I’ll tell you about my new virtual training course on Azure Firewall and share some schedule information in this post.
Background
I’ve been talking about Azure Firewall for years. I’ve done lots of sessions at user groups and conferences. I’ve done countless handovers with customers and colleagues. One of my talking points is that I reckoned that I could teach someone with a little Azure/networking knowledge everything there is to know about Azure Firewall in 2 days. And that’s what I decided to do!
I was updating one of my sessions earlier in the year when I realised that it was pretty must the structure of a training couse. Instead of me just listing out features or barely dicusssing architecture to squeeze it into a 45-60 minute-long session, I could take the time to dive deep and share all that I know or could research.
The Course
I produced a 2-day course that could be taught in-person, but my primary vector is virtual/online – it’s hard to get a bunch of people from all over into one place and there is also a cost to me in hosting a physical event that would increse the cost of the course. I decided that virtual was best, with an option off doing it in person if a suitable opportunity arose.
The course content is delivered using a combination of presentation and demo. Presentation lets me explain the what’s, why’s and so on. Demonstration lets me show you how.
The demo lab is built from a Bicep deployment, based on Azure Verified Modules (AVM). A hub & spoke network architecture is created with an Application Gateway, a simple VM workload, and a simple App Services (Private Endpoint) workload. The demonstrations follow a “hands-on guide”; this guide is written as if this was a step-by-step hands-on course, instructing the reader exactly which button to click and what/where to type. Each exercise builds on the last, eventually resulting in a secure network architecture with all of the security, monitoring, and management bells and whistles.
Why did I opt for demo instead of hands-on? Hands-on works for in-person classes. But you cannot assist in the same way when people struggle. In addition, waiting for attendees to complete labs would add another day (and cost) to the class.
Before and class, I share all of the content that I use:
- System requirements and setup instructions.The Bicep files for the demo lab.The hands-on lab instructionsThe PowerPointAnd a few more useful bits
I always update content – for example, my first run of this class was during Microsoft Ignite 2024 and I added a few bits from the news. Therefore I share the updated content with attendees after the course.
The First Run
I ran the class for the first time earlier this week, Novemer 20-21 2024. Attendees from all around Europe joined me for 2 days. At first they were quiet. Online is tough for speakers like me because I look for visual feedback on how I’m doing. But then the questions started coming – people were interested in what I was saying. Interaction also makes the class more interesting for me – sometimes you get comments that coer things you didn’t originally include and everyone benefits – I updated the course with one such item at the end of day 1!
I shared a 4-question anonymouse survey to learn what people thought. The feedback was awesome.
Feedback
This course was previously run in November 2024 for a European audience. The survey feedback was as follows:
How would you rate this course?
- Excellent: 83%Good: 17%
Was This Course Worth Your Time?
- Yes: 100%
Would you recommend this course to others?
- Yes: 100%
Some of the comments:
“I think it is a very good introduction to Azure Firewall, but it goes beyond foundational concepts so medium- experienced admins will also get value from this. I like the sections on architecture and explanations of routing and DNS. I think this course will enable people to do a good job more than for example az 700 because of the more practical approach. You are good at explaining the material”.
“Just what I wanted from a Deep dive course.”
“Perfectly delivered. Crystal clear content and very well explained”.
Future Classes
I have this class scheduled for two more runs, each timed for different parts of the world:
- North America: December 4th – December 5th, 2024 from 10:30-17:00 Eastern Standard Time.Europe: February 12th – February 13th, 2025 from 09:30-16:00 UK/Irish time/10:30-17:00 Amsterdam/Berlin time.
The classes are ultra-affordable. A few hundred Euros/dollars gets you custom content based on real-world usage. I did fint a virtual 2-day course on Palo Alto firewalls that cost $1700! You’ll also find that I run early-bird registration costs and discounts for more than 1 booking. If you have a large group (5+) then we might be able to figure out a lower rate 
More To Come
More classes are coming! I have an old one to reinvent based on lots of experience over the years and at least 1 new one to write from scratch. Watch out for more!
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