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Microsoft Azure Experts in Cologne

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Hire experts who design Azure architectures, automate infrastructure with Terraform and Bicep, and deliver data, integration, and container solutions. FRATCH matches you quickly with vetted, available freelancers who fit your technical needs.

Meet FRATCH Experts in Cologne, who have recently used Microsoft Azure

Verified expert

Markus B.

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Consultant, Technical Project Manager

Bergheim
Markus B.

Last position:

Consultant, Technical Project Manager at Lanxess

  • Project: ESU Windows and SQL Server Consolidation / Configuration Management in ServiceNow
  • Prepared an as-is analysis of all servers worldwide
  • Prepared an as-is analysis of all SQL servers worldwide
  • Conducted requirements analyses for SQL and server migrations
  • Coordinated requirements with partners for migrations to Hyper-V (on-premises) or Azure Cloud
  • Facilitated regular status meetings (Jour Fixe)
  • Developed roadmaps and solution models for server migrations
  • Set up test scenarios
  • Facilitated workshops for the rollout of a global admin team
  • Designed data models (CMDB) in ServiceNow
  • Led workshops for the CMDB data model
  • Developed solution models for the CMDB
  • Created end-to-end configuration documentation and work instructions for the CMDB
  • Prepared reports for license management
  • Defined KPIs for data quality in ServiceNow
  • Created a service catalog
  • Facilitated workshops to define service requests
  • Acted as interface between requirements analysis and the ServiceNow development team
  • Systems used: Windows 7, Windows 10, Microsoft Office 365/2010, Windows Server 20xx, SQL Server 20xx, SharePoint, Azure Cloud, Hyper-V, ServiceNow, various tools
Verified expert

Emre S.

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Freelance IT Project Manager and Technical Project Lead

Köln
Emre S.

Last position:

IT Project Manager | SAP E-Invoicing Outbound at Rohde & Schwarz

Project: Introduction of statutory-compliant electronic invoicing (outbound, Germany) in SAP for an international technology group.

  • Project management: Planning, steering and reporting of the E-Invoicing outbound rollout across all affected business areas, including budget and resource coordination.
  • UAT: Structured user acceptance test with key users per business area, test cases per invoice scenario, and consolidated test results for decision making.
  • Defect management: Handover and tracking of defects in Jira, including validation of the generated invoices against the statutory schemas.
  • Cutover, go-live and hypercare: Readiness checks and cutover planning aligned with the statutory deadlines, coordination of go-live and stabilization during hypercare.
  • Stakeholder management and reporting: Alignment with Finance, Tax, business departments and IT, preparation of status reports and decision papers, and consistent follow-up of open items.
  • Change management and documentation: Communicated process changes to the business departments, enabled key users, and created process and compliance documentation to ensure traceability and audit readiness.
Verified expert

Rafael D.

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Project Manager Modern Workplace

Cologne
Rafael D.

Last position:

Project Lead Automation at Textile Industry

Analysis and optimization of end-to-end processes in various business areas such as sales, procurement, order processing, and logistics. Redesign of the ERP system. Identification of optimization potential, especially in areas with media discontinuities and manual activities, as well as creation of a prioritized transformation roadmap with clear business cases and implementation recommendations. Management of automation initiatives. RPA at the production site in China. Evaluation and introduction of relevant AI use cases, as well as building basic AI capabilities within the organization. Training internal project team members and supporting them throughout the transformation process to develop a culture of continuous improvement. Close collaboration with IT and external implementation partners, with reporting to senior management.

Main responsibilities and achievements:

  • Analysis of business processes and design of automated processes
  • Training and support for employees in China and Germany
  • 20% cost savings in logistics
  • Regular status reports to senior management
Verified expert

Burhan D.

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Experienced IT and AI Architect

Niederkassel
Burhan D.

Last position:

Enterprise Architect & Solution Architect at DB Netz AG

With project PRIZMA, DB will modernize its infrastructure on the one hand, and develop a fail-safe IT landscape on the other hand, which can be restored quickly and securely in case of a disaster.

  • Capture current architectures of existing systems as well as methodical consulting and development of target architectures
  • Deepen and maintain the building plan / target IT landscape
  • Implement technical architecture concepts & architecture descriptions
  • Implement migration concepts for updating and further developing the platform and information systems
  • Assess submitted improvement suggestions as part of the project
  • Capability management: identify capability gaps, develop target visions, and support transformation planning within the enterprise architecture.
  • Create a compatibility matrix of the components in use and compare dependencies of specific versions
  • Create an IT concept for extending the platform with the following topics: hardware and software requirements, security, licensing, high availability, load balancing, backup & recovery, update strategy, monitoring integration, etc.
  • Coordinate with business architects as well as technical architects from the cross-functional architecture area of the PRISMA program for the topics (backup, Active Directory, monitoring, Citrix, and business applications ...)
  • Status meetings and alignment of project planning with the Release Train Engineer / Project Manager
  • Advise the Release Train Engineer / Project Manager in identifying project risks
  • Advise the System Architect Engineers in steering the implementation of the concept
  • Implement the IT concept
  • Document the infrastructure

Label: MS Project, LINUX, Windows, ORACLE, Java, REST, SharePoint, Microsoft Exchange, UML, Enterprise Architect, BPMN, AZURE, AWS, V-MODEL, Micro Service, VisualStudio, SAP S/4HANA, SCRUM(SAFE), ESB (TIBCO), Python, Innovator, LeanIX (TOGAF), Ansible, Ansible Tower, Ansible Automation, ROBOT, SpringBoot

Verified expert

Till Z.

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I Love To Build Products People Love.

Köln
Till Z.

Last position:

Product Owner at OPED / Mawendo

  • Interim PO for a DiGA-listed digital therapy platform, ensuring compliant product development in a highly regulated SaMD environment (BfArM, BSI) while maintaining delivery pace.
  • Challenge: Regulatory complexity combined with hands-on delivery responsibility and only one week of onboarding time.
  • Impact: Introduced AI-assisted product development workflows with clear quality standards and reinstated regular short release cycles for faster, more precise delivery. Currently optimizing product development workflows and reducing AI-generated bloat in tickets and documentation.
  • Introduced an OCR-based workflow in Langdock that automates therapy plan creation from prescription images.
Verified expert

Edgardo C.

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Senior Software Engineer | Integration Consultant

Cologne
Edgardo C.

Last position:

Independent Senior Software Engineer & Integration Consultant at Thinkronic

Software engineering and integration consulting for enterprise clients, with a focus on backend development, APIs, system integration, and event-driven architectures. Currently developing and evolving a recruitment and staffing platform using Elixir and RabbitMQ, including asynchronous, event-driven communication and integrations with external recruitment and staffing platforms.

Verified expert

Yaroslav S.

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Senior Low-Code Consultant

Cologne
Yaroslav S.

Last position:

Senior Low-Code Consultant at Freelancer

  • Structured analysis and evaluation of business processes

  • Gathering, documenting, and prioritizing requirements

  • Creating business-friendly and technically executable process models

  • Use of Camunda tools

  • Deriving requirements and interfaces from BPMN diagrams

  • Coordination with stakeholders and business units

  • Translating business requirements into technical solution designs

  • Implementing efficient and tailored applications

  • Systematic collection, analysis, and documentation of requirements

  • Prioritizing and validating requirements in close collaboration with stakeholders

  • Alignment between business and development to ensure shared objectives

  • Creating use cases, user stories, and acceptance criteria

  • Continuous requirements and change management throughout the project lifecycle

  • Define project goals and create project plans

  • Delegate tasks and monitor project progress

  • Monitor budgets and inform stakeholders

  • Mendix: Architecture, development, and maintenance of custom applications (Microflows, Domain Model, Security, XPath)

  • Modeling Mendix workflows for process optimization

  • Develop scalable apps with Mendix including REST/SOAP integration with SAP, SQL, Azure & SharePoint

  • UI design for Mendix using Atlas UI, Fluent UI, HTML, CSS, JavaScript

  • Develop web & mobile apps with Mendix using agile methods (Scrum, Kanban)

  • Implement business logic with Mendix Microflows and Nanoflows

  • Performance optimization and architecture improvements for Mendix applications

  • Conduct Mendix training

  • Create technical documentation and best practices for Mendix

  • Coaching and mentoring for low-code development with Mendix

Verified expert

Patrick D.

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Senior AI Software Engineer · Full-Stack · Agentic AI · MCP · LLM

Köln
Patrick D.

Last position:

Fullstack Developer

  • SPA for automated communication of medical findings with role-based access (Sanctum)
  • Server-side LLM integration (OpenRouter) with structured processing
  • Automated sending via SMS/voice call (Twilio, ElevenLabs) with queue + status retry
  • Full test coverage with 80+ documented test cases

Technologies: PHP, Laravel, LLM API (OpenRouter), Twilio, ElevenLabs, Laravel Sanctum, PHPUnit, Playwright, Docker, REST

Verified expert

Hassan A.

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IT Consultant

Düsseldorf
Hassan A.

Last position:

DevOps & Observability Consultant at ALDI South (Albrecht's Discount)

  • Supporting the DevOps team in Terraform-managed, multi-region AWS infrastructure to achieve environment parity.
  • Developed end-to-end CI/CD pipelines using AWS CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CodeDeploy, automating the build and deployment.
  • Maintained pre- and post-deployment scripts to automate critical tasks such as database schema migrations and environment sanity checks.
  • Implemented CI/CD flow specifically for hotfixes via separate Git branches, managing back-merge activities from feature branches to release branches to ensure code integrity through automated conflict resolution.
  • Deployed a dedicated, lightweight sanity check application hosted cost-effectively on Azure Container Apps to run automated health and basic functional checks as a post-deployment activity triggered via pipeline.
  • Investigated production incidents through code changes and AWS CloudWatch logs.
  • Coordinated integration of Dynatrace APM and its APIs for monitoring purposes.
  • Full stack QA strategist for a high-traffic e-commerce platform built on a layered architecture for the back-end testing of core platform services, especially the order management system in Zed and Glue layers.
  • Managed automation activities, testing process, and refactoring practices.
  • Responsible for framework migrations, setup, and training for new automation frameworks.
  • Promoted a shift-left approach within the QA team and created the test concept.
  • Participated in meetings with IT managers, business owners, product owners, and team members.
  • Designed and implemented contract testing to validate API schema compatibility between the order management system and the Zed and Glue layers, reducing production-relevant breaking changes by approximately 3%.
  • Led the migration to a multi-environment framework that enabled test execution across 4 country configurations from a single codebase.
  • Integrated automated unit and functional tests directly into the GitLab CI/CD pipeline, reducing pipeline runtime by 32%.
  • Coached and trained 5 QA engineers across Germany and Hungary in test automation, framework architecture, and best practices.
  • Architected a layered backend test automation framework separating business logic, API request builders, and the database layer.
  • Piloted AI-assisted testing with Playwright Agents, the Playwright MCP Server, and GitHub Copilot for automated test generation, execution, and self-healing Playwright scripts.
Verified expert

Alexander B.

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Senior Data Engineer

Köln
Alexander B.

Last position:

Senior Data Engineer at RWE AG

Architected and maintained data products for renewable energy operations, covering wind turbine, grid-meter, and weather data. Built scalable ETL/ELT pipelines in Azure Databricks using Delta Lake (bronze/silver/gold layers) and processed data in various formats, including structured and semi-structured data. Contributed to a data quality framework supporting table and column documentation, outlier detection, and completeness metrics across all datasets within a data product. In addition, implemented a DORA KPI Databricks dashboard used across all data products. Optimized CI/CD processes in Azure DevOps to streamline deployment across development, test, and production environments.

Technology stack: Azure Databricks, PySpark, SQL, Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, Azure Data Lake, APIs, Dremio, Azure DevOps, YAML, Git, Databricks Workflows, Application Insights, Terraform, OpenAI API, Codex, LLM-assisted workflows

Verified expert

Maurice K.

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Senior Solution Architect

Cologne
Maurice K.

Last position:

Solution Architect – Cloud-Native Transformation of IoT Monitoring Platform at NDA / Wind Energy Sector

  • Led the end-to-end architecture and migration of a legacy on- premise IoT monitoring system to a cloud-native Azure platform within a 17-member development team
  • Designed and implemented a scalable microservices architecture (Java 21, Spring Boot, Kubernetes, Azure Services), decoupling IoT data streams and eliminating legacy system bottlenecks
  • Defined technology stack, mentored developers, and orchestrated cross-functional teams in 4 countries to ensure high-quality delivery and alignment with architectural standards
  • Drove requirements engineering and system redesign, removing years of technical debt and introducing event-driven processing and automated workflows
  • Key Achievements
  • Increased system stability and uptime by ~10x, eliminating need for 24/7 DevOps intervention
  • Reduced hosting costs by ~80% (5x savings) through cloud optimization
  • Improved performance and scalability, enabling stable handling of high-volume IoT data streams
  • Delivered successful zero-disruption migration from on-prem to cloud, with strong user satisfaction and reliability from day one
Verified expert

Maurice H.

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Senior Product Owner

Hürth
Maurice H.

Last position:

Senior Product Owner at Hydra Lynx Ltd

  • Unified AI initiatives through the central coordination and integration of artificial intelligence projects to increase efficiency and business value.
  • Identified and prioritized AI use cases through business process analysis and translated them into structured product backlogs and roadmaps.
  • Led change management activities, including the introduction of new digital tools, communication strategies, and training concepts to support cultural change.
  • Managed requirements and processes through end-to-end requirements analysis, process modeling, and organizational optimization.
  • Scaled agile practices (Scrum, Kanban, OKRs) and promoted cross-functional collaboration and continuous improvement.
  • Supported company-wide digital transformation by leading technical change initiatives and strengthening collaboration models.
Verified expert

Pierre G.

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Ansible Automation, Windows Third Level Support

Cologne
Pierre G.

Last position:

Ansible Automation, Windows Third Level Support at DB InfraGO AG

  • PRISMA project
  • Ansible automation
  • Windows third-level support for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows 2013, Windows 2016, Windows 2019
Verified expert

Baris E.

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Senior Cyber Security Consultant | Cyber Defense, DFIR & Security Architecture

Cologne
Baris E.

Last position:

Founder / Product & Security Architect at Pirpirik

  • Perform secure code reviews and provide secure-coding guidance across the application and platform architecture.
  • Engineer infrastructure security and design security-monitoring architecture, incident-response playbooks and Security-by-Design controls.

Discover over 15,000 top freelancers

Statistics of experts using Microsoft Azure

Aggregated from the professional profiles of matched freelancers.

Experience

19 years (Germany: 18 years)

Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne have 19 years of professional experience on average. It is 1 year more than in Germany, where the average stands at 18 years.

Position duration

2.9 years (Germany: 2.8 years)

Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne stay in a single position for 2.9 years on average. It is 0.1 years more than in Germany, where the average stands at 2.8 years.

Positions per freelancer

15 (Germany: 13)

Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne have completed 15 positions on average over the course of their careers. It is 2 more than in Germany, where the average stands at 13.

Top business areas

Information Technology, Product Development, Project Management

Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne have gathered most of their hands-on project experience in Information Technology, Product Development, and Project Management.

Top industries

Information Technology, Banking and Finance, Manufacturing

Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne are most in demand in Information Technology, Banking and Finance, and Manufacturing.

Certification focus areas

Information Technology, Project Management, Product Development

Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne earn their certifications most often in Information Technology, Project Management, and Product Development.

Bachelor's degree or higher

88% (Germany: 90%)

88% of Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne hold at least a Bachelor's degree. It is 2% lower than in Germany, where the rate stands at 90%.

Master's degree or higher

57%

57% of Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne hold at least a Master's degree.

Doctorate

4% (Germany: 9%)

4% of Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne have a doctorate (PhD). It is 5% lower than in Germany, where the rate stands at 9%.

Certifications per freelancer

4

Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne hold 4 professional certifications on average.

Most common languages

German, English, French

Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne most often speak German, English, and French.

Speak two or more languages

99% (Germany: 97%)

99% of Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne speak two or more languages. It is 2% higher than in Germany, where the rate stands at 97%.

Based on our profile pool as of 29 Oct 2026.

Daily rate distribution

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%
54% of Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne charge less than €800 per day.
38% of Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne charge between €800 and €1200 per day.
5% of Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne charge between €1200 and €1600 per day.
3% of Microsoft Azure experts in Cologne charge €1600 or more per day.
<€800 €800-​1200 €1200-​1600 €1600+

The chart shows how the daily rates of experts in this technology in Cologne are distributed, based on recent contracts on our platform. Each bar covers a rate range — its height shows the share of experts charging within that range.

Discover detailed Microsoft Azure rate benchmarks:

Explore rate insights

Average rates of experts in Cologne using Microsoft Azure

Rates are based on recent contracts and do not include FRATCH margin.

1000
750
500
250
Rate comparison chart
Daily rate avg. 781 €
Germany avg. 789 €

The average daily rate is the mean of all daily rates from recent contracts of comparable freelancers on our platform.

1000
750
500
250
Rate comparison chart
Median rate 760 €
Germany median 800 €

The median daily rate is the middle value of all daily rates — half of comparable freelancers charge less, half charge more. Unlike the average, it is barely affected by outliers.

Calculated based on our freelancers’ daily rates as of 29 Oct 2026. Actual rates may vary depending on seniority level, experience, skill specialization, project complexity, and engagement length.

Microsoft Azure experts industry focus

See which industries our matched freelancers work in most often — every figure is calculated live from the freelancers on FRATCH.

  • Information Technology (93%)
  • Banking and Finance (48%)
  • Manufacturing (48%)
  • Professional Services (45%)
  • Retail (43%)
  • Automotive (36%)
  • Healthcare (36%)
  • Government and Administration (36%)

Please note that freelancers can work across multiple industries, so percentages overlap.

About the technology

Azure foundations

Microsoft Azure is Microsoft’s cloud computing ecosystem for running applications, data platforms, infrastructure, identity services, and connected workloads. Companies use it to modernize existing systems, launch cloud-native products, and connect on-premises environments with scalable public cloud resources. Azure also supports hybrid and multi-cloud operating models.

Services and architecture

Azure projects can span compute, networking, storage, databases, messaging, monitoring, and security. Strong architecture work connects these services into systems that are resilient, observable, and governed. Common solutions include:

  • App Services, Azure Functions, and containerized workloads
  • Azure Kubernetes Service for managed container orchestration
  • Azure SQL, Cosmos DB, and managed data platforms
  • Virtual Networks, Private Link, and hybrid connectivity

Delivery and automation

Azure specialists work with Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions, Terraform, Bicep, and ARM templates to make delivery repeatable. They create infrastructure as code, release pipelines, environment controls, monitoring, and rollback procedures. PowerShell, Azure CLI, and scripting are often part of the delivery toolkit.

When companies need expertise

External professionals are useful when an Azure initiative needs focused delivery, independent architecture review, or skills that are not available internally. This often applies during migrations, platform upgrades, security improvements, and urgent cloud adoption work. Cologne companies may also need specialists who can coordinate closely with local teams while working remotely.

  • Move workloads from data centers or other cloud environments
  • Establish landing zones, governance, and access controls
  • Improve reliability, observability, and cloud cost management
  • Prepare data, AI, and integration workloads for production

Skills that matter

A capable Azure professional understands more than individual portal services. They can explain trade-offs between managed and self-managed components, design identity with Microsoft Entra ID, and apply network and security principles across the environment. Experience with APIs, CI/CD, containers, databases, and incident response adds practical value.

Choosing the right professional

Review architecture decisions, infrastructure code, deployment practices, and operational documentation rather than relying only on certification names. Ask how the professional handles permissions, secrets, failure recovery, monitoring, and service limits. For work in Cologne, clarify whether workshops require on-site collaboration and whether German, English, or both are needed for stakeholders and documentation.

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Frequently asked questions

Key details about Microsoft Azure, drawn from the questions we get asked most.

Microsoft Azure is used to host applications, APIs, databases, virtual machines, containers, analytics workloads, and integration services. It also supports identity management, hybrid connectivity, backup, security monitoring, and machine learning.

Azure is often chosen when a company already relies on Microsoft technologies such as Windows Server, Microsoft Entra ID, SQL Server, Microsoft 365, or .NET. AWS and Google Cloud can be strong alternatives, so the right choice depends on existing skills, service requirements, data location, governance, and operating preferences.

Microsoft Azure work benefits from knowledge of networking, Linux or Windows administration, security, databases, containers, APIs, and CI/CD. Terraform, Bicep, PowerShell, Azure CLI, GitHub Actions, and Azure DevOps are also valuable for repeatable delivery.

Azure projects need different levels of expertise depending on their scope and risk. A simple workload may need focused service knowledge, while a migration or regulated production environment calls for proven architecture, identity, networking, automation, and incident-handling skills.

Microsoft Azure work is well suited to remote collaboration through shared repositories, ticketing, documentation, and cloud environments. Agree in advance on workshop needs, working hours, access procedures, and whether communication with Cologne stakeholders should be in German, English, or both.

Azure quality is visible in clear architecture diagrams, controlled permissions, tested infrastructure code, useful monitoring, and practical runbooks. Ask for anonymized examples of decisions and outcomes, then use a technical discussion to test how the professional handles failure, security, and operational change.

Microsoft Azure migration planning should cover application dependencies, data movement, identity, network design, target services, security controls, testing, cutover, and rollback. A strong professional also defines ownership and operations after migration instead of treating the move as a one-time deployment.

Azure certifications can show structured knowledge of particular services or roles, but they do not replace delivery experience. Compare the certification focus with the project’s needs and ask how the professional has handled real environments, automation, security decisions, and production support.

The average hourly rate of freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used Microsoft Azure in their recent projects is 98 €, which corresponds to a daily rate of about 781 € based on an 8-hour working day.

Of the freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used Microsoft Azure in their recent projects, 88% hold at least a Bachelor's degree, 57% hold at least a Master's degree, and 4% hold a doctorate.

On average, freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used Microsoft Azure in their recent projects have 19 years of professional experience, with a single engagement typically lasting around 2.9 years.

The most common languages among freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used Microsoft Azure in their recent projects are German (100%), English (96%), and French (17%).

The most common industries among freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used Microsoft Azure in their recent projects are Information Technology (93%), Banking and Finance (48%), and Manufacturing (48%).

The most common business areas among freelancers in Cologne, Germany who have used Microsoft Azure in their recent projects are Information Technology (99%), Product Development (72%), and Project Management (70%).

Main locations of FRATCH Experts, who have recently used Microsoft Azure

Our freelancers and interim experts are at home across the DACH region — available on-site in the major business hubs or fully remote. Choose a location to discover matched specialists, local market insights and up-to-date availability.

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