In-Depth
Microsoft Ignite 2024: The 10 Essential Sessions for IT Pros
Get a crash course on Windows Server 2025, brush up on your Entra know-how, find out what's up with AI agents, and learn how to secure it all because the ransomware is definitely coming.
Ignite, Microsoft's big end-of-the-year conference, is always a good bellwether for where the tech industry is headed in coming year. If the 2024 session catalog is anything to go by, the 2025 IT picture will be dominated by AI-driven efficiency, automation and security. Below, in no particular order, are our picks for the best sessions to catch at next week's event in Chicago.
Windows Server 2025: New Ways To Gain Cloud Agility and Security
"What difference will Windows Server 2025 make for your business? Through demos and discussions with both engineers and executives, you'll be among the first to see new features in security, hybrid and edge innovations with Azure Arc, and even AI and ML use cases made possible through GPU partitioning. Learn how your team can scale quickly, save time on tasks like patching, get more from Windows Server in Azure, and gain efficiencies with storage and business-critical workloads like SQL Server."
Inside Azure Innovations with Mark Russinovich
"Join Mark Russinovich, CTO and Technical Fellow of Microsoft Azure. Mark will take you on a tour of the latest innovations in Azure architecture and explain how Azure enables intelligent, modern, and innovative applications at scale in the cloud, on-premises, and on the edge."
Boost Security and IT Efficiency with Microsoft Security Copilot
"Join us for an interactive lab to experience Microsoft Security Copilot in action. Through expert-led simulations, explore how generative AI streamlines incident response, expedites troubleshooting, and enhances decision-making across security and IT. Test-drive Security Copilot and see firsthand how it helps teams identify, respond to, and mitigate threats efficiently. Ideal for security professionals eager to experience the real-world impact of generative AI in security & IT."
Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect Lab – Infrastructure Security
"Learn how to utilize Microsoft Secure Score to improve your security posture by managing recommendations and delegating actions. Establish secure networking using Azure App Proxy and Entra ID to ensure secure access to file servers using Global Secure Access. Design and implement policies to restrict the storage of company data on unmanaged devices with Data Loss Prevention. Deploy endpoint security baseline policies, antivirus on macOS devices, and encrypt macOS devices to secure endpoints."
AI-Driven Ransomware Protection at Machine Speed: Defender for Endpoint
"Over the past year, we saw a 2.75x rise in ransomware attacks, but a >3x decline in the number of Defender for Endpoint customers that were encrypted. Discover a key secret to this success, automatic attack disruption, which stops attacks at machine speed using industry-leading machine learning and threat intelligence. Since servers are a key target in ransomware attacks, we'll also discuss disruption on servers. Discover how to make the most of new features and UI."
Intune Cloud-Native Management: Prepare for AI and Next-Gen Cloud PCs
"Now with complete visibility across your physical and virtual device inventory in Microsoft Intune, empower your IT teams with full device context and AI assistance for expert, simplified management. Secure by default, the new generation of AI PCs are here. Learn why a cloud native approach is the way to build a foundation for your AI-enabled future."
Secure Access for Your Workforce with the New Microsoft Entra Suite
"Identity is your first line of defense. But when identity and network access solutions operate in isolation and not in tandem, they can lead to increased complexity and inconsistent policies. Join us to learn how unifying Conditional Access across identities and network can help simplify your Zero Trust architecture. Find out how the Microsoft Entra Suite can streamline employee onboarding, modernize remote access and secure access to on-premises applications and internet resources."
Building Intelligent Multi-Agent Systems with Azure AI
"Explore how Azure AI seamlessly integrates with agents to create intelligent, responsive systems. We'll open up the session with Thermo Fisher who has created a multi-agent system to query across a vast store of disparate data. Marco and Mads will then walk you through the latest advancements in Azure AI, offering practical examples and best practices for implementing AI agents in various business contexts."
Community Roundtable: Autonomous Agents
"AI doesn't have to start with a textbox! With Azure AI Agent Service, you can now trigger business processes automation with LLMs from any of your existing apps and services. In this roundtable, we'll discuss various business processes, how agents can uniquely drive productivity, and how you can ultimately measure agent impact and ROI. Most importantly, we'll discuss how to do all of this in a safe, secure, and scalable way. Come for the agents, stay for the automation!"
Migrate To Build, Run, and Secure Generative AI
"AI is only as good as the apps it infuses into, the data it uses to model and train, and the infrastructure that powers it. Is your technology estate ready to scale and innovate with AI? Learn how migrating to Azure enables faster time-to-value and code-to-security for your AI solutions at scale. See new capabilities, testimonials and end-to-end demos of migration to Azure, creating a GenAI app in Azure OpenAI Service, and securing it in the cloud with Microsoft Defender for Cloud."
Microsoft Ignite 2024 kicks off on Nov. 18 online and in-person (Chicago, Ill.).