Microsoft Support & Discussions

Cloud technology is at the forefront of modern computing, enabling businesses to scale, innovate, and remain competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Microsoft Learn offers cloud solution training paths to help you stay ahead of the curve in the world of IT. Take this chance to pick up the latest skills and embrace the future of IT with Microsoft Azure. In this blog we will explore the culmination of this quarter’s Microsoft Learn offerings, subdivided by business objective or personal development goals. For example, if you’re looking to wield the expanding power of AI to build exciting new solutions or modernize existing infrastructure, we have the exa…

This blog has been co-authored by Kimia Mavon and Gord Lueck. Data is the foundation of machine learning and clinical research. As healthcare organizations invest in AI-powered solutions there is an increasing need to utilize multi-modal data for various purposes such as clinical research, AI model training, and analytics. However, organizations find it hard to utilize clinical data containing Protected Health Information (PHI) and personal identifiers while still abiding by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy Rule. This privacy concern slows down potential research and insights derived from analytics because data contain…

Within an organization, inactive user accounts can persist for various reasons, including former employees, service providers, and service accounts associated with products or services. These accounts may remain inactive temporarily or for extended periods. If an account remains inactive for 90 days or more, it is more likely to remain inactive. It’s crucial to periodically review these inactive accounts and eliminate any that are unnecessary. Microsoft Entra ID Governance Access Reviews now offers the capability to detect inactive accounts effectively. Using the Entra ID Governance Access Review feature, it’s possible to identify accounts that have not been activ…

Achieving high performance requires leadership to point in the right direction, and a workforce with the right skills to adapt to any challenge. But with many companies stuck in the traditional job-based talent management model, it’s difficult to understand capabilities at the individual or organizational level. In today's fast-paced talent marketplace, the ability to identify dynamic skillsets (a set of abilities that is adaptable, flexible, and continually evolving) gives companies a more robust picture of the talent profile, going beyond the traditional norms of job title and resume data. However, this transition to a skill-based organization can be challenging, o…

Today, Microsoft unveiled new innovations within Microsoft Viva that lay a blueprint for creating high-powered organizations through intelligent employee skilling, streamlined communications, and integrated applications. But that’s not all. We’re also adding an array of capabilities throughout Viva to help employees and communicators reach new heights of productivity, engagement, and alignment across web, mobile, and app experiences. What’s new in Viva Connections Earlier this year, we introduced the ability to create multiple experiences of Viva Connections for organizations looking to provide numerous employee apps and a new ServiceNow dashboard card. And …

Starting today, Viva Goals is delivering on its promise to make the goal-setting and management process easier, more efficient, and more impactful for organizations, leaders, and employees across the globe with Copilot in Viva Goals available in private preview, as well as goal customization capabilities for Viva customers who want to leverage Viva Goals outside of the OKR framework. We also have exciting enhancements to our ADO integration available now, to make product and engineering progress updates more accurate and precise than ever in Viva Goals. Copilot in Viva Goals: Private Preview Available Now We have great news for Viva customers ref…

Amid a digitally driven business landscape that’s shaped by technology fusion and hybrid work models, the spotlight on communication compliance shines brighter than ever. Intensified by strict regulations and pervasive cross-platform communication, organizations are navigating a vast amount of data to satisfy communication compliance mandates. These heightened compliance standards also lead to increased penalties. For example, in 2022 the United States Securities and Exchange Commission imposed a combined $1.8 billion in fines on investment banking firms because employees had violated communication requirements by discussing business matters using company apps on personal…

In today’s environment the way people work has changed. Since engaged employees are 46% more likely to feel like their company communicates well, organizations are looking to change the way they communicate with their global workforce. High Performing Organizations need the ability to drive engagement and productivity through streamlined corporate communications that reach users across the many channels they are working in. Today we are announcing Microsoft Viva Amplify is now generally available. Viva Amplify is the newest addition to the Viva Suite, poised to transform the way organizations meaningfully reach and engage their employees. As businesses navigate an ev…

New eBook coming soon! Employee listening is the practice of collecting and responding to employee information and feedback through channels by which employees express their voice and engage with the organization. It focuses on mutual benefits for both employees and the organization, prioritizing trust and safeguarding individual privacy through data anonymization and aggregation. An effective holistic listening strategy provides a multi-dimensional view of the employee experience by fostering a culture of feedback and action taking to improve employee engagement and support better business performance. In a recent study, we examined surveys from over three …

As businesses around the globe consider how to define and drive high performance with next-gen AI, it couldn’t be a better moment for Microsoft Viva to join HR and IT professionals interested in learning about the latest HR technology and trends shaping the future work at HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas. Microsoft Viva at HR Tech 2023 at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas Tuesday, October 10, 2023-Friday, October 13, 2023 Microsoft booth #3425 We know that conferences can be overwhelming at times, so we’ve outlined below all the ways to connect with Microsoft Viva at HR Tech 2023, including a keynote, a breakout, demos, and booth sessions we’ve prepared fo…

Hybrid failover rights is a new benefit that allows you to run a license-free Azure SQL Managed Instance when used as a passive DR replica for your SQL Server 2022 licensed under Software Assurance (SA), or using Pay-as-you-go billing option. How the Hybrid Failover Rights benefit works The new Hybrid failover rights licensing benefit is technology agnostic. You can use any technology, such is MI link as the most advanced replication technology using Always On, or perhaps LRS, ADF, transactional replication, backup and restore, or similar to setup replication between SQL Server and Managed Instance. As long as you are using Azure SQL Managed Instance only as…

Newsworthy Highlights Announcing general availability of Universal Print in GCC/GCC High! We are excited to announce that we are bringing Universal Print to government organizations with the general availability of Universal Print in GCC/GCC High. Universal Print in GCC/GCC High aims to offer full feature parity with what exists in the commercial cloud today, while remaining compliant with certifications that are required for U.S. government organizations. Microsoft 365 Government Community Call Join Jay Leask and other members of the Government Community live on LinkedIn! Where to Start with Microsoft Teams Apps in Gov Clouds Custo…

Microsoft partners like Solver deliver transact-capable offers, which allow you to purchase directly from Azure Marketplace. Learn about this offer: [attachment=52446:name] Solver Corporate Performance Management (CPM): Solver enables better-informed business decisions with greater speed, putting all your important financial and operational data in a simple, easily accessible solution hosted on Microsoft Azure. Power up this flexible report and budget form designer to solve your unique reporting and planning needs. Continue reading...

GitHub is the home for all developers—a platform where you can share your work with the world, fork projects, collaborate with others, and create your own software. Codespaces and GitHub Copilot set the stage for a new era of developer productivity, enabling you to focus on what matters most: your code. Register to the GitHub Universe Cloud Skills Challenge and start your exciting journey in AI! Whether you’re beginning or looking to change your career, this learning experience is designed to introduce you to some of the most requested GitHub tools for AI beginners, and to explore new opportunities. Register now to the challenge and discover new AI essential tools:…

Artificial Intelligence is advancing at an astonishing pace, poised to transform our daily lives in ways we can hardly imagine. Do you have a brilliant idea for an AI project? Are you eager to turn that vision into a reality? Look no further because the "Tips and Tricks to Bring Your AI Idea to Life" series is here to guide you on your journey! REGISTER NOW! Join Abril Ureña and I (Cynthia Zanoni) in this 30-minute weekly series as we embark on an exciting exploration of the robust tools and cutting-edge technologies offered by Microsoft. These tools will serve as your trusted companions in the development of your AI projects. In each episode, we …

Site infrastructure Introducing SQL ODBC driver support for Configuration Manager Starting with Configuration Manager 2309 release, Configuration Manager requires the installation of the ODBC driver for SQL server 18.1.0 or later as a prerequisite. This prerequisite is required when you create a new site or update an existing one and on all remote roles. Important Microsoft ODBC Driver for SQL Server 18.1.0 or later needs to be installed on Site Servers and site system roles before upgrading to 2309 version. Do not uninstall SQL native client 11 until we call out in further communications. Configuration Manager doesn't manage the updates for t…

Authors: Jerry Steele, Senior Product Manager We're thrilled to introduce the public preview of VMSS Zonal Expansion. This feature enables you to take regionally (non-zonal) configured VMs and distribute across Azure availability zones in a zonal configuration, enhancing your business continuity and resilience with minimal disruption and potentially increasing your availability SLA from 99.95% to 99.99%. Azure availability zones are distinct data centers within a region, each with its unique power, network, and cooling system. Azure ensures the highest SLA guarantees for VMs distributed across multiple availability zones, otherwise known as a zonal redundan…

Azure Lab Services requires RDP & SSH access to connect to the lab template and student virtual machines (this applies whether using advanced networking or not). There are a common set of issues and pitfalls that affect the connectivity for students & teachers to their lab resources. Fundamentally, the service needs an unobstructed network path from the individual (Chromebook, iPad, PC, Mac, etc.) to their virtual machine in Azure to complete the connection. This can be impacted/affected by many things. The troubleshooting steps below include areas to check throughout the path of connectivity. Other Troubleshooting Guides There is an Azure Troubleshooting …

We are excited to announce that we are rolling out a new homepage for the Search & intelligence admin portal, the central place to learn and administer Microsoft Search capabilities for your organization. The new homepage provides you with a single entry point to access a range of Microsoft Search features and functions, such as Graph connectors, user feedback, Microsoft Search educational content, and more. The new homepage also helps you discover new ways to enhance your search experience and monitor feature status. About the new Admin experience The new homepage is designed to be intuitive and user-friendly, allowing you to quickly access and view the …

Overview Managed Applications provide a powerful deployment model that enables publishers to install software solutions into the customer’s tenant using an ARM template. More about Managed Applications can be learned in my previous article on the topic or in this full-length on-demand course from Mastering the Marketplace. A popular capability of Managed Applications is metered billing. Metered billing is charging for usage, or transactions above and beyond the standard price of the Managed Application. An example is an optical character recognition (OCR) company that charges a base price of $100 monthly for their product and an additional $0.01 per page s…

As many of you know, Windows Server 2012 is reaching end-of-support (EoS) on October 10, 2023. Extended Security enabled by Azure Arc is the best way for customers to get trusted security updates and benefit from cloud capabilities including discovery, management, and patching, all in one offering. We've created a step-by-step demo showing you how to create your ESU license in the Azure Portal and modify your existing cores if you end up migrating or upgrading your Windows Server version. If you are unsure on how to license for ESU, please review the Azure Arc Enabled ESU Licensing Explained video located below. First, customers should start with enabling A…

Taking your machine learning (ML) models from local development into production can be challenging and time consuming. It requires creating a HTTP layer above your model to process incoming requests, integrate with logging services, and handle errors safely. What’s more, the code required for pre- and post-processing, model loading, and model inference vary across models and must integrate smoothly with the HTTP layer. Today, we are excited to announce the General Availability (GA) and open sourcing of the Azure Machine Learning Inference Server. This easy-to-use python package provides an extensible HTTP layer that enables you to rapidly prepare your ML models fo…

Prevent security breaches before they occur with Microsoft Defender for Cloud. Advanced cloud security protection goes beyond general security recommendations and provides predictive and future-facing defense, so users can prioritize security based on connected risks, visualize potential attack paths, and identify vulnerabilities and misconfigurations that attackers might exploit. Recommendations are ranked based on severity and potential impact, so users can focus on the most critical issues first. Adwait Joshi, Cloud Security Senior Director, shows how users can set up and improve their cloud security posture using Microsoft Defender for Cloud. M…

The App Service and Application Insights team are happy to announce the Public Preview of Application Insights Auto-Instrumentation for Node.js on Windows Container web applications! You can monitor your applications with Application Insights Auto-Instrumentation without changing your code. When enabled, the App Service platform will configure and attach the agent to the application in your container. You can start seeing data such as requests, logs, and traces in your Application Insights resource. You can analyze the data and set up alerts within the Application Insights resource. Auto-Instrumentation for Windows Containers on App Service now supports web applica…