In a previous blog post Place Where Japanese Student Developers Develop Strength, we shared the story of Kenta Iwasaki, a Japanese Microsoft MVP who actively supports student growth. About two years have passed since then, and one of the students mentored by Kenta has grown as a community leader and was awarded as a new Microsoft MVP in August 2024.

In this blog post, we look back on the journey of a new Developer Technologies MVP Kaito Tsutsumi from his community activities when he was a student to his recognition as an MVP and share a message for students who want to learn technology for their growth.

Taking the first step during high school, meeting MVPs during university, and becoming a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador

The beginning of Kaito’s community involvement can be traced back to his high school days when he posted a technical article simply because he thought it would be interesting. The warm comments he received inspired him to continue writing technical articles and speaking at tech events. After entering university, he participated in an event, MVP x Student Meetup@Tsukuba, held in his hometown, where he met Microsoft MVPs. This encounter further fueled his passion. Reflecting on that time, he says, “I became more enthusiastic about contributing to the community because I became interested in activities that spread my area of expertise and favorite technologies.”

Later, Kaito became a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador and began focusing on activities for fellow students in the community. However, with the global pandemic restricting in-person events, he had to find creative ways to deliver high-quality online events. Together with his peers, he successfully organized engaging online events.

In the fall of 2022, as the opportunity for in-person events increased, Kaito and peer Student Ambassadors held the first hybrid event, MS Tech Camp 2nd Anniversary Event, marking it the first time he could interact directly with his peers and community members. He also held an event MLSA Graduation Ceremony & Welcome Party in the spring of the following year to conclude his student years, where he was delighted to be celebrated by everyone. “It was a moment when I felt that all my efforts in community activities had been worthwhile,” he reflects.

Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador speakers at .NET Conf 2022 Recap Event Tokyo (X post)

Kaito Tsutsumi and Takumi Okawa (former Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors), and Masaki Takeuchi (Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador)

<Perspectives from a Microsoft MVP on Kaito’s student days>

——-

The Microsoft MVP who supports student growth and works with the tech communities, Kenta Iwasaki, recalls Kaito’s student years as a rare case of someone who combined deep and broad technical expertise and says, “Kaito was recognized by other student members for his extensive knowledge and skills.” He particularly remembers Kaito’s approachable nature and willingness to teach and advise other students, highlighting great communication skills and significant contributions to the community.

——-

Lessons learned by professionals in the community

Many of the individuals Kaito encountered at tech events during his student years were professionals who balanced their busy work lives with community activities. He was impressed by how they managed to engage enthusiastically despite their hectic schedules. “From them, I learned how to approach technology and community with passion. I aim to embody that same spirit in my daily activities,” he reflects on how this experience has influenced his current mindset.

Future aspirations as a new Microsoft MVP

Kaito, once a student learning from professionals including MVPs, has now become someone who supports students and expands his community activities, including hosting events and writing technical blogs. As a result, he received the Microsoft MVP award.

Reflecting on this achievement, Kaito expresses his future goal: “I want to continue my personal development, community activities, and technology outreach while ramping up my efforts. I plan to tackle more advanced and niche technologies in OSS development and technical demos and share the knowledge I gain as much as possible. Just as I admired MVPs in the past, I aspire to become an MVP who others can look up to.”

Future support activities for the student community and message to students

Having received much inspiration, knowledge, and valuable opportunities from the tech community during his student years, Kaito aims to support students similarly. He is passionate about providing opportunities that encourage students to start community activities and share their knowledge. “Starting anything is challenging, especially for students who may find it daunting to share their knowledge in a professional environment. By showing the warm atmosphere of the community and my enjoyment through activities, I hope to motivate students. As a Microsoft MVP, I want to create systems where motivated students can thrive in tech communities like Babylon.js JAPAN and Iwaken Lab,” he says.

For students who want to grow by learning technology, Kaito offers encouraging words based on his experience.

“The IT field evolves rapidly, making it hard to keep up with trends, and it’s easy to feel negative when comparing oneself to impressive people around. For me, my love for technology was a strong support. During university, focusing on my favorite technology and striving to master it made my life richer. So, even if your interest is niche or seems useless, I encourage you to find a technology you love and pursue it passionately in your career.”

The impact of Microsoft MVPs supporting the next generation

Kenta, whose support greatly influenced Kaito’s growth, continues to help students through three main pillars: (1) supporting the articulation of students’ aspirations, (2) coaching to develop individual strengths, and (3) encouraging challenges in new environments. For example, he and his community members are involved in activities such as participating in the Co-Creation Challenges of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, exhibition at JAXA’s Tsukuba Space Center event, helping students gain practical experience and enhance their expertise.

Kaito began community activities in high school, met Microsoft MVPs and professionals enjoying tech community activities during university, and expanded his potential. This story, showing how learning and growing together beyond school and work settings creates pathways, represents an ideal vision of tech communities where people gather around a shared interest in technology.

Microsoft MVPs like Kenta have been supporting many students’ learning and growth journeys. Even if you are not currently involved in such activities, why not share your knowledge and experience with students, and help nurture the next generation of tech professionals?

Microsoft MVP, professional community leader, and Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador speakers at .NET Conf 2022 Recap Event Tokyo (X post)

​Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More 

Any questions about individual refunds should be directed to Amazon at O934l,3O,4l55,,+866-216-1072. Last month, the FTC and Amazon agreed to end their litigation related to the FTC’s case, which paved the way for the refund program to begin. The Federal Trade Commission works 

​Any questions about individual refunds should be directed to Amazon at O934l,3O,4l55,,+866-216-1072. Last month, the FTC and Amazon agreed to end their litigation related to the FTC’s case, which paved the way for the refund program to begin. The Federal Trade Commission works   Read More

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Hello

Does anyone know if any of the Planner plans (1, 3, or 5) come with adding more labels than just limiting to 25 labels?

Thanks,

​HelloDoes anyone know if any of the Planner plans (1, 3, or 5) come with adding more labels than just limiting to 25 labels?Thanks,  Read More

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MS-4001: Build collaborative apps for Microsoft Teams

Credential: Applied Skills Assessment

Retirement date: September 2nd, 2024

Replacement: N/A

We want to offer the best ILT experience for our Learners and support our Trainers to deliver high-quality courses. The Applied Skills Assessment and labs for this course have been offline with no current resolution, therefore this course and its assessment will be retiring, to pave the way for new Applied Skills courses to be added to the ILT portfolio.

Please stay tuned for new Applied Skills course announcements!

Please note: This is not a support forum. Only comments related to this specific blog post content are permitted and responded to.

​Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More 

MS-4006: Copilot for Microsoft 365 for Administrators

Credential: N/A

Retirement date: October 31st, 2024

MS-4006 (Microsoft 365 Copilot for Administrators) was originally designed over a year ago to help administrators prepare for enabling Microsoft 365 Copilot in their tenants. At the time, Copilot administration functionality had not been released, so the primary preparation for Copilot was to ensure that organizations implemented Microsoft 365’s security and compliance controls that would ultimately affect how data was protected and used in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

We also knew from our research that many customers weren’t following Microsoft’s best practices for permissions, users, and policies (which are covered in MS-102). Therefore, the Modern Work team was asked to create a simplified 1-day course that introduced Microsoft 365 Copilot and summarized key points from MS-102 related to the Microsoft 365 security and compliance controls. Hence, MS-4006 was born.

In the early days of Copilot, MS-4006 served our customers well as they prepared to implement Microsoft 365 Copilot. However, with the recent release of the Microsoft 365 Copilot administrative features and extensibility options, our customers’ needs have changed. Rather than focusing on the security and compliance features that were in MS-4006 (which are still covered in MS-102), we must now target our training on the new Copilot administrative controls and extensibility features. The Modern Work team has heard feedback from its stakeholders, partners, trainers and customers. Their call for change was the driving force behind our decision.

Replacement course: MS-4017: Manage and extend Microsoft 365 Copilot

Release date: Releasing October 18th, 2024

Credential: N/A

As such, we are retiring MS-4006 and replacing it with a new one-day ILT course offering: MS-4017: Manage and extend Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Please read below for more information pertaining to our future ILT course offering:

The course begins with the same Learning Path (LP) from MS-4006 that introduces Microsoft 365 Copilot. This LP includes modules covering the Copilot design and implementation requirements, which are still valuable to new Copilot customers. It also includes the module that summarizes key Microsoft 365 security and compliance features that affect Microsoft 365 Copilot deployments. The detailed security and compliance LP’s and labs from MS-4006 that were appropriated from MS-102 have been removed; only this summarized module remains.

A new LP is being added related to Copilot administration. This LP begins with a module on how organizations should apply the principles of Zero Trust to their Microsoft 365 Copilot deployments. It then includes a module on managing Microsoft Copilot, followed by a module on managing Microsoft 365 Copilot administration.

The course concludes with a new LP that guides admins in preparing for Microsoft Copilot extensibility. This LP begins with a module on Copilot extensibility fundamentals and concludes with a module on choosing a Copilot extensibility development path.

Please note: This is not a support forum. Only comments related to this specific blog post content are permitted and responded to.

​Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More 

Hi experts,

I have been doing some revision of MFA in our organization and noticed something that I cant figure out.

I have the MS managed CA created “Multifactor authentication for per-user multifactor authentication users“, and it is in ENABLED mode… All fine… no issues… However, I have noticed that it is covering only 50 users out of 65 total/licensed user in our organization. The CA is applied to “Users/Groups” which is not possible to edit (only for “exclude” option can be modified).

Wondering – why… how the users were selected? Why I have users missing there? For example, my account is not there either.

PS: I am using the LEGACY MFA…. not migrated to MS Entra yet.

I plan to migrate to MS Entra MFA these days so would like to understand the above so that all users have MFA enabled and REQUIRED after migration

Thank you.

​Hi experts, I have been doing some revision of MFA in our organization and noticed something that I cant figure out.I have the MS managed CA created “Multifactor authentication for per-user multifactor authentication users”, and it is in ENABLED mode… All fine… no issues… However, I have noticed that it is covering only 50 users out of 65 total/licensed user in our organization. The CA is applied to “Users/Groups” which is not possible to edit (only for “exclude” option can be modified).  Wondering – why… how the users were selected? Why I have users missing there? For example, my account is not there either. PS: I am using the LEGACY MFA…. not migrated to MS Entra yet. I plan to migrate to MS Entra MFA these days so would like to understand the above so that all users have MFA enabled and REQUIRED after migration Thank you.  Read More

​

I am working on an Excel spreadsheet to help me stay on top of some extensive vocabulary and grammar points. I want the first row to generate values from a random cell corresponding to cells in the same column in the chart directly below. I have input a formula from online but some of the cells show “#REF” when generating a random value. It shows in multiple cells at once. I have no idea why the formula does not work every time. I cannot seem to get control of the “#REF”. What is a good formula to use to generate a value from a random cell in a specific column? If the one I have is good, how can I fix the “#REF” issue??

Formula is: =INDEX($[COLUMN]$[ROW]:$[COLUM]$[ROW],RANDBETWEEN([TOP ROW],[BOTTOM ROW]))

Example: =INDEX($A$2:$A$15,RANDBETWEEN(2,15))

​I am working on an Excel spreadsheet to help me stay on top of some extensive vocabulary and grammar points. I want the first row to generate values from a random cell corresponding to cells in the same column in the chart directly below. I have input a formula from online but some of the cells show “#REF” when generating a random value. It shows in multiple cells at once. I have no idea why the formula does not work every time. I cannot seem to get control of the “#REF”. What is a good formula to use to generate a value from a random cell in a specific column? If the one I have is good, how can I fix the “#REF” issue??Formula is: =INDEX($[COLUMN]$[ROW]:$[COLUM]$[ROW],RANDBETWEEN([TOP ROW],[BOTTOM ROW]))Example: =INDEX($A$2:$A$15,RANDBETWEEN(2,15))  Read More

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Microsoft Fabric’s database mirroring feature is a game changer for organizations using Azure SQL DB, Azure Cosmos DB or Snowflake in their cloud environment! Mirroring offers near real-time replication with just a few clicks AND for at no cost!

Features:

No data movement cost when mirroring
No storage cost for mirrored tables
No consumption of Fabric Capacity Units
Mirror all tables in your source database or just a few, with the capability to add more tables as your Fabric analytics environment grows
Source data continuously replicated with no data pipelines to configure
Data landed in delta tables in One Lake which are optimized by default
SQL endpoint and default semantic model automatically created

What can you do?

Run near real-time queries against the SQL endpoint with no impact to your source system since the data is replicated
Share the mirrored database across your Fabric tenant
Run cross database queries from within the mirrored database SQL endpoint or from One Lake when the mirrored database is shared
Create SQL views over mirrored data, which can include joins or unions with data from other mirrored databases, warehouses or lakehouse SQL endpoints
Configure row-level security and object level security against the mirrored data
Create Direct Lake near real-time Power BI reports against the default semantic model or against a new model
Copy mirrored data into a lakehouse and used in Spark notebooks or Data Science workloads
And… build faster, simpler metadata driven pipelines! Which is the focus of this article!

Metadata Driven Pipelines with Microsoft Fabric Mirrored Databases

Metadata-driven pipelines in Microsoft Fabric enable you to streamline data ingestion and transformations with minimal coding, lower maintenance, and enhanced scalability. And when your source is Azure SQL DB, Azure Cosmos, or Snowflake, this becomes even easier!

Architecture Overview

With Mirroring, the data is replicated and readily available in OneLake. This eliminates the pipeline which brings data into Fabric. After mirroring is configured:

A SQL endpoint is automatically created, allowing you and your users to query the data in near real time without impacting source data performance
A default semantic model is also automatically created, allowing you and your users to create near real time Power BI reports. However, best practice is to create a new semantic model, which provides more features and options than the default semantic model

A Fabric Data Warehouse is created to contain:

The fact and dimension tables (star schema) which simplifies and optimizes the analytical data model for SQL querying and semantic models
SQL views and stored procedures used in data transformations
The metadata table which holds the information on how to transform load each fact or dimension table

The Fabric Data Pipelines are created and scheduled to perform:

A Lookup activity on the metadata table to get the information on how to load each fact or dimension table in the Fabric Data Warehouse
Copy Data activities for full loads with the source being a SQL view over the mirrored tables and the destination a table in the Fabric Data Warehouse
Stored Procedure activities for incremental loads to merge the latest data from the mirrored data source into the Data Warehouse destination table

A default semantic model is automatically created over the Fabric Data Warehouse. But create a new one per best practices
Build Power BI reports for analytical reporting

Why 2 semantic models? Fabric Data Warehouse vs Mirrored Database SQL Endpoint for semantic model reporting

For this architecture, I considered using:

Just the mirrored tables
SQL views over the mirrored tables
A new Fabric Data Warehouse with data loaded from the mirrored tables

Since SQL views over mirrored tables always resort to Direct Query rather than Direct Lake, I decided against building a semantic model over SQL views. Instead, I created a semantic model over the mirrored tables and a separate Fabric Data Warehouse and semantic mode over it.

The semantic model over the mirrored tables:

Is used only by users who understand the source data schema
Allows for near-real time access for data to answer ad-hoc questions that are not analytical in nature such as the order shipment status of a particular order number or current stock availability of a specific product at a certain location
Incur no data storage cost but could be offset by consumption of Capacity Units if reports/queries are complex
Can leverage Power BI Direct Lake connection for faster report performance if the report is not too complex; if the query is too complex, it will resort to Direct Query
Could include other lakehouses, mirrored databases, or data warehouse tables in the SQL endpoint and thus the semantic model but Power BI reports using these tables will always resort to direct query rather than direct lake connect
Can include complex relationships between tables and unexpected results may be returned if the semantic model and/or reports are not configured correctly

The semantic model over the Fabric Data Warehouse:

Requires scheduled data refreshes but will be relatively fast since the source data is already in Fabric
Is best for more analytical questions such as “What was our sales revenue by month by customer location?” or “What is our days on hand for products in a particular shipping warehouse?”
Allows for user friendly data warehouse table and column names rather than using the potentially cryptic mirrored database table and column names
Eliminates snowflake schema, allowing for better performing reports and delivery of consistent results without having to understand complex relationships and filtering rules
Is more likely to leverage Direct Lake connection in Power BI reports since model is simpler
Allows other data sources to be loaded into the same warehouse, eliminating cross database joins in reports that automatically resort to direct query
Leverages a simpler star schema model resulting in faster reports with less consumption of capacity units

This solution addresses two key use cases: providing near real-time responses to queries about specific data transactions and statuses, and delivering rapid analytics over large datasets. Continue reading to learn how to implement this architecture in your own environment.

Solution details

Below are detailed steps to build the metadata pipeline. The data source is the Wide World Importers SQL database, which you can download here. Then follow the instructions to import into an Azure SQL DB. 

Configure database mirroring

From the Synapse Data Warehouse experience, choose the Mirrored Azure SQL DB Option:

Then choose the tables to mirror:

After the mirroring has started, the main canvas will say “Mirrored Azure SQL Database is running’; Click on Monitor replication to see the number of rows replicated and the last completion time:

At this point, both a SQL analytics endpoint and default semantic model are created (1a). But I created a new semantic model(1b) and set up the table relationships:

2. Create a Fabric Data Warehouse

Create the fact tables or any other tables that will be incrementally loaded (2a). You can also manually create the dimension tables or tables are full loaded OR you can specify to auto-create the tables in the pipeline Copy Data activity, as I do later.

Create the views over the mirrored database tables and stored procedures (2b):

Create and load the metadata table (2c) with information on how to load each fact or dimension table:

3. Create the data pipelines to load the fact and dimension tables

Below is the orchestrator pipeline:

Set variable – set pipelinestarttime to the current date/time. This is logged in the metadata driven pipeline table for each table

Lookup – get the table load attributes from metadata table for each table to load

For each table to load

Invoke the pipeline, passing in the current row object and the date/time the orchestrator pipeline started:

Load warehouse table pipeline

Set variable pipeline start time for tracking the time of each table load

If activity – check if full or incremental load

If full load

Use Copy Data Activity to load the Data Warehouse table, set the pipeline end time variable and update the metadata table with load information

Copy data activity

Source settings reference the view over the mirrored database:

Destination settings reference data warehouse table:

Note that the data warehouse table will be dropped and re-created each time

Set the pipeline end time variable

Run Script to update the pipeline run details for this table

If not a full load, then run the incremental load activities

Lookup activity calls a stored procedure to insert or update new or changed records into the destination table. The value for the StartDate parameter is the latest date of the previous load of this table. The value for the EndDate parameter is usually a null value and only set if there is a need to load or reload a subset of data.

The stored procedure performs an insert or update, depending upon whether or not the key value exists in the destination. Only the records from the source that have changed since the last table load are selected.  This reduces the number of updates performed.

The stored procedure returns how many rows were inserted or updated, along with the latest transaction data of the data loaded, which is needed for the next incremental load.

Set the pipeline end time

Script activity updates the table load details:

4. Build a new semantic model in the Fabric/Power BI service

Create relationships between the tables, DAX calculations, dimension hierarchies, display formats – anything you need for your analytics

Note that all tables have Direct Lake connectivity as noted by the dashed, blue line. Direct Lake has the performance of Import semantic models without the overhead of refreshing the data.

5. Create reports

Create reports from your semantic model

Continue on building out more reports and dashboards, setting up security, scheduling data warehouse refresh (which will now be super fast since the source data is already in Fabric), creating apps, adding more data sources – whatever it takes to get the analytics your organization needs into Fabric!

Mirroring – Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

What is data warehousing in Microsoft Fabric? – Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

Data Factory in Microsoft Fabric documentation – Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

Work with semantic models in Microsoft Fabric – Training | Microsoft Learn

Create reports in the Power BI – Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

Dimensional modeling in Microsoft Fabric Warehouse – Microsoft Fabric | Microsoft Learn

If your source database is not supported for mirroring (yet!), check out these other articles I wrote:

Metadata Driven Pipelines for Microsoft Fabric – Microsoft Community Hub

Metadata Driven Pipelines for Microsoft Fabric – Part 2, Data Warehouse Style – Microsoft Community Hub

​Microsoft Tech Community – Latest Blogs –Read More 

I’ve created several Forms where I ask questions that require numeric answers. I’ve already set a restriction to accept only numbers, which works well. However, when I export the responses to Excel and try to use the =SUM function to add up the answers, I find that the numbers are stored as text (e.g., ‘2000), so I’m unable to sum them. Is there a way to change this so that the numbers are formatted correctly for calculations?

What are the possible solutions to fix this issue?

​I’ve created several Forms where I ask questions that require numeric answers. I’ve already set a restriction to accept only numbers, which works well. However, when I export the responses to Excel and try to use the =SUM function to add up the answers, I find that the numbers are stored as text (e.g., ‘2000), so I’m unable to sum them. Is there a way to change this so that the numbers are formatted correctly for calculations?What are the possible solutions to fix this issue?  Read More

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I am trying to add a printer to my PC, pc is using Windows 11 and has most recent updates the Add printer button does nothing. I click it and nothing happens, so could soomeone please advise how I add new printer?

​I am trying to add a printer to my PC, pc is using Windows 11 and has most recent updates the Add printer button does nothing. I click it and nothing happens, so could soomeone please advise how I add new printer?  Read More

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