlwind tour through the future of urban living, enterprise data, and—of course—the ever-popular community quiz. Hosted by the dynamic duo John and Matthew, the event welcomed a global audience (no Welsh passport required!) and kicked off with the usual housekeeping: be courteous, stay on mute, …
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Welcome and Community Spirit This month’s Welsh Azure User Group session opened with a warm welcome from John, who celebrated the group’s nearly five-year journey. He emphasized the importance of community, encouraged idea sharing, and thanked sponsors Servant and Creditsafe for their ongoing support. 1 Mastering Azure Exams: Insights from Jake Walsh & Steve Brown Jake …
It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG June 2025 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by another two brilliant community speakers, firstly Wolfgang Ofner joined us to talk 'From VM's to Managed DevOps Pools: Navigating Azure DevOps Hosting, then Segnes Schonken came …
The enterprise AI landscape has undergone a seismic shift over the past 12 months. What began as cautious experimentation has evolved into strategic transformation, with AI spending surging to $13.8 billion in 2024, more than 6x the $2.3 billion spent in 2023. For C-suite executives, this isn't just about keeping pace with innovation—it's about unlocking …
A fascinating pattern is emerging in UK enterprise boardrooms: nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies have integrated Microsoft 365 Copilot into their workflows since 2023, while others are still evaluating their options. With 85% entrusting Microsoft with their integration and innovation decisions. The data reveals compelling insights about where strategic leaders are focusing their digital …
Continue reading 85% of Fortune 500 companies have made their choice – have you?
Imagine a software company with a product loved by many, but built on aging technology held together by patches and prayers. Every new customer demo comes with silent dread: Will the system hold up this time? I’ve met countless ISVs in this exact predicament. They are battling a legacy tech-debt dragon that threatens to scare off customers. Outages, security scares, and …
Continue reading Conquering Tech Debt with Microsoft’s Well-Architected Framework
It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG May 2025 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by another two brilliant community speakers, firstly Sreekanth Takkalapalli joined us to talk about Azure Security, then Ryan Yates came to discuss the evolution of PS DSC …
It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG April 2025 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by another two brilliant community speakers, firstly Owain Osbourne-Walsh joined us to talk about Building Self Hosted AI applications on Kubernetes using KAITO, then Colin Chaplin came …
It’s Funny How Fast Time Moves… If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d be sitting here reflecting on 2.5 years at Microsoft — I’m not sure I would have believed you. Like many of us in tech, I’ve always loved solving problems, learning new things, and (if I’m honest) geeking out over …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG March 2025 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by another two brilliant community speakers, firstly Turja Chaudhuri joined us to talk Multi Tenant Architectures, then Maik van der Gaag came to discuss Reusable Bicep Modules …
It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG February 2025 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by another fantastic community speaker and Microsoft Strategic CTO Tim Hinchey on to discuss using Azure AI Foundry for experimentation. Unfortunately Tayyeba couldn't join us tonight but …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG January 2025 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by another fantastic community speakers Marcin Gastol on to discuss Azure Backups and preparing for the worst! Then we had Andrew Brown on where he gave us …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG December 2024 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by a few friends of the User Group, starting with the awesome Mohammed Sajid discussing Entra ID and Global Secure Access and then the brilliant John Kilmister …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG November 2024 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by the awesome Taiob Ali discussing Migrations of SQL servers into Azure. Then friend of WAUG Jake Walsh joined us to discuss Building cloud Centric Networks with …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG October 2024 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by the amazing Alan Cox who discussed Microsoft Multi-Tenant Organisations (MTO): Enhancing Collaboration across Tenants. Then the brilliant Konstantinos Passadis came to discuss and demo Azure AI …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG September 2024 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by yet another two awesome presenters. First up we had Radu Vunvulea on to discuss the AI Architecture in the Cloud, then Carlos Solis Salazar joined us …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG August 2024 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by yet another two awesome presenters. First up we had Deiter Gobeyn with a great talk around Triaging Email with Azure AI Language Services and Logic Apps. …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG July 2024 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by James Reeves to walk through a journey of Rockstar to Rookie tracking the career change of a Heavy Metal Guitarist into that of a Data Analyst. …
It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG June 2024 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by Harshavardhan Bajoria to discuss building Next Generation AI Infused applications on Azure. Then we had the brilliant Mykola Kolomiiets discussing how to process documents with Azure …
Microsoft Azure stands out as one of the most lucrative career domains, offering promising career growth, immense job satisfaction, and global recognition. In this blog, I have narrowed down the list of the top 5 highest paying Microsoft Azure Certifications in 2024 that will maximize your earning potential. These certifications are globally recognized and provide …
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It was the day of our Welsh Azure User Group #WAUG May 2024 meet up and we had yet another two amazing speakers join us. We were joined by Rhydian Jenkins of Creditsafe who gave us a n overview to how Creditsafe have implemented multi cloud governance across their estate, and then Ian Pike of …
Cloud Computing with a side of Chipz 