For the first time in Microsoft Ignite history (now 5 years strong with the #MSIgnite label), this year’s event was a completely digital event. For folks attending MSBuild or MSInspire earlier this year, we all hoped for some surprises and changes in the format of this free global event, and I believe Microsoft delivered on exciting announcements and features, as well as engaging and unique community-driven sessions as part of the #HumansofIT track!
I’m creating this as a reading and reflection list for my experience with the event, and hope that this resource list helps you as well! Let’s start with a primer article from Frank X. Shaw (truly an incredible overview that set the stage for MSIgnite 2020), and then a link to the famous Microsoft Ignite book of News 2020:
“The Microsoft Ignite 2020 Book of News is your guide to the key news items that we are announcing at Ignite. To make the Book of News more interactive, we’ve created a live site that we hope you will find engaging and easy to navigate. Instead of scrolling through pages of content, you now have the option to select the items you are interested in from the table of contents. We hope the new changes will help you get all the information, executive insight and context you need.”
In addition to the roughly 800+ sessions, there were another 200-400 pre-recorded deep dive sessions announced as available from a newly launched Virtual/Video Hub within the Microsoft Tech Community! These focus areas cover adoption, governance, management, security, Modern Work, user experience, and more!
Microsoft #HumansofIT track:
- Humans of IT sessions and Table Talks (the Table Talks were my favorite sessions, by far!)
- #HumansofIT recap on the Microsoft Tech Community
Microsoft Learn updates:
- Cloud Skills Challenge (complete at least one of the focus areas to get a free exam voucher)
- Virtual Hub
- Microsoft Learn TV
Microsoft Azure announcements:
- Licensing of OpenAI GPT-3 language model
- Build powerful and responsible AI solutions with Azure
- Ignite 2020 – Conversational AI updates
- Build powerful and responsible AI solutions with Azure
- Azure Automanage for virtual machines – Public Preview
- Azure Stack HCI now in Public Preview
- Introducing Azure Resource Mover: a seamless way to move between Azure regions
- The Azure Arc Jumpstart Project (CG favorite here!)
- Build rich communication experiences at scale with Azure Communication Services
- What’s new in Azure Monitor @ Ignite 2020
- Stay ahead of threats with new innovations from Azure Sentinel
- And many, many more announcements!
Microsoft Azure Active Directory announcements:
- On-demand and live events from MSIgnite 2020 (there is a TON of information on this page)
- Implementing Zero Trust at Microsoft
Developer announcements (can never have enough Devs out there!):
Microsoft Security and Compliance announcements:
- Microsoft Ignite 2020 guide to Security, Compliance, and Identity
- Microsoft delivers unified SIEM and XDR to modernize security operations
- Microsoft 365 Defender (rebranded from Microsoft 365 Advanced Threat Protection or ATP)
- Azure Defender (rebranded from Azure Advanced Threat Protection or ATP)
Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams announcements:
- Microsoft Ignite 2020 guide to SharePoint, OneDrive, Planner, Stream, Visio and Lists
- 6 Microsoft Lists on-demand session videos
- What’s New in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Ignite 2020
- Microsoft 365 Admin Guide to Ignite 2020 (Part 1) – IT Efficiency and Agility
- Microsoft 365 Admin Guide to Ignite 2020 (Part 2) – Modern Cloud Management
- Microsoft 365 Admin Guide to Ignite 2020 (Part 3) – Investments in Complex Organizations
Microsoft Endpoint Manager announcements:
- Skilling videos for Windows Server
- Microsoft Defender for Endpoint adds depth and breadth to threat defense across platforms
- Introducing Microsoft Tunnel for remote access to corporate resources from iOS and Android (CG favorite here!)
- Endpoint Analytics is now generally available in Microsoft Endpoint Manager (yet another CG favorite!)
- Announcing Tamper Protection for Configuration Manager Tenant Attach clients
- Sign up now: Microsoft Endpoint Manager post-Ignite activities
Microsoft Edge announcements:
- All Microsoft Edge announcements
- Native Microsoft Endpoint DLP Support
- Azure Active Directory Profiles in Microsoft Edge
- Mined Bookmarks and Acronyms Analytics (those who know me well know that I could have my own GillBOT for Acronyms!)
- And last, but certainly not least – Yes, you can soon run Microsoft Edge on LINUX!
Microsoft Business Applications and Power Platform announcements:
- GitHub actions for the Power Platform now available in preview
- Now in preview: customize Teams with built-in Power Platform capabilities
- Jumpstart your business with Power Automate’s new desktop RPA solution
Key Takeaways and a haiku:
I think we all knew that everyone in the world was working hard, not only on solving business needs in the time of COVID, but I truly was blown away by the announcements from MSIgnite this year. Truthfully, I had lower expectations going into the event thinking that Microsoft had its hands full with customer requests for assistance, and may have backed off on new game-changing features. I’m happy to admit I was wrong, and am incredibly excited to see that Microsoft is listening to and working with their customers to deliver on their #TechForGood promise!
To finish, here is the haiku I promised with recommendations from the #MSIgnite digital event:
Turn on MFA!
Enable Tenant Attach!
Use Microsoft Edge!
CG
Configuring Clouds 