Welcome to my technology blog. My name is Steve Buchanan I’m from the Twin Cities and I’ve been in Information Technology for 20 + years. My journey in tech started in my senior year of high school when I landed a position building computers/servers and working on networking for a small computer company. My interest in tech grew from there leading to me holding various roles throughout my career from internal IT to consulting (Avanade / Accenture). Today I am a ‘Principal Program Manager’ with Microsoft focused on improving the cloud, a book author x8, a Pluralsight Author x16, a speaker, and a former 10-time Microsoft MVP.
I consider myself a technology generalist who enjoys architecting solutions that solve business problems. I have an Associate in Applied Science degree as a Network Support Specialist and a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Technology. I am a former 10-year Microsoft MVP in Azure and hold the following certifications: A +, Linux +, MCP, MCSA, MCITP: Server Administrator, MCSE: Private Cloud, MCTS: (Hyper-V, SharePoint, Exchange), ITIL Foundation, MPP: DevOps, 70-535 Architecting Azure Solutions, AZ-400 DevOps Expert, AWS Cloud Practitioner, Docker Certified Associate, and GitOps Fundamentals. I have been featured in several publications including the Star Tribune (the 5th largest newspaper in the US) & Dice.com Insights. I also have presented at technical conferences including Microsoft Ignite, O’Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), DevOps Days, BITCon, Experts Live Europe, Open Source North, Inside Azure management, and Midwest Management Summit (MMS).
On this blog site, you will find my thoughts, ideas, and tip’s about technology. In my current role, I work mainly with Microsoft products. The Microsoft technologies I work with the most are Azure/Azure Stack, AKS, GitHub, Log Analytics, Bicep, PowerShell, ARM, Azure Automation, DSC, Azure DevOps, the entire System Center Stack (Service Manager, Data Protection Manager, Configuration Manager, Operations Manager, Orchestrator, Virtual Machine Manager), IIS, Hyper-V, and SharePoint. I also work with many Open-Source technologies such as Linux, Containers, Kubernetes, Apache, Drupal, WordPress, MySQL, Terraform, JavaScript, PHP, and Python. On my blog, you will find a mix of posts around Open-Source and Microsoft technologies.
If you have questions about my blog, are interested in having me speak at a conference, interview me on your podcast, or write for your publication feel free to contact me on Twitter or on Mastodon.
Other places you can catch me blogging / producing content:
- “DevSecOps in Kubernetes” post on the Microsoft Open Source blog: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/opensource/2019/07/22/devsecops-in-kubernetes
- 4sysops: https://4sysops.com/members/steve-buchanan
- MSDN Profile: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Profile/Buchatech
- TechNet Profile: https://social.technet.microsoft.com/profile/buchatech
- Microsoft Channel 9: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/events/speakers/steve-buchanan
- “What is Kubernetes, and why is its popularity exploding in the cloud?” post on the Microsoft UK blog: https://cloudblogs.microsoft.com/industry-blog/en-gb/technetuk/2020/09/17/why-is-kubernetes-exploding-in-the-cloud/
- “The importance of Azure Stack for DevOps” post on the Azure blog: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/the-importance-of-azure-stack-for-devops
- Mindsharp: http://sharepoint.mindsharpblogs.com/steve
- myITforum: http://myitforum.com/myitforumwp/author/sbuchanan
User Groups I am/have been involved in:
- Minnesota Azure User Group: http://www.mnazureusergroup.com
- Minnesota System Center User Group: http://www.mnscug.org/blogs/steve-buchanan
MVP Profile:
Amazon Author Page:
O’Reilly Author Page:
Pluralsight Author Page:
Acclaim Page:
Sessionize Profile:
Places I have been featured:
- Interview on Star Tribune – Twin Cities ‘technologist’ sees expanding future for young minorities in IT
https://m.startribune.com/twin-cities-technologist-steve-buchanan-sees-a-more-inclusive-expanding-future-for-young-minorities/600019839 - Featured my commentary on starting out in DevOps, Cloud, & getting DevOps Certifications in a Dice.com Insights article
https://insights.dice.com/2022/09/20/devops-certifications-what-to-know-about-earning-them - Blacks In Technology BIT Tech Talk podcast ep. #127 Steve Buchanan – PC Tech to Microsoft MVP
https://www.blacksintechnology.net/bittechtalk-ep-127-steve-buchanan-pc-tech-to-microsoft-mvp/ - Featured on Lisa at the Edge podcast EP13 “Career Development, Containers 101 and Diversity in Tech”
https://anchor.fm/lisaattheedge/episodes/EP13—Career-Development–Containers-101-and-Diversity-in-Tech-with-Steve-Buchanan-efnjrp - Featured on Tech.MN podcast EP16 “Something in the Water”
https://tech.mn/news/2019/12/17/the-tech-mn-podcast-something-in-the-water-with-steve-buchanan/ - Featured on CloudSkills.fm podcast “Managing Your Cloud Career”
https://cloudskills.fm/015 - Day Two Cloud” podcast episode 033 with Ned Bellavance titled “Cloud Governance – Bringing Order To Your Cloud Chaos
https://packetpushers.net/podcast/day-two-cloud-033-cloud-governance-bringing-order-to-your-cloud-chaos - #WomenInLinux Podcast: Steve Buchanan – Technical Author
Womeninlinux Podcast Buchatech Episode Link - AnexiPod: Episode 28 Azure Stack MVP Roundtable
AnexiPod: Episode 28 Azure Stack MVP Roundtable - Interview on AzureCrazy.com
https://azurecrazy.com/steve-buchanan-interview/ - Avanade.com Q&A Spotlight: Steve Buchanan, Microsoft MVP and Author
https://www.avanade.com/en/blogs/inside-avanade/employee-stories/q-and-a-with-steve-buchanan - Interview on Tech.mn: Blacks in Technology Conference (BITcon 2019) Kicks Off Today
https://tech.mn/news/2019/10/09/blacks-in-technology-conference-bitcon-kicks-off-today - Betting on Azure Stack: Why it can be a game changer
http://techgenix.com/interview-betting-on-azure-stack - Cherwell’s 25 IT Service Management Experts to Watch in 2017
https://www.cherwell.com/library/blog/25-it-service-management-experts-to-watch-in-2017 - Featured on Mary Jo Foley‘s IT Unity Community column (petri.com)
https://www.petri.com/community-champs/steve-buchanan
NOTE: The views and opinions on this blog site are my own and are not that of my employer.
