By Catherine Boeger, Vice President, Go-to-Market Solutions Strategy , One Commercial Partner
Every year, Microsoft Ignite—our flagship event for IT implementers, developers, and technical decision makers—provides world-class training that enables our partners and customers to learn how to achieve maximum value with Microsoft technologies. This week Microsoft Ignite was hosted as an all-virtual event for the first time, which allowed us to connect with this global network of partners and customers like never before.
This added connection comes at the perfect time, as we all continue to navigate a business landscape that has been perpetually reshaped throughout the year. While the past several months have held their challenges, I’ve been inspired to see how our partners have stepped up to develop innovative solutions and services that meet the evolving needs of their customers.
Regardless of where your organization is currently focused, we’re committed to supporting you as you deliver outstanding experiences for your clients.
This week, Microsoft unveiled several new updates that will be particularly relevant to the Microsoft Partner Network and our customers. While we’ll dive into some of these developments in upcoming blog posts—like our cybersecurity announcements, which include updates for Microsoft Defender and Compliance Manager—I’ve pulled together just a few of the key announcements that were made this week, including:
The launch of Azure Communication Services which enables developers to build rich communication experiences with the same secure platform used by Microsoft Teams. Azure Communication Services synchronizes chat and SMS messaging-based workflows, telephony, and video. Additionally, all communications are encrypted using built-in security with Transport Layer Security (TLS) and compliance coverage, including HIPPA, GDPR, and more.
Significant improvements and investments in Microsoft Power Platform that allow professional developers to effortlessly mix and match low-code tools with code-first capabilities and distribute them through Microsoft Teams for massive scale. We are excited to share our collaboration with GitHub, as well as integrations with Azure API management and Azure Bot framework. Learn more about Microsoft Power Platform for Professional Developers here.
Enhancements in Microsoft Teams that make meetings more dynamic, inclusive, and engaging. These capabilities make it easier to prepare, conduct, and recap Microsoft Teams meetings. The new ‘Together mode’ background scenes and ‘Breakout rooms’ are just two of the improvements that will be available later this year.
New branding and an expanded experience for Microsoft Defender. We are unifying our solutions across Microsoft 365 security and Azure security, allowing us to deliver the most comprehensive offer on the market. This unification empowers security professionals with both XDR and cloud-native SIEM tools. Beyond rebranding, we are announcing a dashboard that will show customers which of their resources are and are not protected, as well as expanding threat protection capabilities.
We’ll continue to work with you to push the boundaries of what is possible as we seek innovative ways to meet the needs of our customers, and I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together both now and in the future.
