News and improvements announced in Microsoft Ignite 2020
The online edition of Microsoft Ignite 2020, the company's annual event for developers, took place between September 22 and 24. During the event, some improvements and new functionalities in Microsoft tools were announced. Many of the changes are aimed at improving remote working conditions and ensuring a safe return to the office. The aim is also to make better use of data, which, among other things, will make it easier for companies to adapt to the new market.
Dynamics 365
The main objective of the new features of Dynamics 365 is the digitization of end-to-end business operations for rapid adaptation to changing market conditions. In this way, new capabilities oriented towards customer satisfaction are appearing:
- A new channel for Dynamics 365 Customer Service built on Azure Communication Services. It will be available in private preview. Integrates voice into existing omnichannel capabilities. That is, it delivers a complete customer service experience within a solution built in the cloud. The goal is to help teams deliver consistent and connected support across channels.
- Two new add-ins for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management. This improves visibility and responds quickly to changes in demand and supply:
- With Cloud and Edge Scale Unit organizations can run critical storage and manufacturing workloads to improve resiliency and ensure uninterrupted operations even when temporarily disconnected from the cloud.
- Nine Inventory Visibility enables a large number of retailers and manufacturers to easily manage millions of transactions every minute and determine inventory across channels accurately and in real time.
Azure
At Microsoft Ignite 2020, several new developments in cloud tools have been announced:
- Azure Communications Service makes it easy for developers to deliver enterprise-level communication experiences across devices and platforms. All using the same secure platform that powers a tool like Teams.
- Azure Arc-enabled servers, Azure Arc-enabled data services and Azure Stack Edge. These are updates to Azure hybrid services. Hybrid adoption in enterprises is accelerating as it becomes necessary for teleworking.
- Updated with new functionality in Azure Cognitive Services to optimize business process, enabling organizations to remain resilient and engage in economic recovery while developing accountable Artificial Intelligence.
- Metric Advisor is a preview service to facilitate the proactive monitoring of the performance of a company's growth engines and the diagnosis of incidents.
- Spatial analysis is a new Computer Vision capability developed with strict ethical standards on how to implement responsibly. It can also be used to assist teams and businesses with reopening.
- Azure Object Anchors allows developers to automatically detect and track objects in the physical world. It is part of Azure Mixed Reality services.
- Also announced was the commercialization of the industry's 3D Time of Flight, a depth technology that powers Azure Kinect. It enables the development of commercial 3D cameras and other solutions including Analog Devices.
- Finally, we would like to highlight the Azure Orbital preview. It allows you to quickly analyze the data captured through the satellites.
Microsoft 365
New developments have also been announced at Microsoft Ignite 2020 to equip companies and teams with the tools they need.
Within Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams is experiencing several new features:
- New features to enhance meetings. For example, Together Mode. They help with customized scenes and layouts to make the presented content more dynamic and engaging.
- Improvements are also incorporated into Microsoft Teams Rooms and devices that support the safety and health of people returning to the office. For example, the Teams remote room.
- New insights and personal wellness features appear. Including a virtual tour that provides structure to remote work and integration with apps such as Headspace that facilitates stress elimination and concentration through meditation.
- Workplace Analytics information within Teams that will help to better understand the employee.
- Additional security and compliance tools.
- Power Platform enhancements in Teams that will facilitate the creation and use of non-code apps, bots and automated workflows. Thus, business challenges can be better solved using Power BI information within Teams.
Other tools such as SharePoint have also incorporated new features. For example, SharePoint Syntex, a new enterprise content management solution that facilitates search using Artificial Intelligence for content compression and process automation.
