Microsoft just hosted Ignite 2019 in Orlando, FL. This was my first year attending and there was more than enough content. It’s impossible to recap it all because it was impossible for me see everything:
- 25,000+ attendees
- 1,000+ sessions
- 300+ sponsors
- 200+ hands-on experiences
I mean WHOA!
Microsoft mission:
“Empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.”
Tech intensity = ( Tech adoption x Tech capability ) ^ Trust
To the best of my ability, here is my list of 10 interesting topics; not in order of importance:
- User Adoption
- Fluid Framework
- Microsoft Edge
- Microsoft Teams
- Power Platform
- PowerShell
- Project Cortex
- Project Silica
- Visual Studio
- Xamarin
Now, let’s cover each topic in a bit more detail…
User Adoption:
Microsoft is more self-aware than most people would give them credit for. Especially in recent years… Azure is powerful, SharePoint is powerful, Teams is powerful, etc. All of this is true, but Microsoft understands that these offering can be intimidating and/ or difficult to use. Because of this, Microsoft is dedicated to building out their adoption resources. Their Learning Pathways is great, but they’re also creating resources to help foster proper adoption of their offerings. A lot of resources!
https://aka.ms/MicrosoftAdoption
Fluid Framework:
“Future of collaboration in Microsoft 365” is their current brag. Although not Generally Available, it has entered public preview. Private preview was announced earlier this year.
With the Fluid Framework, Microsoft envisions even more collaboration. “Barriers” between apps will be broken down as co-authoring is experienced in real-time regardless of where the document resides: Outlook, Teams, OneNote, etc. Developers have fun!
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-365-Blog/Ignite-Blog-Microsoft-Fluid-Framework-preview/ba-p/978268
Microsoft Edge:
There are actually a couple of improvements coming to Microsoft Edge. Probably the biggest piece of news, Chromium Edge is coming! This will greatly improve browser speed and functionality. Edge has a tendency to feel clunky, but no more… Better security, great support, and more powerful development tools. If you’re interested, then try the preview builds:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4501095/download-microsoft-edge-based-on-chromium
Secondly, Edge will include support for IE. Internet Explorer has already reached End of Support, but many sites still require IE to function. Often enough, we’re forced to have both Edge and IE open. However, going forward, Edge will support an “IE mode” for these legacy sites.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode
Microsoft Teams:
The biggest news that received plenty of applause, private channels are here! This feature has been heavily requested and has been a pain for people that prefer Slack. This is now generally available! Private channels are indicated by a lock icon.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/private-channels
Power Platform:
Power Apps will have a test framework. Why is this important? Because it is! If you’ve ever done robust testing, then you’re aware of how tedious the process can be. Now, imagine making a tiny update to your project and having to do all of that testing again. Imagine doing all of that testing for every single tweak to the project. Automation would take care of this burden.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform-release-plan/2019wave2/microsoft-powerapps/test-framework
Also, look into Power App components! The component framework allows you to create reusable elements for your Power Apps.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powerapps/developer/component-framework/overview
An oldie with a new name, Flow is being re-branded as Power Automate. Just as Teams quickly grew with its popularity, so did Flow. If you haven’t heard of or used Flow previously, just know that it is a powerful automation tool. Create a workflow to automate processes using connectors to dozens of tools.
e.g.:
- Receive an email to a specified mailbox,
- Save the attachment to your OneDrive,
- Create an entry in a SharePoint list, then
- Post to an escalation channel in Teams.
https://flow.microsoft.com/en-us/
Lastly, check out Power BI Embedded! Using Power BI Desktop, you can now embed your visualizations onto pages and only pay for consumption. This means that you aren’t paying to host the report. Rather, you are paying for how many times the charts are viewed. And for ease, the charts are retrievable via API calls.
https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/developers/embedded-analytics/isv/
PowerShell:
This wasn’t discussed during the keynote, but speaking with members of the PowerShell team, they’re excited for everyone to start using PowerShell 7.
https://devblogs.microsoft.com/powershell/the-next-release-of-powershell-powershell-7/
Additionally, there are no plans for future features being added to the PowerShell ISE. Instead, you should install the PowerShell extension for VS Code and do your scripting there.
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/powershell
Project Cortex:
“Advanced cognitive services capture content, extract information, and automatically tag content”. Not machine learning, but rather machine teaching. The difference, here you are using an AI builder to recognize patterns. You will upload some sample files, indicate the information to retrieve, build the pattern, and you’ll be all set.
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-365-Blog/Introducing-Project-Cortex/ba-p/966091
Project Silica:
In short, this is Microsoft’s ambitious solution for long-term data storage. During the vision keynote, Satya Nadella highlighted their collaboration with Warner Bros to store the “Superman” film from 1978 on a piece of quartz glass (Superman and quartz, huh?). At present, this film must be stored in a temperature controlled room. If the temperature were to change too much, then this film could be lost forever. However, this quartz glass can be scratched, boiled, dropped, etc., and no disruption to the stored content!
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/project/project-silica/
Visual Studio:
Visual Studio Code is now available via the browser. “Cloud-powered dev environments accessible from anywhere” and its in public preview. Just as you can access your OneDrive files from any device, you can now access your VS projects from any browser. On vacation and need to code, but you forgot your laptop with VS installed? No worries, just fire up a browser window!
https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/services/visual-studio-online/
Xamarin:
I’ve wanted to build apps with Xamarin for a while, but the XAML learning curve is tricky. Much of the samples are overly complicated and creating navigation can be quirky. However, the Xamarin team has released the Xamarin.Forms Shell to help reduce the complexity of building mobile applications.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/xamarin/xamarin-forms/app-fundamentals/shell/
Bonus!!!
Azure:
Azure Synapse Analytics
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/synapse-analytics/
Azure Arc
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/services/azure-arc/
Azure Quantum
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/quantum
Conclusion:
There is a lot just released by Microsoft and plenty more to come. Again, remember that this is only a partial recap of Microsoft Ignite 2019. However, good news! A bunch of the Ignite sessions were recorded and are available online. Check them out!
Stay alert and keep an eye on Microsoft’s offerings. If you aren’t part of a user group, then join one. If there isn’t one to join, then start one. Either way, be a part of the growing Microsoft community. Find a product owner on Twitter, check out a podcast, something…
If you’re presented with the opportunity to attend Microsoft Ignite, then attend. I believe that its definitely worth the experience. Thank you to Microsoft. Thank you to the speakers. Thank you to the vendors. And thank you to everyone involved in coordinating an event this massive.
“Good news, everyone!”
– Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth
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