Microsoft Ignite is going to look a little bit different this year. Like Microsoft's other recent events, Ignite is going all-digital in response to the current global health crisis. What's more, Ignite is being split into two separate events.

The first event will take place over 48 hours on September 22-24. The second event, Microsoft says, will take place in "early 2021." Both will be free, and registration for the first event is now open.

While it is disappointing for many to not have an actual in-person event this year, this is a great opportunity for anyone to attend any of the virtual sessions for free.

What are some important themes to expect at Microsoft Ignite?

According to our CEO, Jennifer Buchholz, “I expect to see a huge focus on Microsoft Teams and Microsoft 365 (formally Office 365). Microsoft has been investing heavily in Teams in recent months, so I expect to hear a lot about new Teams features, Teams integration into other products, and how Teams is helping Microsoft customers to grow their businesses during these times.

The other thing I am expecting is for Microsoft to make some bold predictions about what the post-pandemic world will look like. Specifically, what the company is doing to enable its customers to meet the related challenges and to take advantage of new opportunities that might exist.”

Sessions to attend (stream) at Microsoft Ignite

There are 100’s of great sessions taking place at Microsoft Ignite but here are a few that stick out during the 3-day event. Also, our CEO, Jennifer Buchholz was selected as a moderator of some Microsoft Learn Workshops, so be on the lookout for her at the event and say Hi.

LRN109:  Intro to Microsoft 365 (Jennifer Buchholz, Moderator)

Tuesday, Sept. 22 | 1:45 PM-2:15 PM PDT

Being fluent how to get things done with Microsoft products is a universal business language in the modern workplace. Learn about the productivity and teamwork solutions in Microsoft 365 and the capabilities that help people be more productive using Microsoft 365 - The World's Productivity Cloud. Whether it's on the front lines or behind the scenes we'll tell you how to get started with Microsoft 365 Fundamentals and the various resources available to help you continue your learning journey.

LRN223: Deploy Microsoft Teams Meetings (Jennifer Buchholz, Moderator)

Wednesday, September 23 | 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM EDT

Upgrade to Microsoft Teams explains how to upgrade from Skype for Business Online and Skype for Business on-premises to Microsoft Teams. You’ll learn how to plan your upgrade, how Skype for Business and Teams coexist and interoperate during the upgrade, and how to plan and configure a hybrid environment to move all users to the cloud when upgrading from Skype for Business on-premises.

LRN225: Manage apps, bots, and connectors in Microsoft Teams (Jennifer Buchholz, Moderator)

Wednesday, September 23 | 9:30 AM - 10:45 AM EDT

Discover how apps, bots, and connectors increase the power of Microsoft Teams. Learn how to manage them as you plan your organization’s Teams rollout.

LRN124:  Intro to Microsoft Teams for IT (Jennifer Buchholz, Moderator)

Wednesday, Sept. 23 |1:00 PM -1:30 PM PDT

The session offers an overview of configuration options and takes IT Admins through important considerations for planning, deploying, and rolling-out of Teams for their organization. You'll get a breakdown of the core components and the enterprise-class policies and security that you need and expect as an IT Admin. In addition, you'll see the easy customization options to tailor Microsoft Teams for your organization.

DB158 | “Enabling collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing with Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Project Cortex, and more” by Jeff Teper, CVP – SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams engineering (delivered three times):

DB158 | Tuesday, Sept. 22nd | 12:15pm – 12:45pm PDT

DB158-R1 | Tuesday, Sept. 22nd | 8:15pm – 8:45pm PDT

DB158-R2 | Wednesday, Sept. 23rd | 4:15am – 4:45am PDT

Organizations are moving to a hybrid workplace to support the needs of remote and onsite employees. Jeff and team dive into how teams collaborate fluidly with the latest innovations across Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, Microsoft Lists and OneDrive. He’ll also showcase how organizations can improve employee engagement, communications, and knowledge sharing through SharePoint, Yammer, and Project Cortex.

KEY04 | “The Future of Work” by Jared Spataro, CVP – Microsoft 365 marketing (delivered three times):

KEY04 | Tuesday, Sept. 22nd | 10:00am – 10:20am PDT

KEY04-R1 | Tuesday, Sept. 22nd | 6pm – 6:20pm PDT

KEY04-R2 | Wednesday, Sept. 23rd | 2:00am – 2:20am PDT

When, where, and how we work is fundamentally changing. Join Jared to learn about the risks and durable trends impacting teamwork, organizational productivity, and employee wellbeing. He’ll share the latest research and a framework for success for every IT professional and business leader to empower People for the new world of work, as well as the latest innovation in Microsoft 365 and Teams empowering human ingenuity at scale.

DB136 | “Embrace a New Way of Work with Microsoft 365” by Angela Byers and Shin-Yi Lim (delivered three times):

DB136A | Wednesday, Sept. 23rd | 12:15pm – 12:45pm PDT

DB136B | Wednesday, Sept. 23rd | 8:15pm – 8:45pm PDT

DB136C | Thursday, Sept. 24th | 4:15am – 4:45am PDT

Microsoft 365 is designed to be a universal toolkit for teamwork – to give you the right tools for the right task, along with common services to help you seamlessly work across applications. OneDrive is the clear place to work across all files on web, desktop and mobile. SharePoint promotes the intelligent content service backbone that powers teamwork – to better collaborate on proposals, projects, and campaigns throughout your organization – and is integrated with Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Lists, Planner, Visio and much more.

More about Microsoft Ignite (September 22-24):

Connect with Microsoft experts and your world-wide community like never before. Experience the all-new Microsoft Ignite on a global scale. Microsoft Ignite is for anyone who is motivated to be on the frontier of innovation and tech. We recognize that the role of IT has shifted considerably, as has the way IT decisions are made. Therefore, our key segments and sessions are meant for all roles, from developers and IT implementers to those who make large-scale purchasing decisions for enterprise tech and security solutions.

Join locally. Connect globally. Register today to: https://myignite.microsoft.com/home

• Create your agenda and meet the speakers.

• Explore learning modules to sharpen existing skills or add new ones.

• Check out the Featured Partners who help bring Microsoft Ignite to life—and to screens around the world.

• Discuss topics with experts and peers, check out fun activities, and connect with your global community.

For the best event experience, make sure you are registered so you can view content during the live event and access all content on-demand after the event is over. If you are registered, you will be able to stream on-demand, but sessions will not be enabled for download or offline viewing. Visit the session scheduler to explore and discover compelling content. You can refine results by time, session type, industry and more. Simply click the “Add to schedule” button to place a session on your customized schedule, or the RSVP button if it a session with limited capacity.

We look forward to seeing you (virtually) there!