HomeAuthor InterviewsInterview with Shabaz Darr

Interview with Shabaz Darr

Q: What is/are your specialist tech area(s)?

Shabaz: Microsoft Cloud Security, EUC and Azure Virtual Desktop Services, GraphQL

Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?

Shabaz: I initially got asked to be a tech review of some other titles that are being written by a friend of mine. Through that project i was given the opportunity to work on this project

Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?

Shabaz: I did not do research as such as I have a lot of experience in the Information Protection area, however I did review the exam requirements and skills required to take the exam

Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?

Shabaz: Writing a book is very different to writing a blog or recording a video and you have to be very disciplined, and I found this very challenging.

Q: What’s your take on the technologies discussed in the book? Where do you see these technologies heading in the future?

Shabaz: The technologies in this book are hugely important as they focus on protecting your data that is stored in the cloud, be it files, email or messages. The future of these technologies will be very much dependent on the new types of threats that emerge in the future.

Q. Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?

Shabaz: Our book is a comprehensive study guide that will fully prepare you for the Microsoft SC-400 exam. This is a new exam this year, therefore there are not any other books that go into the level of detail that is in this one

Q. What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away from the book with?

Shabaz: Feeling confident that they can take and pass the SC-400 exam

Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?

Shabaz: Complete all the lab exercises in this book as they will give you the best prep for the exam

Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?

Shabaz: https://iamitgeek.com

Q. Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?

Shabaz: https://query.prod.cms.rt.microsoft.com/cms/api/am/binary/RE4Mr80 https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/implement-information-protection/

Q. How would you describe your author journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?

Shabaz: It has been a huge learning experience for me as it is the first book I have authored but the help that the team at Packt have given me has helped me a lot and I would recommend them to aspiring authors

Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?

Shabaz: Bradford Cloud User Group

Q. What are your favorite tech journals? How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?

Shabaz: I generally keep up to date with tech via twitter as it is a platform that a lot of tech people share their own blogs and articles on.

Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?

Shabaz: This was the most difficult part of the experience for me. Time management and ensuring I hit my deadlines, however I tried to approach it as I do my professional work and set time aside in my diary to write chapters

Q. What is the one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?

Shabaz: I found using my own experience with this technology helped me when writing this book and I would recommend aspiring authors do the same

You can find Shabaz on:

Twitter – @shabazdarr

YouTube – https://youtube.com/iamitgeek