Microsoft Ignite 2020
I think we can all relate when Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said that during the global pandemic the world experienced 2 years of digital transformation in 2 months.
Satya delivered a great keynote for the Microsoft Ignite 2020 conference. The key themes centered around evolving the digital workplace by accelerating digital transformation during the pandemic through the Microsoft 365 platform and newly announced innovations. Microsoft Azure continues to gain adoption and momentum as companies around the world move to the cloud. New innovative enhancements for organizations to manage security and identity management on the M365 platform have helped companies cope with today’s remote work landscape.
Leveraging the power of Azure, the M365 platform and Teams, Satya delivered the theme of a continued evolvement of “Tech Intensity” which he defines as “Technology Adoption X Technology Capabilities”. Companies are adopting a cultural mindset and business processes that rewards the development and propagation of digital capabilities and unleashes information to trigger insights and predictions, automated workflows, and intelligent services.
Here are some of the key announcements out of the keynote:
The Power Platform’s New Power Automate Desktop Robotics Process Automation (RPA) Solution
Microsoft announced, “Microsoft Power Automate Desktop”, a new desktop-based robotic process automation (RPA) authoring solution that expands low-code automation capabilities for organizations. Now in preview, Power Automate Desktop enables coders and non-coders alike to automate processes and tasks across desktop and web applications, bringing the value of RPA directly into Microsoft Power Automate.
Microsoft Updates the Power Platform for Microsoft Teams to Make It Easier to Create Low-Code Applications, and Automated Workflows
Project Oakdale is a new built-in low-code data platform for Microsoft Teams that provides enterprise relational datastores with rich data types to Teams users.. Project Oakdale is now in public preview. Power Apps and Power Virtual Agents apps for Teams, both coming in 2020, include embedded app and bot creation studios, so anyone can build an app or bot without leaving Teams.
Updates to Power BI in Teams for Enhanced Access to Data Insights
Power BI in Teams will see several enhancements that infuse teamwork with data insights, coming in public preview later this year. Enhancements to the Power BI app for Teams will make it easier to: discover data from across the organization and quickly create visualizations from Excel datasets right within Teams, collaborate more effectively, and make decisions based on real-time insight.
Microsoft launches cloud for healthcare in general availability
Microsoft announced that the Microsoft Cloud for Healthcare in Canada will be generally available at the end of October 2020. The comprehensive cloud enables healthcare customers and partners to deliver better experiences, insights, and care to people worldwide. With the Cloud for Healthcare, organizations can engage with patients in more proactive ways, give caregivers tools to improve workflow efficiency, streamline collaboration and connect data across existing sources to turn insight into action.
Microsoft Azure Communication Services Handles Enterprise Video, Voice, and Text
Microsoft announced Azure Communication Services which enables applications to incorporate rich communication experiences with the same secure platform that Microsoft Teams is built upon. This enables developers and organizations to securely build communications features and connected user experiences across applications running on virtually any device.
Enhanced Security and Identity detection with Microsoft Defender that Now Manages Threat Protection Across the M365 and Azure Platforms
Microsoft announced new features that extend its threat protection portfolio and is unifying solutions across Microsoft 365 security and Azure security, which will deliver the most comprehensive extended detection and response (XDR) on the market. Microsoft Defender (now inclusive of Microsoft 365 Defender and Azure Defender) prevents, detects, and responds to threats across identities, endpoints, applications, email, infrastructure, and cloud platforms, and also self-heals affected assets.
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