August 2018 Meetup

For the Monday, August 13th meetup we will welcome DJ Maley to share his insights on how to effectively manage data in Azure. Data is often a key component to any system.  Nearly ever system needs “data” for something.  When it comes to building a solution in the cloud, there are a myriad of choices available.  Do you use a relational database, or a NoSQL database?  Who is responsible for managing the database platform (security, maintenance, etc.)?  How can you gain insights from the data?  There are lots of answers to all these questions.  DJ will provide some guidance on choosing the right platform, and pros/cons with some of those approaches. This is sure to be a very relevant session for many people. Should be fun!!

Please RSVP for the meetup so we can best plan for food and drinks!

Title: How to manage your data in the cloud (and give yourself an advantage in Fantasy Football)

Abstract:  There’s many ways to build a solution in the cloud today. Ever wondered what options Azure provides from a data management perspective? How do we deal with the upcoming challenges around size, scale, speed, and trusting the way data is stored? We’ll talk about how we can leverage some of these options around storing and processing data, the pros/cons with many of the approaches, and ultimately how we empower our data utilizing Machine Learning and AI (and how some of these tools might give you a leg up in Fantasy Football this year).

Bio:DJ manages the Columbus Data and AI Practice for Cardinal Solutions. He is a Business Intelligence professional with experience leading, developing and implementing data warehousing, big data, and data visualization projects. DJ is passionate about enabling organizations to make better decisions using good analytics.

Inaugural COAzure Meetup

The inaugural Central Ohio Azure meetup will take place on Monday, March 14th from 6pm – 8pm at the Microsoft office located at 8800 Lyra Drive, Suite 400, Columbus, OH.

We are using Meetup.com to help spread the word about upcoming meetups, as well as for RSVPs. Please RSVP via Meetup to let us know if you’re planning to attend. This will help us in proper planning.

For this very first meeting we are pleased to welcome John Dages to share his insights on Azure Machine Learning.

Title: Sports Betting with Azure Machine Learning

Abstract: If you are anything like me, I would happily shell out hundreds of dollars in cloud compute costs to win a five dollar bet from a colleague. And now with the cloud and publicly available data, we are positioned to analyze years of NFL data to make predictions based on past performance.In this session, we will chew through 25 years of NFL data to determine the most relevant and reliable predictors of NFL outcomes. From head to head performance and win records to undergraduate degrees and weather patterns, learn how to leverage large volumes of inconsistent data to draw actionable insights from your data.This presentation will include technical walkthroughs on Azure Machine Learning. No previous experience is required.

Speaker Bio: John is passionate about delivering application solutions for the cloud. John began his career in developing custom solutions and has since worn a number of different hats. From development to process guidance, from strategy to management, John’s entire professional life is delivering value for consulting customers.Five years ago, John collaborated with a flagship Fusion customer on migrating their entire application suite to the cloud and hasn’t looked back since. John has provided cloud strategy and implementation services to customers across the Midwest in industries as disparate as retail, financial services, logistics and energy. John is always seeking new methodologies, tools, and approaches to serve customers on their cloud journey.John holds a PSD and PSM and a BA in computer science from DePauw University.