Will Velida

⏰ Time to Wake-Up! Would your Google Cloud Storage survive a control plane disaster? Most organizations assume “11 nines” of durability is enough. UniSuper did too, until a Google misconfiguration deleted everything. This isn’t a drill. It’s a warning. 👇 [Read our latest blog] to see what went wrong, what it means for your backups, and the five things you should be focusing on! https://lnkd.in/eNYzQ2rj #GoogleCloud #CloudStorage #DataProtection #CloudBackup

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Next on the stage at #GlobalAzure Sydney is Anupam Ranku talks through the API governance and how to use a powerful suite of integration services in Azure, including Azure API Center, Azure API Management, and Azure Policy, to boost reliability, security, and compliance while accelerating API development and integration.

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The conversations shaping cloud and DevOps in Australia are about to get even better. 👀 Season 2 of Her Head’s in the Cloud is almost here, and we’re featuring the voices behind the tools and platforms driving the industry. New stories. New lessons. Bigger perspective. Get ready for Season 2.

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🚀 Our sister company, Circini Limited, just shared a fascinating new perspective on the evolution of data architecture, and it’s well worth a read. As organisations across Aotearoa and Australia accelerate their cloud journeys, the ability to design malleable, future-ready data ecosystems has never been more important. 💡 Circini’s latest article explores how modern architecture is shifting from rigid monoliths to adaptive, intelligent platforms; capable of flexing with tomorrow’s demands. 🔗 Read it here: sen.nz/5skk6s 👉 Follow Circini for more insights on data strategy, governance, and transformation. #DataArchitecture #DataPlatforms #ModernData #Analytics #ANZBusiness #DigitalTransformation #DataStrategy #Circini 

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If you're building AI workloads in Australia, the model availability gap just got a lot smaller. AWS announced that Amazon Bedrock now supports open-weight models in the Sydney region. DeepSeek, Mistral, Google, MiniMax, Moonshot AI, Nvidia, and OpenAI models, all running on Australian infrastructure through Project Mantle. Here's why this matters more than a typical regional expansion: Australia's National AI Plan calls for sovereign compute. The government built GovAI Chat on domestic infrastructure. Over $100 billion in data-centre projects have been announced. But until now, model diversity on-shore was the missing piece. Open-weight models change the equation. Vendor independence. Transparent weights you can audit. Fine-tuning on your domain data without sending it offshore. And the DeepSeek angle is fascinating: the same model banned from government devices can now run safely on Bedrock in Sydney, with no data going to China and AWS Guardrails layered on top. You separate capability from origin risk. I wrote up the full analysis covering the competitive landscape (AWS vs Azure vs GCP in Australia), the global sovereign AI race, and what this means for Australian organisations planning AI workloads. https://lnkd.in/gftiA_MW #AWS #AI #Sovereignty #AmazonBedrock #OpenSource #Australia #CloudComputing

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🇦🇺 The 2025-26 Australian Federal Budget sets out a clear priority: building a stronger economy and a more resilient nation. That includes investment in critical infrastructure, skills and services to help Australians navigate ongoing uncertainty. But are businesses ready? Craig Bates, SVP and GM of Splunk APAC, shares how leaders need to rethink resilience for what’s next 👉 [https://splk.it/3GznkCL] #DigitalResilience #cybersecurity #AI

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GitOps at Scale – Lessons from Foxtel’s Kubernetes Adventure Part 1. I'm intending on writing a few posts on the lessons learned from running Kubes and GitOps at scale. This series will serve as a brief summary of the talk that I presented last year at KCD Sydney, https://lnkd.in/eFYtY2gt. At Foxtel, we managed a large number of Kubernetes clusters across a vast number of AWS accounts to support multiple high-demand streaming services—think live sports, binge-worthy premieres, and big launch weekends. Typically somewhat predictable scaling events, although the upper bounds of concurrency not fully known, so heavily dependent on auto scaling. First for context, let me give you my definition of GitOps: Definition of GitOps 🔄 All changes that are in specific git branch are in the environment 📜 Declarative config – Kubernetes manifests of desired config specified declaratively 🧱 Immutable and Version controlled 🤖 Automated pull operations 🛡️ Offers security and compliance with branch protection ♻️ Continuous reconciliation if desired Benefits ✅ Pull request driven, no error-prone fat finger ops 🕵️‍♂️ Auditable – All changes go through git, retaining history, multiple PR approvals for merging prod changes to reduce opportunity for collusion 📦 Consistency ⚙️ Lean in on Automation With GitHub Actions, ArgoCD, and a homegrown developer framework called Bedrock, we’ve built an ecosystem that scales for both our hundreds of devs and our customers. Hot tip: Start with GitOps in non-prod and one team, then scale—automated rollouts in prod need buy-in and iteration. Up next: How mono repos and ArgoCD helped streamline our environment configs. Stay tuned! #GitOps #Kubernetes #DevOps #CloudNative #PlatformEngineering

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I wanted to share a quick update on the FreeDisability app and three major new features I've been working on. Demo Here: https://lnkd.in/gHWFTCJ5 First, I've improved the core web app with stronger security, including SSO and MFA support, more flexible custom dashboards, and a new send for signature capability built directly into the platform. Second, I've now pushing further into the mobile app experience, giving staff access to rosters, timesheets, pay summaries, chat, documents, availability, time-off requests, and knowledge base information while on the go. Third, I've expanded into a new participant portal, where participants can access their own relevant information such as groups, support team details, incidents, invoices, and more. We’ve also extended chat functionality, so participants can communicate directly with staff through the portal. This is a really exciting step because the platform is moving beyond being just an internal admin tool and becoming a much more connected ecosystem for providers, staff, and participants. I’m also looking for help with testing these new features, so if you’d like to get involved, give feedback, or see what we’re building, feel free to reach out. https://lnkd.in/gmCS6gDw

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"Building NDIS software must be hard." Yes, writing the actual code is hard but it's not the hardest part. The biggest struggle is understanding all of the details and edge cases when there is so much variation is in how businesses actually operate in the real world. One day you’re talking to a 5-person team using spreadsheets and doing payroll manually. The next, a 300-person org has 6 layers and automated payroll. Those businesses operate extremely differently. One key to building a successful software platform is actually talking to your customers (and potential customers) about the problems they are facing, not their current solutions. I don't mean automated emails and surveys and questionnaires; while they are important and they do help. I literally mean picking up the phone or getting on a video call and asking, "Walk me through the struggles of your payroll" and trying to understand every single detail. Frank, Jacques and the team at Kinso AI is doing this so well at the moment and they don't even have a product launched. Linear does an amazing job at this with their customer Slack channel. Ken and the team at Clipflow are asking all the right questions to those struggling with content management. I've recently seen Jared Palmer do this for GitHub on X for engineers. When customers use generic words like: • "It's painful." • "It's clunky." • "It takes a long time." We need to dive further into that. What is clunky? What part of the process is taking the time? Getting the size of your sample pool is challenging. You need a pool that is big enough to give you the best understanding of the problem, but you don't want a pool that is so large that it just generates too much noise. I have spoken to literally hundreds, if not over a thousand, NDIS business providers... Yet every single week I still find a customer or potential customer that is doing things differently - not good or bad... just different. And that's when I pull this face in the photo ⬇️ 😯 Our job is to find the common ground between all of the problems in the NDIS and solve them for businesses in a way that doesn't suck. And that's exactly what we're doing.

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🚀 Microsoft just announced a 26% jump in Azure AI revenue, powered by Copilot and custom silicon. For NZ SMEs, that’s a signal: AI‑enhanced cloud services are no longer a niche—they’re a growth engine. 📈 Microsoft’s Q4 shows that while cloud revenue hit $50bn, higher capital spend on data‑centre capacity and GPUs is tightening margins. The lesson? Scale smart – invest in the right tools, not just the hardware. At SmartByte Solutions we specialise in building AI‑ready cloud architectures, from Azure and AWS to custom Python automation that cuts costs by up to 30%. Whether you’re looking to embed Copilot into your workflow, optimise data pipelines with SSIS, or launch a Power Apps solution that scales with your business, we can help you turn data into a competitive advantage. 🤔 How will your company balance AI adoption with cost control? Share your thoughts below and let’s discuss. Ready to future‑proof your NZ business? Explore our services and see how we can transform ideas into digital reality: https://lnkd.in/e48geXJW #Microsoft #AI #CloudComputing #NZBusiness #SmartByteSolutions #DataAnalytics #DigitalTransformation

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This morning, Microsoft Australia and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) announced a landmark Framework Agreement that puts workers’ voices and skilling at the centre of Australia’s AI transformation. AI is reshaping our economy at extraordinary pace. Done right, it can unlock new productivity, strengthen industries and create better jobs – representing a $115 billion opportunity for Australia by 2030. But that only happens when workers have the skills, confidence and voice to help shape how AI is used. Together with the ACTU, we’re committing to: 🔹 Share practical AI learning with union leaders and workers through formal training and resources 🔹 Create new channels for worker input into how AI tools are designed and deployed 🔹 Collaborate on responsible AI policy and skills, ensuring workers are ready for the jobs of the future This is the first agreement of its kind in Australia and builds on the Government’s new National AI Plan. It also aligns with our ongoing work to ensure AI adoption is responsible, inclusive and grounded in real workplace experience. We’re proud to take this step with the ACTU. This is about making sure every worker has a place in Australia’s AI‑powered future – and ensuring the benefits of this technology are shared widely and fairly. Read more about the Framework Agreement here: https://msft.it/6048t7e7K #digitaltransformation #AI #workers #NationalAIPlan

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This is the source code for the demo I did at the AWS Community Day Aotearoa last month, to control a set of Lerobot SO-101 Arms using Micropython over AWS IoT Core. #aws #awsiot #huggingface #lerobot #lerobotso101 #micropython #seeedstudio #seeedstudioesp32c3 https://lnkd.in/gGhxPBzW

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✨ StarHub is now an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Operations Services Competency Partner!   We’re proud to be recognised for our expertise in helping customers design, build and operate cloud solutions that are secure, reliable and scalable. By aligning our operations with AWS best practices, we enable faster deployments and simplified cloud management. In today’s hybrid multi-cloud world, strong cloud operations are the backbone of modern digital infrastructure, driving agility, resilience and innovation without compromise. ☁️   We’re committed to being a trusted partner in building future-ready digital foundations that empower both business growth and people’s success. Whether it’s migrating, scaling or optimising AWS workloads, we deliver environments that perform as promised, operate securely and scale with confidence.   👉 Find out more: https://lnkd.in/gzEF5gA8   #StarHub #RegionalEnterprise #AWS #CloudOps #AWSCompetency #CloudInfrastructure #CloudSecurity #DigitalTransformation #ManagedServices

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using System; using System.Threading; class Program { static void Main() { // Wellington .NET hype machine var chant = "𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗦! "; var hype = 1; var maxHype = 4; for (int i = 1; i <= maxHype; i++) { Console.ForegroundColor = i switch { 1 => ConsoleColor.White, 2 => ConsoleColor.Cyan, 3 => ConsoleColor.Yellow, _ => ConsoleColor.Red }; var line = string.Concat(new string[4].Select(_ => chant)).TrimEnd(); Console.WriteLine(line.ToUpper()); Console.WriteLine($"Sweat level: {new string('💧', i)}"); Console.WriteLine(); Thread.Sleep(500 - (i * 80)); // getting increasingly hyped up hype++; } Console.ResetColor(); Console.WriteLine("Alright, now the actual ad:\n"); var ad = @" For the next six months, I’m going to be head-deep in the .NET market in Wellington. 🤘 I’m working with a bunch of SaaS teams right now: some scaling fast, others modernising older systems, all doing interesting work with C#, .NET, Azure, and API-heavy products. There’s a real mix of opportunities out there, from early-stage teams to established SaaS businesses, but the common thread is the same: they want engineers who enjoy solving hard problems and shaping the way products get built. If you’re a .NET engineer and want to know what’s happening across the market: who’s hiring, what stacks they’re using, where the best challenges are, I'd love to talk. Take a squizz at the one I've just posted today: https://lnkd.in/eEbhpqwb Feel free to get in touch if you want to chat about what’s out there. 📥 "; Console.WriteLine(ad); Console.WriteLine("#dotnet #csharp #wellingtontech #developers #hiring"); } }

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Hiring managers across the Microsoft ecosystem keep saying the same thing: “We need more engineers who go beyond just building infrastructure.” We’ve rounded up the 5 key traits that keep showing up in top Azure & DevOps talent - based on real hiring conversations across ANZ. Whether you’re deep in the Azure world or hiring your next engineer, this list might give you a helpful pulse-check. #azurecareers #devopsjobs #microsoftcloud #cloudengineering

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