Microsoft Ignite 2021: Important Announcements and Updates

Question

Today, we're gonna list the key important updates and announcements about Microsoft Azure, Security, Microsoft 365, Power Platform, and more that have been announced in the Microsoft Ignite 2021.

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What's Microsoft Ignite?

Microsoft Ignite is an annual conference hosted by Microsoft for developers and IT professionals.

• The first conference happened in 1993 in Orlando, and it was known as TechEd, and in 2015, it becomes Microsoft Ignite.
• At this conference, Microsoft announces plenty of great and important updates for its products.
• It offers opportunities to meet Microsoft experts, Microsoft MVPs, and community members.
• As an attendee for this event, you can get a free Microsoft certificate voucher by
  • Completing one of the challenges in the Cloud Skills Challenges. or
  • Attending an event in Microsoft Virtual Training Days.
• It also includes an exhibition area where vendors can show off technologies and sell products.

Watch the Microsoft Ignite 2021 Keynote

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Key announcements and updates in Microsoft Ignite 2021

Below, we're gonna explore the important updates in Microsoft Ignite 2021 categorized by the following products:-

1. Microsoft Azure.
2. Microsoft 365.
3. Microsoft Power Platform.
4. Other updates.

Azure Updates in Microsoft Ignite 2021

1. Semantic search capability in azure cognitive search is now in preview.
2. Azure Arc-Enabled Machine Learning is now available in preview.
3. Azure Percept is now available in public preview.
4. Azure Stream Analytics is now generally available.
5. Azure Cache for Redis is now generally available.
6. Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB is now generally available.
7. Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra is now available in preview.
8. Azure Resource Mover is now generally available.
9. Azure Communication Services will become generally available in the next few weeks.
10. New solutions for running Java EE applications on Azure are now available in the Azure Marketplace and on Microsoft Docs.
11. Private Azure Marketplace is now generally available.
12. Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes is now generally available.
13. Azure Backup Center is now generally available.
14. On-demand capacity reservations for Azure Virtual Machines will be available in preview in April.
15. Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets flexible orchestration mode is now available in preview.
16. Azure Cloud Services extended support is now available in public preview.
17. Azure Premium SSD and Standard SSD are now available in preview.
18. Auto-key rotation of customer-managed keys is now available in preview.
19. Azure Public IP SKU upgrade is now generally available.
20. Azure Route Server is now available for public preview.
21. Mixed-reality services Azure Remote Render is now generally available.
22. Azure Object Anchors is now available in public preview.
23. Passwordless authentication in Azure Active Directory is now generally available.
24. Azure Active Directory Conditional Access authentication context is now in public preview.
25. Azure Stream Analytics Dedicated is now generally available.

1) Semantic search capability in azure cognitive search

• This capability enables developers to deliver results based on user intent as opposed to a keyword-based search, which is the industry norm.
• Semantic search capability in azure cognitive search is now in preview.

Learn more about this update at Semantic search capability in azure cognitive search

2) Azure Arc-Enabled Machine Learning

• Azure Machine Learning (Azure ML) is an enterprise-grade service that helps customers build and deploy models rapidly, has several new capabilities.
• Azure Arc is a set of technologies that enable simplified management, faster app development, and consistent Azure services anywhere.
• Azure Arc now supports Azure ML and available in preview, and the customers can sign up to access the preview today.

Learn more about this update at Azure Arc-Enabled Machine Learning.

3) Azure Percept

• Azure Percept powers real-time insights at the edge through hardware accelerators integrated with Azure ML and Azure Cognitive Services.
• Azure Percept extends compute and AI to the edge of a network to unlock new business scenarios designed from silicon to service.
• Azure Percept is now available in public preview.

 

Learn more about this update at Azure Percept.

4) Azure Stream Analytics

• Azure Stream Analytics has been updated to provide support for single-tenant dedicated clusters.
• Azure Stream Analytics Dedicated provides single-tenant hosting for increased reliability with no noise from other tenants.
• Azure Stream Analytics is now generally available.

 

Try Azure Stream Analytics now. 

5) Azure Cache for Redis

• Azure Cache for Redis is an open-source in-memory data store that is used as a database, cache, and message broker. It provides a fast, managed caching layer that can help enable an app’s architecture to handle thousands of simultaneous users.
• Azure Cache for Redis is now generally available.

 

Lear more at Azure Cache for Redis

6) Azure Synapse Link for Cosmos DB

• Azure Synapse Link for Cosmos DB enables cloud-native and near-real-time analytics to be run over the NoSQL data in Azure Cosmos DB, including MongoDB. 
• Azure Synapse Link for Azure Cosmos DB is now generally available.

 

Learn more about this update at Azure Synapse Link for Cosmos DB 

7) Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra

• Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra is a new service that automates deployment, scaling, and management operations for open-source Apache Cassandra datacenters.
• This service will enable organizations to run more of their Cassandra NoSQL data on Azure, removing the need for database administrators and developers to manage infrastructure or manage and update their version of Cassandra.
• Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra is now available in preview.

 

Learn more about this update at Azure Managed Instance for Apache Cassandra

8) Azure Resource Mover

• Azure Resource Mover provides portability between Azure regions and is unique to the Azure platform.
• It allows new customers to create applications in existing regions and migrate them upon new region launch or move into regions with availability zones (AZs) if not planned for their region.
• Azure Resource Mover is now generally available.

 

Learn more about this update at Azure Resource Mover 

 

9) Azure Communication Services

• Azure Communication Services is the first fully managed communication platform offering from a major cloud provider.
• Azure Communication Services is also now interoperable with Microsoft Teams in preview, enabling customers to leverage a unified offering for both internal and external communication experiences.
• Azure Communication Services will become generally available in the next few weeks.

 

 Learn more about this update at Azure Communication Services 

10) New solutions for running Java EE applications on Azure

• Customers can now use Azure Marketplace offers and automated scripts to deploy Oracle WebLogic Server, IBM WebSphere Application Server, and IBM WebSphere Liberty/Open Liberty on Azure.
• New solutions for running Java EE applications on Azure are now available in the Azure Marketplace and on Microsoft Docs.

 

Learn more about this update for WebLogic and WebSphere on Azure.

11) Private Azure Marketplace

• Private Azure Marketplace is a tenant-level feature for existing Azure customers that is built on top of Azure Marketplace and enables the administrator to govern which products will be available for deployment by the users.
• Private Azure Marketplace enables administrators to govern which third-party solutions their users can access in the Azure marketplace.
• A preview of this service was announced in September 2020.
• Private Azure Marketplace is now generally available.

 

 Learn more about this update at Private Azure Marketplace

12) Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes

• Azure Arc is a set of technologies that enable simplified management, faster app development, and consistent Azure services anywhere.
• Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes allows organizations to connect, manage and govern any Kubernetes cluster across datacenters, multi-cloud, and edge from Azure.
• Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes is now generally available

 

Learn more about this update at Azure Arc-enabled Kubernetes

13) Azure Backup Center

• Azure Backup Center enables centralized backup management for Azure Virtual Machines, SQL in Azure Virtual Machines, HANA in Azure VMs, and Azure Files.
• Azure Backup provides data protection capabilities for business-critical workloads in a simple, secure, and cost-effective manner
• Azure Backup Center is now generally available.

 

 Learn more about this update at Azure Backup Center

14) On-demand capacity reservations for Azure Virtual Machines

• On-demand capacity reservations for Azure Virtual Machines is a new feature that enables IT organizations to reserve compute capacity for a virtual machine size in any public Azure region.
• It enables customers to access virtual machines (VMs) in advance with a service-level agreement (SLA) guarantees to ensure high levels of availability when running business-critical applications on Azure.
• On-demand capacity reservations for Azure Virtual Machines will be available in public preview in April.

 

Request access to On-demand capacity reservations for Azure Virtual Machines preview.

15) Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets flexible orchestration mode

• Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets flexible orchestration mode helps customers simplify the deployment, management, and scalability of their applications while increasing high availability.
• Customers may now change VM sizes without redeploying their scale set, resulting in greater operational agility.
• Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets flexible orchestration mode is now available in preview.

 

Learn more at Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets flexible orchestration mode

16) Azure Cloud Services extended support

• Azure Cloud Services extended support is a new Azure Resource Manager (ARM)-based deployment model for Azure Cloud Services, which provides regional resiliency along with feature parity with Azure Cloud Services deployed using Azure Service Manager (ASM).
• Azure Cloud Services extended support is now available in public preview.

 

 Learn more at Azure Cloud Services extended support

17) Azure Premium SSD and Standard SSD

• It offers zone-redundant storage (ZRS) support to protect data in the event of a zone failure.
• Azure Premium SSD and Standard SSD are now available in preview.

 

Learn more at New in Azure Disk Storage at Microsoft Ignite 2021

18) Auto-key rotation of customer-managed keys

• It gives customers the option to automatically update all their disks, snapshots, and images using the same encryption key when a new version of a key is generated.
• Customers no longer need to manually update all their Azure resources and can ensure that their data is always secured with the latest key versions and that they meet their organization’s security and compliance requirements.
• Auto-key rotation of customer-managed keys is now available in preview.

 

Learn more at Auto-key rotation of customer-managed keys

19) Azure Public IP SKU upgrade

• Azure public IP addresses now support the ability to be upgraded from Basic to Standard SKU.
• It allows customers to upgrade and retain the same IPs without management overhead or notices to their end customers and now supports the ability to upgrade from Basic to Standard SKU.
• Azure Public IP SKU upgrade is now generally available.

 

Learn more about the process to upgrade Azure public IPs here.  Learn about how to upgrade Azure Public Load Balancers here.   

20) Azure Route Server

• Azure Route Server simplifies dynamic routing between your network virtual appliance (NVA) and your virtual network.
• Azure Route Server is now available for public preview

 

Learn more at What is Azure Route Server (Preview)?

20) Azure Remote Rendering

• Azure Remote Rendering renders complex models in the cloud and streams them in real-time to devices.
• Mixed-reality services Azure Remote Render is now generally available.

 

Learn more at Azure Remote Rendering

21) Azure Object Anchors

• Azure Object Anchors leverages 3D models of objects, trains in the cloud using artificial intelligence (AI), and uses the trained model to enable holographic alignment to physical objects.
• Azure Object Anchors is now available in public preview.

 

Learn more at Azure Object Anchors

22) AWS Single Sign-On

• AWS Single Sign-On is a cloud-based service that simplifies SSO access across multiple Amazon Web Services (AWS) accounts and resources using the Azure AD app gallery.
• AWS Single Sign-On (SSO) is now pre-integrated in the Azure Active Directory app gallery.

 

Learn more at AWS Single Sign-On (SSO)

23) Passwordless authentication in Azure Active Directory

• Employees at organizations that activate passwordless authentication will no longer need to use passwords to sign into the network. Instead, they can sign in with a look or tap using Windows Hello for Business, Microsoft Authenticator app.
• Passwordless authentication in Azure Active Directory is now generally available.

 

Learn more at Passwordless authentication

24) Azure Active Directory Conditional Access authentication context

• It enables customers to configure and fine-tune their access policies with factors such as user, device, location, and real-time risk information to control what a specific user can access, as well as when and how they can access it.
• Azure Active Directory Conditional Access authentication context is now in public preview.

 

Learn more at What's new in Azure Active Directory?

25) Azure Stream Analytics Dedicated

• Azure Stream Analytics Dedicated is powered by the same engine that powers Stream Analytics jobs running in a multi-tenant environment.
• Azure Stream Analytics has been updated to provide support for single-tenant dedicated clusters.
• Azure Stream Analytics Dedicated provides single-tenant hosting for increased reliability with no noise from other tenants.
• Azure Stream Analytics Dedicated is now generally available.

 

Try now Azure Stream Analytics Dedicated

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Microsoft 365 Updates in Microsoft Ignite 2021

1. Microsoft Viva Connections to start rollout to general availability.
2. Microsoft Teams app can now support interactive customer webinars for up to 1,000 attendees.
3. New gallery views in Teams Rooms are now generally available.
4. PowerPoint Live in Teams is now generally available.
5. Outlook calendar board is now available in Outlook on the web.
6. Universal Print is now generally available.

1) Microsoft Viva Connections

• Microsoft Viva is the first employee experience platform built for the digital era, bringing together tools for employee engagement, learning, well-being and knowledge discovery directly into the flow of people’s work.
• Microsoft Viva Connections to start rollout to general availability.

 

Learn more at Microsoft Viva

2) Microsoft Teams App for a webinar

• Microsoft Teams app can now support interactive customer webinars for up to 1,000 attendees.
• Teams webinars can also seamlessly scale to a 10,000-person view-only broadcast experience.

 

Learn more at What's New in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Ignite 2021

3) New gallery views in Teams

• New gallery views in Teams Rooms are now generally available.
• These views enable everyone in a meeting to see meeting content whether the room has one screen or two.

 

Learn more at What's New in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Ignite 2021

4) PowerPoint Live in Teams

• With PowerPoint Live in Teams, presenters can deliver richer, more inclusive experiences and lead meetings more confidently with notes, slides, meeting chat, and participants all in a single view.
• PowerPoint Live in Teams is now generally available.

Learn more at What's New in Microsoft Teams | Microsoft Ignite 2021

5) Outlook calendar board

• The calendar board view provides a customizable visual tool for organizing and managing calendars, files, reminders, and to-do lists in one place.
• Outlook calendar board is now available in Outlook on the web.

6) Microsoft Universal Print

• Universal Print is a cloud-based print solution to enterprise and education customers that eliminates the need for print servers or installing printer drivers and provides simple and secure printing in zero-trust environments.
• Universal Print is now generally available.

 

Learn more at Microsoft Universal Print

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Other updates in Microsoft Ignite 2021

1. The .NET Upgrade Assistant is now available in preview.
2. Visual Studio 2019 version 16.9 is now generally available.
3. Windows Server 2022 is now available in preview.
4. Microsoft Certifications renewal is now available for free on Microsoft Learn.

1) The .NET Upgrade Assistant

• The .NET Upgrade Assistant helps developers move large, mission-critical .NET Framework-based Windows applications to the modern, cross-platform, high-performance development platforms.
• It has been released as an open-source project as well as a .NET global tool NuGet package.
• The .NET Upgrade Assistant is now available in preview.

 

Learn more at the .NET Upgrade Assistant

2) Visual Studio 2019 version 16.9

• It comes with new enhancements for C++ development, .NET productivity, Git tooling, web tooling, and XAML productivity.
• Visual Studio 2019 version 16.9 is now generally available.
• Visual Studio 2019 version 16.10 preview 1, now available in preview, provides additional functionalities for C++ development and .NET diagnostics and debugging.

 

Learn more at Visual Studio 2019 version 16.9

3) Windows Server 2022

• Windows Server 2022 introduces advanced multilayer security, hybrid capabilities with Azure, and a flexible application platform.
• Windows Server 2022 enables customers to run existing and new business-critical applications with confidence in Azure, on-premises, and at the edge.
• Windows Server 2022 is now available in preview.

 

Learn more at Windows Server 2022 is now available in preview

4) Microsoft Certifications Renewal

• Microsoft Certifications renewal is now available for free on Microsoft Learn
• If you hold a valid Microsoft role-based or specialty certification that expires within approximately six months, you may renew it.
• To renew your certification, pass the associated assessment on Microsoft Learn before your certification expires.

 

Learn more at Renew your Microsoft Certification

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Microsoft Power Platform Updates in Microsoft Ignite 2021

1. Desktop automation in Power Automate Desktop will be available to Windows 10 users at no additional cost.
2. Power BI Premium Per-User will be generally available on April 2021.
3. Microsoft launches Microsoft power fx that will be used across the Microsoft Power Platform.
4. Microsoft Power Virtual Agents AI capabilities released in preview.

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Watch Microsoft Ignite 2021 Live Stream Day 1

Watch Microsoft Ignite 2021 Live Stream Day 2

Check Also

• Microsoft Ignite 2021 News book
• Microsoft Azure Virtual Training Days 2021.
• Microsoft 365 Virtual Training Days 2021.
• Power Platform Virtual Training Days 2021.

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