Microsoft MVP for Azure and Security 2026-2027: Another Exciting Year Ahead!

The famous “F5 Day” has passed once again, and while the anticipation never really gets old, the feeling of opening that email is always incredibly special. I am beyond thrilled to share that I have been awarded as a Microsoft MVP for Azure and Security for the 2026-2027 term!

This marks my 8th year as an MVP in the Azure category, and I am proud to continue my journey in the Security category as well.

Reflecting on a Year of Shift and Innovation

When I look back at the last 12 months, the cloud landscape has been moving at an incredible pace. On the infrastructure side, a massive highlight was definitely Azure Boost and the associated performance optimizations for v6 and v7 SKUs—benefits that are now partially making their way into v5 SKUs through the recent MANA updates.

Beyond infrastructure, Entra Global Secure Access has been a major focus of mine. I especially enjoyed diving into Private Access as a modern, identity-centric approach to replacing legacy VPN tunnels — a topic I had the great pleasure of speaking about at various conferences this year.

Looking towards the future, I am already preparing my next deep dives. One topic that will undoubtedly accompany us is the SRE-Agent, an exciting operational agent for Azure that I am currently exploring for an upcoming blog post.

These are the exact real-world scenarios that drive me—breaking down rapid changes, finding the right architectures for critical workloads, and sharing those insights directly with you. Helping the community navigate the turbulent waters of modern enterprise IT is exactly why I love doing what I do.

It Takes a Village (and a Great Community)

Receiving this award is not possible without the support of the community. It gives me the great validation that my contributions still bring value to the community, but it reminds me of the incredible network of people I have around me.

First a massive thank you to my wife, Jessica. Without her endless patience and support behind the scenes, none of these late-night blog posts or weekend event preparations would be possible. I also want to gratitude to the colleagues who have become true friends over the years. Thank you to Eric Berg, Thomas Naunheim, Marcel Meurer, Tom Janetscheck, Rene Wasel and Daniel Kordes for the constant exchange of ideas and the great times we share.

Another huge shoutout goes also to my Azure Bonn Orga Team—René de la Motte and Thomas Naunheim. Organizing the meetups and the Cloud Identity Summit with you is always a highlight!

Looking Ahead

I am excited to continue learning from and with this amazing community. If you’re interested in catching up in person or virtually over the next year, feel free to check out my upcoming community events page.

Thank you all for being part of this journey!