How to stay up-to-date with Microsoft Azure
Tags: azure, microsoft, cloud
Published: 2021-02-26 11:05:10

Microsoft Azure is huge and is constantly changing! It has a plethora of services under it which is currently greater than any other cloud service provider. It's hybrid connectivity and the cost factor has made it an enterprise favorite.

The rate at which Azure keeps evolving is amazing. There are new services coming out and the existing services are constantly being enhanced with new features. This change of pace also means that individuals and organizations have to adapt themselves with the new processes. If you are someone who is responsible for helping your organization keep up with the change or you are someone who is interested in learning Azure then you need to stay up-to-date.

Here's how you can do it.

# Subscribe to Azure Updates RSS feeds

Subscribing to RSS feeds is THE quickest way to stay current with anything. It allows you to get the updates regarding your favorite content in one centralized location.

You can install a browser extension like [RSS Feed Reader](https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/rss-feed-reader/pnjaodmkngahhkoihejjehlcdlnohgmp) which will allow you to see the updates to your subscriptions instantaneously in your browser. If you prefer to not get distracted by the frequent updates in your browser, you can install an app like [Aggregator](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tughi.aggregator&hl=en) to read the updates whenever you want on your mobiles.

I have been following the updates from below sources:

- **Azure updates:** You can review the [Azure updates](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/) for updates about different products in Azure. It gives a brief summary of the updates with links to additional resources. Subscribe to these updates via [Azure updates RSS feed](https://azurecomcdn.azureedge.net/updates/feed/).
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- **Azure blog:** The [Azure blog](https://azure.microsoft.com/blog) covers the important announcements for the Azure platform. Subscribe to the blog via [Azure blog RSS feed](https://azurecomcdn.azureedge.net/blog/feed/).
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- **Service blogs:** If you are interested in specific Azure services then you can follow service-specific blogs. Individual services publish their blogs. For example, [here](https://azure.github.io/AppService/) is the blog for Azure App Service. Similarly, you can find other service blogs as well.
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# Azure Charts

If you don't like going through feeds and updates from various sources and prefer visualizing the data instead, you can refer the [Azure Charts website](https://azurecharts.com/).

![Azure Charts website homepage](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/a8sicmlqxdheqm00o4bk.png)

The Azure Charts website is developed by [Alexey Polkovnikov](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexeypolkovnikov/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3BW2bgUTiLSnO3ZijLZHJMWw%3D%3D). The website pulls together all the stats from different updates, RSS channels and webpages. It has a lot of amazing features one of which is [Azure Heat Map](https://azurecharts.com/heatmap).

![Azure Heat Map page on Azure Charts website](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/1s3ar8fqkhyq5vi50bgn.png)

It lists all the Azure services and then highlights the ones which have recent updates. You can also click on the product tile which will take you to official website to see the updates for the specific service.
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# Azure This Week - A Cloud Guru

A fun way to stay up-to-date. [Azure This Week](https://acloud.guru/series/azure-this-week/) is a weekly video series from [A Cloud Guru](https://www.linkedin.com/company/a-cloud-guru/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_pulse_read%3BW2bgUTiLSnO3ZijLZHJMWw%3D%3D) where ACG instructors recap the past week's developments in the world of Azure.

![Azure this week image](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/i3byjpe39k6nkenpmgrj.png)

If you're not a big fan of reading and scrolling through different feeds, then this a great way to catch up with the latest updates by watching a 3-5 minute video every week. It also contains some important links and resources on each episode page making the updates easy to follow.

And that's it! Sometimes keeping track of all the changes can be hard. I try to keep pace as much as I can. Hope that this article helps you do the same.