About the Authors

Guruprasad HP is a technical practitioner and consultant. His technical areas of interest include System Center Configuration Manager, System Center Operation Manager, and automation using PowerShell scripting. He works with Microsoft and is a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist in SCCM and SCOM.

He has a lot of experience in creating automation frameworks for various activities in SCCM, SCOM, and custom reporting by extending the SCCM inventory. He also has good knowledge of all Microsoft technologies.

Currently, Guruprasad is working with Microsoft as a consultant and is involved in various projects with different Microsoft technologies.

I would like to thank all my well-wishers who identified my skills and encouraged and guided me whenever required. I will take this opportunity to thank my mother for being the backbone of my life.

I would also like to thank my friend Kishora V, who stood with me morally and without whom I would not have achieved many things in my life. It's a great pleasure to work with my friend and the coauthor of this book, Harshul, who always keeps my technical spirits up with new information.

I would also like to thank each and every person who directly or indirectly supported me in learning and practicing various technologies.

Harshul Patel is a technology enthusiast from India; he is thoroughly knowledgeable in virtualization and cloud computing techniques. He works for Microsoft. Harshul holds multiple Microsoft certifications, including Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8) and Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (private cloud). Additionally, he holds a number of non-Microsoft certifications, such as Citrix Certified Administrator (XenApp 6.5, XenDesktop 5.6, and XenServer 6.0) and Citrix Certified Advanced Administrator (XenApp 6.5). He has also recently achieved an ITIL certification.

Harshul was one of the early Indian adopters of Windows PowerShell. He frequently lectures on Windows PowerShell in user group gatherings and delivers training (mostly on PowerShell) across various organizations. He is also a proud recipient of multiple faculty awards and has received an innovation award from his employer. He is a core member of the PowerShell Bangalore User Group (http://powershellgroup.org/bangalore.india) and a member of the New Delhi PowerShell User Group (http://powershellgroup.org/NewDelhi). He can be contacted at http://harshulpatel.com/.

Harshul authored a book in 2013 named Instant Windows PowerShell Guide, Packt Publishing (https://www.packtpub.com/application-development/instant-windows-powershell-guide-instant).

I would like to thank all those who have encouraged me all the time and made me feel that I have the potential to do whatever I want. I am very thankful to my family members and especially to my friends, for helping me to get things done. Without learning from these people, there would be no chance that I would be doing what I do today, and it is because of them and others, whom I may not have listed here, that I feel compelled to pass my knowledge on to those willing to learn.

I would especially like to thank Guruprasad HP (the coauthor of this book) for his flawless support in drafting this book's chapters at short notice. I would like to thank the Indian PowerShell community, including MVPs Ravikanth Chaganti, Aman Dhally, and Deepak Dhami, for their contribution and inspiration.

Finally, many thanks to the Almighty for making this possible.