Posted by: kurtsh | May 8, 2026

EVENT: Microsoft Azure Infra Summit 2026 – Online – May 19-21, 2026

The Microsoft Azure Infra Summit is a free, engineering-led virtual conference built for experienced IT professionals, platform engineers, and SREs using Azure in production running May 19-21. Expect deep technical guidance (300–400 level) on the parts of Azure that matter when you’re the one on-call.

This isn’t “cloud 101.” It’s an ops-first event focused on how to build, operate, and optimize Azure workloads in real-world environments, including tradeoffs, failure modes, and what breaks in production.

AGENDA:

Day 1: May 19 – Build your Azure infrastructure

  • Provisioning, architecture, automation, IaC, landing zones.
  • Examples: resilient compute designs, secure network topologies, Bicep/Terraform patterns, storage strategies for performance + cost.

Day 2: May 20 – Operate Azure infrastructure workloads

  • Operations: monitoring, governance, patching, identity, hybrid ops at scale.
  • Examples: Azure Monitor/Log Analytics at scale, policy enforcement, Azure Arc operations, access lifecycle

Day 3: May 21 – Optimize Azure infrastructure

  • Performance tuning, cost management, reliability, modernization.
  • Examples: VM/container optimization, storage performance tuning, cost optimization drills, network reliability/throughput.

Attendees will leave with:

  • Clear mental models for Azure infrastructure decisions
  • Real-world patterns (and anti-patterns) used in production
  • Practical guidance you can apply the next day
  • Fewer unknowns when designing and operating Azure at scale

(Short version: You’ll leave knowing why things behave the way they do in Azure, and how to design around it.)

A semi-live broadcast with a mix of curated sessions (live + pre-recorded), a live host desk, moderated chat, and daily AMAs, plus follow-up “clinic” troubleshooting and hands-on resources. On-demand: sessions posted within 24-48 hours with captions/transcripts and resources retained.


WHO SHOULD ATTEND:

This event is for:

  • IT professionals running or planning Azure in production
  • Infrastructure / platform engineers, Azure admins/architects
  • Hybrid / enterprise operations teams

This event is not:

  • Beginner cloud 101 (unless explicitly labeled as such)
  • App-dev-centric content
  • Sales or marketing-led sessions

It’s really “Built for the people who get paged at 2am.”

FAQ

  • Is this free? Yes — it’s designed as a free, engineering-led virtual event.
  • Will sessions be recorded? Yes — on-demand will be available Immediately after broadcast with captions/transcripts where possible.
  • What level is the content? Expect 300–400 level Azure infrastructure and operations topics.
  • Will there be live Q&A? Yes – Each session will be moderated in the chat by presenters and SMEs.

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Date/Time:

  • May 19-21, 2026 | 8:00 AM – 2:00 PM PST

Location:

  • Online

Registration:

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 3, 2026

RELEASE: High Volume Email (HVE) generally available

High Volume Email (HVE) is now generally available in Exchange Online, allowing organizations to send large volumes of internal email (for scenarios where email in excess of 10,000 total to any internal recipients per day is required) without hitting recipient rate limits or risking service health issues associated with user mailboxes.

It delivers a purpose‑built, tenant‑native way for applications and devices to send large volumes of internal email reliably, securely, and at scale without impacting user mailboxes or Exchange Online service health.

…

High Volume Email is designed specifically for transactional and operational messaging, not marketing campaigns. It does not include campaign tooling, templates, or engagement tracking. Instead, it supports the high‑trust, high‑reliability use cases that organizations depend on every day.

Common scenarios include:

  • Payroll and HR system notifications
  • IT monitoring and service alerts
  • Business and line‑of‑business application messaging
  • Device‑driven workflows, such as printers and scanners
  • Security and compliance notifications

…

High Volume Email is now generally available in Exchange Online for sending email to internal recipients. Usage will be metered starting June 1, 2026 based on the number of expanded email recipients, with pricing set at $42 per one million recipients through Microsoft commerce (equivalent to $0.000042 per one recipient). This is a pay-as-you-go configuration using billing policies in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center.

Read more at:

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 3, 2026

RELEASE: Microsoft 365 E7 & Agent 365 are now generally available (for Commercial)

We’ve officially release Microsoft 365 E7 for commercial customers for $99/user/mo, enabling them to license the entire complement of technologies Microsoft offers that organizations need identify, build, monitor, manage & secure/govern artificial intelligence – particularly AI agents from Microsoft & 3rd parties.

Microsoft 365 E7 combines the advanced AI capabilities with enterprise-grade security and governance so organizations can move beyond isolated pilots and deploy AI confidently at scale. 

Today, Microsoft 365 E7 – the Frontier Suite – is generally available, offering a single, integrated solution that unifies intelligence and trust, so organizations can move from experimentation to enterprise-wide AI adoption.   

Microsoft 365 E7 brings these capabilities together in one suite: 

  • Microsoft 365 Copilot: AI built for work 
  • Microsoft 365 E5: enterprise‑grade productivity, security, identity, and compliance 
  • Microsoft Entra Suite: identity and network access controls that secure employee use of all apps and AI 
  • Microsoft Agent 365: the control plane for governing, observing, and securing AI agents at scale 

This integrated approach helps organizations confidently deploy AI and agents at scale while maintaining the security and compliance posture they need, using the enterprise-grade tools they trust from Microsoft. 

With today’s general availability, customers can now purchase and deploy Microsoft 365 E7 across their organizations. 

Additionally, Microsoft Agent 365 is also generally available for $15/user/mo.

Today also marks the general availability of Microsoft Agent 365. Agent 365 is the control plane for agents, extending the visibility, control, and trust that organizations rely on for users to the agents they deploy. To learn more about Agent 365 and expanded capabilities we are announcing read the latest Blog here. 

As agents become part of everyday work, Agent 365 provides a consistent way to: 

  • Observe: Gain visibility into agents in your environment, understand how they’re used, and act quickly on performance, ​behavior, and risk signals before they impact the business.​ 
  • Govern: Establish guardrails for agents and people, onboard agents with IT oversight, and govern agent access to resources and data. Be audit ready with built-in compliance and data retention. 
  • Secure: Secure agent identities, control access to resources, prevent data oversharing and leaks, and defend against threats and vulnerabilities with enterprise-grade security solutions. 

…

Read more at the announcement blog below:

(Analogous offerings for Microsoft 365 GCC/Government Community Cloud are not yet announced)

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 3, 2026

RELEASE: OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 now available in Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio & Microsoft Foundry

GPT-5.5 is now available in Microsoft 365 Copilot, Copilot Studio (Early Release) & Microsoft Foundry.

Today, we’re expanding what Microsoft 365 Copilot can do with GPT-5.5 Thinking and ChatGPT Images 2.0 bringing stronger support for deeper analysis, multi-step work, and visual creation.

GPT-5.5 Thinking is now available in Copilot Studio early release cycle environments as GPT-5.5 Reasoning and is rolling out across Microsoft 365 Copilot in Copilot Chat, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. ChatGPT Images 2.0 is rolling out to Copilot in PowerPoint and coming soon to Copilot Chat.

…

Read the entire announcement below:

Open AI GPT-5.5 is also available for Azure AI creators & developers through Microsoft Foundry.

OpenAI’s GPT-5.5 is generally available in Microsoft Foundry, bringing OpenAI’s latest frontier model to Azure and the enterprise teams building agents for real production work.

GPT-5.5 continues a clear progression in the GPT-5 series. GPT-5 brought unified reasoning and speed into a single system. GPT-5.4 brought stronger multi-step reasoning and early agentic capabilities for enterprise use. GPT-5.5 advances this arc with deeper long-context reasoning, more reliable agentic execution, improved computer-use accuracy, and greater token efficiency—designed for sustained, high-stakes professional workflows.

Powerful models alone aren’t enough to operationalize agentic AI at scale. Microsoft Foundry provides the platform layer that turns frontier models into usable, governable systems that enable enterprises to apply security policy and management at the platform level. Foundry is a unified, interoperable environment to build, optimize, and deploy AI applications and agents with confidence. Customers benefit from broad model choice, open and flexible agent frameworks, native integration with enterprise systems and productivity tools, and enterprise-grade security, compliance, and governance. When new models like GPT-5.5 become available, Foundry makes it easy to evaluate, productionize, and scale them without friction.

…

Read about ‘what’s new in GPT-5.5 & GPT-5.5 Pro’ in the blog post below:

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 3, 2026

NEWS: Microsoft named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Document Management – April 2026

It’s no longer enough to store and share files— content needs to be governed, structured, and connected to the way teams actually work so AI can reason over it responsibly and help people move from information to action.

That’s why we’re excited to share that Microsoft has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Document Management, positioned highest for Ability to Execute.

We believe this recognition reflects the investments we’ve made in making SharePoint and OneDrive the unified knowledge platform at the heart of Microsoft 365, keeping content trusted and compliant, while making it more discoverable, more actionable, and more valuable as AI adoption accelerates.

In our view, this recognition is also a reflection of the customers and partners who build with us. Every day, users create 2 million new SharePoint sites, add 2 billion files, and run 3 billion automated workflows on SharePoint content each week, a scale that reflects how deeply document management is embedded in daily work. We’re excited to keep building what’s next with you.

For what differentiates Microsoft’s offerings, read the full announcement here:

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 1, 2026

INFO: Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps resources

Customers that licensed “Microsoft 365 E5/G5” or the “Defender Suite” for their organization’s users have access to a very powerful solution to monitoring & controlling the use of cloud services.

Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps P2 is a SaaS-based security platform that provides a comprehensive Cloud Access Security Broker, SaaS Security Posture Management & Extend Detect & Respond integration. It delivers the following:

  • Native Cloud Access Security Broker
    Shadow IT discovery, visibility into cloud app usage, protection against app-based threats & information protection and compliance assessments – native to both Microsoft & 3rd party services
  • SaaS Security Posture Management (SSPM)
    Not just monitoring—continuous configuration assessment + recommendations
  • Deep Integration with Microsoft Security (XDR + Entra + Defender)
    Native platform integration vs. “standalone CASB”
  • Advanced Threat Detection via XDR Correlation
    Cross-domain threat detection – not just isolated CASB alerts
  • App-to-App (OAuth) Governance
    Manages 3rd‑party app risk (API / OAuth)
  • Native Integration with Microsoft 365 Data Protection (Purview)
    Unified data governance and DLP across SaaS apps
  • Unified Shadow IT Discovery at Scale
    Deep discovery tied to endpoint + network telemetry
  • Granular Real-Time Session Control
    “Inline” conditional access policies

Here are resources for those licensed for Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps P2:

Note: For US Government customers using GCC cloud instances of Microsoft 365, the URL to access the service is: https://portal.cloudappsecuritygov.com/ and has a adjusted set of capabilities.

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 1, 2026

TRAINING: “Microsoft Agent-a-Thon” – May 6, 2026

Unleash the power of AI agents. Start simple. Scale fast. Innovate at enterprise level. At no cost to you or your organization.

At each level, follow a guided pre‑learning course with Founderz to build essential skills upfront, increase confidence, and maximize hands‑on impact during the live, virtual agent‑a‑thon. Build with confidence thanks to AI Voice agents (“Fellows”) and live human expert Q&A throughout the event challenge.

Each level aligns to different agent tools and build depths, helping you choose what’s right for you—and build solutions you can use right away at work. Registration is free. To ensure the best experience, please review each Agent-a-Thon level and register for the live virtual session that best matches your experience and access:

Choose one of the following levels:

Level 1: Explorer – Build your first AI agent
Wednesday, May 06, 2026 – 8:00AM-11:00AM
Register: https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=3610636897
Use Agent Builder in Microsoft 365 Copilot and learn the fundamentals of agent creation. Discover how simple, no code tools can unlock productivity and help you turn ideas into working AI agents.

  • Learn how to create an AI agent: Via our guided step-by-step demonstration on our early access learning platform (hosted by Founderz).
  • Get support in real time: With Dedicated AI Voice Agents (‘Fellows’) and human expert Q&A during the build challenge.

Level 2: Commander – Build powerful AI agents
Wednesday, May 06, 2026 – 8:00AM-11:00AM
Register: https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=4269974222
Use Microsoft Copilot Studio to automate work, connect systems, and streamline processes. Learn how to create scalable, no code agents that solve real challenges and accelerate impact across your organization.

  • Learn how to build and extend agents with Microsoft Copilot Studio via a guided step-by-step demonstration on our early access learning platform (hosted by Founderz). 
  • Get support in real time: with dedicated AI Voice Agents (‘Fellows’) and human expert Q&A during the build challenge.

Level 3: Master – Build scalable agents with Microsoft technologies
Wednesday, May 06, 2026 – 8:00AM-11:00AM
Register: https://msevents.microsoft.com/event?id=4277171142
Use Microsoft Foundry and explore orchestration, multi agent capabilities, and secure enterprise workflows to innovate at speed and scale.

  • Learn how to build advanced AI Agents within Microsoft Foundry, via a guided step-by-step demonstration on our early access learning platform (hosted by Founderz).
  • Get support in real time: with dedicated AI Voice Agents (‘Fellows’) and human expert Q&A during the build challenge.

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Posted by: kurtsh | May 1, 2026

INFO: Legal Agent for Microsoft Word (for Microsoft 365 Copilot)

Today we are introducing the Legal Agent in Microsoft Word. Whether you are generating redlines or reviewing counterparty changes, the agent handles tedious work, so legal professionals can focus on high-impact decisions.

The Legal Agent was built in close collaboration with legal engineers to reflect how contracts are reviewed and negotiated. Instead of relying on general AI models to interpret commands, the agent follows structured workflows shaped by real legal practice, managing clearly defined, repeatable tasks like reviewing contracts clause by clause against a playbook.

The agent applies edits in the document through a purpose-built insertion algorithm to drive consistency regardless of how each edit was introduced. The agent’s redlining engine understands the structure of a Word document, not just visible text. It understands and structures Microsoft 365 document format into a representation that preserves formatting, lists, tables, and tracked changes. From there, the agent applies a deterministic resolution layer over the edits, including author-specific changes, instead of relying on an LLM to generate every revision directly. This provides a more reliable foundation for handling complex contracts while helping reduce latency and cost.

Read more about the new Legal Agent for Word for Microsoft 365 Copilot subscribers at:

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Posted by: kurtsh | April 30, 2026

INFO: Group Membership Management (GMM) tool

Group Membership Management (GMM) is a service that dynamically manages the membership of AAD Groups. Groups managed by GMM can have their membership defined using existing AAD Groups and/or custom membership sources.

Organizations routinely use groups with large number of members for executive communications, company townhalls and other collaboration scenarios. Keeping the membership rosters of such groups current is critical to ensure the right audience is included. Stale rosters have consequences – imagine how a team that was recently moved into an organization feels when they are excluded from their VP’s townhall because the townhall community member roster was not updated?

Group owners spend countless hours, manually reconciling with spreadsheets or existing security groups to keeping the group membership accurate. It is much more efficient to have individuals maintain sub-group memberships (with <50 members) and automatically assemble the parent group roster as an aggregation of sub-groups.

We want to share with you a tool that we have developed and used at Microsoft which makes it easy to manage a large group roster by taking advantage of existing security groups and/or smaller groups kept up to date by teams within the larger org.

Introducing the GMM tool
This is a .NET service that generates a parent group membership roster by regularly synchronizing it with memberships from specified Security or Microsoft 365 groups. Deploying the tool requires experience in building, deploying, and managing Azure services. Group owners can then work with the admins to help manage the membership of their groups.

…

(The tool is being shared as an open-source project in the hopes of helping with similar opportunities in your organization. The solution is provided “as-is” and Microsoft is not providing additional support. Code contributions are not being accepted at this point, but there are plans to allow code contributions in the near future. The GMM Support team will be watching the forum and answering any questions you may have with the installation/set up or use of the tool.)

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Posted by: kurtsh | April 30, 2026

NEWS: Accenture deploys Microsoft 365 Copilot to workforce of 743,000

Accenture is leveraging Microsoft’s secure, governed & compliant Artificial Intelligence – Microosft 365 Copilot – for their entire workforce:

Deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to 20,000 employees might sound like a big undertaking, but Accenture was just getting started.

The global professional services firm is rolling out Copilot across its workforce to around 743,000 people – the equivalent of a city roughly the size of Denver. It’s the largest enterprise Copilot deployment to date, according to Microsoft, and Accenture says it’s paying off.

Ninety-seven percent of employees reported completing routine tasks 15 times faster with Copilot and 53% reported significant improvements in productivity and efficiency, according to 2025 company data involving 200,000 users.

“Copilot is a personal digital colleague,” says Tony Leraris, Accenture’s chief information officer. “It changes the way our people work, the way they research, ideate, analyze and execute many daily activities.”

The scale of Accenture’s Copilot deployment is striking – as is how the company has approached it. Accenture moved intentionally, starting with a large group, then extending that deployment even wider. Every step of the way was an opportunity to learn, set guardrails and understand how Copilot was changing the way people worked before continuing further.

…

Read the full article here:

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