Ahead of Microsoft's Inspire 2019 partner conference, the tech giant has published a news round-up regarding new investments in various programs. The investments are primarily aimed toward improving the company's partner engagement in the cloud era.
There have been some improvements to current programs today, as well as introduction of new ones. Microsoft unveiled new features for Teams, along with the announcement that it had crossed the 13 million users mark. The service is now also available with existing Office 365 ProPlus installations. Moving on, new integrations for Dynamics 365 have been mentioned, along with updates to the service's Nonprofit Accelerator. Additionally, the Business Applications ISV Connect program is now also generally available.
With regards to new products and programs for the Azure cloud, the Azure lighthouse has just been introduced, offering the required capabilities for partners to implement cross-customer management without any additional costs. Overall, it is said to provide greater security and visibility on the customer end as well. Furthermore, the Azure Migration Program has been launched to help transfer existing applications and systems to Azure with ease.
There have also been a few announcements to help in furthering opportunities for partners - one of the base ideas behind Inspire conferences. A range of benefits to expand profitability will now be provided to partners through Microsoft Security, which is now generally available. Moreover, advanced specializations including Windows Server and SQL Server Migration, Modernization of Web Applications, and more have been introduced in Azure. Lastly, additional benefits, including a rewards program and new pricing models, are being rolled out this month for firms that "publish transactable offers" in the tech giant's expanded commercial marketplace.
This year's Inspire partner conference is set to be held on the coming Monday, July 15, with keynotes beginning at 8:30 a.m. PT / 11:30 a.m. ET. You can learn more about it here.
