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
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
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 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.
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
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)
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Big news for desktop professionals supporting Windows 11 Enterprise!
Today we announce the public preview of hotpatch updates for Windows 11 Enterprise, version 24H2. With hotpatch updates, you can quickly take measures to help protect your organization from the evolving landscape of cyberattacks, while minimizing user disruptions. Hotpatching represents a significant advancement in our journey to help make you and everyone who uses Windows more secure and productive.
Hotpatch updates are scoped and provide a complete set of OS security patches. No additional features are included. They are unique in that they take effect immediately upon installation without requiring you to restart your device, helping to ensure focused, rapid protection.
The first month of each quarter of the calendar year (i.e. January, April, July, and October), devices install the standard monthly security update and restart. This cumulative update contains the latest security fixes, new features, and enhancements. The following two months, devices are offered hotpatch updates, which include only security updates and install without the need to restart. At the start of the next quarter, the cycle repeats.
That’s it. Devices stay secure and productive, and you reduce the number of required restarts for Windows updates from twelve to just four thanks to eight planned hotpatch updates each year!
To take advantage of the public preview, your organization will need the following to be eligible for hotpatching:
Windows 11 Enterprise, version 24H2 (Build 26100.2033 or later)
A Microsoft subscription that includes Windows Enterprise E3 or E5 (e.g. Microsoft 365 A3/A5 or Microsoft 365 F3); or a Windows 365 Enterprise subscription
Today we’re pleased to announce Microsoft 365 Copilot now will include SharePoint Advanced Management capabilities, delivering built-in content governance reports and controls to rapidly accelerate Copilot deployments and automate oversight at scale.
These reports and controls will deliver powerful insights to help identify and mitigate oversharing and content sprawl, which are critical for maintaining data integrity and access governance.
By preparing content with fine-grained security, access policies, and regular reviews, this improvement ensures that Copilot can access and deliver only the most relevant and secure information.
SharePoint Advanced Management is designed to enhance content governance and security by providing IT administrators with tools to manage content sprawl, streamline access management, and ensure compliance with evolving regulations. Including governance and content management features directly into Copilot means that our AI solutions not only enhance productivity and creativity, but also provide a foundation that our customers can use to govern their SharePoint content.
These features can be complemented with Microsoft Purview to deliver a unified platform for data governance, security, and compliance, enabling organizations to gain visibility into their data, safeguard sensitive information, and manage data risks and regulatory requirements efficiently. This unique approach empowers businesses to leverage AI with confidence, knowing that their data is protected, and their operations are compliant.
Get started with the resources below to accelerate your Copilot journey.
New resources to prepare your data for AI
No matter the size or goals of your organization, below are steps you can take to prepare your data for AI:
Prepare a content governance plan and learn more about the capabilities in SharePoint Advanced Management that can help.
Continue to help keep your organization’s data safe with a range of solutions for data security, data governance, and risk and compliance management with Microsoft Purview.
Review our new oversharing blueprint that outlines the steps and resources needed to address internal oversharing concerns as you prepare your data estate for Copilot with SharePoint Advanced Management and Microsoft Purview.
And for government customers with Microsoft 365, SharePoint Advanced Management is available in the GCC enclave! (Note: The Sharepoint Advanced Management entitlement will not be immediately available for Microsoft 365 Copilot licensees at launch. It is however planned for availability soon after.)
Here’s a short video that goes over all the new agents announced:
What is the Facilitator agent?
The Facilitator agent works within Teams meetings and chats for more effective collaboration. In meetings, the Facilitator generates real-time AI notes during your meetings, allowing everyone to co- author and collaborate seamlessly. In chats, the Facilitator maintains an up-to-date summary of important information as the conversation happens, including key decisions, actions items, and open questions to resolve. This new agent is available in public preview.
What is the Interpreter agent?
The Interpreter agent enables real-time speech-to-speech interpretation in Teams meetings so each participant can speak and listen in the language of their choice in up to nine languages, instantly overcoming language barriers. Meeting participants can also have the Interpreter simulate their personal voice for a more inclusive experience. This new agent will be available in public preview in 2025.
What is the Project Manager agent?
The Project Manager agent automates project management in Planner, handling everything from plan creation to executing tasks. Whether it’s a long-running or a short-term project, the Project Manager can automatically create a new plan from scratch or use a pre-configured template by simply inputting the goals. Once the plan is in place in Planner, the Project Manager oversees the entire project, including the assignment of tasks, progress tracking, reminders and notifications, and status reporting. It can also complete tasks, including content creation. This new agent is available in public preview. 553. PUBLIC
What are Agents in SharePoint?
Agents in SharePoint empower employees to gain insights faster and make informed decisions grounded on specific SharePoint content. Every SharePoint site now includes an agent for immediate use. Users can easily create their own agents with just a few clicks, tailored to specific SharePoint files, folders, or sites that support common business process such as field service reps using the agent for product installations or finance teams using the agent to manage quarterly budget planning with data grounded on the company’s budget policies and forecast information. These agents can be edited to have a personalized name and certain behaviors, and can be shared across emails, meetings, and chats, with users being able to ask the agent questions and getting real-time responses. They can also be customized in Copilot Studio, where admins can connect to third-party data sources and add actions and further automate workflows. Agents in SharePoint follow existing SharePoint user permissions and sensitivity labels to prevent the oversharing of sensitive information and are built on the same powerful AI technology as Microsoft 365 Copilot, ensuring data stays within the Microsoft 365 trust boundary. Agents in SharePoint are generally available.
What is the Employee Self-Service Agent?
The Employee Self-Service Agent in Microsoft 365 Copilot Business Chat (BizChat) expedites answers for the most common workplace policy-related questions and takes action on key HR and IT related-tasks. From Business Chat, users can retrieve benefits and payroll information, start a leave of absence, request a new laptop with IT and even get assistance for Microsoft 365 products and services, all in one place. The agent is customizable in Copilot Studio, where admins can use a variety of tools and data sources including: pre-configured templates, workflows, and connectors; authoritative knowledge sources such as SharePoint, HR (Workday), IT systems (SAP and ServiceNow); and a library of tailored responses to sensitive topics. This new agent is available in private preview.
What licensing is required to access the public preview of agents in Microsoft 365?
For the public preview of the Facilitator, Interpreter, and Project Manager agents, customers are required to have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license to access these agents in Microsoft 365. Beyond preview access, additional licensing details will be communicated at a future date.
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I’m post something a little different today… this is for Microsoft professional services “partners”.
I’ve received a lot questions recently from professional services providers looking to engage State & Local Government customers. I’m by no means an expert on the topic so for those without any experience working in the US Public Sector, your first place for guidance should likely be your Microsoft Partner Development Manager.
GOVERNMENT CONTRACTING VEHICLES Although one thing that I’m personally often challenged with is whether or not a potential services partner (traditionally used to working on commercial/enterprise services engagements) has any *government* contracting vehicles established. Typical vehicles include CMAS, NASPO, OASIS, etc.
Without having access to an organizational contracting vehicle that a government organization will accept, it’s a challenge to be able to work for & engage state & local government institutions as a Professional Services provider. I generally recommend investigating qualifying for State & Local Government contracting vehicles if public sector is an area you’d like to deliver services to. Here’s some examples of partners Microsoft commonly works with in the US Public Sector that have established government contracting vehicles across many states – along with the contracting vehicles they have established:
FUNDING PROGRAMS For professional services providers that don’t have any contracting vehicles, it’s going to be hard to do business for municipal organizations. One way MAY be to pursue qualifying as an ECIF (End Customer Investment Funds) or AMMP (Azure Migrate & Modernize Program) qualified Microsoft partner. Work through your Microsoft Partner Development Manager for guidance on the qualifications for these Microsoft programs and how to proceed.
I recommend this as a potential avenue because *occasionally* (not always) some public sector customers will accept work from Microsoft partners paid by Microsoft ECIF/AMMP funding WITHOUT a public sector contracting vehicle if they can ‘sole source’ the engagement on the basis of simply stating, “Microsoft is paying for it, this is the partner/professional services organization they’ve chosen & it’s their money. Full stop.” 😊. It’s one potential way to get to work with State & Local Government organizations even if you don’t have a contracting vehicle to work anywhere.
Again, information on this should be obtained directly from your PDM however, here’s some pointers to information that may be helpful:
Take a look at the following published on Tuesday from the Microsoft DevOps product group, announced during Microsoft Ignite 2024:
Licensing integration
For some time now, Visual Studio subscribers have had usage rights for both GitHub Enterprise and Azure DevOps. But other users have had to pay for both products to use them together … until now! We are excited to announce that starting in December, we are including Azure DevOps Basic usage rights with GitHub Enterprise licenses and automating the experience for Azure DevOps customers.
Just as with Visual Studio subscriptions, we will automatically detect GitHub Enterprise Licenses for users when they log into Azure DevOps and grant them a new GitHub Enterprise access level (with access equivalent to Azure DevOps Basic).
This capability will begin lighting up for GitHub Enterprise Cloud customers in December, and for GitHub Enterprise Cloud with Data Residency customers early in the new year.
We are committed to enabling Azure DevOps customers to get the best out of both Azure DevOps and GitHub. We hope you’ll try out the latest integrations and innovations and let us know what you think!
kurtsh
Kurt Shintaku's Blog 
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