Category: Business

My Tech Books – 2026

blog

To see my list from last year visit – My Tech Books 2025

My selections below, both fiction and non fiction, I have found to be enjoyable and thought provoking in many different ways and I recommend them to everyone who is interested in tech.

Mentions from 2025

The Nvidia Way: Jensen Huang and the Making of a Tech Giant

– Tae Kim

Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company

– Patrick McGee

Source Code: My beginnings – Bill Gates

You can follow all the books, tech, business, non-fiction, etc that I read over at Goodreads. You can view my activity here:

https://www.goodreads.com/director_cia

1. Daemon – Daniel Suarez [Fiction]

A glimpse into the future of where drones and augmented reality may take us. That may not necessarily be a good place either. The more AI I see the more this books seems to be a prediction of what is coming. Many concepts in this book are I would suggest are now even more likely to be reality.

2. Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology [Non-Fiction]

Without computer chips our modern world would not exist. Read this to understand how truly dependent we are on the humble microprocessor and how it may become something wars are about shortly.

3. Dark Wire: The Incredible True Story of the Largest Sting Operation Ever [Non-Fiction]

Unbelievable but true story of how criminals were tricked to adopting technology from law enforcement agencies and the impacts that had on organised crime when it was finally revealed..

4. Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers – Andy Greenberg [Non-Fiction]

This is a great book if you are interested in IT security. It is also a very current book which makes it even more engrossing. It is easy to read and quite comprehensive in its approach, not only dealing with the technology of security attack but also the geopolitical reasons and consequences.

It reveals that shadow world of nation state cyber attacks and illustrates how they are happening today and likely to increase in the future. The connected world of the Internet has brought us many benefits but it is now increasing risks as our dependencies increase to the point that there are few manual backups that don’t depend on technology.

I think this book is a real glimpse into the future and what we may be in store for in the even of rising global conflicts. If you like tech, you’ll love this!

5. Future Crimes: Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for our Connected World – Marc Goodman [Non-fiction]

Technology will ultimately doom us all I believe because we are building our world on stuff that unfortunately places a low regard for security and privacy. This book will show you why that is a road to ruination.

6. Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon – Kim Zetter [Non-Fiction]

If you don’t believe cyber warfare is real then read this book to understand how software is now a weapon as potentially devastating as any nuclear device.

7. AI Valley: Microsoft, Google, and the Trillion-Dollar Race to Cash In on Artificial Intelligence – A Definitive Insider Chronicle of the Breakthroughs Redefining Our World [Non-Fiction]

The world is changing faster than it ever has before and with so much money being throw at AI who knows where it will end.

8. American Kingpin: The Epic Hunt or the Criminal Mastermind Behind the Silk Road – Nick Bilton [Non-Fiction]

An amazingly detailed book on the rise and fall of Ross Ulbricht, the creator of the Silk Road web site. In here are asked to think about whether technology plays something more than a neutral role in today’s world.

9. The Coming Wave. Technology, Power and the Twenty-first Century’s Greatest Dilemma – Mustafa Suleyman [Non-Fiction]

A well balanced book on both the pros and cons of artificial intelligence (AI). The future is not going to be all roses unless we stop and think about what we are creating with Ai and what we need to do now to prevent it causing untold harm.

10. This how they tell me the world ends: The cyberweapons arms race – Nicole Perlroth [Non-Fiction]

Highlights the challenges that society has created, mainly from its’ own doing and questions of how we go about fixing this so we don’t end causing infinite harm to both intended targets and unintended victims.

My Tech Videos 2026

blog

My list for last year:

My tech videos – 2025

Documentaries

AlphaGo – The Movie

Blackberry – Official trailer

Dawn of Cyberwarfare

Power On: The story of Xbox

Hacking Google

Bill’s Brain

The Great Hack

The Social Dilemma

Silicon Cowboys

Easy to Learn, Hard to Master: The Fate of Atari

Zero Days

The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin

Code 2600

High Score

Print the Legend

The King of Kong

CyberWar

What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates

Movies

Sneakers

My Business Books – 2026

image

Check out my recommendations from last year:

My Business Books – 2025

Honourable mentions that I read last year:

–  The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More – Jefferson Fisher

You can follow all the books I read and want to read over at Goodreads where I have an account. You can also view my activity via:

https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/708903-robert?shelf=read

Here’s my current top business books in order:

1. The Art of War – Sun Tzu

The all time classic on strategy. As relevant today as it ever was. A very short read but very deep.

2. The Millionaire Fastlane – M.J. DeMarco

I love the brutal honesty of this book. It doesn’t mince words about what it takes to shift from a pay check to actually living the life you want.

3. The Tipping Point – Malcolm Gladwell

The world is all about not what you know but who you know. This book explains exactly how this works and how to use it to your advantage. A lot of Gladwell’s writing have been called into question of late. Even so, putting aside the example he uses, I think the concept surfaced have great merit.

4. The Four Hour Work Week – Tim Ferriss

Many people believe this book is about shirking responsibility. It is in fact a blueprint for how to free up your time to do things you want and enjoy. It will challenge the way you look at your career. This book has become some what dated so ensure you get the latest revised edition. Again, I would suggest you read this and consider the 30,000 foot view of challenging many people pre-conceived concepts about career. The ability to do anything, anywhere these days has never been truer.

5. Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Mastering the Inner Game of Wealth – T. Harv Eker

The successful are defined by a different mindset. This mindset can be learned. It can be trained. This is a great book to show you how to do just that.

6. Talent is over rated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everyone Else – Geoff Colvin

Demonstrates that the best comes from implementing a system. Having a system allows you to focus on the right thing and do that work that is required. If you want to take yourself to an elite level, beyond just good, then read this book.

7. Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even If You Hate Marketing and Selling – Michael Port, Tim Sanders

You can’t survive in business without a steady flow of customers. Selling to people is the wrong approach, you instead need to attract them to your business. This book helps you achieve exactly that.

8. Profit First: A Simple System To Transform Any Business From A Cash-Eating Monster To A Money-Making Machine – Mike Michalowicz

Business is about making a profit. This then gives you the freedom to do what you want with that profit. This book helps you focus on profit and setting up systems to make the most of the profit you generate.

9. Barking Up the Wrong Tree – Eric Barker

Conventional wisdom does not always apply and in some case can actually be detrimental. Challenging what is taken for granted should be in the play book of everyone who wants to achieve at the highest level. Important lessons can be learned in the strangest places and form the strangest people. Have an open mind and you might be surprised at what you have believed to be bad in fact turns out to get just what you need.

10. Unbeatable Mind: Forge Resiliency and Mental Toughness to Succeed at an Elite Level – Mark Divine

Another mindset book. Business is not always going to be easy or take the intended route. This is when you need to have the determination to see your plans through to success. This book shows you how to develop the mental toughness to make this happen.

11. Mastery – Robert Green

Excellent read with lots of great strategies to take away. Excellence is not a talent it is a skill. That means that it takes hard work to achieve, but hard work is available to everyone, yet few choose the path. There is no secret to Excellence, it is something only time and effort will reward you with and iof you choose that path you’ll be one of the few.

12. Tools of Titans – Tim Ferriss

There are few books that take the learnings for so many exceptional people and puts them at your fingertips. This is one such book that packs a lot of business and life learnings between the covers.

13. Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape our Decisions – Dan Ariley

Although we like to think logic and rationality rule our world emotion is by far the more powerful influence. Understand this in the context of business and you are well on your way to understanding why people make the decisions they do and how to best profit from them.

14. Extreme Ownership – Jocko Willink and Lief Babin

Moving beyond blame is tough. This book illustrates the ownership of the problem and the environment is a key to success in the military or in business. It is a path few will elect to take voluntarily, however more may do so after reading this.

15. Peak Performance: Elevate your game, avoid burnout and thrive with the science of success – Brad Stulberg

Success is largely about developing a winning system. This book show you how to approach that pragmatically. If you want to see results use this book to help you build the system.

16. Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking – Malcolm Gladwell

The older you get the more experience you get. This experience is aggregated in your ‘gut feel’. Trusting your ‘gut’ may not appear rational but this book will help you understand why it is in fact your best option in many cases. Again, take Gladwell’s examples with a grain of salt but the message is still relevant.

17. The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play – Neil A. Fiore

Plenty of great productivity learnings in here that help you take action. It shows you how to focus on the right stuff in the right priority. Even if you are not a major procrastinator there is plenty in this book that you can take away.

18. The One Thing – Gary Keller

Multi-tasking is a myth. Focus is the key to success to bringing all your resources to bear in unison makes a hell of a lot of difference. Most people can’t do it, so those that can stand a much greater chance of success.

19. Deep Work – Cal Newport

Distractions are wasted energy and time that you’ll never get back. You’d be amazed at how distracting the modern world is. If you can minimise these distractions you can focus more and be far more productive.

20. The E-Myth – Michael Gerber

The classic on ‘procedurising’ your business and creating a structure that doesn’t need you to survive. The simple secrets inside this book can transform any business from hardship to joy.

Let me know what you think. Do these work for you? What’s your top business reads? I’d love to hear.

Some other business books that I read that may be worth considering:

– AI Valley: Microsoft, Google, and the Trillion-Dollar Race to Cash In on Artificial Intelligence – A Definitive Insider Chronicle of the Breakthroughs Redefining Our World – Gary Rivlin

– Chip War: The Fight for the World’s Most Critical Technology – Chris Miller

My software and services – 2026

startup-photos

Here’s last year’s post for comparison:

My software and services – 2025

My PC’s are either running the latest version of Windows 11 (24H2) without any issues. I no longer run any Windows Insider builds as I had trouble backing out of these when I needed to. I still have Office Insider builds happening in my environment.

All Windows machines are directly joined to Entra ID and managed via Intune and Microsoft Endpoint Manager, except for one that remains stand alone for use with my IoT projects.  The Entra ID connected configurations are based on the Windows MDM security baseline settings. All machines only use  Windows Defender for local security monitoring and management. Thanks to Microsoft E5 on my production tenant, I am also using Microsoft Defender For Endpoint at the back end for monitoring and investigation of endpoint threats.

My two main tenants are Microsoft 365 E5 demo and Microsoft 365 E5 production environments. The production Microsoft 365 tenant has Microsoft 365 Business for all users except myself. I have a Microsoft 365 E5 license on which I have configured all the services including integrated PSTN calling via Switch Connect.

I use Microsoft Sentinel to monitor threats across my environments via a single pane of glass. I have also now added Defender EASM for monitoring security threats. Failed login attempts by country in the last 30 days from sentinel look like:

Screenshot 2026-01-03 080936

I use the following major browsers:

– Edge – my primary browser across all my devices including iOS and Android. I have it locked down with baseline policies via Microsoft Endpoint Manager.

– Brave – I have become increasingly concerned about the surreptitious tracking that many sites perform, especially when it comes to social media sites. I therefore now do all my ‘random browsing’, searching and viewing of social media sites using Brave. I also like that Brave allow me easy access to Tor browsing for anonymous security work.

I have now cranked Edge up to the maximum security level but wanted to isolate the most likely tracking culprits into another browser that was security focused. After some evaluation, I have chosen Brave to be this browser. This is now where I do all the stuff that is more likely to be tracked and now hopefully blocked or at least minimised. I have also set this browser up to use Duck Duck Go for search, otherwise I use Bing for my production Edge browser. I have completely eliminated Google Chrome from all my machines without any issues and recommend those who are becoming more concerned about their privacy, like me, do the same.

Services like SharePoint Online and OneDrive I use regularly both in the demo and production tenant. I have the OneDrive sync client installed, running and connected to various locations on my production and demo tenants. I can now sync across all my different tenants as well as my consumer OneDrive storage. I have common places pinned to my Windows Explorer Quick access, which I find to be a real time saver.

I regularly use Microsoft Teams which is now my main messaging application and I’m using the new Teams client. All the CIAOPS Patron resources like the intranet, teams, etc all reside in the Microsoft 365 E5 demo tenant but I connect to it on my desktop normally via an Azure B2B guest account from my production tenant. Thus, I can admin the Patron resources in a browser if need be but I get the same experience on my desktop as any Patron would. Handy to know what works and doesn’t work with Microsoft Teams guest access. Thanks to Microsoft E5 and Switch Connect, I also have Teams connected as a phone.

I use Lastpass to keep my passwords and private information secure. It allows me to do things like generate and store unique passwords for each website that I sign up for. It is also available across all browsers on my machine (including Microsoft Edge). I also now also use Lastpass to store secure notes. I accept recent security breaches with Lastpass generate concerns but after some investigations I believe the risk for myself is minimal and as yet don’t feel a need to switch. If I am going to change at any point I think I’d be going with Bitwarden but that hasn’t been necessary as yet.

The extensions I run in all my browsers are:

– LastPass

– Duck Duck Go Privacy Essentials

I use Microsoft Power Automate for automation as well as Azure Functions.

For my email newsletters I use Mailchimp.

My preferred public social networks for business, in order are:

1. X

2. Linkedin

I would suggest that no matter what social media service you elect to use that you should spend time customising what you see. Unfiltered content is distracting but you can get good results if you spend just a little time telling the service what you do want to see I have found. Thus, don’t accept the defaults. You CAN customise what is presented to you.

I consume a lot of content from YouTube both for business and personal interest. I also also use YouTube extensively for my publicly available training video training.

Microsoft Office desktop software is still part of my everyday workday via applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. I use the desktop version of Outlook on my Surface Pro 7 which lives on my desk but I only use Outlook Web App on my travelling Surface Pro 9 device. I could happily not use Outlook on the desktop any more I believe but I still use so I understand the experience for most users. However, I do see the day when Outlook on the desktop begins to lose its appeal.

Currently, I use both classic Outlook and New Outlook on various desktops without too much issues. I prefer classic Outlook but New Outlook has come a long way and added many of the capabilities I use in Classic Outlook. The missing piece for me still is the way to customised New Outlook to see emails, calendar and tasks all on a single page, which I don;t believe New Outlook supports just yet. I appreciate that Microsoft will soon be forcing everyone to New Outlook and I believe my soul is prepared for this transition when it comes.

The key application from the suite for me is OneNote. OneNote is my go to Swiss Army knife for just about everything digital. I use it to capture all sort of data. I even use it as a diary as I have detailed previous here:

One of the ways I use OneNote

The reason OneNote is key is because:

1. Just about everything I put in there us searchable

2. It is freely available across all platforms.

3. All my information is synced and accessible on all devices.

4. It is available on the web or offline if needed.

I am a big user of OneNote on my mobile devices. This combination has allowed me to totally eliminate my paper notebooks for things such as journaling.

I am now a big Microsoft To-Do user. I use it to keep many tasks and items that I need to follow up including when bills are due. I love how it is available on all my devices and syncs across them all as well.

I use Windows terminal now for things like PowerShell execution and Microsoft Whiteboard for demonstrations and training.

Another key service I use everyday along with Microsoft 365 and OneNote is Azure. Typically, I use it for running up virtual machines that I test various things with but I also use it with my IoT projects.

There is just so much that can be done with Azure and I pretty much use it everyday.

All of my data now lives in Microsoft 365 protected with things like Windows Information Protection and other Microsoft information protection options. All my Windows machines run with full disk encryption thanks to Bitlocker.

I have implemented Windows Defender Application Control (WDAC) to provide application control to improve security in my environment.

To capture my desktop for my online training academy or my YouTube channel I use Camtasia. I use SnagIt to capture screen shots and add highlights and emphasis to these. Snagit allows me to capture complete screens or specific areas quickly and easily. I will admit that I am using this software less and less now. It is simply too slow to get running. We’ll see. The standard Windows apps are much faster and tend to be what I use to capture screen information.

I use Microsoft Teams to record my podcasts, which I then produce with Camtasia. These are uploaded to Podbean where they syndicated across various network.

To compose and publish blog articles I use Open Live Writer. My blog lives on WordPress.com.

My web site and Battlefields site live on Squarespace.

The majority of images I now generate directly using Microsoft Copilot.

I use Visual Studio Code in which I do most of my PowerShell editing and publishing. I also use it now for my IoT projects. The end result typically is my GitHub repository where you will find a range of scripts and other resources that I maintain regularly. With Visual Studio Code I can edit publish and sync all my machines and my GitHub repository no matter where I am. Very handy.

Here are also a few of the other items I use regularly that are not for business:

Amazon Prime Video – Most of this viewing is now on my iPad mini and I am looing forward to the next series of Clarkson’s Farm.

Audible – Probably the most used app on my iPhone. I listen everyday, especially when I am travelling interstate or even in the car. I can highly recommend my last read – Mr Wilman’s Motoring Adventure: Top Gear, Grand Tour and Twenty Years of Magic and Mayhem

NetFlix – Currently watching Mark Rober’s Crunchlabs

Duolingo – language, maths and music learning, Japanese and Italian at the moment but most of this access is now on my iPad mini.

WaniKani – Helping me learn Japanese characters

Kindle app – for typically reading books on my iPad

I try and keep my production machines as ‘clean’ and free of unused software as possible. I ensure that they are updated regularly. Any software testing that I need to do is typically done on a virtual machine in Azure.

A new section I thought I’d add is the AI that I use. The common Ai I use by far is GitHub Copilot. i use this daily to assist with coding tasks like creating PowerShell scripts and writing KQL queries amongst other things. Even though I have a paid version of GitHub Copilot I am happy to say there is also a free version that you can take advantage of and the details are here.

I have a subscription to Microsoft 365 Copilot which I have had now for about 2 years. I use this every day, but especially with Teams and Stream to summarise videos and other content. I also use Copilot Studio to create custom agents which I and others use inside the Microsoft Teams I manage.

The main non-Microsoft AI that I use is Perplexity even though there are some ‘ethical’ challenges around this service. I signed up for Gemini Enterprise because i wanted access to an AI that is separate from GPT models. Gemini also doesn’t run on NVIDIA chips so it give me a counterpoint to the ‘standard’ most people use. I use Claude regularly when working with code and ChatGPT is also something that I use now and again as I have found it to be the poorest of all the consumer AI services.

I think I’ll have to start doing an annual post on what AI services I use and why.

So there you have it, the major software and services that I use regularly. I continue to search out additional software that will improve my productivity. If you use something that you’ve found really handy, please let me know and I always keen to explore what works for others.

My Gear 2026

blog

You can take a look back at last year’s gear here:

My Gear 2025

there were/are some major changes happening with my assortment.

iPhone 12 Pro Max – This remains my main mobile device still. It still has a number of cracks on the screen but it still does what it needs to do. The device lives in a Quad Lock case and I have Quad Lock mounts for both desktop and car, which I highly recommend and make life easy.

I have still not been able to justify the upgrade to a newer iPhone. No apps I use demand it and I can’t see that I am really missing out on anything by staying where I am. Yes, there has been another new iPhone but is a $2K+ cost warranted? Nope.

One thing that remains configured my iPhone for is default grey scale display. I do this for two major reasons, firstly to prevent the phone from grabbing and holding my attention and secondly to save power. With the colours disabled on your phone it is amazing at how les tempting it is to play with it and use it as a crux when you are bored.

The great thing I will say about about Apple devices is their battery life. My experience is that this allows them to work for years and years, providing great value.

So for now, unless this device breaks, I’m in no rush to replace it.

Surface Pro 9 – This is my travelling and demo machine and replaces the Surface Pro 6. Having a dedicated travel machine makes it easy to grab and also to only have the software on it that I need. By that I mean I’m not installing random stuff on it to test.

I like the size and also the fact that it comes with with a Surface pen, which is handy as I discovered that the Surface Pen also works on Surface Hubs! (Great when the Surface Hub pens don’t work).

The device has a Samsung ViewFinity S70D 32″ 4K UHD VA Panel HDR 10 Monitor attached, which I bought last year to provider high resolution. The previous Samsung 32 Inch S39C FHD Curved Monitor (1920×1080) monitor has been moved to my Surface Pro 3 for IoT work.

I do most of my demos on this machine as well as Teams webinar work as it is nice and quick. This machine runs Windows 11 Enterprise.

While this machine powers on, I again, can see no reason to shell out probably close to $3K for a new device.

Surface Pro 7 – This is my main desktop machine. Being the same form factor as the Surface Pro 6, it just slotted directly into my Kensington SD7000 Surface Pro Docking Station I already have in place. This machine runs Windows 11 Enterprise.

This device has a Acer CB281HK 28″ LED LCD monitor as well as a small Samsung connected to it. This makes things really handy when doing webinars.

The downside of going to another Surface device is that it won’t fit in my Kensington SD7000 Surface Pro Docking Station which I really love. So if I upgrade this machine, I need to do away with the docking station as well.

I can’t see me replacing this device in 2026 unless it totally fails.

Surface Pro 6 – My backup machine in case my main machine fails or is unavailable for some reason. This machine run Windows 11 Enterprise and only gets turned on occasionally.

This machine is becoming noticeably slower to work with and takes much longer to boot up and run applications. Once these are all ‘fired up’ it is fine, but it is noticeably slower than the more modern Surface machines I have.

Surface Pro X – I use this machine as a ‘lite’ travelling desktop as well as a whiteboarding machine for demos and training. Give that it comes with the Surface Pen and has a nice large screen and will lie flat it makes the prefect device for scribing. I also use this device for writing note into places like OneNote. Perhaps not the most effective use of the device but it beats the iPad when it comes to scribing hands down in my books. This machine runs Windows 11.

Surface Pro 3 – Continues to work fine and function as a test machine in my production environment. This machine has now been removed from my production network and operates stand alone. It does this so it can run my IoT project work. I found that with the security I have on my production network that I could not easily operate the IoT software I needed so the simple solution was to remove it from the production network and use it stand alone. This machine is slow and clunky, but for now it is doing the job it needs to. This machine is not suitable for Windows 11 and thus still happily runs Windows 10.

This device now has the Samsung 32 Inch S39C FHD Curved Monitor (1920×1080) monitor connected to it make code much easier to read and work with.

Surface – I have had an original Surface version 1 for many years now. The keyboard has long since broken by the system still works fine, although somewhat under powered with only 4GB of RAM. This machine is now a dedicated device on a separate test tenant. This allows me to test Autopilot and other settings on it regularly. This machine is not suitable for Windows 11.

iPad mini 5th Gen – I decided I wanted a smaller ‘notebook’ size table to use like a paper diary, amongst other things, so I went out and bought an iPad mini.

I also now use this iPad mini with the Apple pencil, which generally works well, although the Apple pencil battery is pretty much knackered. The secret is to get a good case for both the iPad mini and the pencil. My choice was:

Finite Case with Pencil holder

which I’d certainly recommend as it is flexible, tough and cheap.

After a number of years the Apple Pencil doesn’t really hold a charge any more. That is disappointing, although I appreciate it doesn’t have a huge battery. This has again increased the friction with me finding a suitable replacement for a paper notebook because every time I want to write something down, I need to charge the pencil up which takes ages.

Here is another device that works well and really has no need of a replacement but I have considered upgrading to a current iPad mini but again, I’m struggling to justify the AU$800 cost when the existing device is more than fit for purpose. Even if I did buy a new iPad mini what would I do with the current device?

D-Link Wireless N300 Model Router DSLG225 – to allow connect to the NBN broadband network.

Ubiquiti – I have a variety of Ubiquiti equipment in place including a  Security Gateway. All these have worked flawlessly and I can’t recommend this gear highly enough.

Docking station – I still love my Kensington SD7000 Surface Pro Docking Station. It is a really neat device, that suits most modern Surface Pro devices. It is slim, compact and now allows me to have 3 external monitors off the one Surface devices (as you can never have enough screen now can you eh?). I can plug in all my devices, microphones, phones, etc to it and all the cables are hidden at the back. I also like that you can adjust the screen up and down, a bit like a Surface Studio.

If I did upgrade my Surface pro 7 device it could not be used with this docking station which would be sad. Seems to me all the docking station form factors have moved to just being external bricks rather than the elegance this solution provides. being unable to use this docking device upon a device upgrade is a major reason preventing me from upgrading if I’m honest.

The original Kensington SD3500v has now moved to work with the Surface Pro 3 and that is also working well

My gear remain pretty much the same and functioning reliably. I’ve survived another year with teh same kit, meaning I have not shelled out for new kit. When the old stuff does the same and the new stuff, why waste money right?

I no longer have a frontline Android phone, but the longer I go without it the more I wonder whether I do in fact need it? if so, I could always buy it, but until then it can go on the back burner. The major investment in 2025 was a higher resolution screen for my Surface Pro 9.

Keeping things simple works best I believe.

My Stuff 2026

This post is my annual post aimed at bringing the links to everything I have out there on the Internet together into a single place. Here we go.

About me

Social Media

Free Stuff

Regular technical and business information, tutorials, walk throughs, learnings, upcoming courses and more.

Here you’ll find currently almost 200 videos full of tutorials on SharePoint, Office 365, Azure and technology.

Presentations and whitepapers for free download.

Documentation for older versions of SharePoint on premises, especially the free versions and those that came with SBS.

I have number of free GitHub repositories that include things like PowerShell scripts, pricing calculators, reference documents, helpful links and more. You will find all these at:

I maintain a GitHub repository that contains not only links to articles on best practices for services like Exchange Online but also contains configuration files and settings typically in JSON format that can be imported and used to configure your Microsoft 365 environment. You will find all that here:

https://github.com/directorcia/bp

With over 350 episodes and now in it’s 16th year, my podcast focuses on providing you news and updates from the Microsoft Cloud around Microsoft 365 and Azure.

You can subscribe using iTunes or Spotify. If you’d like to be a guest or know someone who would, please let me know.

Need to Know webinars are held monthly and announced on my blog. These are conducted using Microsoft Teams on a topic around the Microsoft Cloud.

You can join my free Teams shared channel. To do so follow the instruction here:

here you’ll find a forum on the Microsoft Cloud along with up to date news and information.

I publish a weekly round up of Microsoft Cloud news in my CIA Brief here on my blog:

I also have an email list you can join here:

You can get answers to Microsoft 365 questions via AI grounded on my knowledge by sending your question in the BODY of an email to:

Be patient, a response by return email will take a couple for minutes.

Commercial stuff

This stuff helps pay for free stuff above, so I appreciate your support for my paid work.

Access to the CIAOPS community for technical support, product discounts and access to the best Office 365 and Azure information

You can also just buy me a coffee and support what I do – https://ko-fi.com/ciaops, which I would very much appreciate.

General Interest

I’m a big believer in supporting those who want to build their own business but just need a leg up to get started. Kiva is simply and easy way to provide this and I recommend this to everyone.

Being an Electrical Engineer by trade I enjoy building and solving problems with a variety of projects. This involves digging to electronics, IoT and 3D Printing amongst other things. I try and document all of those learnings over at CIAOPS Labs when I can.

In 2025 I read over 30 books. That means I do a lot of reading on a variety of topics and with Goodreads you can follow along with the books I’m reading as well as those that I add to my bookshelf. I’ll have an upcoming post on my recommended reads, so watch out for that post coming soon.

If you ever need to send me stuff you can do so via the following address:

PO Box 5
Beecroft NSW 2119
Australia

My Bitcoin address is – bitcoin:bc1qwgcr296c7rtjvlpkv9yy5033qjgwwrvttxhtm7

My Ethereum address is – ethereum:0xD7cc991E1f84B625C3723D2965C9948238F5DFe8

Unlock New Revenue with AI: The Ultimate Playbook for MSPs Serving SMBs

cover440

Transform your MSP business and your clients’ success with “AI as a Revenue Stream for SMB-Focused MSPs: A Step-by-Step Playbook.”
My comprehensive guide reveals how Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can harness the power of AI—especially Microsoft 365 Copilot—to create profitable, recurring revenue streams while delivering real, measurable value to small and mid-sized business clients.

What’s Inside:

  • Proven Strategies: Learn how to build in-house AI expertise, develop marketable service offerings, and position your MSP as the go-to AI advisor for SMBs.
  • Actionable Playbooks: Step-by-step instructions for AI readiness assessments, Copilot pilot deployments, custom AI solution development, and ongoing managed AI services.
  • Real-World Examples: Discover practical use cases, pricing models, and packaging ideas that have driven success for forward-thinking MSPs.
  • Marketing & Sales Tactics: Get tips on educating your market, overcoming AI skepticism, and using demos and case studies to close deals.
  • ROI-Focused Guidance: Master value-based pricing, SaaS-style subscriptions, and how to clearly demonstrate the business impact of AI for your clients.

Why This Guide?

  • Written by industry experts with deep Microsoft 365 and AI experience.
  • Packed with checklists, templates, and ready-to-use service packages.
  • Designed for immediate action—whether you’re just starting with AI or looking to scale your offerings.

Perfect for:

  • MSPs and IT consultants serving small and mid-sized businesses.
  • Business owners seeking to future-proof their services and boost client retention.
  • Anyone looking to monetize AI and Microsoft Copilot in the real world.

Don’t let your MSP get left behind.
Download “AI as a Revenue Stream for SMB-Focused MSPs” and start building your next growth engine today!

As a Boxing Day sale, I’m offering this publication for free in exchange for your joining my email list. To get your copy just provide your details here:

https://forms.office.com/r/T4ZSWhquJ8

and will be emailed out to you. This offer is valid until 1/1/2026.

I would always appreciate you supporting my work by purchasing a copy (nominate your own price) here:

https://directorcia.gumroad.com/l/airevenue

and don’t forget all my other publications can be found here:

https://directorcia.gumroad.com/

All the best for the holidays.

Flight School: Mastering Copilot for IT Pros

image

Join us for an immersive 5-day virtual training designed exclusively for IT Professionals and Managed Service Providers from the 12 – 16 January 2026. This isn’t just another webinar—it’s a hands-on, deep dive into how Microsoft Copilot can transform the way you manage, automate, and secure your IT environment.

What you’ll gain:

* Master Copilot’s capabilities for IT operations, security, and automation.

* Learn practical workflows that save time and boost efficiency.

* Explore advanced scenarios for troubleshooting and compliance.

* Future-proof your skills with insights into emerging Copilot integrations.

Why attend?

* Live, interactive sessions with real-world demos.

* Expert-led guidance tailored for IT Pros and MSPs.

* Actionable takeaways you can implement immediately.

Format:

* 5 consecutive days

* 2 hours per day

* Delivered remotely via Microsoft Teams. Recording available after session.

Your Copilot journey starts here—are you ready to take off If so, register your interest here – http://bit.ly/ciaopsroi. Early bird discounts until 12 December 2025.

Prices


Patron level RRP GST ex GST Saving
None $399.00 $36.27 $362.73
Bronze $199.00 $18.09 $180.91 $200.00
Silver $99.00 $9.00 $90.00 $300.00
Gold $49.00 $4.45 $44.55 $350.00