Microsoft Ignite 2019 – Data is knowledge, and knowledge is power! For several years, Microsoft has been working hard to make data, and in particular big data converging in companies, accessible and usable. In his keynote speech at Microsoft Ignite 2019 in Orlando, Satya Nadella made announcements about the innovations from Microsoft that with speed, integration and intelligence will mark the beginning of a new data age.

Here are the 5 most important announcements from Satya Nadella’s keynote speech – directly from Microsoft Ignite.

“We want every organization to be a digital software company. And that means you all need to have the capabilities to be able to turn every organization into a digital company. In fact, our goal is to commoditize digital tech. We don’t want it to be just the province of a few companies in the West Coast of the United States or the East Coast of China.”

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

1. Azure Arc: Data management with Azure in any infrastructure and cloud environment

Azure Arc is Microsoft’s latest cloud computing solution that enables Azure services to be used anywhere and in any existing infrastructure. This unifies and consolidates management, governance and controlling across multiple clouds, local data centers and beyond the edge. This in turn enables unified and scalable auditing, compliance and role-based access control across multiple environments. As a result, customers can equip any type of infrastructure with cloud management and security protection. These benefits can also be leveraged with existing resources in Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services without any migration efforts.

“Azure Arc really marks the beginning of this new era of hybrid computing where there is a control plane, built for multi-cloud, multi-edge. And not only that, but we for the first time support managed data services to be anywhere your compute is.”

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

2. Azure Synapse Analytics: a limitless analysis service combining traditional data warehousing and big data analytics

Azure Synapse is the evolution of SQL Data Warehouse that outshines everything that has existed before in terms of performance and functionality. Synapse combines data connections with data warehouses in one system and thus ensures fast, simple and comprehensive analyses. It can execute queries on structured and unstructured data. With its ability to handle up to 10,000 users simultaneously, Synapse also enables enterprise-class big data analysis.

“We want to bring together what until today have been two separate categories?data warehousing and big data.”

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

3. Project Cortex: AI strengthens employees and teams with knowledge, training and expertise

Project Cortex uses the latest developments in the field of AI to automatically and logically categorize all content within the corporate network by topics and thus form the basis for a knowledge network. This makes knowledge transparent and accessible. Experts on specific topics can be identified quickly and easily using keywords. AI services also support the transfer and deepening of professional knowledge with interactive learning experiences.

“You’re using your devices, you’re using these applications, you’re creating perhaps the most valuable data. We want to convert that into knowledge that accrues on a continuous basis. This is again putting your data to work for you.”

Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO

4. Project Silica: Permanent data storage on glass

Project Silica is an ongoing R&D project from Microsoft Research for the storage of data on quartz glass, in which for the first time an entire cinema film could be stored on a glass data carrier. This new method offers enormous advantages over previous glass storage concepts and is part of a major investment by Azure in the development of the next generation of storage media. Glass Storage offers a viable, virtually indestructible and truly long-term storage solution.

5. Microsoft Azure Quantum: Computing Power for a New Age

Satya also announced Microsoft’s own quantum computer initiative, Microsoft Azure Quantum. The world’s most scalable quantum system will provide the computing power needed to solve the most pressing problems of our time. Leading cryptographers from Microsoft Research are developing quantum-resistant public-key cryptography algorithms and protocols to prepare customers and data centers around the world for a quantum future.

Would you like to know more about how these new Microsoft technologies might impact your situation and what opportunities they offer for your business? Our experts have all the information and advice!