Posted by: kurtsh | January 23, 2026

WEBINARS: “AI for Work” – Understanding the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Sales & Legal

We have 4 webinars scheduled that are specific to different professions that you may want to share to help your users understand the impact of Artificial Intelligence on Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Sales & Legal.

  • AI at Work: Enhancing Human Resources
    2026-02-17 • 10:00 – 11:30 PST
    https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=2524624132

    Using AI, human resources (HR) teams can streamline routine tasks, get deep data-driven insights, design more user-friendly interfaces, and improve employee service. One HR team applied AI to achieve 42% greater accuracy in answering questions through employee self-service, increasing employee satisfaction and reducing the team’s administrative load.

    Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own HR journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market. 
  • AI at Work: Transforming Finance for Improved Outcomes
    2026-03-26 • 10:00 – 11:30 PDT
    https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=3434677304

    Finance teams using AI have seen a 60% reduction in case resolution time in cash collections.1 AI solutions empower finance workers to streamline audits, make strategic decisions with more speed and precision, and remain agile in competitive markets.

    Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own Sales journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot, and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market.
  • AI at Work: Empowering Marketing
    2026-01-27 • 10:00 – 11:30 PST
    https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=2258775002

    Using AI tools, marketers have seen a 21.5% higher conversion rate.1 AI solutions can automate labor-intensive and time-consuming tasks by helping swiftly summarize research, draft targeted messages, and create better content—helping employees prioritize time spent on creative innovation.  

    Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own Marketing journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market.

  • AI at Work: Boost Sales Productivity and Revenue
    2026-02-11 • 10:00 – 11:30 PST
    https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=3335237405

    AI isn’t just about productivity—it’s about transformation. Business AI-driven insights are empowering sales teams to boost productivity, customer engagement, and decision-making. One business group realized a 9.4% higher revenue per seller after using AI tools to automate or improve emails, meetings, proposals, and promotions.1 With higher-quality interactions, sellers are pursuing and closing more opportunities than ever.

    Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own Sales journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot, and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market.
  • AI at Work: Streamlining Legal Processes for Improved Outcomes
    [On-Demand – Previously recorded on 1/20/2026]
    https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=1648471458

    Legal teams are using AI to enhance productivity by automating and streamlining routine tasks like document review, legal research, analysis, and case management. By implementing AI solutions, legal teams can expect to reduce external spend for regulatory work by 5%.

    Hear from Microsoft leaders about our own Legal journey with AI & Microsoft 365 Copilot, and learn how you can adopt AI to attain significant return on investment (ROI), empower efficiency, cut costs, and innovate freely. Explore use cases specific to your role to see how Microsoft Copilot can be the flexible, scalable, and secure solution you need to stay competitive in the market. 

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Posted by: kurtsh | January 13, 2026

INFO: Microsoft 365 Commercial Data Residency

I was asked a question about Microsoft 365 Commercial data residency and if there was somehow a possibility of a customer’s data being moved, even if temporarily into Canada, Mexico or some other country, potentially violating regulatory compliance for the organization.

The documentation is quite explicit:  Data in M365’s core services is stored in the Default Geography selected during Entra ID tenant creation. 

  • Overview and Definitions – Microsoft 365 Enterprise | Microsoft Learn
    “When a Microsoft Entra ID Tenant is created, a country/region is provided by the customer during the sign-up process. This country/region determines the Default Geography for all Microsoft 365 services. In some cases, not all services are able to provision in this single Default Geography. See Microsoft 365 Service provisioning mapping below for a description.”
  • Overview of Product Terms Data Residency – Microsoft 365 Enterprise | Microsoft Learn
    “Office 365 Services: If Customer provisions its tenant in … the United States, Microsoft stores the following Customer Data at rest only within that Geo: 
    • (1) Exchange Online mailbox content (e-mail body, calendar entries, and the content of e-mail attachments), 
    • (2) SharePoint site content and the files stored within that site, 
    • (3) files uploaded to OneDrive, 
    • (4) Microsoft Teams chat messages (including private messages, channel messages, meeting messages and images used in chats), and for customers using Microsoft Stream (on SharePoint), meeting recordings, and 
    • (5) any stored content of interactions with Microsoft 365 Copilot or Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat to the extent not included in the preceding commitments.”

BACKGROUND
Note that even maintenance on cloud instances continues to be done within the US service boundary. Data for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams is replicated across datacenter regions within the country of residency to allow maintenance to be done.  No, we do not classify Canada or Mexico as the same “country” as the United States for the hosting of data for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams.

There are a few other services other than Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams that may be treated differently – specifically Planner & Viva Learning – that may be part of something called “Macro Region Geography 3 – Americas” that may include more data residency countries than the United States.  Again, the only services listed that this is relevant to (as far as I can tell) are Planner and Viva Learning. Read more here:

(BTW: A long time ago – like 10 years ago – there was a scenario in which Microsoft 365 Education customers could have their Microsoft 365 data stored at rest outside of the US but that hasn’t been the case for many years… but there’s still old comments about this one certain small web discussions,)

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Posted by: kurtsh | January 12, 2026

TOOL: Microsoft Agent Usage Estimator

Use the estimator to forecast your agent’s Copilot credit volume. Select from licensing options, agent types, and the features your agent leverages to respond to your end users. See the Copilot credit consumption impact based on these selections.

This estimator provides a monthly Copilot credit informational estimate for a single agent and makes no guarantees of final costs. While message rates and currency converter links are provided here for your convenience, this tool should not be used as a pricing calculator or a way to create definite forecasts around your monthly expenses.

(The Copilot Studio estimator is not a binding offer nor a guarantee of the final cost or availability of the product. This estimate should be regarded only as guidance and not incorporated into a contractual agreement. The actual amount of message consumption and associated cost may vary depending on the region, availability, workload usage, number of users, and other factors. You may contact your Microsoft representative before making any customer recommendations or purchase decisions. Microsoft reserves the right to modify or discontinue the Copilot Studio estimator at any time without notice.)

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Posted by: kurtsh | January 9, 2026

HOWTO: Get started with the “Frontier” Copilot Early Access program

Frontier is Microsoft’s early access program for the latest AI innovations in Microsoft 365 giving you hands-on access to experimental agents and Microsoft app features before they become generally available. Frontier empowers you to drive innovation and shape the future of AI at work and at home, all within the security and familiarity of your own Microsoft 365 environment.

Eligibility: Frontier features are available to all Microsoft 365 customers with a Copilot license. Your organization’s admin settings may determine who can access and use Frontier features. Additionally,
individuals with Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, or Premium subscriptions can also access and use Frontier features.

Please see instructions below for any other unique requirements:

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Posted by: kurtsh | January 9, 2026

NEWS: Available today: OpenAI’s Sora 2 in Microsoft 365 Copilot

We’re excited to announce that OpenAI’s Sora 2—their breakthrough video and audio generation model—is now available in Microsoft 365 Copilot.

This integration brings professional-grade AI video creation directly into your familiar Microsoft 365 environment, empowering users to generate compelling video content while maintaining the enterprise security and compliance standards you expect from Microsoft.

Building on our commitment to rapidly deliver cutting-edge AI capabilities, this integration transforms how organizations create video content. The Create experience in Microsoft 365 Copilot, allows users to generate various visual content, and now generative AI videos with Sora 2, using natural language prompts with prompt templates to inspire your creations.

  • AI-powered video generation arrives in your enterprise environment: Licensed Microsoft 365 Copilot users can now access Sora 2’s advanced video generation capabilities in the Create experience via the Frontier program , for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensed users who are who are opted in.
  • IT maintains control and visibility: Admins will have the ability to enable or disable Sora 2 functionality through a dedicated admin toggle which will be enabled when the feature is generally available. The content generated remains within your Microsoft 365 boundary with full Microsoft Purview data security and compliance controls, including audit logging, retention policies, and eDiscovery, as part of the Copilot Control System.as part of the Copilot Control System.
  • Enterprise-grade security from day one: Your data stays protected by Microsoft’s encryption, privacy safeguards, and compliance certifications. The Microsoft Product Terms and Data Protection Addendum apply to Sora 2 interactions.

For more details on:

  • What distinguishes Sora 2 in Microsoft 365 Copilot as a video creation/generation solution?
  • Where is video content data stored?
  • How is customer data secured using Sora 2 for Microsoft 365 Copilot customers
  • How do I join the “Frontier program” to get Sora 2?
  • Frequently asked questions

…read:

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Posted by: kurtsh | January 8, 2026

INFO: Why Azure Databricks over Databricks on AWS?

I was asked recently why a customer should implement “Azure Databricks” over “Databricks on AWS”.

This is a fun conversation because it’s quite straight-forward. “Azure Databricks” is a native, 1st party service (as in it’s a Microsoft SaaS service) running in Azure. Customers with existing Azure enrollments can set up Azure Databricks immediately. No additional licensing is required, no additional support & it delivers the best performance & scalability of any public cloud.

More importantly, just like Azure SQL or Azure CosmoDB or Oracle Database on Azure, Azure Databricks inherits all the benefits of being a native Azure service – including direct access to the richest AI services models, Power BI analytics, Power App & Automate connectivity, ultra-high performance access to Azure Data Lake Storage, native access control Entra ID authentication, and more “Azure-only” advantages.

Check out these blog posts from the Azure Data & AI & Azure Databricks teams at Microsoft:

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Posted by: kurtsh | January 5, 2026

INFO: Storage Allocation in services delivered through Microsoft 365 E3/G3+

A quick reminder of how much storage your organization is entitled to based on the service being used and the number of users licensed:

A NOTE ABOUT STORAGE ROBUSTNESS:
Some folks are unaware that SharePoint Online storage & OneDrive for Business storage a very different:

  • SharePoint Online storage is designed for ORGANIZATIONS.  It is a “higher quality” service in that it is specially architected for high volume, organizational use.  The data is both locally & geographically redundant.  It’s designed for rapid “journaling” and “previous versions” & designed for highly scalable sharing for multi-user synchronization & multi-user co-editing.  It has significantly higher performance SLAs and has a lot of administrative control such as storage management, site quotas, governance policies, etc. This is why organizations get “1TB+10GB/user” vs OneDrive for Business where users get “1TB+/user” in M365 E3/G3+.
  • OneDrive for Business is designed for INDIVIDUALS.  While locally protected from both hardware failures, I don’t believe it is georedundant like SharePoint Online is.  While it’s availability SLAs are 99.9% like SharePoint Online, it has lower access performance SLAs than SharePoint Online and is not designed for multi-user access. This includes speed/performance for multi-person co-editing, file sync with multiple people, etc.  I believe there can also be a higher latency between journaled changes and “previous versions” vs SharePoint Online.  At the end of the day, OneDrive for Business designed and optimized for a single user as you’d expect.  This is also the reason licensed users get “1TB+/user” vs SharePoint Online’s “1TB+10GB/user” in M365 E3/G3+.

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Posted by: kurtsh | December 19, 2025

VIDEO: 5min Microsoft Ignite 2025 Recaps

Interested in short, 5min recaps of some of the key areas highlighted at Microsoft Ignite 2025 this year?

For a playlist of all the Microsoft Ignite 2025 Recaps: (5min)
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLahhVEj9XNTfaUh3x5Gh2qrNbTyvh6zs_

For viewing of over 500+ breakout session recordings (~60min), visit:
https://ignite.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions

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Posted by: kurtsh | December 18, 2025

INFO: Audio Recap in Microsoft Teams

We’re introducing Audio Recap for Microsoft Teams, a new way to catch up on your meetings. With audio recap, your meeting recap is transformed into an audio experience you can listen to on the go. Whether you’re commuting, walking between meetings, or simply prefer listening, it’s a hands-free way to stay connected and informed. You can generate an audio recap for up to eight meetings at a time, and choose the delivery style that best fits how you want to listen.

Learn more about audio recap in Microsoft Teams: https://msft.it/6057tyO0Z

(A 3rd party overview for Audio Recap was done on m365scripts.com which I could never outdo, so I’m just posting it here for you to read. You’re welcome. 🙂 https://m365scripts.com/microsoft-teams/get-audio-recap-of-microsoft-teams-meetings/)

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Posted by: kurtsh | December 16, 2025

RELEASE: Windows Autopatch “Update Readiness” – Proactively check before you patch!

Wouldn’t it be great if you could automatically check if your Windows patch rollout will work on your clients *before* you begin?

INTRODUCING WINDOWS AUTOPATCH UPDATE READINESS
If you’re using Windows Autopatch, you now have preemptive checking, aka “Update Readiness” to anticipate issues before you even begin the rollout! Stop fixing issues after they happen.

Proactive checks help catch hidden prerequisites and safeguards before deployment. Administrators can review lists of devices that need remediation & address them up front. And proactive guidance is presented in a troubleshooting map – including actionable alerts driven by the audit logs that Windows Autopatch & Intune creates.

Read more about the new Update Readiness for Windows Autopatch on the blog:

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