Petri Dish

Why IT Holds the Key to Better Financial Decisions

Finance wants to become more strategic, but IT has to provide the governed, trustworthy data foundation first. In this episode of Petri dish, I'm talking to Brian Kobleur, who is Vice President of Ecosystems at Vena Solutions. We discusshow the humble Excel spreadsheet is still quite often the core tool used by financial planning and analysis teams, and how Vena Solutions is helping organizations make sure that the information that goes through those systems, which have been put together by IT and finance, can be trusted, leavingfinance teams more time to add value to the organization. This episode is sponsored by Cayosoft [https://cayosoft.com]!

AI Agents Are Moving into Windows and IT Needs a Plan

AI agents are moving beyond simple productivity helpers and becoming autonomous workers across Windows, Microsoft 365, and enterprise systems.In this episode of Petri Dish, Russell Smith talks with Craig Birch, Principal Technologist at Cayosoft, about Microsoft’s AI agent announcements from Build, including Agent 365, Microsoft 365 E7, agent identity, permissions, governance, and the risk of agent sprawl.If you manage Microsoft 365, Entra ID, security, or IT operations, this conversation explains why AI agents need to be treated like first-class identities and not trusted employees on day one.#microsoft365 #windows11 #artificialintelligence Thanks to  Cayosoft [https://cayosoft.com]  for sponsoring this episode!

From NASA to The White House: How WordPress VIP Protects High-Risk, High-Traffic Websites

In this epsidoe of Petri Dish, we’re joined by Brian Alvey, CTO of WordPress VIP, the enterprise-grade CMS platform trusted by organisations like NASA, Salesforce, and major global publishers. Brian has been building on the web since the earliest days, bringing a rare mix of builder and operator experience to modern content platforms. In this conversation, we’ll explore how enterprise CMS platforms are no longer just publishing tools, but core IT infrastructure that are deeply tied to identity, security, resilience, and governance. And what that shift means for IT teams as AI and automation reshape content systems. Thanks to our sponsors, Cayosoft [https://www.cayosoft.com/]!

Why Hybrid IT Is So Hard — And How SolarWinds Helps Simplify It

Virtualized infrastructure across on-premises data centers and the cloud was supposed to make life easier for IT teams. Instead, it’s often become a tangle of complexity. Why is something as established as virtualisation turning into a headache and what are we missing? To find out, I’m joined by Brad Cline, Vice President of IT Operations at SolarWinds [https://www.solarwinds.com/]. With nearly 30 years in IT, Brad’s seen virtualization evolve from a neat idea to a real-world minefield. He’s here to help us unpack where teams get stuck – and why managing virtual environments isn’t as straightforward as it seems. Thanks to Cayosoft [https://cayosoft.com] for sponsoring this episode!

Entra App Owners = Global Admin Power? Audit It with Privileged App Path Auditor

Most Entra ID reviews focus on roles and permissions. I.e., who’s a Global Admin, what’s been consented, what looks obviously dangerous. But what if the real risk isn’t a privileged user at all? What if a regular user, with no admin role, can still put themselves on a path toward Global Administrator, simply because of an application they own? That’s the question behind today’s episode. Today on Petri Dish, I’m joined by Nicolas Blank, identity architect and Microsoft MVP, to talk about a class of Entra ID risk that many teams completely miss, why traditional reviews don’t catch it, and a new tool that he’s developed called Privileged App Path Auditor. Thanks to Cayosoft [https://www.cayosoft.com/] for sponsoring this episode!