Manish Kumar

Manish Kumar is an accomplished Senior Cloud Solution Architect at Microsoft, specializing in modern data platforms and cloud solutions. With over 24 years of diverse experience in the IT industry, Manish has built a reputation as a leading expert in the field of data management and analytics. As a thought leader in modern data platforms, Manish excels in crafting innovative solutions involving both relational and non-relational databases, data lakes, advanced analytics, MPP (Massively Parallel Processing), and hybrid cloud implementations. His deep understanding of these technologies allows him to architect robust and scalable solutions tailored to meet the complex needs of enterprises. Manish's journey in the IT industry has been multifaceted, spanning roles such as Software Developer, SQL Server Database Administrator (DBA), Solution/Data Architect, and now, a Senior Cloud Solution Architect. This diverse background equips him with a holistic perspective, enabling him to address challenges comprehensively and design solutions that align with industry best practices. Beyond his professional achievements, Manish Kumar is driven by a profound passion for knowledge sharing. His enthusiasm for sharing knowledge extends to public speaking engagements where he imparts wisdom gained through years of hands-on experience.

Sessions for 2026

Real World Modernization of Complex SQL Workloads with Azure SQL - Part 1

The first part of this two-part session will deliver an in-depth introduction to Azure SQL as it relates to broader real-world modernization scenarios. We will start with a concise overview of Azure SQL, underscoring various Azure SQL service features and the rationale behind customers' selection of specific Microsoft SQL services for their workloads. Attendees will also acquire valuable perspectives regarding the factors that drive organizations to transition to Azure, including considerations of cost and performance. The first part of our session will finish with an overview of migration tools, including practical demonstrations, emphasizing how to identify the optimal solution for database migrations. The second part of the session, after a brief break, will cover individual customer case studies, illustrating how various workloads were efficiently modernized and migrated to Azure SQL.

Real World Modernization of Complex SQL Workloads with Azure SQL - Part 2

Following on from the first part of this session and the initial overview of Azure SQL’s features and migration tools, this second part of our session dives into real customer modernization projects in greater detail. We’ll explore how various organizations successfully migrated critical workloads to Azure SQL, including the motivations that drove their decisions and the practical steps they took to ensure a smooth transition to Azure. By examining these concrete real-world examples, you’ll discover the tangible benefits these organizations are now experiencing, such as improved performance, scalability, and cost efficiency. Additionally, you’ll gain actionable insights and best practices that can help guide your own cloud modernization efforts, making your journey to Azure SQL both effective and rewarding.

Previous Sessions

Empowering SQL: Mastering Intelligent Query Processing in 20 Minutes

Dive into the heart of database optimization with our 20-minute session on Intelligent Query Processing (IQP) in SQL Server and Azure SQL. In this power-packed talk, we will demystify IQP, the driving force behind accelerated query performance. We'll begin with a quick overview, highlighting the pivotal role of IQP in query optimization and database efficiency. Then, we'll dive into key IQP features focusing on their impacts in real-world.

Managed Instance Link - Seamless migration to Azure

We, the cloud solutions architects from Microsoft, will be talking around SQL migration journey from on-prem to Azure SQL in general, taking you through all available Microsoft's migration tools like DMA, DMS, Azure Migrate, ADS, etc, and then focus on migration to Managed Instance using SQL MI Link. You should take away with you the understanding of when to use which tool and how the newly available Azure SQL Managed Instance Link can help you to achieve a minimum downtime migration of on-prem SQL Server to Azure SQL Managed Instance.

The Power of Polybase with SQL - True data Virtualisation

Customers would be able to understand what exactly Polybase is, why it's useful, what are the use cases and finally how to use this feature of SQL Server. Polybase have been around for quite some time, since SQL Server 2016, however, the awareness and the way it virtualises the data may not have been understood well for some customers.

Performance Tuning of Azure SQL DB

Manish Kumar from Microsoft will take you through various performance tuning measures you should take before increasing service tier of your database. The session will be packed with tons of information, steps and demos.