Six of the best from Ignite 2021

A look back at some of the highlights from the recent Ignite event, including several updates for Teams, a new Azure-based platform for building cross-platform mixed reality apps and, crucially, four new cybersecurity certifications

Microsoft’s annual conference for IT professionals and developers was once again a virtual event, with the three day meeting containing a raft of updates and new announcements. We take a look at six of the most significant.

Microsoft Mesh

Possibly the biggest news to come out of Ignite was this new Azure-based platform for building cross-platform mixed reality apps.

The Microsoft Mesh platform will offer developers a full suite of AI-powered tools for avatars, session management, spatial rendering, synchronisation across multiple users and holoportation to build collaborative solutions in mixed reality.

Mesh is designed for organisations who want to enable their teams to join shared virtual spaces for collaborative meetings, where everyone will appear as virtual avatars.

Initially, Mesh is coming as a HoloLens app, though it can also be accessed through a new version of Microsoft’s VR platform, AltSpace VR. In addition, solutions built by developers through Mesh could also come to Windows Mixed Reality, PCs, Macs and smart phones.

Microsoft Teams updates

Given the growth in remote working and the importance of collaboration tools, it’s no surprise that Microsoft Teams saw a number of important updates and enhancements.

One of the most interesting was Microsoft Teams Connect, which enables organisations to collaborate more seamlessly with customers, partners, vendors and other parties through shared channels.

The platform leverages Teams’ capabilities and maintains control over how users access data. With shared channels, it will be possible to create a single channel where you can add members from your organisation or other organisations.

Microsoft also announced the ability to put together and conduct interactive webinars in Teams, with up to 1,000 attendees, for audiences both inside and outside the host’s organisation. Teams’ webinars boast features such as custom registration, a variety of rich presentation options and post-event reporting after the webinar concludes.

Additionally, Microsoft revealed new integrations between Teams and Microsoft Dynamics 365, designed to merge collaboration with business processes. Users can now leverage Teams from within their Dynamics 365 workspace to place calls, start or continue chats, hold meetings and collaborate, all without having to switch back over to Teams.

Windows Server 2022

Microsoft released the preview of Windows Server 2022 at Ignite, spotlighting improvements to security and Windows containers support on Kubernetes.

On the security front, a particularly interesting new feature is the ‘secured-core server’ capability, a hardware and virtualisation-based security approach which adds security protections at the firmware level when using qualified hardware.

In terms of Windows container compatibility in Kubernetes, the size of the container image of the latter has been reduced, resulting in improved performance and increased loading speed. Other new enhancements include the ability to run applications that rely on Azure Active Directory and a simpler Kubernetes configuration.

Azure updates

Perhaps the most significant announcement here was the unveiling of Azure Percept, a new portfolio of hardware and services designed to enable AI-driven, real-time insights at the edge (or anywhere without an Internet connection).

Available in preview, Azure Precept includes a development kit with Azure Percept Vision (with an intelligent camera) and Azure Percept Audio (which is sold separately). Pre-built Azure AI models make it easy for those with low-code or no-code experience.

Elsewhere, there were also a number of updates for Azure Purview, a unified data governance service. In particular, users can leverage Azure Purview to scan Azure Synapse workspaces across serverless and dedicated SQL pools.

Three more industry clouds

Microsoft is continuing to roll out more vertical cloud packages tailored for specific vertical industries. Following on from initial packages for healthcare and retail, it has announced three more industry clouds for financial services, manufacturing and non-profit.

All of these clouds package together common data models, cross-cloud connectors, workflows, application programming interfaces, plus industry-specific components and standards. By addressing the specific industry challenges, they enable organisations to move forward quicker and deliver value at a rapid rate.

All packages are designed for use with Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, Power Platform tools and other Microsoft services.

New cybersecurity certifications

Last, but certainly not least, Microsoft has announced four new certifications aimed squarely at closing the security skills gap. These are:

• Microsoft Certified: Security, Compliance, and Identity Fundamentals: Focusing on the foundational understanding of security, compliance and identity across cloud-based and related Microsoft services
• Microsoft Certified: Information Protection Administrator Associate: Addressing the expertise required in planning and implementing controls to meet organisational compliance needs
• Microsoft Certified: Identity and Access Administrator Associate: Covering the core identity governance principles and how to ensure a proper identity lifecycle
• Microsoft Certified: Security Operations Analyst Associate: Focusing on threat mitigation using Microsoft security, compliance and identity solutions, together with performing proactive threat-hunting activities

And if that wasn’t enough, there was also news of a new Windows Virtual Desktop specialty certification intended to address the growing demand for administrators with expertise in planning, delivering and managing virtual desktop experiences and remote apps.