Kurt Shintaku's Blog

[As announced at Microsoft Ignite 2024!]
Test your SQL workloads in the cloud using Azure SQL Managed Instance for free if you have one of many available subscription types including: Pay-As-You-Go, Enterprise Agreement, Azure Plan etc.

When you are ready to productionize your workload, convert your Managed Instance to production in two clicks and get the 99.99% uptime SLA as well as a myriad of configuration options.

The “free SQL Managed Instance” offer is designed for new Azure customers looking to get started with Azure SQL Managed Instance, as well as existing customers that might need a development database, such as for a proof of concept.

Read more about how to get started with the great offer at the Azure SQL Blog Announcement below:

• BLOG: Free SQL MI Public Preview Refresh
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azuresqlblog/free-sql-mi-public-preview-refresh/4304538
• DOCS: Try Azure SQL Managed Instance for free (preview)
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/free-offer

Deploying and managing Windows? Join us for 4 hours of live, Ask Microsoft Anything (AMA) sessions with our product and engineering teams!

We’re sharing the latest and greatest Windows capabilities at Microsoft Ignite so join us here on the Tech Community on December 11 with your questions. Wherever you are in your journey to cloud native, whether you have a full Windows 11 ecosystem or aren’t quite there yet, we will be here to help and support you with guidance, tips, and insights.

Visit aka.ms/TCL/Windows for a list of AMAs, including:

• Windows security, chip to cloud
• Unified update management for Windows
• Hotpatching Windows – client and server
• Feedback wanted: Adopting new features with agility and control
• The future of AI with Windows 11 and Copilot+ PCs

(To post questions — and you can do it in advance — just sign in on the community, scroll to the bottom of the page, and “leave a comment“.)

Save the date now for the third installment of the Microsoft Technical Takeoff for Windows and Microsoft Intune! This free, virtual skilling event will offer prescriptive, technical deep dives and panel-based discussions to help you feel prepared and confident in deploying and managing devices, apps, and experiences from client to cloud! 

All sessions will be streamed live here on the Tech Community and experts from the Windows, Windows 365, Intune, Azure Virtual Desktop, and security teams will be answering your questions during the sessions and throughout the week.

We’ll reveal the agenda in January. Until then, make sure you Add to calendar and select Attend to let us know you’re coming. 

Date/Time:

• Monday, Mar 03, 2025, 07:00 AM PST – Mar 6, 2025 12:00 PM PST

Read more at the blog announcement here:

• Microsoft Technical Takeoff – Monday, Mar 03, 2025, 07:00 AM PST
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/event/techcommunitylive/microsoft-technical-takeoff/4304008

You’re invited to join our new Microsoft Copilot Discord server! This is the official community for Microsoft Copilot, our general consumer experience, not Copilot for Microsoft 365.

If you’re actively using:

• Microsoft Copilot https://copilot.microsoft.com
• Copilot for Windows
• Copilot for Edge
• Copilot Mobile
• Copilot Pro

…this is the Discord server for you!

• Invite for the Copilot Discord Server
  https://discord.com/invite/go-copilot

The goal is to help drive the next wave of Copilot & AI advancements. There are several channels, including the daily, #Prompts-to-Try thread.

Enjoy!

#PPCC25 Has Been Announced!

• Main conference is on October 28-30, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the MGM Grand
• Pre and post conference workshops are October 26, 27, and 31, 2025. 

We are excited to announce that Microsoft will be the lead sponsor for the third annual Power Platform Community Conference 2025! This event will be held in-person on  October 28-30 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This one-of-a-kind event is dedicated to Microsoft Power Platform products, including Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, Power Pages, Copilot Studio, and Dataverse!

You’ll have insider access to all the information, opportunities, and connections you need to further your Power Platform journey.

• Understand how your peers are using the Power Platform and putting them to work
• Get new ideas on how you can utilize the tools in more useful ways
• Meet new #PowerAddicts just like you!
• Learn about all the tools in the platform
• Give your organization the edge it needs to provide a more productive and exciting work environment

More information coming soon! Stay tuned to:

• Power Platform Conference site: https://powerplatformconf.com/
• Power Platform Conference Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/microsoft-power-platform-conference/
• Power Platform Conference Twitter: https://twitter.com/powerplatconf

The brightest minds in tech, all in one place. Meet the innovators, trailblazers, and product makers who are driving transformation and fostering collaboration in the era of AI. Hear from the industry’s leading voices and gain exclusive insights, best practices, and strategies as we redefine what’s possible in the workplace.

• Dates:
  May 6-8, 2025
• Location:
  MGM Grand
  3799 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
  Las Vegas, Nevada
• Registration:
  https://www.m365conf.com/
  (You have until March 3rd, 2025 to register to get $100 off. Additionally, use discount code SAVE150 for an additional $150 discount!)

Wanna see the top 3 Microsoft-led sessions from LAST year’s Microsoft 365 Community Conference in 2024? We have recordings!

• “The Ins and Outs of Microsoft 365 Backup, Archive” with Jaclynn Hiranaka and Trent Green | The audience learned the latest on Microsoft 365 Backup and Microsoft 365 Archive – file level archiving, Teams support for backup, and much more — now available in public preview.
• “How Microsoft Does IT: Tenant Governance Best Practices” with David Johnson | David shared what he considers to be must-do tips and best practices to govern a Microsoft 365 tenant overall. And shared how an enterprise deals with sprawl, oversharing and compliance while you empower your employees.
• “The Future of Windows, Windows 365 and AI” with Christiaan Brinkhoff | Cloud Computing is more popular than ever before due to the shifting in hybrid remote working requirements from businesses. Christiaan shared how the future of Windows is shaping with the latest features and vision around Windows 365, Windows 11, and Copilot.

Are you focused on Microsoft 365, Power Platform, Viva, SharePoint Framework or Development on M365 or Power Platform? Wanna join your fellow community members weekly?

• Microsoft 365 & Power Platform Community Calls
  Presented by Microsoft – Weekly on Tuesdays 8:00AM PT
  • Join via Teams: https://aka.ms/community/ms-speakers-call-join
  • Add to Calendar: https://aka.ms/community/ms-speakers-call-invite
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR9nK3mnD-OUQOW86tT5dkCRQAVGY7DlH
    
• Power Platform Monthly Call
  Presented by the Community – 3rd Wednesday of every month 8:00AM PT
  • Join via Teams: https://aka.ms/PowerPlatformMonthlyCall
  • Add to Calendar: https://aka.ms/powerplatformcommunitycall
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR9nK3mnD-OVHNx67Q2Uxe7wodTnjHguz
    
• Office Add-ins Community Call
  Presented by Microsoft – 2nd Wednesday of every month 7:00AM PT
  • Add to Calendar: https://aka.ms/officeaddinscommunitycall
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR9nK3mnD-OVExAWBr2QtS_5UmqUr7HL4
    
• Viva Connections & SharePoint Framework Community Calls
  Presented by the Community – Bi-weekly on Thursdays 7:00AM PT
  • Join via Teams: https://aka.ms/spdev-spfx-call-join
  • Add to Calendar: https://aka.ms/spdev-spfx-call
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR9nK3mnD-OXdcwfcHGsGr78nHWLRsv1x
    
• Microsoft 365 & Power Platform – General Development Community Calls
  Presented by the Community – Bi-weekly on Thursdays 7:00AM PT
  • Join via Teams: https://aka.ms/community/m365-powerplat-dev-call-join
  • Add to Calendar: https://aka.ms/community/m365-powerplat-dev-call-invite
  • YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLR9nK3mnD-OURfm5Ypu-wK52cxBv_gXCA
    
• Maturity Model for Microsoft 365
  Presented by the Community – 3rd Tuesday of every month – 7:00AM PT
  • Join via Teams: https://aka.ms/mm4m365/join-call
  • Add to Calendar: https://aka.ms/mm4m365/invite
  • YouTube: https://symp.info/MM4M365Videos

If you like this, check out the massive Microsoft 365 & Power Platform Community!
https://pnp.github.io/

At Microsoft Ignite 2024, we are accelerating our mission to equip every employee with Copilot as a personal assistant and to revolutionize business processes with agents developed in Copilot Studio. We owe our success to our customers – with their feedback loop on AI at work, we’ve dramatically improved Copilot performance and shipped hundreds of new features.

We are adding value to Copilot to tackle work’s biggest pain points and help every employee scale their impact. These announcements build on our wave 2 momentum, including the new autonomous agent capabilities we announced in October.

Here’s a synopsis of many of the major announcements:

• Business Chat
  • M365 Copilot Actions automate repetitive tasks with new customizable prompt templates. (Private preview)
  • Update to Wave 2 announcements: rich artifacts in Copilot Pages in BizChat. (GA early 2025)
• Microsoft 365 Apps
  • Update to Wave 2 announcements: schedule 1:1s and focus time and draft agenda capability with Copilot in Outlook (GA December), Excel with Python (GA US Win32), presentation translation and Narrative Builder grounded in a file in PowerPoint (GA Q1 2025), Copilot support for screen shared content in Teams meetings, quick file summaries in chat, translated intelligent meeting recap (Public preview, coming) and more.
• Agents in Microsoft 365 
  • Agents in SharePoint tap into your document knowledge base to answer questions, gain insights, and act in real time. (GA) New promo allows non-Microsoft 365 Copilot users to experience agents in SharePoint through June 30. 
  • Employee self-service agent in Business Chat answers questions and actions common workplace HR/IT policy-related tasks. (Private preview)
  • Other out-of-box agents include Interpreter for real-time interpretation in Teams meetings (Public preview, early 2025), Facilitator for note-taking and summarization in Teams meetings and chat, and Project Manager handles everything from plan creation to executing tasks in Planner. Microsoft 365 Copilot license required to experience these agents. Additional licensing information is TBD. (Public preview)
• Adoption & Measurement
  • Viva Insights will be included in the M365 Copilot SKU in addition to the new Business Impact Report to analyze usage related to business KPIs. To bridge the gap until GA, leverage Viva Insights promo offer for customers with 50+ paid M365 Copilot licenses. (Public preview)
• Security, Privacy and Compliance
  • Copilot Control System offers IT capabilities for data protection and management controls as well as Copilot Analytics for adoption and business value reporting.
  • SharePoint Advanced Management now included in M365 Copilot to control content oversharing
  • Copilot in M365, Teams, and SharePoint admin centers, automates IT tasks and provides insights to improve tenant management. (Private preview)

Did you miss the Microsoft 365 Community Conference 2024? You’re in luck! ~60 of the keynote & breakout sessions that Microsoft delivered are available on-demand from the Microsoft Community channel on YouTube!

Microsoft 365 Community Conference 2024 – Session Playlist On-Demand
Offering unmatched learning, professional development, and networking opportunities, the Microsoft 365 Community Conference brings together thousands of forward-thinking professionals looking to build their skills in the era of AI: https://aka.ms/M365ConSessions

• For more user enablement resources across Microsoft 365 and more, visit the Microsoft 365 Adoption site at https://aka.ms/MCLYT/AMC
• Join us next year in Las Vegas, on May 6-8, 2025. Pre-register now to get a $150 discount code once the online registration is open: https://www.m365conf.com/?utm_source=MCL052324

Here’s the Day 1 keynote featuring Corporate VP Jeff Teper, Principal PM Miceile Barrett, Sr. Director Derek Snyder & Principal Group PM Naomi Moneypenny: (1hr 12min)