diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/gpu_benchmark.yml b/.azure-pipelines/gpu-benchmark.yml
similarity index 56%
rename from .azure-pipelines/gpu_benchmark.yml
rename to .azure-pipelines/gpu-benchmark.yml
index 4ca1b531f8..d8c644f458 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/gpu_benchmark.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/gpu-benchmark.yml
@@ -1,21 +1,19 @@
-name: GPU Parity testing
-
-on:
-  schedule:
-    - cron: "0 0 * * *" # At the end of every day
+schedules:
+  - cron: "0 0 * * *" # At the end of every day
+    displayName: Daily midnight benchmark
+    branches:
+      include:
+        - "master"
 
 jobs:
-  parity-test:
-    timeoutInMinutes: 120
-
-    cancelTimeoutInMinutes: 2
-
+  - job: benchmarks
+    timeoutInMinutes: "90"
+    cancelTimeoutInMinutes: "2"
     pool: gridai-spot-pool
-
     container:
       # base ML image: mcr.microsoft.com/azureml/openmpi3.1.2-cuda10.2-cudnn8-ubuntu18.04
-      image: "pytorchlightning/pytorch_lightning:base-cuda-py3.8-torch1.6"
-
+      image: "pytorchlightning/pytorch_lightning:base-cuda-py3.8-torch1.8"
+      options: "--runtime=nvidia -e NVIDIA_VISIBLE_DEVICES=all --shm-size=32g"
     workspace:
       clean: all
 
diff --git a/.azure-pipelines/gpu-tests.yml b/.azure-pipelines/gpu-tests.yml
index edeba51a2e..994bddcda4 100644
--- a/.azure-pipelines/gpu-tests.yml
+++ b/.azure-pipelines/gpu-tests.yml
@@ -9,19 +9,19 @@ trigger:
       - '*'
   branches:
     include:
-      - master
-      - release/*
-      - refs/tags/*
+      - "master"
+      - "release/*"
+      - "refs/tags/*"
 pr:
-  - master
-  - release/*
+  - "master"
+  - "release/*"
 
 jobs:
   - job: pytest
     # how long to run the job before automatically cancelling
-    timeoutInMinutes: 45
+    timeoutInMinutes: "45"
     # how much time to give 'run always even if cancelled tasks' before stopping them
-    cancelTimeoutInMinutes: 2
+    cancelTimeoutInMinutes: "2"
 
     pool: gridai-spot-pool
 
@@ -92,14 +92,15 @@ jobs:
         testRunTitle: '$(Agent.OS) - $(Build.DefinitionName) - Python $(python.version)'
       condition: succeededOrFailed()
 
-    - task: PublishCodeCoverageResults@1
-      displayName: 'Publish coverage report'
-      inputs:
-        codeCoverageTool: 'cobertura'
-        summaryFileLocation: 'coverage.xml'
-        reportDirectory: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/htmlcov'
-        testRunTitle: '$(Agent.OS) - $(Build.BuildNumber)[$(Agent.JobName)] - Python $(python.version)'
-      condition: succeededOrFailed()
+    # todo: re-enable after schema check pass, also atm it seems does not have any effect
+    #- task: PublishCodeCoverageResults@2
+    #  displayName: 'Publish coverage report'
+    #  inputs:
+    #    codeCoverageTool: 'Cobertura'
+    #    summaryFileLocation: 'coverage.xml'
+    #    reportDirectory: '$(Build.SourcesDirectory)/htmlcov'
+    #    testRunTitle: '$(Agent.OS) - $(Build.BuildNumber)[$(Agent.JobName)] - Python $(python.version)'
+    #  condition: succeededOrFailed()
 
     - script: |
         set -e
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_dockers.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_dockers.yml
index 6efb4175bb..440460219b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci_dockers.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_dockers.yml
@@ -123,21 +123,6 @@ jobs:
           push: false
         timeout-minutes: 50
 
-  build-nvidia:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    # todo: temporarily skip as the base container does not fit to agent
-    if: false
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v2
-
-      - name: Build NVIDIA Docker
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@v2
-        with:
-          file: dockers/nvidia/Dockerfile
-          push: false
-        timeout-minutes: 50
-
   build-ipu:
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
     strategy:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci_schema.yml b/.github/workflows/ci_schema.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..51c4400666
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci_schema.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+name: CI action schema
+on: # Trigger the workflow on push or pull request, but only for the master branch
+  push: {}
+  pull_request:
+    branches: [master, "release/*"]
+
+jobs:
+  validate-schema:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+
+      - name: Install pkg
+        run: |
+          pip install check-jsonschema
+
+      - name: GH Workflows
+        run: |
+          check-jsonschema .github/workflows/*.yml --schemafile "https://json.schemastore.org/github-workflow"
+
+      - name: Azure Pipelines
+        run: |
+          check-jsonschema .azure-pipelines/*.yml --schemafile "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/microsoft/azure-pipelines-vscode/v1.188.1/service-schema.json"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/events-nightly.yml b/.github/workflows/events-nightly.yml
index 16489bb1f3..8fc763e79a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/events-nightly.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/events-nightly.yml
@@ -153,30 +153,6 @@ jobs:
           tags: pytorchlightning/pytorch_lightning:base-conda-py${{ matrix.python_version }}-torch${{ matrix.pytorch_version }}
         timeout-minutes: 55
 
-  docker-NVIDIA:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
-    # todo: temporarily skip as the base container does not fit to agent
-    if: false
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v2
-
-      # https://github.com/docker/setup-buildx-action
-      # Set up Docker Buildx - to use cache-from and cache-to argument of buildx command
-      - uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v1
-      - name: Login to DockerHub
-        uses: docker/login-action@v1
-        with:
-          username: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_USERNAME }}
-          password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD }}
-
-      - name: Publish NVIDIA to Docker Hub
-        uses: docker/build-push-action@v2
-        with:
-          file: dockers/nvidia/Dockerfile
-          tags: nvcr.io/pytorchlightning/pytorch_lightning:latest
-        timeout-minutes: 55
-
   docker-IPU:
     runs-on: ubuntu-20.04
     strategy: