Microsoft fine tunes customization and support for new models in Azure AI

AI has been transforming problem-solving and creativity across various industries, offering groundbreaking solutions that range from generating realistic images to crafting human-like text. Its capabilities demonstrate immense potential, but to unlock its full power, customization is essential. Recognizing this, Microsoft Azure AI has been continuously fine-tuning its models and introducing new customization options, empowering businesses to tailor AI solutions to meet their specific needs and drive innovation.

Microsoft Azure AI new customization features:

• Access top-tier generative AI models with the new fine-tuning capabilities for Azure OpenAI Service GPT-4o and GPT-4o mini.

• Select from a wide range of AI models, including Phi-3.5-MoE-instruct and SDAIA's ALLaM-2-7B, to quickly prototype and evaluate business needs.

• Strengthen AI privacy and security with the upcoming Azure OpenAI Data Zones.

• Ensure full network isolation in Azure AI Studio to prevent external entities from accessing internal resources.

• Build responsible AI by addressing hallucinations in real-time and detecting protected material in code.

Azure Boards September 2024 updates

Microsoft consistently strives to innovate and refine its products to empower project managers in optimizing their workflows and productivity. They introduced several new features and enhancements to Azure Boards, further streamlining project management processes this September 2024.

Azure Boards September 2024 new features and enhancements:

• Area and iteration level fields: Now available to all organizations using the New Boards Hub for more refined project tracking.

• Permanently delete work items: Secure your data by permanently removing attachments to resolve potential security risks.

• Streamlined GitHub integration: Automate your GitHub repository connections with three new REST API endpoints, simplifying your workflows.

• Enhanced GitHub pull requests: Quickly access linked work items via AB# links without digging through descriptions or comments.

• Coming soon: Easily track pull request status (draft, needs review, or running status checks) directly from the work item.

Dark Mode for Power BI Desktop rolls out following high user demand

Microsoft has officially launched the highly anticipated dark mode for Power BI Desktop, part of its Power Platform suite. Responding to overwhelming demand from users, the tech giant aims to enhance the user experience by reducing eye strain, especially for those working long hours on data analytics. This long-requested feature reflects Microsoft's ongoing commitment to improving accessibility and customization in its business tools.

Here are what Power BI Desktop users need to know about this new feature:

• Sleek & easy on the eyes: Dark Mode reduces eye strain and helps you stay focused, perfect for late-night work or those who prefer a darker interface.

• Personalized experience: Customize your data visualization with 4 themes, including Dark Mode, Light Mode, and system-based settings.

• How to enable: Go to Files > Options and settings > Options > Global > Report settings > Personalization > Dark Mode.

• Broad coverage: Dark Mode applies to Home, Report, Table, Model, DAX query views, and more.

Generative AI enhances human skills in CRM to boost sales

Sales success has always hinged on human interaction—fostering familiarity, comfort, and trust. Yet, as new players flood the industry, competition has intensified. To stay ahead, sales teams need tools like Dynamics 365 Sales, which streamline transactions while preserving the essential human touch. In today’s market, leveraging AI is no longer optional but vital for gaining a competitive edge. Microsoft has outlined key ways AI can enhance sales performance without compromising human skills.

Here’s how AI boosts customer relationship management:

• AI goes beyond content creation—it's fine-tuned to address specific customer needs and pain points, ensuring your clients feel understood and valued.

• Copilot takes care of note-taking during calls, generating summaries so sellers can focus on real-time interactions, reading the room, and reacting to subtle context clues.

• AI can analyze potential leads from the earliest stages of the sales process, helping your team zero in on high-value targets with precision.

• AI helps prioritize prospects by pulling in historical CRM data, market insights, news, and recent developments involving key decision-makers.

• AI quickly generates personalized, high-quality emails with clear structure and active language to boost engagement in every interaction.

5 reasons to adopt a multi-region strategy on Azure for business success

Azure is enhancing its global presence by diversifying its regional offerings across countries and continents. This strategic expansion responds to the dynamic cloud landscape, which continually presents new innovations, challenges, and opportunities. In light of this growth, Azure highlights five key benefits of adopting a multi-region strategy for businesses and organizations. The Azure platform enables seamless expansion, access to new markets, and the ability to leverage cutting-edge technologies—all while offering competitive pricing in an ever-evolving digital landscape.

5 benefits of adopting a multi-region strategy on Azure:

• Scalability and Flexibility: Access a diverse range of Azure offerings tailored to meet your evolving cloud needs.

• Resilience and Availability: Minimize the impact of disruptions and data loss with multiple backup and recovery options across various regions.

• Performance and Reduced Latency: Enhance service speed and responsiveness by positioning your data and applications closer to users.

• Full Control: Select the optimal location for your data and applications from 60 datacenter regions in 35 countries.

• Seamless Adoption: Effortlessly develop and implement your organization’s strategies with the Cloud Adoption Framework.

5 powerful ways low-code and AI are transforming IT teams

IT teams often find themselves bogged down by repetitive tasks, leaving little time for strategic work. As a result, immediate issues take priority while long-term projects get sidelined. To address this, Microsoft has outlined five ways AI and low-code development tools can revolutionize IT workflows. With intuitive app-building capabilities and conversational language prompts, these tools empower both beginners and experts to quickly create custom solutions tailored to the unique challenges of their IT departments.

Here are 5 ways enumerated by Microsoft:

• Offload repetitive tasks like document retrieval with custom AI assistants in Power Platform.

• Securely streamline employee password resets with multi-factor authentication and biometric checks.

• Empower employees with a self-service help desk, built using Copilot Studio, for fast troubleshooting.

• Delegate tasks to the right people with AI, ensuring timely resolution of critical issues.

• Automatically log service tickets and provide real-time status updates with AI in Power Platform and Copilot Studio.

Microsoft unveils enhanced AI capabilities in Power Automate at the Power Platform Community Conference

At the recent Power Platform Community Conference, Microsoft introduced a new set of AI-driven capabilities in Power Automate, designed to revolutionize the way developers approach automation. These enhancements reflect the Power Automate team's commitment to empowering developers with cutting-edge, reliable, and value-driven solutions. The latest features aim to streamline workflows, enabling developers to achieve more with less effort.

Some of the newest set of AI capabilities in Power Automate:

• Create your desktop flow effortlessly by simply sharing your screen and describing the task you want to automate using Record with Copilot now in public preview.

• Build or enhance your flows by simply describing what you want to automate, now available in public preview.

• Create AI orchestrated action within your automation with generative actions known as AI flow.

• Streamline your workflow by expanding two action panes in the cloud flows designer for easy copying and comparison.

• Enhance your efficiency by selecting team members directly from the dropdown in the people picker for email, approval, and Teams actions.

5 ways Microsoft Azure empowers IT teams in the education sector

In response to the pressing challenges faced by the education sector, Microsoft has stepped up to equip schools with the tools and resources necessary for creating a more inclusive, equitable, and effective learning environment. With Microsoft Azure's AI-powered, secure, and flexible solutions, educational institutions can adapt to new realities, streamline operations, and safeguard sensitive information for both students and faculty against cyber threats.

5 ways Microsoft Azure empowers IT teams in the education sector:

• Personalized Learning: Use AI to create tailored academic content and self-service portals, enhancing the student experience.

• Maximize Data Impact: Centralize your data, breaking down silos to focus on innovation and education.

• Scalable Solutions: Azure’s flexible cloud services adapt to your school’s growth, optimizing costs and efficiency.

• Customized Support: Get resources, expert advice, and extensive coverage designed for your university’s unique needs.

• Seamless & Secure Access: Keep students and staff connected with virtual desktops, secure backups, and disaster recovery.

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.