Microsoft Ignite 2022 Live Blog KEY08H – The Past, Present, and Future with Microsoft 365

This blog is a session recap from KEY08H – Microsoft Ignite Into Focus: Microsoft 365 and next-gen collaboration at Microsoft Ignite 2022.

1074 days, the number of days since I was in Orlando at Microsoft Ignite and saw Jeff Teper wow the crowd the last time. Today I’m sitting here in Seattle at Ignite and finally it’s time to see Jeff again, and this time in a conversation together with no other than Karuana Gatimu. It’s my first time seeing Karuana IRL and I’m :sparkles:thrilled:sparkles:. For those who aren’t a fan like me, Jeff is the President of Microsoft Collaborative Apps and Platforms, and Karuana is a Principal PM Manager working with the Customer Advocacy Group.

Before we get into the session let me set the vibe. This is not the Ignite you are used to; this is a new hybrid world. In the hub, which is the main conference area, it’s constant buzzing with people networking and sharing ideas just as always. But with a big difference with a lot of cameras and the feeling of wow I’m in the middle of a talk show. Many of the keynotes this year are on a big stage in the middle of the hub; it’s almost like the heart of the venue. Most of the sessions here are in a more relaxed format with comfy furniture and a dialogue between people. And this session is just that.

In the session today Karuana is leading a conversation together with Jeff on what’s happening with Microsoft 365, collaborative apps and the underlaying technical strategy in the session Microsoft 365 and next gen collaboration. Let’s go!

What is on top of our customers’ minds?

First of all, we are here for our customers trying to make their days better with the help of technology, so it’s no surprise that Karuana is starting off the session by asking Jeff what he hears from our customers as top of mind when it comes to this subject.

The pandemic really made us see what’s important and that is to feel engaged and to learn – and this is what motivates people. Our customers want to do more with less, and that is what drives motivation at Microsoft—to innovate with products such as Viva and Syntex –to make work flexible and simple!

The session moves on to what’s on the top of Microsoft’s mind from Jeff’s perspective, especially looking to the world moving from an on-prem world to the cloud.

With 30 years of experience from working at Microsoft, Jeff has an incredible source of knowledge, and he remembers 2008 when the Microsoft Online services was announced and the unbelievable difference in time to value ten years ago versus now. The cloud journey has made it so easy to innovate fast, and Jeff is truly amazed at the scale the engineering team is operating. And with the valuable feedback from our customers, we can move quickly from seeing a need, to building a solution, and delivering it to them. 🙌🏻🥰

The Latest News from Microsoft Ignite

One purpose with Ignite is to share all the new and exciting things that are coming. A lot of exciting things for Microsoft 365 and Power Platform have been announced during these days, and as always, it can be hard to keep track of everything. My favorite resources are Microsoft Ignite Book of News, Twitter following the #MSIgnite hashtag, and the many official blogs from Microsoft such as Microsoft Community and Adoption blog and Microsoft Teams Blog.

Jeff shares some of his favorite announcements of news from the conference:

A little more than a year ago Viva was announced and since that new features and business value are coming out continuously. Viva truly makes it easier for people to be successful at their job and new parts coming out at a fast pace, with Viva Amplify as the latest to help target messages
Teams Premium which is a new part of Microsoft Teams will give customers the possibility to enhance their Microsoft Teams environment one notch extra with features like meeting templates, new security features, and a smart AI meeting summary
Last but definitely not least, there is Syntex, which is coming out with lots of interesting features for working with content. Some of the new capabilities are digital signatures, extracting metadata from a file, and automatic translation. 🤯 Jeff explains we are saving so many new documents each day (1.6 billion new documents in M365 everyday – that’s about 150 petabytes (!!) each month), so it’s amazing that AI can help us with harnessing all of that information

Karuana adds that Mesh is interesting and asks Jeff about his thoughts on that. The next few years are going to be mind-blowing in how we create engaging experiences to connect, and this is where Mesh comes in. Avatars are fun and inclusive Karuana adds, making it possible to do an avatar with braids and a purple jacket makes her feel included. It is very different than she thought it would be.

Our Community Rocks :smiling_face_with_heart_eyes::smiling_face_with_heart_eyes:

If one purpose with Ignite is news, then the other purpose is meeting the community. And for me, meeting the community triumphs everything. :growing_heart: It feels really good to see that this is a focus for Microsoft as the next topic for Jeff and Karuana is community. I know that both Karuana and Jeff are deeply involved in the community. (Hey, it was Jeff—Mr. SharePoint—who made me realize that community rocks a few years ago). It’s lovely to see Microsoft thinking this is important as well.

Jeff starts off by saying we have the best community in tech, and I fully agree. And now, we have even better support sponsored by Microsoft to share how to do communities across all different areas; Microsoft 365, Azure, Power Platform, e.g. Amazing!

Jeff explains that based on the feedback from the community, there are two new initiatives. The Microsoft Community Hub (now in preview!), which acts as the front door for everything Microsoft communities has to offer, and you can find all your community needs in one place. In addition to that, there is the community developed CommunityDays.org that will act as a hub for all free technical training events around the world!

There’s an excellent blogpost on what Microsoft is doing for the community if you want to read more Explore the Microsoft Community with our new Community hub and CommunityDays.org.

:sparkles::sparkles::sparkles:

Before it’s time to start wrapping up and going to questions from the audience, Karuana asks Jeff what excites him the most–at the moment—from a technology strategic perspective. Jeff answers how AI can transform work to be less manual. “We don’t need a human for everything,” he continues, “we are just scratching the surface—just wait.”

In conclusion, there are—as always—a lot of cool things going on, and it feels amazing to meet people IRL again. 🥰