Jouni Heikniemi

Bio

I am a software generalist with 20+ years of professional experience and a deep specialization in the Microsoft technology platform. I have extensive experience in fields like development, code auditing, architectural transformation and technology strategy.

I am also known as a public speaker, particularly in Microsoft-related events. Developing the local tech community is one of my passions - I have founded and ran the Finnish .NET User Group SANKO since 2010. Finnish listeners can also hear me out on our regular Microsoft-focused podcast, Ikkunastudio.

I work as the CEO of Offbeat Solutions, a software company I founded with my wife and some friends. Our specialty is rescuing failed projects, but we help our customers with all sorts of tech challenges - adopting new technologies, coaching floundering teams or facilitating cross-tech projects are all routine for us. Quite obviously, Azure and other cloud services are pretty much what drives us these days.

Talk to me about: Cloud Computing, Microservices, Software Development, Azure, PaaS, .NET, Visual Studio

Spotlight

I’m excited about how cloud adoption spreads like wildfire. Finland has always been fairly cloud-savvy – for example, we have Office 365 seats for 20% of the population – but much of the adoption has been about Infrastructure or Software as a Service. That’s a great first step, but I believe the true business revolution starts with platform services.

I’ve been blessed with great customers who have been willing to explore the Azure platform far and wide. I’ve been publishing data through modern managed APIs, composing IoT data ingestion pipelines and building cloud-based service buses. On that path, we’ve found great business successes – increasing vendor independence, unlocking new insights from forgotten assets, and turning old daily batch integrations into valuable real-time data streams are just a few examples.

Not every technology adoption is bliss. Successful digitalization is all about modernizing swiftly while embracing and leveraging the legacy we all have. No matter if you look for cost reduction, quality improvement or extra revenue, picking the right services for the job is the first step. I’m excited to be on the forefront of Microsoft’s massive service evolution - and happy to navigate the maze with you.