Speaking

I speak about Azure Networking, Security and Infrastructure as Code, with real-world consulting experience and live demos instead of slide walls. Talks are available in German or English.

As a Microsoft MVP for Azure Networking, I speak at community events out of passion: conferences, meetups, and online formats. If you run a community event and one of my sessions fits your agenda, you can find me on Sessionize or simply message me on LinkedIn.

Upcoming

  • Cloud & Datacenter Conference Germany (Hanau, 30 Sep to 1 Oct 2026): Ausfallsichere Netzwerkarchitekturen in Azure and Öffentlich oder privat? Die richtige Netzwerkanbindung für Azure-Dienste

Past talks

2026

  • SysAdminDay 2026 (Leipzig, 31 Jul 2026): Azure Firewall im Betrieb: Traffic, Routing und die häufigsten Fehler
  • European AI and Cloud Summit 2026 (Cologne, 5 to 7 May 2026): Deep Dive into Azure Service Endpoints and Azure Private Links
  • Global Azure 2026 (Hamburg, 17 Apr 2026): Azure Firewall im Betrieb: Traffic, Routing und die häufigsten Fehler
  • Experts Live Germany 2026 (Leipzig, 3 to 4 Mar 2026): Noch 28 Tage – Internet in Azure ist nicht mehr selbstverständlich and Workshop: Cloud Networking Deep-dive (4-hour hands-on workshop, day 2)

2025

  • SysAdminDay 2025 (Leipzig, 25 Jul 2025): Azure Service Endpoints und Azure Private Links – ein Deep Dive
  • Global Azure 2025 (Hamburg, 9 May 2025): Azure Service Endpoints und Azure Private Links – ein Deep Dive
  • Experts Live Germany 2025 (Leipzig, 11 Apr 2025): Der neue Azure Network Security Perimeter im Einsatz

2024

2023

  • Festive Tech Calendar 2023 (online, 22 Dec 2023): Deep Dive into Azure Service Endpoints and Azure Private Links
  • Azure Back to School 2023 (online, 20 Sep 2023): Infrastructure as Code – Create your cloud infrastructure with Azure Bicep
  • SysAdminDay 2023 (Leipzig, 28 Jul 2023): Infrastructure as Code – Erstelle deine Cloud-Infrastruktur mit Azure Bicep

Talk abstracts

These are the sessions I currently bring to community events. Most are available in German and English – just ask.

Azure Firewall im Betrieb: Traffic, Routing und die häufigsten Fehler

Language: German or English (English title: “Azure Firewall in Operation”)

Azure Firewall is deployed quickly. In operation, however, you soon notice how much its behavior depends on routing, rule definitions, and actual traffic flows. Many problems do not originate in the firewall itself, but where traffic never reaches it or is processed differently than expected. This session is about typical operational situations: Why does traffic not reach the firewall? Why do rules not take effect as expected? And how do you systematically find out whether routing, the rule set, or the firewall itself is the cause? Using concrete examples, we analyze typical problem patterns, from faulty routes and unexpected SNAT behavior to rule effects that are hard to trace. The goal is a clear understanding of how Azure Firewall behaves in operation and how to debug problems in a targeted, reproducible way.

Noch 28 Tage – Internet in Azure ist nicht mehr selbstverständlich

Language: German

On March 31, 2026, default outbound internet access for new Azure virtual networks was retired. Since then, there is no automatic internet access for new VNets anymore: every outbound connection has to be configured explicitly. What does that mean for you? Why is this actually a good change? And how do you find out whether you are affected? We walk through your options (Public IPs, Load Balancer, NAT Gateway, and Azure Firewall) and discuss which solution fits which scenario, what each brings in terms of security, and what it costs. Live demos and clear recommendations give you the tools to set up your Azure environments securely and in a controlled way.

Ausfallsichere Netzwerkarchitekturen in Azure

Language: German

Availability Zones promise high availability, but redundancy does not happen automatically. A zonal Public IP, a misconfigured Load Balancer, or a VPN Gateway that is not fully set up can silently undermine a supposedly resilient architecture. This session explains the zone model in Azure and shows which network components have to be aligned with it consistently: Public IPs, Load Balancers, VPN Gateways, and third-party network appliances. We talk about typical architecture mistakes and real outage scenarios, and I demonstrate resilient example configurations in a live environment. By the end, you will know how to make your cloud network truly fault-tolerant, and which homework you have left to do.

Öffentlich oder privat? Die richtige Netzwerkanbindung für Azure-Dienste

Language: German

Azure PaaS services offer several connectivity models: fully public, public with restrictions, Service Endpoints, and Private Endpoints. On paper, the options look clear. In practice, they often lead to unnecessary complexity or false assumptions about security. This session walks through the different connectivity models and puts them to a reality check: What does each decision actually mean for security, operations, and cost? Using concrete examples from many customer projects and live demos, I show how the traffic flows differ and what practical consequences follow. By the end, you will know which connectivity fits which scenario, and when “private” is not automatically the better choice.

Deep Dive into Azure Service Endpoints and Azure Private Links

Language: English or German

Let’s make sure we use Azure services in a secure way. Learn when and how to use Azure Service Endpoints or Azure Private Endpoints for Azure services. We’ll talk about risks, costs, and common pitfalls when using Service Endpoints or Private Endpoints. From DNS challenges and visibility on your firewall to User Defined Routes and Network Security Groups, we’ll cover it all. I’ve prepared demos for all those scenarios to give you a hands-on experience. By the end of this session, you will have a solid understanding of how to leverage these Azure features.

Workshop: Cloud Networking Deep-dive

Format: half-day workshop (approx. 4 hours) with optional hands-on participation. Language: German

In this workshop, we take a deep dive into how Azure networking really works. Based on a realistic hub & spoke topology, I show how to design routing, peering, and central security mechanisms so that your workloads are cleanly segmented and PaaS services like App Service and Azure SQL are reachable fully privately. Together, we analyze traffic flows between spokes and the hub, configure an Azure Firewall, integrate Azure App Services into VNets, and connect Private Endpoints with Private DNS Zones. Along the way, we look at typical pitfalls around DNS resolution, UDRs, asymmetric routing, and VNet peering traps, and solve them live, either as a demo or directly in your own subscription. For hands-on participation, you will need your own Azure subscription with full access; I provide IaC templates for all components.

Speaker kit

Short bio: Christoph Vollmann is a Senior Cloud Architect and Microsoft MVP for Azure Networking from Germany. He specializes in Azure networking and security, blogs at christoph.vollmann.co, and builds open-source tooling for Azure networking, such as az-firewall-watch.

Need a high-resolution photo or a longer bio for your event page? Just drop me a line.