Microsoft Ignite: News and trends for the digital workplace - Campana & Schott
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Insights
Microsoft Ignite:
News and trends for the digital
workplace.
At Ignite 2018, Microsoft highlighted new products and current
trends in more than 1,350 presentations. Campana & Schott once
again attended the event this year and has summarized the
impressions surrounding the digital workplace below.
The main news at a glance:
§§ Artificial intelligence (AI) becomes an integral part of the §§ The technology for the next big wave of business process
digital workplace. Many small AI services support daily work automation in the context of the digital workplace is available
routines by transforming e.g. tasks and deadlines from e-mails now. Using the Microsoft Power Platform, departments can
into the corresponding task and calendar entries, translate now provide no-code solutions and in this context can also
spoken and written language into the target language or tran- integrate both AI services as well as third party systems.
scribe speech in audio conferences and store it in the audio Business process automation is becoming increasingly data-
record, so that contents can be found using the search func- driven, which means that business processes are activated
tion. by data and not human interaction.
§§ The personalization of the digital workplace for each employ- §§ The Cloud is the enabler for many innovations, and the v
ee continues to progress. First, personalized and context- arious services within the Microsoft M365 platform are co-
dependent contents are displayed on the basis of Microsoft alescing more and more. On the other hand, many compa-
Graph and intelligent algorithms. Second, employees can nies face the challenge of fundamentally modernizing their IT,
increasingly decide themselves which specific user interface and they must implement the appropriate integrated pro-
is used to access contents via mobile or via desktop. grams to be able to utilize the added value of the new tech-
nological options.
Campana & Schott Microsoft Ignite – News and trends for the digital workplace 2
Microsoft 365 –
Convergence of previously isolated products into a platform
With Microsoft 365, Microsoft aims to design an integrated and expanded and influenced by new technological trends. Existing
seamless work environment that promotes collaboration and tools are innovated with new functions, and new services are
makes it more efficient. The integration of individual Microsoft created. With the innovations presented at Ignite 2018, Micro-
services is supposed to create a continuous user experience. soft continues the approach that was ushered in a few years ago,
To this end, Microsoft offers a new platform that is continuously with a special focus on Microsoft Teams.
Central components of Microsoft 365
Better together –
An integrated platform with services for dedicated addressee groups
Even as services are merging and end us-
ers are able to select the appropriate front
end / tool in many cases, ultimately the
application areas of these services can be
roughly delineated on the basis of dedica
ted addressee groups.
§§ Microsoft Teams – Inner Loop: Commu-
nication and collaboration within the
core team.
§§ Yammer – Outer Loop: Communication
across the entire organization.
§§ Microsoft Outlook: Targeted personal
communication.
Microsoft SharePoint, OneDrive and
Stream form the central content repository
for the different contents – and of course
SharePoint is still the tool of choice for
Intranets and collaboration portals.
Application scenarios for M365 services
Campana & Schott Microsoft Ignite – News and trends for the digital workplace 3
Microsoft Teams –
Central components of daily collaboration
Since its launch in 2017, Microsoft Teams has become the fastest- participate without any problems. Based on proximity detection
growing Microsoft product, as measured by distribution and user (Proximity Join), conference hardware can be added to meetings
numbers. Teams performs a double role on the Microsoft platform as soon as the person with the mobile devices comes near the
because it delivers not just a telephony and meeting component location.
but also a collaboration component.
There are also numerous innovations as well as deeper integra-
Microsoft has announced big innovations for the telephony and tions with existing services in the collaboration segment. Using
meeting function, with a particular focus on the use of AI tech- Tabs, Yammer and SharePoint can be easily integrated into
nology. For example, Teams supports the transcription of speech, Teams; the same goes for applications provided on the basis of
whereby the audio and video files can be searched using key the SharePoint Framework (SPFx).
words. Microsoft’s vision for meetings in the future includes
numerous AI-supported functions, such as live translation of With regard to governance, key innovations include the template
spoken text. In addition, with respect to video telephony, Teams function, differentiated administration role and the integration of
will also offer the option to blur the background and to activate the data loss prevention function, which means that Teams is
the “Driving Mode”. With “Mobile Sharing”, participants can join now suitable for corporate use.
web meetings from their Smartphone, without having to access
a desktop device. This means that presentations can also be The current innovations also drastically expand the Teams user
shared while traveling. In addition, Microsoft announced a col- groups: Microsoft has positioned Teams as the new central front
laboration with device manufacturers in the area of web confer- end for the Firstline Worker; Shift Management is the first small
encing. For example, users with Cisco systems will be able to application to move from StaffHub to Microsoft Teams.
Yammer –
Massive investments and clear positioning for the Outer Loop
In the future, Yammer will continue to play an important role on recording is automatically stored in Stream and transcribed, so
the Microsoft platform for the digital workplace, and it is clearly that specific passages can be found using the search function.
positioned as the service of choice for the Outer Loop.
As before, documents in Yammer are saved in an associated
Current and announced investments also target a better integra- SharePoint library by default. In this way, they can be accessed
tion of Yammer into the platform, e.g. in SharePoint via the new for eDiscovery and Data Loss Prevention purposes. The company
Web Part and in Teams via Tab. For company-wide events such is working very hard on fully integrating Yammer into the platform,
as employee meetings, Yammer offers the option of organizing so that the geo-location of Yammer data will also be available in
such meetings from the invitation to video streaming including the future.
interactive discussion. The best feature in this context: The
Campana & Schott Microsoft Ignite – News and trends for the digital workplace 4
SharePoint –
Modern Intranets and central data repository
Share Point remains the technology for company portals and focus on intersectional functions such as security, artificial intel-
central data management. To this end, numerous Microsoft ser- ligence and expandability.
vices for SharePoint are connected. In addition, there is a lot of
SharePoint Online as the central link of M365
Key innovations in the Intranet segment include: defining template for existing lists, a new location column and improved
communication sites as root sites, mega menus for navigation, conditional column formatting without code. The predictive in-
expanded design options and re-usable page designs, more dexing of lists up to 30 million items will be available by the end
options for titles and footers, as well as personalized and target- of this year. In the area of lists and libraries, automation is facili-
oriented Web Parts. Hub sites receive new functions to improve tated with the intensified integration of the Microsoft Power
the organization of the Intranet. They include the option of dis- Platform.
playing upcoming events aggregated from all sites. The connection
and reorganization of existing sites into one hub site and the The new SharePoint App, which features a revised layout, makes
creation of new sites will be specifically supported in the future. it easier to access contents while on the road. The Find tab with
optimized search and better overview is the highlight in this con-
Documents will be enriched with additional insights into the text. Another improvement is the seamless access to a document
use and the document itself, as well as the required reading library in the app. Additionally, news across the organization will
time, which is displayed in the File Card. Another improvement is be available in the future and will be displayed in the News tab.
the central asset library, through which e.g. central corporate Using the @ mentions function, contents can also be easily
images can be made available everywhere. The option to manage shared with colleagues in the mobile app.
retention labels with meta data such as departments or catego-
ries will still be expanded in 2018. Also added is an analysis of With the option of displaying SharePoint Framework Web Parts
these labels for an improved governance function. Team Sites in Microsoft Teams, Microsoft delivers an important piece of the
will be even more closely linked with Teams in the future. Hence puzzle for the integration of SharePoint and Teams.
Team Sites and Teams can be connected with one click, and the
navigation between Teams and SharePoint is embedded directly In addition to the innovations for SharePoint Online, the global
on the site. The folders to which Team Channels have been availability of SharePoint Server 2019 for October this year was
assigned will be labeled so they are easier to see. also announced at Ignite.
Working with SharePoint lists will be more user-friendly in the
future. This includes the creation of new lists based on the
Campana & Schott Microsoft Ignite – News and trends for the digital workplace 5
OneDrive –
Accessing documents while on the road
OneDrive remains the central tool for accessing documents Server 2019. Flexible work from all devices is facilitated with in-
from any location. The recently rolled out Sync Client is further creased support for Office Lens and camera uploads. Meta data
improved with the option for Known Folder Move; it will be can be directly added to uploaded images and PDFs. In addition,
available for SharePoint Server 2019 in the future. The Files- the overview of shared documents is intuitively sorted in the
on-Demand function will be rolled out for Mac and SharePoint mobile app by date / the sharing parties.
Microsoft Power Platform –
Digitization of business processes
Microsoft combines its Cloud applications Flow, PowerApps and environment. The performance of the form solution for Share-
Power BI under the name Power Platform. Point through PowerApps is generally increased, and the avail-
ability of Rich Text fields is enabled. The Checker function sup-
PowerApps and Flow are seamlessly connected to the O365 ports users with creating apps, forms and workflows, since errors
platform, and represent the primary technologies for depicting can be detected very quickly. In the future, custom controls and
business processes in the digital workplace. With a focus on the responsive design of the apps will allow for the further per-
the “No Code, Low Code” principle, the digitization of business sonalization of the applications. The Flow-Launch Panel is now
processes is moving closer to the consumer, so that the busi- available for OneDrive, and administrators will be able to approve
ness value can be realized more quickly. Numerous connectors site creation queries using Flow in the future. Company-wide
that are continuously expanded are available for integrating data use is supported with an increased emphasis on Auditing and
and systems. The further professionalization and enrichment of Governance. Activities in PowerApps can now be tracked in the
the platform with AI was also introduced at Ignite. While there O365 Audit Center, and Application Lifecycle Management is
were not any big surprise innovations, the applications have also promoted.
become more mature for their long-term use in the O365
Key components of the Microsoft Power Platform
Campana & Schott Microsoft Ignite – News and trends for the digital workplace 6
Firstline Worker –
Development of previously unused potential
Microsoft has discovered the potential of the firstline workers Microsoft also believes that there is great potential for the use
(who account for 80 percent of the workforce) and wants to of Mixed Reality in this area. One scenario includes the workers
better integrate this group into the company-wide work environ- that work in customer service directly on location. They can use
ment. This promotes the spread of a common corporate culture. Mixed Reality to add remote experts and thus obtain information
To this end, the integration of the StaffHub platform into Teams to ensure that repairs or maintenance activities can be completed
by October 2019 was announced at Ignite. Teams now targets quickly and without problems. These tools can be displayed
firstline workers with an overview view with all important infor- when using HoloLenses in the work environment. Mixed Reality
mation about outstanding tasks, co-workers and the function will also be added to meetings in the future, and thus offers new
for the independent management of shift schedules. The inte- ways of collaboration. Microsoft introduced SharePoint Spaces
gration of Yammer and Stream provides options for tutorials and in May. They make it possible to create Intranets in 3D, leading
accessing the community. The Microsoft platform offers parti to an entirely new user experience.
cular promise for the on-boarding process. With an Office365
Plan, which is directed specifically at firstline workers, Microsoft
now targets a group that has long been ignored.
Workplace Analytics –
Optimizing work habits
The introduction of Workplace Analytics offers the added value used every day, and the people with whom an employee com-
of an overview of collaboration in the company. Now, patterns municates the most. The data may only be seen by the respective
can be identified and efficiency can be increased based on these employee. The Nudges function forms a part of MyAnalytics. It
patterns. Administrators can create analyses, whereby more aims to improve workers’ conduct and daily work routines with
data sources will be added in the future. The objective: to im- reminders and information. For example, employees receive
prove work habits in the teams and to make them more efficient. information if meetings overlap, so that they can plan time for
preparation, or if tasks are overdue.
MyAnalytics allows each team member to analyze his or her own
conduct. The analysis offers insights into how working hours are
Security & Compliance
Cyber attacks cost companies more than $ 1 million a day. Management, in order to protect the data against attacks. AI
To address these increasingly sophisticated attacks, Microsoft functions provide a higher degree of automation in this context.
relies on increasing linkages between the various security In addition, the information protection services are standardized
mechanisms and the use of Big Data and AI functionalities. and expanded through the support on mobile devices. They re-
In this context, Microsoft processes more than 6.5 trillion ceive the function of uniform labeling management across all
signals relevant to security every single day. services. The harmonization aspect also becomes evident in the
presentation of the central Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance
One focus area of the last few months has been the further Center. Daily operations are simplified by combining all adminis-
development and harmonization of Security & Compliance com- tration components. Moreover, the company also announced
ponents. At Ignite, Microsoft presented a password-less future, the expansion of the Secure Score to the Enterprise Mobility
which makes it possible to log into all Microsoft 365 services Suite and Azure Services; it now covers Microsoft‘s entire
without passwords and thus minimizes the risk of an attack. Cloud spectrum. The Secure Score is a good benchmark for
Another innovation is Microsoft Threat Protection, which com- implementing security-relevant services and processes for
bines all services, from Client and Office 365 to Mobile Device Microsoft 365.Campana & Schott Microsoft Ignite – News and trends for the digital workplace 7
Other announcements
Administrators benefit from a new Microsoft 365 Admin Center results deliver internal company information, paired with know
with individually designed dashboards. The configuration of ledge from the Web. The new Microsoft Search function delivers
functions is adapted to the daily routines of each administrator. the added value for more relevant and personalized search
results. Search is introduced with a search box on Windows,
At Ignite, Microsoft Search was introduced as the future search Office, Outlook and all Cloud services, and the Bing search
function across all Microsoft services. It is based on Bing’s AI machine also displays internal search results once activated.
technology and is personalized with Microsoft Graph. Search
Conclusion
The current transformation of Microsoft as a company is tions that have been introduced represent a steady en-
especially evident in the Modern Workplace segment: An hancement of the existing strategy. The new functions make
environment of side-by-side isolated product teams that Microsoft 365 a first-class platform for all areas of modern
competed with each other and that pushed developments communication and collaboration that is ready to be used in
with little focus on the customer has been replaced with companies. Integration, consistency and a clear commit-
an integrated and consistent platform that is based on con- ment to privacy and data control for the customer represent
crete customer requirements. The Microsoft 365 innova- a real differentiating feature compared to the competition.
Campana & Schott
Campana & Schott is an international management and technology
consultancy with more than 300 employees at locations in Europe,
the US and Canada.
For more than 25 years, we have been passionately assisting compa-
nies in managing complex change processes - with proven methods,
technologies or simply the right people.
The passion for all facets of human collaboration in organizations and Further information:
projects has driven us since the beginning. www.campana-schott.com
Campana & Schott GmbH | Graefstr. 99 | 60487 Frankfurt | T + 49 69 97 78 83-0 | info@campana-schott.com | www.campana-schott.comYou can also read
