News


Microsoft and SAP, Longtime Azure Partners, Turn Focus to Teams

Microsoft and SAP this week announced plans to integrate Microsoft Teams with SAP solutions, a notable expansion of their existing collaboration around Microsoft Azure.

Microsoft Open License Deadline Applies to Education and Government, Too

The January 2022 end date for Microsoft's "Open License program" applies to government, education and nonprofit organizations, not just commercial customers.

With Remote Work Here To Stay, Microsoft Talks Up Teams and SharePoint

At a talk this week, a top Microsoft executive described the role of Teams and SharePoint in a world of remote-work environments.

Microsoft Reminds Teams Laggards that Skype for Business Is on Borrowed Time

Microsoft is touting the benefits of Teams in an effort to convince users of Skype for Business, which stands to lose support in a few months, to migrate.

Microsoft 365 Defender Added to FastTrack Program

FastTrack, Microsoft's onboarding support program for organizations, now covers Microsoft 365 Defender security solutions.

Microsoft Promises To Raise Azure AD Uptime to 99.99 Percent

Starting April 1, Microsoft plans to increase its service-level agreement (SLA) for Azure Active Directory to "four nines" of uptime -- or 99.99 percent -- each month.

Old Fashioned Mics

Top 10 Microsoft News of 2020: Product Milestones Amid COVID-19

Microsoft releases continued apace even as the pandemic upended business plans throughout the year.

Top 10 Microsoft Partner Blogs of 2020: MPN Priority Shakeup, Adapting to COVID-19, More

With COVID-19 changing the way customers do business, the pandemic's impact on partners was a hot topic for readers this year.

Microsoft 365 Apps Now Compatible with Apple M1 Chips

Microsoft this week announced that its Office 2019 and Microsoft 365 apps are now able to run on Mac devices using Apple's M1 silicon.

Microsoft Launches Azure Stack HCI

Azure Stack HCI is now generally available from Microsoft, in conjunction with its hardware partners.

SharePoint Logo

SharePoint Usage Hits 200 Million with Raft of Key Features on the Way

SharePoint Online now has 200 million active users, according to Microsoft officials, double what it had about a year ago.

After Two-Year Preview, Microsoft Launches Azure Digital Twins

Microsoft's Azure Digital Twins service for modeling physical environments is now generally available over two years after being released as a preview.

New Microsoft Teams Hardware, 'Device as a Service' Purchasing Portal Coming

New devices for making Microsoft Teams conference calls are coming down the pipeline from Microsoft hardware partners.

Microsoft Announces Milestones for Data Tools Azure Synapse and Azure Purview

Microsoft this week described release milestones for several of its emerging cloud data management products.

In Challenge to Microsoft, Salesforce Acquires Slack for $27 Billion

Salesforce has announced its intent to acquire Slack for an estimated $27.7 billion in a deal that would fuse two of Microsoft's biggest rivals in the business applications space.

Small Orgs Getting Simplified Microsoft 365 Admin Center Option

Microsoft is preparing to roll out a more stripped-down Microsoft 365 Admin Center interface designed for "very small businesses."

Microsoft Pulls Productivity Score Feature After Privacy Concerns

The ability to show user names in Microsoft 365 Productivity Score has been removed in response to concerns that it may be used to snoop on employees.

Microsoft Details Coming SharePoint, Microsoft 365 Improvements

Microsoft is readying a bunch of Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Online improvements, including a new "My Feed" Web Part and more Microsoft Graph connectors.

Windows Autopilot for HoloLens 2 Hits Preview

Windows Autopilot, Microsoft's PC self-provisioning program, is now being tested for use with the company's mixed-reality headset, the HoloLens 2.

Signs Point to Microsoft Charging for Use of APIs

There are indications that Microsoft is mulling charging customers for software that uses its application programming interfaces.