AI updates, Power BI SKUs and more
Cloud Direct
Cloud Direct is one of the UK's leading Microsoft partners. We help our customers achieve fearless growth.
Did you know the UK's infatuation with Christmas trees started way back in 1800?
Well, now you do.
Here we are. You did it. Week 51. The last full working week of the year. Christmas is right around the corner. Before you know it there will be presents under the tree, the turkey will be out to rest, crackers will be popping, and Gavin and Stacey will be back on the tele.
So, for one last time in 2024, lets unwrap what's been going on both at Microsoft and at Cloud Direct, and send the year off with a bang!
🥁 The world's leading AI investor is...
🔥 Azure OpenAI launches o1
💰 Changes to Power BI SKUs
🔒 Staying secure in 2025
🤖 Microsoft's free AI webinars
Ready? Stick on the Christmas tunes, and let's tuck in!
Microsoft pulls away from AI competition 📈
If you thought 2024 was the year of AI and that it was going to stay there... I don't think you'll fare well in next week's game of Trivial Pursuit. You couldn't be more wrong.
As we move into 2025, AI will still be at the forefront of everybody's minds. It'll be at the top of the to-do list, with IT leaders around the world looking to get ahead of their competition by unlocking its efficiency, productivity, and so much more.
And if that's what you want to do (and it should be), then Microsoft has proved itself to be the cloud environment that you have to be in.
New research has revealed that Microsoft has purchased nearly half a million 'Hopper' AI chips from NVIDIA, the world's leading GPU maker, this year – more than double that over Meta, Google, or Amazon. The numbers demonstrate Microsoft's steadfast commitment to maintaining its position as the AI leader in business technology, having already committed billions of pounds in investment across the globe.
Over the past 18 months, Microsoft has perfectly positioned itself for the AI gold rush. It has an entire suite of products to take you from outdated IT to complete technological transformation, starting with migrating to Microsoft Azure right through to Fabric Studio, Purview, and more. There's a lot happening, with releases and updates each and every week, so it's worth keeping an eye on our Learning Hub when you return to workk to keep up to date.
👉 Here's the lowdown from TechCrunch
An early Christmas gift 🎁
There's more AI news yet, with Microsoft announcing the launch of the o1 model in Azure OpenAI just this week. The new multimodal model gives users access to advanced reasoning capabilities and a whole host of other improvements across your AI apps – a real Christmas treat!
A number of users and developers have had prior access to the new model, who Microsoft have been speaking to to give you an insight into the art of the possible. From legal firms to manufacturing, and plenty more along the way, the new o1 model on Azure OpenAI is opening up a whole new world of opportunity!
Developers will benefit from new messaging functions, vision input, reasoning effort parameters, expanded context windows, new tools and lower latency... to name just a few. Those are all coupled with the existing Azure OpenAI benefits like 99.9% reliability, enterprise-grade security and responsible AI pledges. What more could you have on your wishlist?
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What's happening with Power BI? 🤔
When Microsoft Fabric was released into general availability in late 2023, the way businesses work, deal, and interact with their data was set to be changed. Over the past 12 months, those changes have slowly but surely been taking place – but one of the biggest changes comes into action on 1 January 2025.
Power BI Premium capacity stock keeping units (SKUs) were retired back in June, but those with existing EA agreements could continue to use them and renew their agreements. That all changes in January however, with EA agreements renewing after 1 January needing to be replaced with Microsoft Fabric licenses.
It can all feel a bit confusing, but here's Leon Godwin with Daniel Knott to explain things 👇
This is all part of Microsoft's steady transition to Fabric, putting all things data under one umbrella. We've explored Fabric in a lot more detail on our Learning Hub, or if you want more information or help with your Power BI licensing then drop me a message and I'll put you in touch with one of the team.
Back on terra firma 🚢
You might recall that my last Memo came to you from the HMS Belfast. Hedgehogs don't do too well on boats, so I'm glad to be back on solid ground just in time for Christmas.
With that being said, it was a brilliant event that gave us the chance to remind everyone of the importance of a strict security posture as we head into the New Year. It was the third CISO Security Briefing that we had put on in 2024, with each proving just as popular as the last. Our expert speakers were joined by Microsoft and our customers to spread the word, share knowledge, and engage in conversation around the challenges and opportunities within cybersecurity.
We'll be back with plenty more events in 2025, so keep your eyes peeled on our events page for when they're posted.
New Year, new AI webinar 🤖
As I've already mentioned, AI isn't going anywhere. The conversation is only set to get more intense, more exciting, and more pertinent in 2025, and Microsoft is starting as it means to go on with the return of its GenAI for Developers webinar series on 9 January.
This one is the seventh event in the series, looking at Leveraging Cloud Native Infrastructure for Intelligent Applications, and it's completely free to attend. A ticket is the perfect present for the software developer, architect, IT decision maker or AI enthusiast in your life... not least because it won't cost you a penny!
Lastly, thank you! 🙌
It's been a bloody brilliant year, if I do say so myself. Putting paw to paper each and every fortnight this year has been an amazing way to let my creative juices flow – that's an opportunity most hedgehogs never get, and I'm certain we have missed out on some of the great minds of our time because of that.
Thank you to the colleagues, customers, and curious on-lookers, whether you've clicked on one edition of my Microsoft Memo or all 24. It's been a privilege bringing you up to speed on all things Microsoft, and I can't wait to do it all again next year... but better!
Right, all done. All that's left to say now is... IT'S CHRIIIISTMAAAAAS! 🎅
I'm taking a well-earned rest, and I'll be back on 16 January. Until then...
All the best,
Eric 🦔