James Bannan is a consultant based in Melbourne, Australia. He has worked in the IT industry for over 18 years and has worked in a variety of roles, from helpdesk to systems administration and now as a consultant. He is a published author, having written many articles for both print and online publications as well as a book on System Center Configuration Manager. James is an experienced public speaker and was awarded the Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award from Microsoft for eight years in a row. He has worked in all aspects of Microsoft technology from end-user computing to on-premises datacenters, but now spends all his time working with Microsoft Azure, deploying and automating solutions for customers across a wide range of industries from government and retail to higher education. When not focusing on IT, James enjoys music and reading, spending as much time as possible with his wife and two daughters and taking the family dog Lexi to the beach.