Paving the way for widespread IoT adoption

Paving the way for widespread IoT adoption

by | Mar 3, 2021 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

Today, companies are harnessing IoT for real-time visibility into all parts of their businesses, from factory floors to energy generation and distribution, smart buildings, agriculture operations, and thousands of other environments. Companies are using this visibility to optimize productivity, gain efficiencies, increase uptime, meet sustainability and carbon reduction goals, and so much more.


 


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This is the power of the intelligent edge: making daily life easier, enabling businesses to transform and thrive, ensuring safer working and living conditions, and addressing some of the world’s most pressing challenges. Now is the time for organizations to harness the benefits of adopting Internet of Things (IoT) solutions. But for every company that moves forward with IoT, another struggles with obstacles ranging from security and compliance to implementation complexities to the lack of technical expertise on their teams.


 


The mission of Azure IoT is to simplify IoT for mainstream adoption, and we have made some great progress. At Microsoft Ignite (March 2-4), we announced the next set of industry-leading capabilities to make it even easier for companies to benefit from IoT.


 


Reducing technical complexity for device lifecycle management


As more organizations connect IoT devices at the edge of their networks, they increase real-time insights, optimize asset use, and improve business processes. But with the growing number of diverse connected devices comes the question of how to connect, manage, and secure them at scale. There’s also the question of how to integrate AI into edge scenarios in a straightforward, simple way.


 


Introducing Microsoft Azure Percept: Edge intelligence from silicon to service


Announced by Microsoft at Ignite is Azure Percept, now in preview. With this comprehensive and easy-to-use platform, you can create edge AI solutions for tackling use cases like object detection, shelf analytics, or anomaly detection. Azure Percept includes hardware accelerators that integrate seamlessly with Azure AI and IoT services, as well as a library of pre-built AI models to get you started prototyping in minutes. Azure Percept helps safeguards your sensitive data and high-value models. 


 


Device Update for IoT Hub simplifies device management at scale


We also announced the preview of Device Update for IoT Hub, which takes everything we learned from Windows Update and makes those capabilities available to any IoT device, regardless of the operating system. Companies can now use it to publish, distribute, and manage over-the-air updates at scale—always remaining in control of the updating process—while keeping devices and applications secured and up to date. And as the name implies, Device Update for IoT Hub seamlessly works with Azure IoT Hub, providing updates over the secure and trusted connection between Azure IoT Hub and IoT devices. 


 


Last year we introduced Azure IoT Edge Nested Edge capabilities, and I’m thrilled to announce that Device Update for IoT Hub also supports these Nested Edge configurations. It’s never been easier to manage the firmware, operating system, and software on IoT devices than with Device Update for IoT Hub.


 


IoT Plug and Play enables low-code, device-to-cloud integration


IoT Plug and Play is an open approach that uses Digital Twin Definition Language (DTDL) to allow IoT devices to declare their capabilities to cloud solutions, enabling seamless device-to-cloud integration and saving prolonged and costly integration between IoT devices and IoT solutions.


 


IoT Plug and Play also supports edge modules, making it easier and faster to connect existing sensors and legacy devices without reprogramming. Similarly, IoT Plug and Play bridge is generally available. This open-source application connects existing sensors and devices attached to a Windows or Linux gateway as IoT Plug and Play devices—all with little to no code. IoT Plug and Play bridge can be run as an edge module or natively.


 


Companies can find an increasing selection of IoT Plug and Play devices from the Azure Certified Device catalog. Furthermore, with the added support of IoT Plug and Play in Azure IoT Central, organizations can create IoT solutions without writing new code on the cloud or in the device.


 


Enabling a seamless IoT integration experience with leading MCUs


Azure RTOS is based on our Express Logic acquisition and is already running on over six billion devices. We’re strengthening our partnership with leading semiconductors STMicroelectronics, NXP, Renesas, and Microchip by making Azure RTOS a seamless part of their offerings. And now, we’re expanding on this with new integrations between Azure RTOS and our IoT services, including Device Update for IoT Hub, IoT Plug and Play, Azure IoT Central, Azure Defender for IoT, and Azure IoT Edge. 


 


We are partnering with these semiconductor leaders on building seamless integrations across Azure IoT to connect, monitor, and manage a global fleet of IoT devices. As part of this effort, we are collaborating on outreach through training resources, upcoming workshops, and virtual events for embedded developers. 


 


Streamlining security for new and existing devices


Security is paramount in IoT—cited as a top concern in our IoT Signals survey—and with the recent general availability of Azure Defender for IoT, organizations receive comprehensive security for IoT and OT environments, including asset discovery, vulnerability management, and continuous threat detection for both new and existing legacy devices. Azure Defender for IoT works seamlessly with Azure IoT Hub as well, so companies can both detect security events and now remediate them with Device Update for IoT.


 


From global manufacturers to energy utilities and government agencies, Azure Defender for IoT technology is already helping secure some of the world’s most complex industrial and critical infrastructure environments. Its network-layer monitoring means it’s agentless and can be rapidly deployed (often in less than a day) for unmanaged devices—including legacy Windows systems and proprietary OT devices such as PLCs—plus it offers deployment options that include on-premises, Azure-connected, and hybrid.


 


Additionally, for organizations looking to accelerate the development and deployment of secure, scalable IoT solutions, Edge Secured-core certification is now available. Finally, it’s worth noting that NXP has announced additional details about their forthcoming i.MX 8ULP series Azure Sphere-certified SoC, as well as their plans for an i.MX 9 series offer.


 


Helping organizations build expertise and fluency with IoT technology


As IoT technology evolves, the technical knowledge gap remains. In fact, 47% of IoT adopters say there are not enough skilled workers. The good news is there’s never been a better time to grow your expertise.


 


Microsoft Learn is the place to start, with free online, self-paced courses, including the Azure IoT Developer Specialty certification (AZ-220). This certification is ideal for developers and covers everything from device management to security to deploying cloud workloads. Register for our six-part virtual workshop series in March: Building End to End IoT Solutions.


 


The Internet of Things Event Learning Path on GitHub video series also explores topics like device connectivity, AI at the edge, and data processing considerations. Our Internet of Things Show is yet another way to stay current on all things IoT. No matter where your IoT journey takes you, Microsoft is here to help your teams build IoT expertise.


 


Learn more about innovation at the edge during Microsoft Ignite


If you haven’t already, join us for the final days of Microsoft Ignite (March 2-4) and Embedded World (March 1-5) as we share how these investments are solving common challenges and empowering organizations to succeed with IoT.

10 Reasons to Love Passwordless #9: Onboard without a password

by | Mar 3, 2021 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

In this series, Microsoft identity team members share their reasons for loving passwordless authentication (and why you should too!). Alex Weinert continues the series with this post in which he describes how much customers are going to benefit from Temporary Access Pass.


 


We announced Temporary Access Pass at Ignite this week and it’s now in public preview. The fact that customers are excited about Temporary Access Pass (more on that later) makes me love passwordless even more.


 


Getting rid of passwords is about more than just how we sign in. When you’re someone like me who encourages customers to make passwordless a reality, you answer questions like:


 



  • “How can we onboard a new employee on their first day at work when we are truly a passwordless organization? Today, we hand a temporary password to the employee.”

  • “How do users sign in if they lose their FIDO2 security key? Today, we just ask them to reset their password.”


 


One of the reasons I love passwordless is that it gives us the opportunity to make onboarding and recovery so much better! No more answering a long list of knowledge questions that are easy to guess (like your dog’s name), so you (and the attacker) can use them one day to gain access to your account.


 


We created Temporary Access Pass to solve these problems. Temporary Access Pass allows users to register for passwordless authentication methods and recover access to their account using a time-limited passcode.


 


How customers are using Temporary Access Pass


Every organization has its own unique, well-established employee onboarding and identity verification processes. Temporary Access Pass integrates seamlessly into these processes using the Microsoft Graph APIs. Our private preview customers love it:


 


“Temporary Access Pass is a critical technology feature that will enable our global employee base to securely onboard FIDO2 security keys in a manner that adheres to the NIST authentication assurance level 3 guidelines that we are bound to” ~ Temporary Access Pass preview customer.


 


An aerospace customer with a hybrid environment wanted to let employees use FIDO2 security keys with Azure Active Directory-connected applications. Employees previously needed to use passwords and multi-factor authentication to register the FIDO2 key on their account. Now, employees login to the company’s internal identity management tool using a SmartCard. Using the Microsoft Graph APIs, the tool will issue a one-time Temporary Access Pass. The user will use the pass to register a FIDO2 key – with no enterprise passwords required.


 


We also have enhanced the Authenticator app registration experience for phone sign-in. Users can now sign in to their Azure AD accounts directly in the app, without scanning a QR code on the Security Info page in Azure AD.


 


“Temporary Access Pass allows us onboarding to phone sign-in with the Authenticator app quickly and without knowledge of the user’s password or Azure ADmultifactor authentication methods” ~ Private preview customer


 


Another organization that participated in the private preview prefers phone sign-in with the Microsoft Authenticator app for authentication for Office 365, replacing its existing multifactor authentication server implementation. On the first day at work, a new employee’s identity is verified by their colleagues. After the identity verification, the employee goes to the company’s internal portal, where they are issued a new Temporary Access Pass for their account. The employee installs the Authenticator app and registers phone sign-in directly from their app by signing in with the pass. From then on, the user can start using the app for every sign-in.


 


So that’s my reason for being excited about Passwordless. Make sure to read my colleague’s final post in the series coming soon. Read details about Temporary Access Pass.


 


Learn more


Check out the other posts in this series:



 


Learn more about Microsoft identity:



 

Community Advocate Center connects more people to the FTC

Community Advocate Center connects more people to the FTC

by | Mar 3, 2021 | Security

This article was originally posted by the FTC. See the original article here.

When ReportFraud.ftc.gov launched in late 2020, it made telling the FTC about scams much easier. But here’s the thing: we know we’re still not hearing from lots of communities around the country. Not hearing those stories means we might not learn about the problems they experience, or bring cases to stop the bad practices and get money back. Which is, of course, always the goal.

But a new Community Advocate Center is aiming to address that. It gives community legal aid organizations a way to report fraud and bad business practices to the FTC — on behalf of their clients. These organizations that give people access to free and low-cost legal services often serve exactly the communities that the FTC wants to hear more from, including communities of color, speakers of other languages, and lower-income communities.

When advocates tell us people’s stories (or when people tell us directly), the FTC can give advice on next steps, including how to try to recover their money. For example, each year, people use their credit cards to pay scammers millions upon millions of dollars. That’s money people should usually be able to get back, and ReportFraud.ftc.gov tells people how.

If you know someone who works in a legal aid organization, please share this post with them. Send them to ReportFraud.ftc.gov/community to learn more. And tell them that the FTC would be happy to have them join Legal Services Corporation, Inc., the National Legal Aid & Defender Association, the National Association for Consumer Law, and the National Association for Consumer Advocates in supporting this initiative.

Meanwhile, spread the word. If you’ve spotted a scam, tell the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Brought to you by Dr. Ware, Microsoft Office 365 Silver Partner, Charleston SC.

Azure Marketplace new offers – Volume 119

Azure Marketplace new offers – Volume 119

by | Mar 3, 2021 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.











We continue to expand the Azure Marketplace ecosystem. For this volume, 100 new offers successfully met the onboarding criteria and went live. See details of the new offers below:



























































































































































































































































































































































































































Applications
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AlgoTrader Saas Offering: AlgoTrader’s WIRESWARM is a platform for trading digital assets and cryptocurrency. It allows financial institutions to maintain a single, always-on connection with all major digital asset liquidity providers, such as exchanges, brokers, over-the-counter desks, and market makers.
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Apache Web Server on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Ready to Use: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides Apache Web Server 2.4.41 on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS. Common features in Apache include load balancing, URL rewriting, session tracking, and geolocation based on IP address.
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Apache Web Server with CentOS 7.7 Ready to Use: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides Apache Web Server 2.4.6 on CentOS 7.7. Common features in Apache include load balancing, URL rewriting, session tracking, and geolocation based on IP address.
Archive360 - Archive2Azure.png

Archive360 – Archive2Azure: With Archive360’s Archive2Azure, you can consolidate, archive, manage, and search content across several repositories, including email, Microsoft Teams, Slack, file systems, Microsoft SharePoint, content service platforms, social media, and Microsoft Office 365.
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Basware InvoiceReady: Procure-to-Pay for midmarket: Basware InvoiceReady allows midmarket companies to cost-effectively automate invoice processing. The solution captures invoices electronically, routes them to customizable workflows for approval, and matches them to purchase orders and contracts.
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Blue Cedar Accelerator for Microsoft: The Blue Cedar Accelerator enables one-click integration of Microsoft Intune and other programmable control services into custom or third-party ISV mobile apps. Just upload a mobile app binary to Blue Cedar and configure the Intune controls you want to integrate.
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Bringoz SaaS Platform: Bringoz is a cloud-based platform that lets businesses build, scale, and optimize their logistics operations. Bringoz features automated dispatch and planning, route optimization, 360-degree visibility, and dashboards for data-driven decision making.
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C.AI Adoption Bot: contexxt.ai’s Cai, a chatbot that integrates with Microsoft Teams, offers tips to improve your employees’ Teams skills. Instead of providing the same learning content to all, Cai adjusts to each learner’s needs and existing knowledge. This app is available in German.
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CentOS 7.8 (Free): This free pre-configured image from Cognosys provides CentOS 7.8. CentOS is a popular Linux distribution derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux and used by organizations for development and production servers.
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CentOS 7.9 – Minimal Edition: This pre-configured image from Virtual Pulse provides a minimal version of CentOS 7.9. CentOS is a popular Linux distribution derived from Red Hat Enterprise Linux and used by organizations for development and production servers.
Cleareye PPP Loan Forgiveness.png

Cleareye.ai PPP Loan Forgiveness Processing Engine: Cleareye.ai’s PPP loan-forgiveness processing engine automates lenders’ forgiveness application processing and solves the most time-consuming and error-prone part of the Paycheck Protection Program: business rule validation and document verification.
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CloudMoyo customized dashboards for retailers: CloudMoyo’s customized dashboards bring interactive data visualizations to your retail business. Track average margins, average transaction value, sales per square foot, return on investment, sell-through rate, and more.
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DefinedData: DefinedData provides high-quality, off-the-shelf AI datasets available in various languages and domains. Developers can use these datasets to achieve faster time to market for their AI products.
Dia-AI Powered Automation.png DIA-AI Powered Automation: 2-Week Assessment: UST’s DIA, an AI-powered platform built on the Microsoft Bot Framework, simplifies core business functions like HR, finance, sales, and IT operations. DIA can speak, listen, understand, and learn from your users with Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services.
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Docker CE with CentOS 7.7 Ready to Use: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides Docker CE with CentOS 7.7. Docker Community Edition (CE), formerly known as Docker Engine, is an open-source, community-supported version of the Docker containerization platform.
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Docker CE with CentOS 8.0 Ready to Use: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides Docker CE with CentOS 8.0. Docker Community Edition (CE), formerly known as Docker Engine, is an open-source, community-supported version of the Docker containerization platform.
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Docker CE with CentOS 8.3: This pre-configured image from Cognosys provides Docker CE with CentOS 8.3. Docker Community Edition (CE), formerly known as Docker Engine, is an open-source, community-supported version of the Docker containerization platform.
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Dubber Unified Call Recording for Microsoft Teams: Businesses in regulated industries, such as banking, government, insurance, and financial services, can securely and compliantly record calls with Dubber’s Unified Call Recording and Voice AI solution for Microsoft Teams.
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EchoGo Service: EchoGo, an autonomous echocardiography suite (Core and Pro), uses AI to support cardiac imaging diagnosis. Unlike traditional software, there is no need for manual selection of scans or manipulation of contours. EchoGo Core automates this and delivers a report within minutes.
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EHNOTE: EHNOTE, an electronic health record system, streamlines clinical and business workflows for hospitals, delivering value-based care and patient engagement tools.
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factoHR – Retirement Benefits_Solution: factoHR is a plug-and-play retirement benefits platform for managing pensions, superannuations, provident funds, and more. factoHR enables businesses to automate their daily administrative functions and simplify workforce benefit discussions.
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FalconLink on Azure: FalconLink from Tokyo Electron Device Ltd. helps field service operators diagnose and solve problems by sharing the screen of customers’ devices via a web browser. This helps avoid misunderstandings that can arise from over-the-phone support. FalconLink is available only in Japanese.
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GCHQ Security Awareness Training and Phishing: The Cyber Risk Aware platform measures the level of human cyber risk in a business. It mitigates this risk by raising staff awareness through phishing simulations and other training, enabling clients to meet compliance and security accreditation statuses.
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Haltdos WAF Enterprise: Haltdos Web Application Firewall is an intelligent web application and API protection solution that acts as a front end for your web infrastructure. It constantly analyzes traffic to detect behavioral and anomaly inconsistencies for accurate attack detection and mitigation.
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HxGN OnCall Public Safety Portfolio: Hexagon Safety & Infrastructure’s HxGN OnCall Public Safety Portfolio provides public safety agencies with a cohesive set of solutions designed to increase operational agility and quickly adapt to changing demands. Build safer, more resilient communities.
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IBM Hybrid Cloud, Connect IBM Power with Azure: Connectria’s fully managed hybrid cloud provides an ideal platform for IBM Power workload augmentation and modernization. Run your existing IBM i and AIX workloads with ultra-low latency to Microsoft Azure without rewriting or refactoring.
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Icertis DiscoverAI Application: Harness the power of AI to automatically digitize legacy and third-party contracts. Quickly process legacy and third-party contracts at scale while reducing risk and improving the accuracy of attribute and clause extraction.
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Icertis Experience for Microsoft Teams: This solution provides the ability to manage contracts and access the Icertis Contract Intelligence platform. Gain visibility into contract actions and exceptions with automatic Microsoft Teams notifications and alerts.
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Icertis NegotiateAI Application: Give your business the AI-powered insights it needs to optimize contract negotiations. Consistently negotiate better terms and outcomes, reduce time spent manually authoring and reviewing lengthy contracts, ensure compliance, and more.
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Icertis Obligation Management Application: Reduce risk and improve compliance at scale. The Icertis Obligation Management Application transforms how organizations identify, create, manage, and fulfill obligations that were previously hidden in complex contract language.
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Icertis Sourcing Application: Streamline the source-to-contract process, ensure supplier compliance, and minimize risk with Icertis. Boost productivity and improve user adoption with self-service contracting, create new opportunities for savings across sourcing categories, and improve performance.
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Icertis Visualize AI Application: This solution, built on top of the Icertis Contract Intelligence platform, enables users to quickly find and load a large volume of contract data, navigate relationships, and easily discover patterns. Get a much more insightful view of your contract portfolio.
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Insights Accelerator: Using innovative computer vision and artificial intelligence, FortressIQ delivers process insights that empower enterprises to improve operations, employee and customer experiences, and business processes.
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KSI – MissionKeeper: MissionKeeper lets you deliver live video and data from drones, submersible robots, dash cams, and other IoT devices. With MissionKeeper, multiple remote users can see the same video and data feeds, facilitating informed, team-based decisions.
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LAMP with CentOS 8.3: This pre-configured image from Cognosys provides a LAMP stack on CentOS 8.3. The stack includes PHP 7.4.13, Apache HTTP Server 2.4.37, and MariaDB 10.3.17.
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LMS powered by Moodle platform on CentOS 8.2: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides Moodle 3.9 on CentOS 8.2. Moodle is a learning management system used for distance education and other e-learning projects.
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Locus – AI Platform for Logistics Optimization: Locus Dispatcher is an automated and intelligent route planner that uses deep learning to simplify the distribution of goods. Locus Dispatcher helps logistics companies improve fulfillment and increase efficiency in their supply chains.
Logmill.png

Logmill: Logmill, an error-tracking and software-monitoring tool from Rare Crew, improves the software development experience with detailed error and sensor messages together with analytics.
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Lumeta Community Edition Command Center v4.1.0.0: FireMon’s Lumeta CloudVisibility delivers security, endpoint discovery, and anomaly detection for hybrid enterprises. As a context-driven security intelligence solution, Lumeta CloudVisibility eliminates blind spots and replaces them with visibility into mobile, virtual, and cloud assets.
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MariaDB 10 with CentOS 8.3: This pre-configured image from Cognosys provides MariaDB 10.5.8 on CentOS 8.3. MariaDB Server is a popular open-source relational database made by the original developers of MySQL.
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Mia – Workplace Virtual Assistant: MiHCM’s Mia is a virtual assistant to use with Microsoft Teams. Mia helps organizations increase productivity, improve employee engagement, and execute HR requests. Employees can use analytics to assess their productivity, health, and well-being.
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Next.js: The React Framework: This ready-to-use React Framework from Linnovate Technologies includes an intuitive page-based routing system (with support for dynamic routes) and automatic code splitting. Both static generation (SSG) and server-side rendering (SSR) are supported.
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NGINX with CentOS 7.7: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides NGINX 1.16.1 on CentOS 7.7. NGINX is an all-in-one API gateway, cache, load balancer, web application firewall, and web server.
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NGINX with Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides NGINX on Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS. NGINX is an all-in-one API gateway, cache, load balancer, web application firewall, and web server.
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NGINX with Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides NGINX 1.18.0 on Ubuntu Server 20.04 LTS. NGINX is an all-in-one API gateway, cache, load balancer, web application firewall, and web server.
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Nuvolos.cloud: Nuvolos from Alphacruncher is an online self-service platform for blended education (online and on-site) and quantitative scientific research. It provides a browser-based platform for educators, students, and researchers that dramatically improves education efficiency.
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OpenJDK 8 with CentOS 7.7: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides OpenJDK 8 on CentOS 7.7. OpenJDK is an open-source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE).
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OpenJDK 11 with CentOS 7.7: This pre-configured image from Cloud Maven Solutions provides OpenJDK 11.0.9.1 on CentOS 7.7. OpenJDK is an open-source implementation of the Java Platform, Standard Edition (Java SE).
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Payroll Hub for Microsoft: This solution from Infra Hub integrates Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central with KeyPay and Zoho People for efficient payroll management. It can help streamline your entire payroll process and keep track of pay runs, travel expenses, timesheets, and more. 
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Peltarion – AI and Deep Learning Platform: Get a low-code, collaborative graphical cloud platform to add intelligence to your products without having to hire a dedicated in-house AI team. With the Peltarion Platform, you can deploy AI models with one click and build commercially viable AI-powered solutions at speed and at scale.
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Power Translate: Sagra Technology’s solution is an indispensable tool that will help you translate display elements (such as titles, headers, and name of measures) placed in Microsoft Power BI reports. The app provides two types of translations: automatic and manual.
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QuotaGuard Shield Static IPs: QuotaGuard Shield is a HIPAA-compliant, PCI-compliant solution that routes HTTPS and secure SOCKS traffic through a pair of load-balanced static IP addresses. It is built to handle traffic that needs full end-to-end protection of sensitive information.
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RTSP Webcam on IoT Edge: This module from motojin.com is developed from a USB-to-RTSP sample and ms-iotkithol-jp to be able to run on IoT Edge. The module runs as an IoT Edge container named RtspWebCam. Using this module with WeDXit makes it easy to configure.
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Securrency Compliance Oracle: Financial institutions can use the Compliance Oracle to share qualifications (compliance-related attributes) for client accounts (or blockchain wallets) without sharing the identity of the client. Core capabilities include an attestation registry and a policy engine.
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ServiceNow Security Operations on Azure: Enable security teams to natively integrate Microsoft security technology like Microsoft Azure Sentinel, Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection, Azure Security Center, and more via Microsoft Graph with the ServiceNow Security Operations platform.
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SkyKick Cloud Manager for Microsoft 365, Azure & other SaaS: Built for IT service providers, SkyKick Cloud Manager automates workflows to improve help desk productivity and administer thousands of tasks across devices and SaaS, PaaS, or IaaS environments.
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Slack to Teams migration: AVAMIGRATRON from AVASOFT is an automated solution for migrating businesses from Slack to Microsoft Teams. AVAMIGRATRON moves Slack public, private, and external shared channels to newly created or already present Teams channels based on business needs.
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STEMuli: STEMuli connects students to virtual workplace learning experiences facilitated by Fortune 500 companies and their corporate mentors seeking to fill talent shortages and develop a diverse workforce pipeline. STEMuli also compiles students’ achievements into a digital portfolio.
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TAAP Visitor Book: This is a solution for organizations of any size that want a digital contactless visitor book that eliminates the need to touch a pen, paper visitor book, or digital kiosk. Visitors can sign in and out safely and securely by simply scanning a QR code using their own phones.
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Testable Test Runner: This modern distributed load-testing platform lets you start up test-runner virtual machines in your Microsoft Azure account and register them with Testable cloud so they can execute your distributed load tests. Let Testable handle coordinating test execution and more.
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TRANSITiQ – Smart Solutions for Public Transit: At the core of TRANSITiQ is a powerful data-processing and report-generating component that takes you inside the performance of your fleet. Use this set of pre-built statistical visualization tools to gain a better perspective on system performance.
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Minimal.png

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Minimal: This pre-configured image from Cognosys provides Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Minimal. Ubuntu 16.04 LTS Minimal includes the minimal set of packages needed to begin. It’s a lean and fast version of Ubuntu designed for automated deployment.
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Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Minimal: This pre-configured image from Cognosys provides Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Minimal. Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Minimal includes the minimal set of packages needed to begin. It’s a lean and fast version of Ubuntu designed for automated deployment.
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Unified Streaming Origin for VOD & Live: Unified Streaming Origin enables you to reach all viewers and devices from a single source file. It’s suitable for any OTT video-streaming workflow and is trusted by OTT platforms and national broadcasters.
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‘Where’s Free?’ enterprise software pack: This COVID-safe scheduling solution will reassure both employers and employees that their working environment is safe. It extends the capabilities of Microsoft Outlook, making it easier to arrange meetings, book rooms, and find desks.
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white duck Cloud Control for Azure: Cloud Control is a self-service portal for controlling cloud resources. With Cloud Control, you can easily and quickly launch and stop Microsoft Azure resources, such as virtual machines, for your enterprise users or end customers.
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WordPress with CentOS 8.3: This pre-configured image from Cognosys provides WordPress 5.6 on CentOS 8.3. MariaDB 10.3.17, Apache HTTP Server 2.4.37, and PHP 7.4.13 are also included. WordPress is a free and open-source content management system.
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XenData Cloud File Gateway: With XenData’s Multi-Site Sync service, files and folders stored in Microsoft Azure Blob storage may be synchronized across multiple gateways. It provides file sharing across multiple sites and applications running in the cloud, boosting productivity.

Consulting services
2 Week Azure Cloud Accelerator.png

2-Week Azure Cloud Accelerator Workshop: In this consultation, Polaris Solutions will help your team navigate Microsoft Azure-native development. Automate the building, testing, and deployment of your application to start off on the right foot. Polaris will work side by side with your development team to give life to your new project.
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3-Week Migrate SAP Analytics to Azure Assessment: TekLink will help you devise a strategy and roadmap assessment for migrating your company’s SAP Analytics to Microsoft Azure. The Azure platform will provide a data foundation that can be used for advanced analytics, self-service, and other analytical and machine learning applications.
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4-Week Azure Platform Migration Assessment: TekLink’s offering includes a Microsoft Azure migration assessment of your architecture and will provide a migration roadmap based on your requirements. The roadmap includes a technical architecture and a sizing document for your target landscape that meets security and compliance requirements. 
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Microsoft Forms: Discover intelligence, insights, and more for Polls in Microsoft Teams Meetings

Microsoft Forms: Discover intelligence, insights, and more for Polls in Microsoft Teams Meetings

by | Mar 3, 2021 | Technology

This article is contributed. See the original author and article here.

From our initial release of Polls in Teams Meetings until now, engaging our colleagues, students, or guests in virtual meetings has continued to be a top challenge and priority. Having listened to your experiences with using polls in meetings, we recognize how critical it is to run meetings smoothly end-to-end, all the while maintaining engagement for all your audience members.


 


Today, we want to share how Microsoft Forms is improving Polls in Teams Meetings to bring you closer to this seamless, engaged meeting experience. With expanded access to this polling experience and the open-text poll, you can be assured that all attendees can be heard. Furthermore, with Forms’ intelligence and data insights, you can minimize the time it takes to create polls, and thereafter take action on the information your polls collected.


 


Leverage Intelligent Poll Suggestions


While preparing for your meeting in the “Polls” tab of your meeting, you will soon discover poll suggestions. , Forms’ intelligence can suggest poll questions that might be useful for your particular meeting. It can also suggest multiple-choice answer options based on your typed poll question.


 


Thus, with a few clicks, you can add the polls you need, reducing the time you spend preparing polls. These intelligence features will begin rollout in late March or early April.


 


Intelligent Poll SuggestionsIntelligent Poll Suggestions


 


Launch Open-Text Polls


Rolling out at the end of April, you can ask open-ended questions to your attendees. Without the limitation of multiple choice, you can hear more directly from your attendees. Once submitted, their answers are visualized in a word cloud, where words that are mentioned more often in the responses appear larger. given the context and nuance it can provide, can serve as helpful starting points for discussion.


 


To best leverage Forms’ text analysis within this feature, we recommend that you ask short answer questions, in which your attendees respond in one to five words.


 


Open Text PollOpen Text Poll


 


Mark Correct Answer Choices


Starting in mid-April, you can mark a correct answer for your multiple-choice polls in Teams meetings. Whether you are doing a quick knowledge check for your supply chain class or engaging colleagues during a training, this quiz-like feature could prove useful.


 


Correct Answer Choice PollCorrect Answer Choice Poll


 


Take Action on Post-Meeting Poll Insights


Starting in mid- to late April, you will find a data report under the same “Polls” tab where you initially created your polls. Here, you can discover and analyze poll engagement and response data.


 


Not only can you learn about the average response rate to your polls throughout the meeting, but you can also identify which polls interested your audience the most and which individuals were the most—or least—engaged in them. Equipped with these insights, you can take informed follow-up action and prepare for the next meeting or class session more effectively.


 


Create and Answer Polls in Teams Mobile App


With many of our teammates or students relying on our mobile devices to join Teams calls, we are delighted to share that you can soon create and launch polls on mobile. To do so, you will have to add the Forms app to the Teams Meeting on your desktop first. Then, while managing your meeting on your Teams mobile app, you can create and launch polls under the “More” tab.


 


Your attendees can then vote in polls from their mobile devices without having to visit the Teams chat. They can directly respond via the pop-up window, an experience on par with the desktop experience.


 


Melinda_Hu_0-1614642484988.png


 


External Guest Participation


Now, any external guests that you invite to your organization’s Teams meeting can engage with Polls in Teams Meetings. Thus, everyone in your audience can share feedback and be a part of the same interactive poll experience.


 


Availability for Government Community Cloud (GCC)


We have begun to roll out Polls in Teams Meetings for customers in GCC. Soon, you can add the Forms app to launch polls in your scheduled Teams meetings, as described here. The improvements mentioned above, including intelligence, insights, and more, will become available for GCC only after the original experience is rolled out to all GCC customers. 


 


Next Steps


As these new features become available in the coming weeks, please update your Microsoft Teams to begin exploring them. You can check the Microsoft 365 Roadmap to learn when these features are rolling out. We hope that these improvements make it easier for you to gather, understand, and respond to feedback in your Teams meetings.


 


If you have additional questions or feedback on Forms, please visit our Support page and Forms UserVoice site, respectively. For others Forms’ updates, you can watch @Mike Tholfsen‘s video on Microsoft Forms | 9 new features for 2021 and follow the Forms Blog.