Process Advisor for Supply Chain and Warehousing.

Process Advisor for Supply Chain and Warehousing.

by | Mar 4, 2024 | Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365, Technology

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

Editor: Denis Conway

Who should use it, why and for what?

Introduction

Performance evaluation has been revolutionized by technology, extending its reach to the individual level. Consider health apps on your smartphone. They gather data breadcrumbs from your daily activities, providing analysis of your movement patterns. This isn’t a generic data compilation, but a near-accurate reflection of your physical activity during a specific period.

In the future, it’s conceivable that these apps might be equipped with an AI companion, or Copilot, to guide your next steps based on your past activities. It could suggest rest days or additional exercise to help you achieve your personal health goals.

This concept of performance evaluation based on collected data is the bedrock of process mining and process comparison. Our Copilot functionality adds a layer of assistance, enabling you to make informed decisions about your warehouse operations.

In this context, Copilot can help you optimize warehouse processes. It can identify bottlenecks in certain processes or compare different methods to achieve the same goal, empowering you to choose the most optimal method for your specific case.

In this blog, we’ll explore the essence of this feature, its intended audience, and how and why you should leverage it for your warehousing operations.

Process Mining Insights:

At first glance, using Process Advisor for material movement analysis is easy. The setup process is straightforward:

  1. Go to Warehouse Management > Setup > Process Mining > Warehouse material movement configuration. In the taskbar, select Deploy New Process.
  2. The configuration Wizard will open. Press Next, then enter the name of the process in the field Process Name, choose company, choose number of months to load (12 months = data from latest 12 months) and choose the appropriate Activity.  Press Next.
  3. Process is deployed.

The configuration wizard looks like this:

graphical user interface, text, application, Word
Image: Configuration wizard screenshot.

The easy part is now complete. We have set up a process, named it, and loaded 12 months of data to prepare for our analysis. The difficult part is making sense of our data and using it to make decisions to improve our warehouse output.

Therefore, we will provide you with some real-life examples on how to use the data analysis functionality to understand your processes, and a scenario where we evaluate two different methods and use the Process Advisor to figure out which method would be preferred for our business operations.

Analysis of data

There are multiple ways to analyze your process data to understand and compare your processes.

  1. Start with opening Power Automate and go to the tab Process Mining. The report is accessible on the main page.
  2. Report: When the report is loaded, it can look like this:
graphical user interface
Image: Process Mining Case Summary.

3. Select Map

Select the Map tab to display the process map:

Process Mining
Image: Process Mining Map.

This is a screenshot of the process map from our example. On the Map, there are separate locations on which actions(tasks) have taken place, as well as the time spent on this location and between locations. You can change the time unit to, let’s say mean duration, to see how long each activity in a particular location takes per average.  

4. Use the Co-Pilot to get started.

We provide you with suggestions for frequent prompts, but you can of course choose to enter whatever you want. In this case, we will use the suggested “provide the top insights” prompt.  

graphical user interface, application, Teams
Image: Process Mining map with Copilot.

5. Copilot Generates

The Copilot generates a response based on the data in your process map. In the example, we can see that the Copilot has found the “BULK” as the longest running activity, and provided us with a list of the activities with the greatest number of repetitions:

graphical user interface, application, Teams
Image: Process Mining map and Copilot generated answer.

6. Copilot Follow Up

We can also ask the Co-pilot follow-up questions. In this case, we will follow-up with the suggested “How to identify my bottleneck?” and “Find my Bottleneck” prompts. The Co-pilot generates a message explaining what the bottleneck is and its mean duration. In this instance, since we have selected the metric Mean duration, we will generate an answer reflecting this metric.

graphical user interface, application, Teams
Image: Process Mining map with Copilot generated answer.

The message we receive tells us that the Variant with the highest duration is “Variant 2” with a mean duration of 2 minutes and 47 seconds.
It also tells us that the activity with the highest mean duration is “BULK” with a mean duration of 15 minutes.

From this, we can draw the conclusion that “Variant 2” is the variant that takes the longest time to complete, and that the most amount of time is spent in the “BULK” location.

By using the process advisor for warehouse movement material analysis, we can streamline warehouse operations and ensure we don’t spend more time than we need on a particular task or operation.
Another example where the Process Advisor can be utilized to enhance operational fluidity in your warehouse is by comparing different methods of achieving a similar goal, to understand which method is more effective to reach your desired goal. We will try to explain how to conduct such a comparison to with a test-case.

In our test-case, we will compare two different methods of picking goods in the Warehouse to figure out which picking method takes less time, so we can increase the Warehouse output.

Test Case : “Single order picking” vs “Cluster picking”

In this test-case, the user wants to know which method of picking is faster, “Single order picking” vs “Cluster picking”. To compare the two, the user goes through the following steps. First, the user creates a Hypothesis for the purpose of this test-case. In this case, the user wants to determine which picking method is faster.

Secondly, the user decides the scope of the test. For both methods, the user will have 5 sales orders with one to five different items per order, in different quantities. Both methods will use identical sales orders for test purposes.
In the Work Details screen, we can see the work details for the work that has been created.
The Variants are the different Variants of work, so in this instance, for work ID USMF-002327 with Order number 002375 (displayed in the picture) the worker will “Pick” 1 piece of item LB0001 in 5 different variations (in this case colors), then “Put” these 5 items away in packing area (location “PACK”).

table
Image: Work details screenshot.
diagram
Image: Work details label(s).

With the “Single order picking” method, the worker picks one order at a time and puts it in the packing location. To clarify, the warehouse worker will go to each location where the item is located, pick and scan that item, repeat the process for each item in that order, take the order to pack location and then repeat with next order. 

Worker goes to 5 different locations to pick items, then proceeds to “PACK” location to put items away for packing. Then, the worker repeats the process for the other orders.

chart, box and whisker chart
Image: Picking locations

After we have constructed our hypothesis and determined the scope, we can go ahead and prepare for the analysis.

First, we will have to deploy our process comparison. We head into Warehouse Management > Setup > Process Mining > Warehouse material process configuration, and in the taskbar, we select Deploy New Process. We select a fitting description as the Process Name, select company and number of months to load. In this test case, we will only be loading one month of data since we don’t need more for this test’s purposes.

Usually, you would want as much correct data(not corrupted/faulty data since this will affect the analysis) and necessary (scope needs to determine how much and what is necessary) data as possible to get a high-quality analysis.  
When our process has been deployed, we can move on to the analysis and evaluate this process.

We load our process map into Power Automate, and in the beginning, it will look something like this:

Image: Process Map Starting view.

We can press the Play Animation button to get a representation of the process.

graphical user interface, application
Image: Process Map Starting view.

In the Statistics tab, we can see basic information of the process.

graphical user interface, application
Image: Process mining statistics tab overview.

In the Variants tab, we can view the different work-Variants. By selecting one, we can get an in-depth view of, in this case, “Variant 3”. We can see that in this variant, 6 cases occurred, the total duration was 8 minutes and 15 seconds, and the total active time was 8 minutes and 14 seconds.
In this case, the attribute selected is Zone. If we look closely at the Variants, we can see that “Variant 2” has 2 cases and the others have 1.

This means that two pieces of “work” that was scheduled were so similar that they could be grouped. This is because, from a warehouse management perspective, the operation is identical. This is because the worker goes to one location, picks item(s) 1, goes to another location and picks item(s) 2, then put them away in “PACK”. Thus, it is two “Pick” operations and one “Put”, and therefore they will be grouped in this view.    

graphical user interface, application
Image: Process mining variants tab zone overview.

We can also change the Variants’ view by changing the Attribute selected. In this case, we will change the attribute from Zone to Order number. This will change our view, so that we see different Variants based on work type. It will in this case show us 5 variants, which at first can seem confusing. A new variant is displayed with these settings, since this now displays Variants by order number instead of zone, which means that we get one variant for each Sales order we created, since all of them were different from each other. 

graphical user interface, application
Image: Process mining variants tab order number overview.

In this instance, we can see the order numbers in the legend on the right side. This view tells us that we have 5 different order numbers, and the boxes below Variants Overview represents the number of work operations performed per Order Number. The Case Count per order number, in the case of “Variant 2” there has been a total of 6 operations performed (pick, pick, pick, pick, pick, put, as mentioned previously) and in the case of Variant 4 and 5, there has been a total of 3 case count (Pick, Pick, Put).

For this scenario, it can be helpful to see how much work we are performing per event. If we want a view where we can see how much work we do per event, we can switch Attribute to Work Quantity. This will in this instance allow us to see the quantity of work that needs to be performed for each event. In the example of “Variant 2” the interface tells us that 6 events have taken place, in 5 of the events quantity has been 1, and in one of the events quantities was 5. To put this into a warehouse perspective, this means that we have performed 5 of the events 1 time each, which for Variant 2 is “Pick item 1, Pick item 2, Pick item 3, Pick item 4, Pick item 5” and one event where we “Put” away these items 5 times.
That single operation is performed 5 times and counts as one event because it is the same event occurring multiple times, whilst the other event, even though they are all “Pick” events, will count as individual events due to picking different products, which are all in different locations. When we “Put” away in “PACK” location, we don’t put the items in different locations, thus it counts as one event.

chart
Image: Process mining variants tab work quantity overview.

If we select Attribute by Work type, this becomes clear:

chart
Image: Process mining variants tab work type overview.

We might want to see the location where the events took place. To do that, we can set Attribute to Location, and the view will show us the locations of the events below the header Variants overview.

graphical user interface, application
Image: Process mining variants tab work location overview.

In this image, we can see the variants based on location. To put this into context, “Variant 6” tells us 6 events have taken place, all in different parts of the warehouse. For “Variant 10”, we can see that one event took place in “LEGOLOC301” and one in “PACK”.

Now, after we have made ourselves comfortable within the report, we can start analyzing our process. To do that, press the Process Compare button below Variants.

A view similar to this one will appear:

Image: Process compare variants tab location map overview.

In the process map displayed on the screen, we have set the Mining attribute to Location, and the Metric to Total duration. This will allow us to see the total amount of time spent in each location.

By changing the Metric to Total count, we can see the number of times an event took place in each location, as the picture below displays:

diagram
Image: Process compare variants tab location map overview.

The total amount of time spent in one location and number of cases per location might be valuable, but a more telling metric could be how much time we spent on average per location.

By switching metric to mean duration, we can see the average time spent per location. This gives us yet another hint on which part of the process takes the most amount of time to manage. But, if we want to see how it looks from a proportional perspective, by toggling the percentage sign next to the Metric drop-down menu, we will achieve exactly that.

Image: Process compare variants tab location and mean duration map overview.

As we can see from the image above, LEGOLOC 201 is the location in which we spend the largest percentage of our time.
If we want to further examine what is going on in that location, we can do so by pressing the bar. This will change the view slightly, and a card with detailed information will appear on the right of the screen.  

graphical user interface, text, application
Image: Process compare variants tab location map detailed view.

In the highlighted red box, we can see detailed performance data to further assess the performance in this location.

 Now, we have enough information to draw some conclusions on our own. We have identified zone LEGOLOC 201 as our “time-thief”, and we know that more than 1/3 of the time was spent on picking items in this zone.
To make the analysis process easier, Microsoft’s Copilot has been built into this feature.
By pressing the Copilot sign in the top-right corner, you will open the dialogue box where you can create a prompt and ask the Copilot about your process. The Copilot will suggest some common prompts, but you can of course create your own. In this case, we will ask the Copilot to summarize our process.   

diagram, engineering drawing
Image: Process compare map and Copilot dialogue.
diagram, engineering drawing
Image: Process compare map and Copilot generated answer.

As displayed in the picture, the Copilot will give us a summary of the process. Because we have selected to compare our first part of the test vs our default value (the red locations), it also summarizes the default value’s process.

We do get some information on how many events took place etc., but we did not get the total case time, which was the value we wanted to find to confirm or deny our hypothesis. By asking the Copilot what the average case duration and the total case duration was, we received the answer that mean case duration was 4 minutes and 18 seconds, and total duration was 21 minutes and 31 seconds.

So, our answer in this case is that the Single order picking took 21 minutes and 31 seconds to complete.

diagram, engineering drawing
Image: Process compare map and Copilot generated answer.

Now, we will compare the result to the cluster picking method, to see how they compare.

For context, cluster picking differs from single order picking in the sense that in cluster picking, workers pick multiple orders simultaneously and not one at a time. In this case, it means the worker will pick all 5 sales orders, then put them all away in the packing station at the same time, rather than picking an order, putting them away in the packing station, and repeating for next orders.

table
Image: Work clusters screenshot.

In this image, we can see the main difference between these picking methods. For cluster picking, we can see that the warehouse worker is tasked with picking 8 pieces of red Lego blocks (left image), and in the second screenshot (right) we can see how many and from which specific positions items should be picked.

graphical user interface, table
Image: Work clusters screenshot with illustrations.

When all items have been picked, the Work status will be updated so all Cluster positions are “In process”.

table
Image: Work Cluster in progress.

Next task is to put all items in the packing station. When we have done that, all Cluster position Work statuses will be changed to Closed.

graphical user interface, application, Word
Image: Cluster Put screenshot.

As we can see in the image below, work status has been changed to Closed across the board.

table
Image: Work Clusters status closed.

Now, let’s jump back to the analysis. Start by creating a new process in the same way we did for single order picking and open the process map in Power Automate. In our test case, this is what we are shown on our screen.

diagram
Image: Process Compare map.

As we have already covered how choosing different metrics affects the process map and the information on display, we will not do that for this part of the test, since we know we need to compare location as the Mining attribute, and total duration as the Metric.

We will again use the help of the Copilot to evaluate the process map. Once again, we ask for a summary of the process.

diagram
Image: Process Compare map and Copilot generated insight.
Test Case Results

The summary from the Copilot tells us that this process started November 6th and ended after 8 minutes and 45 seconds.

This means we have successfully confirmed our hypothesis by using process mining and the process advisor.
Now we know for a fact that for one picker with 5 sales orders constructed in this manner, cluster picking is a much more efficient picking method compared to single order picking, since identical amount of work took significantly less time to complete. Therefore, we can draw the conclusion that for all work with similar characteristics, we should prefer using cluster picking over single order picking, at least if we want to increase warehouse output.

Keep in mind, harnessing the power of Process Advisor requires an analytical mindset and a structured approach. The sheer volume of headers, variants, locations, and numbers can be overwhelming. To navigate this complexity, emulate the structured methodology illustrated in this example. By having a clear understanding of your comparison and measurement objectives, and a strategy to achieve them, you’ll significantly enhance the outcomes derived from Process Advisor.

Essential skills for effective process mining:

Use a fact-based approach with warehouse data as the base.

  • Use a strategic and tactical approach throughout the analysis.
  • Unlike this example, a great way of using process mining is by using continuous analysis, where you monitor something over time, rather than one-time analysis, which it can also be used for, as in this example.
  • Use quick data for immediate insights, and big data for continuous and conclusive analysis.
  • Master filtering to gain valuable insights and sort out what you believe is important.
Wealth of achievements made possible through process mining:
  • Identify areas in which processes can be improved.
  • Validate conformance of processes.
  • Do process simulation and predictive analysis.
  • Discover the most optimal paths for automatization.
Conclusion:

The power of Process Advisor extends far beyond what we’ve explored in this blog. It’s a versatile tool that can be adapted to a myriad of scenarios, and this guide merely scratches the surface of its potential. We’ve used it here to streamline warehouse operations, but the possibilities are truly limitless.

We encourage you to dive in and experiment with Process Advisor. Use the scenario we’ve outlined as a starting point, but don’t stop there. Input your own warehouse data and see firsthand how Process Advisor can illuminate opportunities for efficiency and growth. The journey towards optimizing your warehouse output begins with the Process Advisor.

Learn More

Related documentation:

Overview of process mining in Power Automate – Power Automate | Microsoft Learn

The post Process Advisor for Supply Chain and Warehousing. appeared first on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Blog.

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

Pass Entity parameter from Power Automate Flow to an Action

Pass Entity parameter from Power Automate Flow to an Action

by | Mar 3, 2024 | Dynamics 365, Microsoft, Technology

Let’s say that you want to run a Power Automate Flow on a set of Dataverse records and those records will be referenced in your C# Plugins. And the next steps is you’ll create an Action for this and register it in the Plugin Registration Tool. In case you are new to plugins in CRM, … Continue reading Pass Entity parameter from Power Automate Flow to an Action

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

MGDC for SharePoint FAQ: Is OneDrive included?

MGDC for SharePoint FAQ: Is OneDrive included?

by | Mar 2, 2024 | Technology

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

1. SharePoint datasets and OneDrive


 


When I describe the SharePoint datasets in Microsoft Graph Data Connect to someone, I frequently get this question: do Sites and Sharing Permissions cover only SharePoint or do they include OneDrive? The short answer is that OneDrive is included, but there is much more to say here…


 


2. OneDrive is a type of SharePoint site


 


For most technical intents and purposes, a OneDrive in your Microsoft 365 tenant is a SharePoint site with a specific template and permissions. It is basically a SharePoint site collection for personal use that comes preconfigured with permissions for the owner and nobody else. After that, you can upload/create files and decide to keep them private or share with others from there.


 


This special type of site was initially called a “Personal Site”, later was referred to as a “My Site” or “MySite”, then a “OneDrive for Business” (commonly abbreviated to “ODfB” or simply “ODB”). These days, we usually just call it a OneDrive and you can figure out if we’re talking about the consumer or business variety based on context.


 


Along the way, the purpose has always been the same. To allow someone in a tenant to store information needed for your personal work, with the ability to share with others as necessary. As the name suggests, it’s your single drive in the cloud to store all your business-related personal files.


 


The personal sites for each user are typically created only when the user tries to access their OneDrive for the first time. SharePoint does offer administrators a mechanism to pre-provision accounts. You can read more about it at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/pre-provision-accounts.


 


But keep in mind that, when you use the Microsoft Graph Data Connect to pull the Sites dataset, you get all types of sites in the tenant and that does include OneDrives.


 


3. How can you tell them apart?


 


In the Sites dataset, you can tell a site is a OneDrive by looking at the RootWeb.WebTemplate (which is “SPSPERS” for OneDrive) or the RootWeb.WebTemplateId (which is 21 for OneDrive). Note that these are properties of the Root Web for the site (more on this later).


 


For the other Microsoft Graph Data Connect for SharePoint datasets, you can use the SiteId property to join with the Sites dataset and find the Template or Template Id. This is a reliable method and the recommended one.


 


Some of the datasets might also have a URL property which can be used to identify a OneDrive. For the Sharing Permissions dataset, for instance, an ItemURL that starts with “personal/” indicates a permission for a OneDrive. You can read more about OneDrive URLs at https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint/list-onedrive-urls.


 


Using the URL is probably OK for most tenants using OneDrive but might not work for other site types.


 


4. Root Web


 


It is good to clarify why the Template and TemplateId properties come from the RootWeb property and it’s not a property of the site itself.


 


For starters, it’s important to understand the main SharePoint entities:



  1. There are many tenants.

  2. Tenants have Sites, also known as Site Collections.

  3. Sites (Site Collections) have Webs, also known as Subsites.

  4. Webs (Subsites) have Lists, some of which are called libraries or document libraries.

  5. Lists have List Items (document libraries have folders and documents)


 


As you can see, there is a hierarchy.


 


HierarchyHierarchy


 


 



The relationship between Sites and Webs is particularly interesting. When you create a Site, you must tell SharePoint the type of Site you want. That is used to create the Site and the main Web inside, called the RootWeb.


 


Every Site Collection has at least one Web and most have only one (the Root Web). The Site’s name and type (template) ends up being stored in the Root Web. Most templates don’t even have an option to add more webs (subsites). I would recommend keeping things simple and having only one web per site.


 


Note: You will sometimes hear people refer to Webs as Sites, which is a term normally used for Site Collections. Since most Site Collections have only one Web, that is typically not a big issue. That can get a little confusing at times, so you might want to stick to using the unambiguous terms “Site Collections” and “Webs” to be extra clear.


 


5. Web Templates


 


When you create a Site Collection and its corresponding Root Web, you must choose a Web Template. Each Web Template comes with a few default lists and libraries.


 


Some of these Web Templates (like Team Sites and Communication Sites) help you get started with a new Site. Others are not meant to be created by end users but are used for specific scenarios (like the Compliance Policy Center, the Search Center or the Tenant Admin Site). As we mentioned before, one of these templates is the Personal Site or OneDrive.


 


Here’s a list of some common Web Templates used by SharePoint Online:


 







































































Web Template Id Web Template Description
1 STS Classic Team Site
16 TENANTADMIN Tenant Admin Site
18 APPCATALOG App Catalog Site
21 SPSPERS OneDrive (Personal Site)
54 SPSMSITEHOST My Site Host
56 ENTERWIKI Enterprise Wiki
64 GROUP Office 365 group-connected Team Site
68 SITEPAGEPUBLISHING Communication site
69 TEAMCHANNEL Team Channel
90 SRCHCENTERLITE Basic Search Center
301 REDIRECTSITE Redirect Site
3500 POLICYCTR Compliance Policy Center


 


Note: There are many more of these templates, not only the ones listed above. You can get a list of the templates available to you using the Get-SPOWebTemplate PowerShell cmdlet:


 


> Install-Module -Name Microsoft.Online.SharePoint.PowerShell

> Connect-SPOService -url https://archimedes-admin.sharepoint.com

> Get-SPOWebTemplate | Select Name,Title | Sort Name | Format-List


Name  : BDR#0

Title : Document Center


Name  : BICenterSite#0

Title : Business Intelligence Center


Name  : BLANKINTERNETCONTAINER#0

Title : Publishing Portal


Name  : COMMUNITY#0

Title : Community Site


Name  : COMMUNITYPORTAL#0

Title : Community Portal


Name  : DEV#0

Title : Developer Site


Name  : EHS#1

Title : Team Site – SharePoint Online configuration


Name  : ENTERWIKI#0

Title : Enterprise Wiki


Name  : OFFILE#1

Title : Records Center


Name  : PRODUCTCATALOG#0

Title : Product Catalog


Name  : PROJECTSITE#0

Title : Project Site


Name  : SITEPAGEPUBLISHING#0

Title : Communication site


Name  : SRCHCEN#0

Title : Enterprise Search Center


Name  : SRCHCENTERLITE#0

Title : Basic Search Center


Name  : STS#0

Title : Team site (classic experience)


Name  : STS#3

Title : Team site (no Microsoft 365 group)


Name  : visprus#0

Title : Visio Process Repository

 


6. They are all in there…


 


So, I hope it’s clear that the Microsoft Graph Data Connect for SharePoint datasets (like Sites, Sharing Permissions and Groups) include information for all types of sites in the tenant, regardless of the Template they use. You can use the Sites dataset to understand Team Sites, OneDrives, and Communication Sites. The Sharing Permissions dataset includes permissions for all these different types of sites.


 


Note: For more information, visit the main blog at Links about SharePoint on MGDC.

Unlocking AI Skills: A Guide for Tech Students, Microsoft UK AI Challenge

Unlocking AI Skills: A Guide for Tech Students, Microsoft UK AI Challenge

by | Mar 2, 2024 | Technology

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

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the world of work, creating new opportunities and challenges for businesses and workers alike. According to a recent report by Microsoft and PwC, AI could boost the UK economy by £232 billion by 2030, but it also requires a significant upskilling of the workforce to ensure that everyone can benefit from it.


If you are a technology student or a young professional who wants to develop AI skills and prepare for the future of work, here are some tips and resources that can help you: The Microsoft UK AI & Copilot Skills Challenge starts February 20, 2024 at 8:00 AM (8:00) GMT and ends on March 31, 2024 at 23:00 PM (11pm) GMT.

AISkills.jpeg



  • Learn the basics of AI and its applications. AI is a broad field that encompasses many subdomains, such as machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, and more. To get started, you can take online courses, such as Microsoft Learn, edX, or Coursera, that cover the fundamentals of AI and how it can be used to solve real-world problems. You can also explore Learn AI Microsoft Resources learning paths and hands-on labs for various AI scenarios and communities.

  • Get hands-on experience with AI tools and platforms. To apply your AI knowledge and skills, you need to familiarize yourself with the tools and platforms that enable you to build, deploy, and manage AI solutions. For example, you can use Azure AI Studio, a cloud-based service that provides a comprehensive set of AI capabilities, such as cognitive services, machine learning, and conversational AI. You can also use Power Platform, a low-code/no-code platform that allows you to create AI-powered apps, workflows, and chatbots without writing code.

  • Join AI communities and events. One of the best ways to learn and grow your AI skills is to connect with other AI enthusiasts and experts, who can offer you guidance, feedback, and inspiration. You can join online or local AI communities, such as the Gobal AI Community, where you can network, share ideas, and collaborate on projects. You can also attend AI events, where you can hear from industry leaders, discover the latest trends, and showcase your work.

  • Keep up with the ethical and social implications of AI. As AI becomes more pervasive and powerful, it also raises important ethical and social questions, such as how to ensure fairness, accountability, transparency, and human dignity in AI systems. To be a responsible AI practitioner, you need to be aware of these issues and how to address them in your work. You can read books, articles, and reports, such as The Future Computed, AI Ethics, or Responsible AI, that explore the ethical and social dimensions of AI. You can also take courses, that teach you how to design and implement AI solutions that align with ethical principles and social values.


AI is a fast-growing and exciting field that offers many opportunities for technology students and professionals. By following these tips and resources, you can develop AI skills that will help you succeed in the future of work. Remember, AI is not only about technology, but also about people, society, and the world. So, be curious, be creative, and be ethical, and you will be ready to make a positive impact with AI. 



Learn and develop essential AI and Copilot skills with the UK AI Skills Challenge


Get ahead with immersive and curated AI, Generative AI and Copilot training content across Microsoft products and services with four engaging themed challenges. Once you complete a challenge, you will receive a Microsoft UK AI & Copilot Skills Challenge badge of completion. For more info refer to the official rules.


As you progress through the challenges, you’ll have the chance to explore additional experiences tailored to your learning preferences and goals. Join the vibrant technical community in your local region, attend live sessions, build a powerful network, and build in-demand AI skills for today’s job market.


 







Generative AI


This challenge focused on understanding Generative AI and Large Language Models. Discover the fundamentals of generative AI and get started with Azure OpenAI Service. You’ll learn more about prompt engineering, generating code with Azure OpenAI Services, large language models, and prompt flow to develop large language model apps.


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Copilot for Microsoft 365 – IT Pro Administration


This challenge is tailored for IT Pro Administrators seeking to leverage Copilot for Microsoft 365 effectively in their work environments. The series of modules covers a range of topics from basic introductions to advanced management techniques, ensuring a comprehensive learning experience.


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Copilot for Developers


This challenge is tailored for developers who want to learn how to build apps for Microsoft Teams and get to know Microsoft Copilot Studio. It includes a series of modules that will give you practical experience and valuable knowledge about creating, launching, and improving apps on these platforms.


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Machine Learning Challenge


Machine learning is at the core of artificial intelligence, and many modern services depend on predictive machine learning models. Learn how to use Azure Machine Learning to create and publish models without writing code. You’ll also explore the various developer tools you can use to interact with the workspace.


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Security review for Microsoft Edge version 122

by | Mar 1, 2024 | Technology

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

We are pleased to announce the security review for Microsoft Edge, version 122!


 


We have reviewed the new settings in Microsoft Edge version 122 and determined that there are no additional security settings that require enforcement. The Microsoft Edge version 117 security baseline continues to be our recommended configuration which can be downloaded from the Microsoft Security Compliance Toolkit.


 


Microsoft Edge version 122 introduced 4 new computer settings and 4 new user settings. We have included a spreadsheet listing the new settings in the release to make it easier for you to find them.


 


As a friendly reminder, all available settings for Microsoft Edge are documented here, and all available settings for Microsoft Edge Update are documented here.


 


Please continue to give us feedback through the Security Baselines Discussion site or this post.

What’s New in Copilot for Microsoft 365

What’s New in Copilot for Microsoft 365

by | Feb 29, 2024 | Technology

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

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Welcome to the first edition of What’s new in Copilot for Microsoft 365. We are continuing to enhance Copilot to provide deeper experiences for users and tighter integration with your organization’s data to unlock even more capabilities. Whether you’re a Microsoft 365 admin for a large enterprise or smaller company or someone who uses Copilot for Microsoft 365 for their daily work, every month we’ll highlight updates to let you know about new and upcoming features and where you can find more information to help make your Copilot experience a great one. In addition to these monthly posts, we’ll continue to provide updates through our usual message center posts and on our public roadmap. 


 


Today, we are highlighting Copilot support in 17 additional languages, expanded resources and coming features in Copilot Lab, the updated Copilot experience in Teams, Copilot in the Microsoft 365 mobile app, and a new feature that provides a single entry point to help you create content from scratch. We’ll also take a look at updates to Copilot in OneDrive, Stream, and Forms plus a new feature that generates content summaries when you share files with coworkers. Finally, we’ll share a bit on what’s new in the Copilot for Microsoft 365 Usage report for admins. Let’s take a closer look at what’s new this month: 


 



  • Experience Copilot support for more languages 

  • Begin your Copilot journey and build new skills with Copilot Lab 

  • Copilot now available in the Microsoft 365 mobile app 

  • Introducing Copilot in Forms 

  • Extract information quickly from your files with Copilot in OneDrive 

  • Include quick summaries when sharing documents 

  • Get instant video summaries and insights with Copilot in Stream 

  • Try new ways of working with Help me create 

  • Draft emails quicker and get coaching tips for your messages with Copilot in classic Outlook for Windows 

  • Experience the new Copilot experience in Microsoft Teams

  • Check out the improved usage reports for Microsoft Copilot in the admin center   

  • Catch up on the Copilot for Microsoft 365 Tech Accelerator


 


Experience Copilot support for more languages  


We are adding support for an additional 17 languages, further expanding access to Copilot worldwide. We will start rolling out Arabic, Chinese Traditional, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, Swedish, Thai, Turkish and Ukrainian over March and April. Copilot is already supported in the following languages: English (US, GB, AU, CA, IN), Spanish (ES, MX), Japanese, French (FR, CA), German, Portuguese (BR), Italian, and Chinese Simplified. Check the public roadmap and message center to track roll out status. 


 


Copilot in Excel (preview) is currently supported in English (US, GB, AU, CA, IN) and will be supported in Spanish (ES, MX), Japanese, French (FR, CA), German, Portuguese (BR), Italian, and Chinese Simplified starting in March. 


 


Begin your Copilot journey and build new skills with Copilot Lab 


Copilot Lab helps users get started with the art of prompting and helps organizations with onboarding and adoption by providing a single experience that meets Copilot users where they are in their journey. Today, we’re expanding Copilot Lab by transforming the current prompts library into a comprehensive learning resource that helps everyone begin their Copilot journey with confidence and to take greater advantage of Copilot in their daily work.  


 


Start your Copilot journey with ease. We’ve learned from our earliest Copilot adopters that working with generative AI requires new skills and habits. Copilot Lab already shows up in Copilot for Microsoft 365, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote via the small notebook icon that suggests relevant prompts to inspire you. Now, we have consolidated our best resources, training videos, ready-made prompts, and inspiration to make Copilot Lab the single resource to help you get started. To do this, we’ve brought together our own internal best practices, insights from our earliest customers, findings from the Microsoft Research team, and thought leadership published on WorkLab. 


 



 


Achieve more together by sharing your favorite prompts. With Copilot Lab, we are making it even easier to create, save, and share your favorite prompts with colleagues inside your organization. Now you can share prompts with colleagues to prepare for a customer meeting or to generate ideas for a new product launch. And leaders across your organization can showcase how they’re using Copilot by sharing their favorite prompts to save time or tackle any task at hand, to help improve personal and team productivity and encourage community-centric learning and adoption. This feature is integrated into the Copilot Lab website and in-app experiences will begin rolling out by this summer.  


 


 


 


 


 


 


 



 


You can access Copilot Lab today at copilot.cloud.microsoft/prompts or directly in app by selecting the notebook icon next to the Copilot prompt window. 


 


Copilot now available in the Microsoft 365 mobile app 


We’re extending Copilot to the Microsoft 365 mobile app and to the Word and PowerPoint mobile apps. With the new Microsoft 365 app look and feel, you can easily find Copilot alongside your content, apps, and shortcuts. You can use it to: 


 



  • Bring your content into Copilot to complete tasks on the go. Summarize documents, translate, explain, or ask questions, and have your answer grounded in the content you select.  

  • Start generating content wherever you work based on your ideas and existing information, and hand over to Microsoft 365 mobile apps to continue working.  

  • Interact with Copilot in Word mobile and PowerPoint mobile to comprehend content better and skim through only the most important slides on the go (requires a Copilot license).  


 


The Microsoft 365 mobile app complements the Copilot mobile app rolled out earlier this month, and licensed users can continue to use the Copilot mobile app to have responses grounded in both web or work data. IT admins can easily deploy both the Microsoft 365 mobile app and the Copilot mobile app to corporate devices using Microsoft Intune or a third-party tool, or users can simply download the Microsoft 365 mobile app on any supported device and sign in. 


  


Copilot integration in the Microsoft 365 mobile app and the Word and PowerPoint mobile apps is rolling out now. You can learn more here.  


 


The iOS layout of the Microsoft 365 mobile app, showing Copilot available on the taskbar.The iOS layout of the Microsoft 365 mobile app, showing Copilot available on the taskbar.


 


 


Create compelling surveys, polls, and forms with Copilot in Forms 


Use Copilot to simplify the process of creating surveys, polls, and forms, saving you time and effort. Go to forms.microsoft.com, select New, and tell Copilot your topic, length, and any additional context. Copilot will provide relevant questions and suggestions, and then you can refine the draft by adding extra details, editing text, or removing content. Once you’ve created a solid draft with Copilot, you can then customize the background with one of the many Forms style options. With Copilot in Forms, you’ll effortlessly create well-crafted forms that capture your audience’s attention, leading to better response rates.  


 


Copilot in Forms will be available in March. You can learn more here.  


 


An image of a form draft with Copilot prompts displayedAn image of a form draft with Copilot prompts displayed


 


 


Extract information quickly from your files with Copilot in OneDrive 


Copilot in OneDrive gives you instant access to information contained deep within your files. Initially available from the OneDrive web experience, Copilot will provide you with smart and intuitive ways to interact with your documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and files. You can use Copilot in OneDrive to: 


 



  • Get information from your files: Ask questions about your content using natural language, and Copilot will fetch the information from your files, saving you the work and time of manually searching for what you need. 

  • Generate file summaries: Need a quick overview of a file? Copilot can summarize the contents of one or multiple files, offering you quick insights without having to even open the file.  

  • Find files using natural language: Find files in new ways by using Copilot prompts such as “Show me all the files shared with me in the past week” or “Show files that Kat Larson has commented in.” 


Copilot in OneDrive will be available in late April on OneDrive for Web. You can learn more here.  


 


 


 


 



Alt text: Video showing Copilot in OneDrive with a prompt to extract information from a collection of resumes. 


 


Include quick summaries when sharing documents   


Add Copilot-generated summaries when you share documents with your colleagues. These summaries, included in the document sharing notification, give your recipients immediate context around a document and a quick overview of its content without needing to open the file. Sharing summaries helps users prioritize work, increases engagement, and reduces cognitive burden. 


 


Sharing summaries will be available in March 2024, starting when sharing a Word document from the web, with support in the desktop client and the mobile app later this year. Learn more here. 


 


  


GIF showing AI-generated sharing summary when sharing a Microsoft Word doc.GIF showing AI-generated sharing summary when sharing a Microsoft Word doc.


 


 


Get instant video summaries and insights with Copilot in Stream 


By using Copilot in Microsoft Stream, you can quickly get the information you need about videos in your organization, whether you’re viewing the latest Teams meeting recording, town hall, product demo, how-to, or onsite videos from frontline workers. Copilot helps you get what you need from your videos in seconds. You can use it to:  


 



  • Summarize any video and identify relevant points you need to watch 

  • Ask questions to get insights from long or detailed videos 

  • Locate when people, teams, or topics are discussed so you can jump to that point in the video 

  • Identify calls to action and where you can get involved to help 


Copilot in Stream will be available in late April. You can learn more here. 


 


Copilot in Stream can quickly summarize a video or answer your questions about the content in the video.  Alt text: Screen shot showing Copilot in Microsoft Stream.Copilot in Stream can quickly summarize a video or answer your questions about the content in the video.  Alt text: Screen shot showing Copilot in Microsoft Stream.


 


 


 


 


Try new ways of working with Help me create 


In March, we’re rolling out a new Copilot capability in the Microsoft 365 web app that helps you focus on the substance of your content while Copilot suggests the best format: a white paper, a presentation, a list, an icebreaker quiz, and so on. In the Microsoft 365 app at microsoft365.com, simply tell Help me create what you want to work on and it will suggest the best app for you and give you a boost with generative AI suggestions. Learn more here.  


 


 


Help me create dialog box in the foreground, with the Microsoft 365 web app create screen in the background.Help me create dialog box in the foreground, with the Microsoft 365 web app create screen in the background.


 


 


 


Draft emails quicker and get coaching tips for your messages with Copilot in classic Outlook for Windows 


Customers of the new Outlook for Windows have been enjoying Copilot features like draft, coaching, and summary which we announced last year. Since November last year, summary by Copilot has also been available in classic Outlook for Windows. Soon, draft and coaching will be coming to classic Outlook too. 


 


Draft with Copilot helps you reduce time spent on email by drafting new emails or responses for you with just a short prompt that explains what you want to communicate. Because you are always in control with Copilot, you can choose to adjust the proposed draft in length and tone or ask Copilot to generate a new message – and you can always go back to the previous options if you prefer.  


 


Coaching by Copilot can help you get your point across in the best possible way, coaching you on tone (for example, too aggressive, too formal, and so on), reader sentiment (how a reader might perceive your message), and clarity. Copilot can provide coaching for drafts it created or drafts you wrote yourself. 


 


 Coaching will start rolling out in early March and draft by Copilot will start rolling out in late March.  


  


An image of a message composed in the classic Outlook for Windows with the Copilot icon being clicked to reveal options for draft and coaching.An image of a message composed in the classic Outlook for Windows with the Copilot icon being clicked to reveal options for draft and coaching.


 


 


Experience the new Copilot in Microsoft Teams 


We have recently enabled a new Copilot experience in Microsoft Teams that offers better prompts, easier access, and more functionality than the previous version. Copilot in Teams will be automatically pinned above your chats, and you can use it to catch up, create, and ask anything related to Microsoft 365. Learn more about the new Copilot experience in Teams here. 


 


An image of the Copilot experience in Microsoft Teams, responding to a question based on the user's Graph dataAn image of the Copilot experience in Microsoft Teams, responding to a question based on the user’s Graph data


 


 


 


Check out the improved usage reports for Microsoft Copilot in the admin center 


The Microsoft 365 admin center Usage reports offer a growing set of usage insights across your Microsoft 365 cloud services. Among these reports, the Copilot for Microsoft 365 Usage report (Preview) is built to help Microsoft 365 admins plan for rollout, inform adoption strategy, and make license allocation decisions. 


 


The report now includes usage metrics for Microsoft Copilot with Graph-grounded chat. This allows you to see how Chat compares with usage of Copilot in other apps like Teams, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote and Loop. You can review the enabled and active user time series chart to assess how usage is trending over time. The new metric has been added retroactively dating back to late November of 2023. To access the report, navigate to Reports > Usage and select the Copilot for Microsoft 365 product report. Learn more here. 


 


An image of the Copilot for Microsoft 365 Usage report highlighting the addition of a new metric for Microsoft Copilot with Graph-grounded chatAn image of the Copilot for Microsoft 365 Usage report highlighting the addition of a new metric for Microsoft Copilot with Graph-grounded chat


 


 


 


Learn more about the use of Copilot for Microsoft 365 in the Financial Services Industry  


Today we are releasing the new white paper for the financial services industry (FSI) with information about use cases and benefits for the FSI, information about risks and regulations, guidance for managing and governing a generative AI solution, and more information about how to prepare for Copilot. Read the paper here. 


 


Catch up on the Copilot for Microsoft 365 Tech Accelerator 


In case you missed it, you can catch up on all the sessions from the Copilot for Microsoft 365 Tech Accelerator via recordings on the event page. The event covered a range of topics including how Copilot works, how to prepare your organization for Copilot, strategies for deploying, driving adoption, and measuring impact, and deep dives on how to extend Copilot with Copilot Studio and Graph connectors. Chat Q&A is open through Friday, March 1, 12:00 P.M. PT, so watch the recordings and get any questions you might have answered. 


 


Did you know? The Microsoft 365 Roadmap is where you can get the latest updates on productivity apps and intelligent cloud services. Check out what features are in development or coming soon on the Microsoft 365 Roadmap. All future rollout dates assume the feature availability on the Current Channel. Customers should expect these features to be available on the Monthly Enterprise Channel the second Tuesday of the upcoming month.