Microsoft Inspire 2022 took place this month and - for me at least - it wasn't as exciting as I'd hoped. While there were a few good announcements and new products (many covered below), there was no "OMG" moment...but perhaps that is an unfair expectation for every conference?! I note that Microsoft didn't create a "Book of News" for Inspire 2022, (something they've been done for previous online conferences - including Inspire 2022).
One new feature I do like the look of is "Teams Video Clip" which will enable users to create and send short video clips directly in Teams messages - often a quicker way to get a complex message across! You may already be using something like Loom to do this but native functionality will surely be easier...although I do wonder what kind of controls will be in place around it! 🤣
Certainly Inspire being online takes away some of the impact but, if it remains virtual, expanding the use of in-person events in each country (something I've been talking about for years actually!) will help make it more impactful in the future.
Another strong financial year for Microsoft with almost $200 billion in revenue for FY22 and double digit growth across Azure, Office 365, Dynamics 365, LinkedIn, and more.
Satya Nadella mentioned the growth of Viva and Cosmos DB as well as a plan to focus on deployment of E5 licenses and the reduction of Azure bills - including incentives for field sales reps.
Another month, another new Viva product! Following Goals and Sales, we now have Viva Engage (insert Jean Luc Picard gif 😁) - a reimagining of Yammer Communities that aims to help employees connect and share within an organisation.
Satya Nadella called out the large potential Total Addressable Market (TAM) that they see for Viva and it seems they will continue to grow the portfolio to take as much of that market as possible. I'm quite intrigued by Viva and I do think it will cement itself as a prominent part of the portfolio over time.
Microsoft bring the Pay As You Go (PAYG) pricing model to Power Automate. Following on from PowerApps, this again is a move aimed at lowering the barrier for entry; no need to spend £$€ on upfront licenses that you might not use for months so hop on to the Power Platform without delay!
It does make it much easier for a business to get started with developing apps and flows but I think it may also make it more difficult to predict and manage costs (and usage) long-term. It's certainly a useful option in some situations, and I can see many organisations ending up with a mix of per user/flow and PAYG, but I think it's wise to be cautious with how it's adopted.
More info, links, and pricing here.
Microsoft Product Terms - July 2022
It was about 1 week late but, eventually, the July Product Terms arrived. Not surprisingly it was mainly tidying up - adding/updating terms for MCA cancellations, Windows Autopatch and more plus removing some old references etc.
Still no mention of the range of cloud licensing changes that were announced so we must continue to wait to see them in "proper" black and white and, hopefully, get the full details.
A new industry cloud offering, this time aimed at Public Sector organisations - offering increase data protection, access, and audit capabilities. With data location and protection being an increasingly big focus, this will likely help further digital transformation among governments and related areas.
See more here here.
Microsoft Digital Contact Center
A new offering from Microsoft, combining Dynamics 365, Teams, Power Platform, and newcomer Nuance - aimed at bringing voice, video, and AI to customer service.
See more here here.
