Table of Contents
Introduction
As we end another year and prepare for 2021 to start… With a humble and wide-open heart–thank you for following, sharing, and modeling my work (whether via my blog posts, tweets, books, or speaking at events) over these past 12 months.
The last day of the year! A good one to reflect on 2020 and to plan for 2021. What do you want to achieve in 2021? Not only work but also regards to family, health, wealth, friends, hobbies, projects, study and so on… You are welcome to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
I’ve taken the habit every year to reflect on the past 12 months, I took some time to gather whatever insights I can and focus on the year ahead.
I will not be sharing achievements and reflections for the past year as I usually do, because I don’t see any value in this and I don’t expect that anyone would be really keen to read my summary. If you are interested to learn more about my achievements, you can subscribe and keep following my blog here, where I continuously document my journey that might be inspiring. However, one of the big events for me during 2020 was passing the Swiss Federal Exam: ICT Security Expert, Advanced Federal Diploma of Higher Education.
I will share my goals for 2021 that might be inspiring by the end of this article.
The 2020 Year in Review
As we approach the end of a very unique year, many people already start saying: “this is a year to forget, a bad year, etc.”.
The current events have drastically altered the way we work, operate, how we deliver our products and services, and the day-to-day lives of our workforce. The global pandemic has forced the hand of many businesses and transformed those “nice to do” future tasks into immediate necessities.
In these uncertain times, ensuring that you have the right infrastructure and tools, you’re keeping costs down where necessary, and that your increasingly digitized operations are secure, is vitally important. The cloud is an invaluable resource; whether you’re just getting started or you’re looking to broaden your cloud service portfolio.
Unfortunately, many organizations get hacked, and many industries have suffered the effects of the global pandemic, and cybercrime is one of them. We’ve already seen opportunistic cybercriminals seeking to exploit the increased usage of cloud systems and the anxiety of the global population around Ransomware.
“Global losses from cybercrime already reach into the trillions each year and those losses could be all the more devastating for individual businesses given the economic uncertainty brought by COVID-19. As more individuals are compelled to work remotely, it will take a determined focus by all parts of an organization to maintain proper controls on sensitive information and finances – By World Economic Forum.”
Despite all the obstacles we all faced throughout this challenging year, this is a year to remember because we all made it work in one way or another. Some people lost more than they gained, but they are still moving forward with the lessons learned. They will be carrying the scars that one day will be shown as a way to describe their resilience throughout a very unique year.
Blog Statistics
I started this blog about 6 years ago to share my knowledge and help other people. Because knowledge is a gift, don’t keep it to yourself, and when sharing your knowledge, you help other people. This is rewarding when you receive a lot of feedback and comments about what you have shared with others is valuable!
As a blogger focusing on cloud computing and Cybersecurity it is always fun. The traffic to my blog grew significantly, with more visitors compared to 2019. And in 6 years, my blog hits over 1.5 Million visitors with nearly 600 blog posts… Thanks to all my readers!
Where did the readers come from? Top 10 Countries:
This blog was viewed about 441,755 times in 2020, 329,706 times in 2019, 321,308 times in 2018, 322,118 times in 2017, 216,741 times in 2016, 172,745 times in 2015, and 59,983 times in 2014.
The busiest day of the year was November 17th, 2020 with 2,901 views, and 1,921 visitors.
The most popular post on that day was: How to Deploy a Secure FTP (SFTP) Service on Microsoft Azure.
The top 10 most viewed blog posts during 2020:
- How to Deploy a Secure FTP (SFTP) Service on Microsoft Azure.
- Step By Step: Migrate your file servers with Storage Migration Service in Windows Server 2019.
- Passed AZ-104 Exam: Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate.
- How to copy files from one Azure Storage Account to another account.
- How to disable Server Manager at startup for all users.
- How to mount and persist an Azure File Share with Windows.
- How to enable Single Sign-On (SSO) for Windows Admin Center.
- Step By Step: Enable Local Active Directory SMB Authentication for Azure Files.
- Install System Center 2019 Data Protection Manager on Windows Server 2019 and SQL Server 2017.
- How to enable Virtual TPM (vTPM) in Windows Server 2016 Hyper-V VM.
Another great thing I could do in 2020 was work with my customers on several different projects. I have to thank my employer itnetX (Switzerland) AG for their continuous support, and to all my sponsors here: Altaro VM Backup, Files.com, and CloudBerry Lab.
So how do I summarize all of this?
People’s interest in hybrid cloud, security, and the Microsoft Cloud platform, in general, continues to rise more and more. We have migrated several customers to Microsoft Azure and enabled them to move faster during the hit of the global pandemic.
It was an odd, complicated, unique, and tough year, but we made it through and now we are more prepared for 2021!
My goals for 2021
My goals for 2021, I will focus more on what I really love to do and invest more in activities that have real value for me.
My first goal is to read more books, the books I like to read can be broken down into four categories:
- Spiritual
- Health
- Wealth
- Relationships
When you read and self-educate, you can make an immediate impact on your life. The secret of the truly wealthy and successful people in this world is the simplest of them all — pick up a book and spend a lot of time reading!
My second goal is to get additional security certifications. If one piece of advice I can give you is to invest in Cybersecurity and keep learning. You can find on my blog many articles that can help you to get started.
My third goal is to facelift and give a fresh new look to my website, after nearly 6 years it’s time for a refresh. I want to push and write more articles as well. You are welcome to share your topics in the comment section below.
My fourth goal is exchanging experiences is important and learning from someone who (really) knows stuff is invaluable. My goal is to speak at a few conferences later this year and meet more people.
My fifth goal is to record video training, I am still working on the topic. You are welcome to share your ideas in the comment section below.
I am looking forward to starting working on these goals and growing my knowledge.
Whatever You Do – Never, Ever Give Up…
My Expectation for 2021
I see 2021 will be an epic year, if 2020 was the year of security and the new way of working, 2021 promises to be the year of strengthening our security posture and resiliency. The year 2021 is going to be exciting!!!
Aside from all of that, If you are interested in reading my previous books, you can order them from here:
- Microsoft System Center Data Protection Manager Cookbook
- Windows Server Hyper-V, Cookbook – Second Edition
- Getting Started with Nano Server
I am looking forward to the 2021 kick-off… There are a lot of interesting projects coming down the pipeline…
And with that, let me wrap up 2020 by wishing everyone a Happy New Year!!!
Thank you all for reading my blog and the comments throughout the year, may you all have a healthy, successful, and outstanding New Year!
Until then… see you in 2021!
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Thank you for reading my blog.
If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a comment.
-Charbel Nemnom-
