Today Microsoft Ignite 2021 Fall edition kicked off and I’ve tried to summarize some of the biggest new capabilities that have been released.
NOTE: All announcements from Microsoft Ignite har grouped together in this Ignite Book of News, which you can read here –> Microsoft Ignite Book of News
Microsoft Azure
- Azure Cognitive Services new preview based upon OpenAI
- Azure SQL Managed Instance Link – a new service which allows disaster recovery and bi-directional migration between SQL Server and SQL Managed Instance
- Azure Container App in Preview
- Azure Logic Apps Disconnected mode running locally and on Azure Arc.
- Open Service Mesh Add-on for AKS now Generally Available
- Updates to Azure API Management with support for GraphQL and native support for WebSockets API
- Azure Arc with support for Azure Stack HCI, Integrations with vSphere allowing self-service capabilities.
- Azure Virtual Desktop with support for Azure Stack HCI
- Release of Dv5/Ev5 and Dasv5/Easv5 based upon AMD EPYC (Milan) CPU, without local disk storage and a much cheaper cost
- Azure Monitor comes with new capabilities that provides enhanced troubleshooting for Azure Firewall and VPN Gateway. Also, with OpenTelemetry support for Application Insight.
- On-demand disk bursting is now available for Azure Disk Storage. This allows disk services to burst up to 30,000 IOPS when needed.
- Azure Gateway Load Balancer is a new managed service that routes application traffic to an appliance first to filter traffic.
- Azure Virtual Network Manager is in preview which is a new service that can provide ease of management of virtual networks across subscriptions.
- Azure Chaos Studio is a new service in preview like Chaos Monkey which is a service that disrupts applications intentionally.
- Microsoft Defender for Cloud (the new name for Azure Defender and Azure Security Center) now provides security best practices for AWS (including recommendations and now part of Secure Score)
- Support for Amazon EKS Threat Intelligence with Defender for Cloud.
- Near real-time analytics rules for Azure Sentinel
- Integration with Microsoft Azure Synapse for Azure Sentinel
Microsoft 365
- Power Automate now provides an Azure Virtual Desktop starter kit which allows to use RPA in combination with a virtual desktop.
- Power Virtual Agents update with support for always-on service, and even interact with bots in a team channel.
- Power Apps mobile apps for iOS and Android are now available in preview.
- Updated Return to the workplace Power App! Return to the Workplace (microsoft.com)
- Endpoint DLP and Insider Risk Management for Mac OS in Preview
- Azure Active Directory with expanded capabilities for Identity Governance which now supported on-prem and private cloud.
- Microsoft Defender for Business (endpoint security service with support for up to 300 end-users)
- Linux Desktop Management now in Preview
- Support for non-PKG files for Mac OS.
Microsoft Teams
- Introducing Mesh for Microsoft Teams which provides new 2D and 3D experiences for virtual meetings
- Enhanced capabilities for webinars (with virtual green rooms, co-organizers, isolated audio feed.)
- Send Message to self on Teams (now this is extremely useful!)
Azure Active Directory
- Conditional Access Device Filters
- Conditional Access App Filters
- Conditional Access for workload identity (seems like we are now moving into a full ZTNA based service)
- New additional authentication methods