In this 'Meet the Gurus' discussion, you get to hear from Daniel Stinchcomb about securing Azure cloud environments and avoiding the most common vulnerabilities that lead to breaches...

• His path from IT helpdesk to database administrator to Azure infrastructure architect
• How AWS and Azure really compare on usability, maturity, and tooling
• Why internet-exposed storage accounts are a leading breach risk
• Segmenting virtual networks so one compromised machine can't reach everything
• What multi-factor authentication actually solves, and the trade-offs of IP-based bypass
• Why encrypting OS and data disks at rest is a baseline, not an option
• Configuring logging, alerts, and monitoring to stay proactive rather than reactive
• Locking down guest users and where beginners should start with cloud certifications

ABOUT OUR GURU

Daniel Stinchcomb is an infrastructure architect whose career progressed from IT helpdesk through systems administration, engineering, and database administration before specializing in cloud. His database background gave him a deep focus on data security and compliance, including work across finance and banking environments handling sensitive financial data and PII. He works primarily within the Microsoft ecosystem SQL Server, Windows Server, and Azureand is also experienced with AWS while expanding into Google Cloud.

ABOUT OUR HOST

Paul Siegel is an entrepreneur and educator working to help technology professionals transform into world-class experts and business leaders become tech-savvy innovators. Paul is an inventor and patent (pending) holder in talent management software and has co-authored or edited more than 30 books.

ABOUT MEET THE GURUS

Meet The Gurus is a program sponsored by Starweaver devoted to spreading ideas, knowledge, and insights in short-form conversations typically lasting around 30 minutes.

The show focuses on technology, business, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and design.

Learn more at: https://starweaver.com

In this 'Meet the Gurus' discussion, you get to hear from Peg Drummond about how to plan, lead, and facilitate effective meetings in today's online-first work environment...

• Why pre-work is the single biggest predictor of meeting success
• The five pillars every facilitator needs: objectives, agreements, decision-making, a parking lot, and an agenda
• Why "any questions?" kills engagement, and how What, How, and Why questions switch it back on
• How to handle the dominator without embarrassment, and the silent contributor without pressure
• Why calling on three people at a time beats putting one person on the spot
• The "technical side vs. people side" gap that derails newly promoted leaders
• How a simple welcome letter sets the bar for cameras, timing, and participation
• Why facilitation is implicit in great leadership, not a separate skill

ABOUT OUR GURU

Peg Drummond is a U.S. Air Force veteran who has built her career around the people side of business. She worked as a mediator in the early 1990s, moved into facilitation in the mid-1990s, and founded Super Teams in 1997, where she focuses on leadership development, team training, facilitation, and collaboration. She is the author of Help! This Meeting Sucks, a guide structured around leadership fundamentals, the five pillars, the power of pre-work, facilitator superpowers, addressing dysfunction, and the mechanics of a great meeting.

ABOUT OUR HOST

Paul Siegel is an entrepreneur and educator working to help technology professionals transform into world-class experts and business leaders become tech-savvy innovators. Paul is an inventor and patent (pending) holder in talent management software and has co-authored or edited more than 30 books.

ABOUT MEET THE GURUS

Meet The Gurus is a program sponsored by Starweaver devoted to spreading ideas, knowledge, and insights in short-form conversations typically lasting around 30 minutes.

The show focuses on technology, business, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and design.

Learn more at: https://starweaver.com

In this 'Meet the Gurus' discussion, you get to hear from Yuriy Grigoryev about Lean Six Sigma, Agile, and how process improvement methodologies drive real organizational performance...

• What Lean Six Sigma actually means pairing waste reduction with variation control
• Why striving for perfection must be balanced against industry tolerance and cost
• The micro versus macro divide why project-level wins rarely scale to program-level success
• How inconsistency turns powerful methodologies into management fads and buzzwords
• Measuring success beyond hard dollar savings organizational capability and learning
• The role of "translators" who connect Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, and data science holistically
• Favorite tools that move the needle swim lane process mapping and Y-tree root cause analysis
• Why even very small companies benefit from process discipline, not just large enterprises

ABOUT OUR GURU

Yuriy Grigoryev has had a diverse career spanning work as a mechanic, roles in NGOs, and running a small manufacturing enterprise before joining a major energy company in Kazakhstan as an admin support supervisor, where he transitioned into Lean Six Sigma practice. He has since applied process improvement methodologies across organizations of all sizes, from very small businesses to large enterprises, with hands-on experience deploying Lean, Six Sigma, and related approaches in real-world deployments.

ABOUT OUR HOST

Paul Siegel is an entrepreneur and educator working to help technology professionals transform into world-class experts and business leaders become tech-savvy innovators. Paul is an inventor and patent (pending) holder in talent management software and has co-authored or edited more than 30 books.

ABOUT MEET THE GURUS

Meet The Gurus is a program sponsored by Starweaver devoted to spreading ideas, knowledge, and insights in short-form conversations typically lasting around 30 minutes.

The show focuses on technology, business, entertainment, entrepreneurship, and design.

Learn more at: https://starweaver.com