Ignite 2022 Recap
I didn’t get as much time this year to attend Ignite even virtually and ended up taking a day off work so I could at least see some of it. I have been a heavy advocate for automation and data organization within organizations to improve efficiency. The concept of using of using a platform with all the tools within one ecosystem to get information, process information and store information is great thing for embracing our modern fast paced work culture. I have spent the last half a decade developing ways to leverage this technology within the University I work for. Formerly, working for a school of information science provided me great insight into how to manage the data and logically process it.
Intro
The keynote focused on the cloud innovations Microsoft has been making. Microsoft really turned it up to meet the needs of users during the pandemic. As a group that was working with Teams pre-pandemic, the leaps and bounds that the platform has made are absolutely astonishing. The keynote talks about Microsoft providing the whole process for business from data input to data analytics with AI at the forefront.
Keynote
Syntex
Syntex was introduced for IT pros and introduces quick and easy ways for document processing and data mining. This allows for a myriad of options when thinking about form processing and workflows. This could do so many things to expedite processes and ensure consistency in processes by learning the process using AI tracking.
New Microsoft App and Microsoft Locations\Working with different scheduled
The new Microsoft apps combines our work files, notifications and apps into one location to ensure users are quickly able to find, open and connect to what they need. Scheduling of messages in Teams to respect co workers off hours. They have also created video voice messages for those items that are really hard to describe in words. Microsoft Places introduces a way for users to mark their work location such in a particular building, off site, etc. so users can make quick decisions on how to meet which really is awesome in the modern work environment. Also, the introduced Clip champ for making videos, audio files and great signage. It is competitor to Canva which has been my go to tool for signs for many years.
Take Video Meeting collaboration to a new level
Teams enables a feature that sharing an excel sheet that gives the sharer the ability to grant all participates the ability to move around all the sheets in the workbook and work together on it while it is being screen shared. This is key for working with large spreadsheets that reference data from other sheets that may need to be referenced to make sense.
Scaling HyperAutomation
Microsoft is enabling process automation at scale using a disciplined approach to identify and streamline the process using AI and code example formatting. AI via conversation allows a process to be designed by AI based on a written description. Microsoft has also setup a way for automation to be shared to users of an to allow at scale simplification of tasks.
Power Apps updates
Microsoft has been working on ways to make Power Apps easier for all levels. This includes things like prog4ramming by example which provides examples and AI will configure it for you. Git Source code integration is amazing for version history and branching when working on larger items. Power Fx has been expanded into Data Verse. Check out the video below for even more exciting items from this.
Summary
In summary is that Microsoft is really pushing hard to enable all users and businesses can easily work with their data and process while ensuring security. This is an exciting time and allows IT groups to work with users to leverage all these tools. Stay Sharp!!!