Taking place between November 18 and 22 2024 at Chicago’s McCormick Place West Building, with online access between November 19 and 21, Microsoft Ignite 2024 looks set to reshape how we use Microsoft’s cloud technologies and servers.
Previous years have delivered new features for Microsoft Azure, and previewed some of the AI developments that we now take for granted in Microsoft Copilot. This year promises some more new features, as well as clarity over some previously revealed products.
While the event is sold out for in-person tickets, you can still sign up to view various speeches, talks, and demonstrations on the Microsoft Ignite 2024 registration page. This will give you online access to a limited collection of nevertheless important sessions.
But before you do that, here are five things you can expect to see at Microsoft Ignite 2024.
The cloud, of course!
It might have become a little unclear over the past few years, but Ignite is essentially a Microsoft Azure event. And hiding behind every AI-powered web service is a cloud server. So, Ignite is going to have quite a bit of focus on Microsoft Azure.
These days, Azure itself is spread across several products. In particular, Azure Arc, Azure Monitor, Microsoft Copilot in Azure, and Azure Backup will feature at Ignite.
Meanwhile, the Azure Arc adaptive cloud management system is likely to feature strongly. This uses AI assistance to manage various assets – wherever they are, or whatever type of endpoint they may be – using a single control plane. Along with that control, each asset has associated data which can also be accessed, monitored, and reported on.
Breakout sessions, live demos, and hands-on sessions have been scheduled for Azure cloud services at Ignite 2024. Microsoft is clearly very positive about Azure Arc, so it will be interesting to see how it is received.
AI almost everywhere
It’s difficult to switch on a device these days without being greeted by the offer of some form of artificial intelligence enhancement. But while AI has been recognizable as a seemingly stand-alone feature, often accessible through a dedicated app or service, it is now more widely integrated.
Ignite 2024 will be dominated by AI, whether in the form of new features in Microsoft Copilot, demonstrations on how AI is used by Microsoft and its partners, or in how it enhances Azure.
Almost every scheduled session at the event includes an element of AI. One particularly interesting event, Azure AI platform unlocking the AI revolution, to be conducted by Asha Sharma, stands out. Meanwhile, other talks (such as Transform your business with Azure AI and Microsoft Fabric) demonstrate how AI is now permeating everything from server security to business intelligence.
AI can now manage server security and help in the development of new KPIs. This looks set to become more widely understood at Ignite 2024.
Copilot: single app, or a brand?
Microsoft Copilot has become one of the most recognizable names in AI, thanks to its integration in Windows 11 and Microsoft Teams. However, a lack of specificity over what Copilot is and does has lead to come confusion.
While the initial Copilot chatbot app was integrated in Windows 11 earlier in 2024, and standalone apps for Android and iOS are available, there is more to it. The Copilot name is essentially a brand for a range of AI-related products, from chatbots and assistants to server tools. Microsoft is enhancing AI provision on Azure and Windows Server, aiming towards improved security and business intelligence features, for example. These enhancements are referred to as Copilot, but its quite a different implementation to the tool you find on your phone.
This confusion seems to have been noticed at Microsoft, and it is likely that things will be cleared up concerning Copilot at this year’s Microsoft Ignite. By the end of it, everyone should know what Copilot is.
Selling Microsoft Places as a solution
Announced in 2022, Microsoft Places has yet to make a real impact, but that could be about to change with Ignite 2024.
Like Copilot, some confusion has surrounded Microsoft Places. It’s fair to say that awareness of the product has been limited. Given that it is essentially an extension of the Outlook/Microsoft 365 calendar that adds office-based AI time management, it’s perhaps unusual that it hasn’t gained better traction. Microsoft Places’ AI element uses Copilot to manage office space for hotdesking, meeting room availability, and even telling personnel where they should be.
Microsoft will almost certainly be adding some zing to Microsoft Places at Ignite 2024.
Windows Server 2025
One of Microsoft’s longest-running products, Windows Server is almost certainly going to play a massive role at Ignite 2024. It is at the heart of almost everything Microsoft does in the cloud, from storage to Microsoft 365, Azure, Azure Arc, and of course the artificial intelligence and machine learning behind it.
Essentially, everything that Ignite is about is build on Windows Server, and with the new version out now, Microsoft Ignite 2024 is a great opportunity for attendees to see what is new in Windows Server 2025.
What else is at Ignite 2024?
It’s pretty difficult to compress the most promising aspects of a four day event into just five headings.
Microsoft Ignite 2024 has so much more going on, not least the presence of pretty much every Microsoft-adjacent tech company that you can name.
Slack, Nvidia, IBM, and so many others will be present, all highlighting how they use Azure, Copilot, and other Microsoft cloud and server technologies.
However, the one event that could shape the event entirely is Satya Nadella’s keynote speech. The Microsoft chairman and CEO has a strong background in cloud technology, something that has helped the organization lead the cloud revolution and underpin delivery for SaaS providers.
Scheduled for 2pm local time on Tuesday, November 19, Nadella’s keynote will be important viewing for anyone interested in cloud, AI, and enterprise computing.