Microsoft Azure Public IPs are now zone-redundant by default

Microsoft Azure has announced that Public IP addresses are now zone-redundant by default. This significant upgrade enhances the reliability of inbound and outbound internet connectivity for your Azure resources. Effective immediately, unless a specific zone is selected during deployment, Standard Public IPs will automatically benefit from zone redundancy, offering improved availability and resilience for services such as Virtual Machines and Virtual Machine Scale Sets. This update marks a major step forward in ensuring consistent and dependable network performance.

Automatic zone-redundancy for Azure Public IPs benefits:

• Deploy zone-redundant Azure Standard Public IPs automatically at no additional cost.

• Benefit from support across any of the three zones in case of an outage, enhancing application resiliency.

• Save time and headaches in migrating your workloads to zone-redundant architectures with automatic setup.

• Enjoy default zone redundancy for public IPs in 12 regions, with more to come soon.

Get an up-to-date region list in this Public IP documentation.

Microsoft Certification exams new pricing effective November 1, 2024

Microsoft is committed to evolving its certification portfolio to ensure that learners worldwide stay current with the latest technologies. As artificial intelligence skills become increasingly vital in today’s job market, the company is updating its exam content to help certification holders remain competitive. Along with these updates, there will also be adjustments to exam pricing effective November 1, 2024, reflecting the enhanced value and relevance of the certifications for critical roles that use Microsoft Power Platform, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, and Azure.

Professionals seeking to take certifications in any of Microsoft services and apps like Azure, Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft Power Platform should take note of the following:

• Microsoft continually evolves its certifications to keep learners aligned with the latest technologies.

• New pricing is designed to reflect industry standards and best practices.

• Pricing will vary based on the country or region where the exam is taken.

• Current price of certification exams is still implemented until October 31, 2024.

View the full list of prices here.

Copilot enhances IT governance controls for AI solutions

The adoption of generative AI to boost productivity is growing rapidly across organizations. Now, businesses can even create custom AI solutions tailored to their specific needs, enabling seamless integration and enhanced functionality—capabilities that Microsoft 365 Copilot excels at. Microsoft has expanded Copilot’s features, empowering administrators with enhanced tools to govern and manage their generative AI solutions effectively.

Here are some key governance features:

• Manage Copilots and agents with clear guidelines, visibility, and controls in the Power Platform admin center.

• Ensure data security and compliance by managing Power Platform connectors.

• Set policies in Microsoft Copilot Studio to block anonymous access, publishing, and more.

• Restrict Copilot sharing to a select group of users in preview mode ahead of its public release.

• Create environment groups, set rules, and route makers to personal development environments for building Copilots.

Total Economic Impact of Power Apps Premium key findings

Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct an independent study titled Total Economic Impact of Power Apps. The study involved interviews with 13 representatives from organizations that have invested in Power Apps Premium and other components of the Power Platform. It highlights the significant impact these organizations experienced over three years of using Power Apps.

Total Economic Impact of Power Apps key findings:

• Over 1 million hours saved through user efficiency on high-impact use cases by the third year.

• Professional developers cut app development time by 50%, improving governance, reducing shadow IT, and enhancing employee experience.

• Customers recouped their initial investment within six months, achieving a 206% ROI.

• Developers using Copilot in Power Apps had a 60% higher success rate, and 70% of Microsoft 365 Copilot users reported increased productivity.

August 2024 Power Automate for desktop updates

Every month, Microsoft releases updates for Power Platform’s Power Automate for desktop, highlighting their dedication to continuously improving the product. These updates make developers' work easier and faster, with expanded access to powerful new features. Microsoft also encourages user engagement by offering opportunities for questions and feedback, driving ongoing innovation.

Key feature updates on Power Platform’s Power Automate for Desktop:

• Run Subflow Action now allows dynamic subflow invocation using variables with the new "Input as expression" property.

• Log Message Action now supports messages up to 10,000 characters, increasing log capacity.

• Log size limits have also been expanded for DOS, VBScript, JavaScript, PowerShell, Python, and .NET script actions.

• Installation issues can now be diagnosed with the troubleshooter tool.

Download the latest Power Automate for Desktop here.

Microsoft case study key findings on the impact of Power Automate to businesses

Microsoft commissioned the 2024 Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact study to showcase how customers have cut operational costs and boosted productivity with Power Automate. By consolidating automation into a single platform, customers saved an estimated USD 9.5 million over legacy systems, cutting licensing costs and simplifying management. Interviewed customers reported a substantial three-year ROI of 248%, a payback period of under six months, and a net present value (NPV) of USD 39.85 million.

2024 Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact key findings:

• Employees handling high-volume tasks like data entry, invoicing, or document gathering saw the biggest impact from Power Automate’s RPA, saving 200 hours annually.

• Expanding RPA across more use cases can deliver 40% more value to the organization from medium-impact scenarios.

• Customers gain USD 31.3 million in time savings from extended automation, on top of the USD 13.2 million saved through RPA.

• With Power Apps and Power Automate, customers can build low-code apps that engage employees and deliver tailored experiences.

• Power Automate enables organizations to boost operational efficiency, reduce costs, and improve ROI.

August 2024 Power Apps updates summary

Stay up to date with the latest in Power Apps! In the August 2024 update, Microsoft introduced exciting Copilot enhancements, key features now in general availability for makers, and a comprehensive set of learning and documentation updates. These updates are designed to keep the Power Apps community informed and provide everything you need in one convenient place.

Here are some of the August 2024 Power Apps update:

• Easily filter, sort, and search canvas app galleries connected to SharePoint lists using Copilot.

• Power Fx now supports calling SQL Server stored procedures, with this feature generally available across all regions.

• Manage app users more efficiently with the new, GA Application Users page in the Power Platform admin center.

• Remove stub, unlicensed, or deleted Microsoft Entra group users from the Dataverse environment.

• Learning and documentation updates have been made to Power Apps training, developer, and admin modules.

Access the full list here.

Microsoft 365 leaders talks how generative AI transforms the customer service industry

Colette Stallbaumer, General Manager of Microsoft 365 and Future of Work, recently spoke with Mala Anand, Corporate Vice President for Customer Experience and Success at Microsoft, about how AI solutions like Microsoft Copilot are transforming customer service operations. The days when increasing call capacity was the only solution for handling more inquiries and complex customer needs are over. With generative AI, such as Copilot integrated into Dynamics 365 Customer Service, businesses can efficiently manage surges in customer demand and leverage insights to help leaders enhance their own customer support experiences.

Discover how generative AI, like Microsoft Copilot, can enhance customer service operations:

• Simplifies complex information for quicker onboarding of new hires.

• Speeds up issue resolution by providing relevant information with sources.

• Generates case summaries and email communications quickly without compromising quality.

• Offers self-help resources to reduce the workload on customer service teams.

Microsoft Learn launches blog series to boost Copilot and Microsoft 365 Skills

Businesses are increasingly adopting Copilot and Microsoft 365 to boost productivity, streamline tasks, and enhance collaboration. To help organizations integrate these tools, Microsoft Learn has launched a blog series that offers step-by-step guidance for upskilling teams and maximizing the potential of Copilot within the Microsoft 365 environment. This resource provides a practical roadmap for improving workflows and driving efficiency, enabling companies to fully leverage the power of these tools.

Check out Microsoft Learn’s latest blog series, packed with updates, resources, and opportunities to enhance your technical expertise in Copilot and Microsoft 365:

• Kickstart your Copilot journey with resources like the Copilot Lab, Copilot Success Kit, User Enablement Toolkit, Microsoft Scenario Library, and the “What’s New in Copilot” blog series.

• Discover how to leverage Copilot for your business with guides like the Copilot Success Kit for Small and Medium Businesses and “Grow Your Business with Copilot and Microsoft 365.”

• Maximize your use of Copilot in Microsoft 365 by exploring the latest learning paths available on Microsoft Learn.

• Dive into technical videos on Microsoft Mechanics, tailored for IT pros, solution architects, tech enthusiasts, and more.

• Uncover additional resources for developers, including the Microsoft 365 Developer Center and guides on extending Microsoft Copilot within Microsoft 365.

Microsoft shares exciting updates with VMware Solutions

Leaders managing cloud and hybrid infrastructures continually seek efficient, integrated solutions to enhance their operations. Microsoft’s Azure VMware Solution offers just that—a seamless way to extend or migrate your VMware environments to Azure while ensuring operational consistency. With regular updates, Microsoft continues to enhance this solution, making it even more powerful and adaptable to evolving business needs.

Some of VMware Solutions updates:

• AVS is now available in 33 regions, including Switzerland North, Italy North, UAE North, and India Central.

• Azure VMware Solution has been approved for inclusion as a service within the DoD SRG Impact Level 4 Provisional Authorization (PA) in Azure Government.

• NetApp and Broadcom customers can simplify their VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) hybrid cloud environments by utilizing NetApp ONTAP software for all storage needs.

• Customers can now leverage Spot Eco by NetApp with AVS reserved instances to efficiently extend vSphere workloads to the cloud.

• Enhance disaster recovery and ransomware protection with Azure VMware Solution and Jetstream.