As we say farewell to the Land of the Mouse we reflect back on what we learned (and what we ate) at this year’s Microsoft Ignite. Whether you were right there with us, hiking from session to session, or staving of FOMO from the comfort of your Twitter feed, this wrap-up is for you!
Day 1: Keynotes, Quantum Computers, and Skype for Business
Day one of Microsoft Ignite was jam-packed with keynote speeches, product announcements, and quantum computers. An inspirational keynote from Satya Nadella, followed by a panel with a lot of Schrodinger’s cat mentions set the tone for an over-arching theme for MSI2017: digital transformation and the power of change.
Did you miss the keynote speech? Not to worry, it’s worth a watch (even if you happened to catch it the first time around):
Highlight: The big news from day one of Microsoft Ignite was all about what the future holds for Skype for Business. With many bloggers foretelling its death for clicks, it’s clear that Skype for Business isn’t going anywhere. In fact, Microsoft is planning to UPDATE the Skype for Business server for 2018 (but it’s called 2019–it will all work out). The really big news is its integration into Microsoft Teams.
Teams updates were a main focus and its new features were touted to the fullest extent. The main upside? More functionality than ever—from guest access to LinkedIn info to messaging services—Microsoft is pushing Teams as THE UC&C tool every enterprise will be using in 2018.
There was a LOT going on day two of Microsoft Ignite. With the first day adrenaline starting to wear off, the goal geared more towards survival and hydration than seeing and doing every.single.thing. Former FLOTUS, Michelle Obama, talked leadership, Julia White helped highlight women in tech, and the talk of the town was SharePoint.
Highlight: Microsoft is obviously stepping up their branding and their product offering. Shaking off the somewhat old-school, legacy feel to their products, MS wanted to highlight the FUTURE of work and what businesses need now to prepare for the future. SharePoint updates were copious and crowd-pleasing, including:
Improving user experience over all (after all, what better way to increase adoption than to make a tool that people want to use?)
Day three the adrenaline was replaced by exhaustion and the realization that though the weather outside was hot, Elsa from Frozen had somehow taken over the thermostat inside the conference center. With 35,000 people under one roof, temperature control can be tricky, so we grabbed our parkas and our hiking boots and did the best we could.
Highlight: The focus on Artificial Intelligence and how it can help power Business Insights was especially exciting. At Vyopta, we’re all about data, so what’s not to love about new tech that can empower the enterprise with more data delivered faster than ever?