Microsoft Inspire 2019 Recap

Microsoft Inspire 2019 took place in the mid of this month in Las Vegas. The conference gathered more than 15,000 people from 180 countries willing to connect and learn in one place. Here I will summarize the insights related to business applications and focus areas for Microsoft that I gathered during Microsoft Inspire.

Common data model with unified data

Perhaps one of the most important pieces of information to come from MS Inspire 2019 is the enhancements to Microsoft Common Data Service (CDS). The company will invest in a data model that would enable ISVs to accelerate the building of vertical apps based on a unified view of the customer’s data. Microsoft has already developed such an open source model for the finance industry and the automotive business. In terms of how that affects clients, it’s important to note that it would make integration between pieces of software much easier and less costly.

“Out of the box” AI applications

AI is something that Microsoft sees as a fruitful area for innovation. The company will invest in out-of-the-box applications for business that feature different Artificial Intelligence functionalities that partners could further develop. Examples given were an app that could detect different objects and give you information about them or one that recognizes people and what their age and gender is. This would give an opportunity to businesses to better understand the needs of the client and thus offer them more relevant products.

AppSource marketplace

Microsoft is heavily investing in further improvement of the business platform. All old applications will go through re-certification to comply with the new higher standards. Microsoft is investing in marketing resources to support partners with the publishing of the apps on AppSource.

Azure Migration Programme

Microsoft revealed the Azure Migration Programme, which will help customers accelerate their journey to the cloud ((January 2020 is the deadline for the migration from Windows Server 2008 to Azure). It will offer proactive advice and tools to help mitigate risks and address common issues associated with moving workloads to the cloud.

Modern Workplace: Microsoft 365 Security and Microsoft 365 Teams

Microsoft Teams reached 13 million daily active users and it will remain a key focus area for Microsoft. Apart from that, the technology corporation makes a significant investment in the area of security and it will be a key part of the value of Microsoft 365.

To summarize the biggest Microsoft event of the year in a blog post is basically impossible, but in short, here are the areas that the company is expected to focus on in the following months: modernization of the workplace with tools such as the Office 365 package and Microsoft Teams specifically, innovation in business applications such as Dynamics 365 and PowerApps, migration of infrastructure, data and AI.

Want to know more about Microsoft’s Inspire conference or their business applications? Contact us!