We are excited to announce that Microsoft has been named a Leader for the fifth year in a row in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Cloud AI Developer Services and are especially proud to be placed furthest for our Completeness of Vision.  We’re pleased by the recognition from Gartner as we continue to prioritize investments across our Azure AI portfolio. We’re at the forefront of empowering customers on their generative AI journey—offering a feature rich, unified platform that provides cutting-edge models, services, and fully integrated tooling to accelerate innovation. It’s why over 65 ..read more

As companies race to build or modernize intelligent apps that incorporate generative AI, many are finding gaps in their tech-stack modernization efforts as they explore and test use cases.  Recently, Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to evaluate modernization efforts at global organizations. The study found that nearly 90% of decision makers said they have a modern tech foundation and are ready for the future. The study also found there’s a perception gap and many aren’t as ready as they think they are. Some still deal with inflexible, outdated, and brittle legacy software syste ..read more

Innovate. Connect. Cultivate.  The Cloud Cultures series is an exploration of the intersection between cloud innovation and culture across the globe. Once known for its dominance in the coal, steel, and manufacturing industries, the American Rust Belt is entering a new era of innovation. Thousands of startups, a focus on homegrown talent, and a rich culture of resilience are sparking an unmistakable resurgence in the region.  Excited to explore this industrious spirit and a cloud culture closer to home, I ventured to the Northeastern and Midwestern states—the famed Rust Belt—to ..read more

The marketing and scientific communities are excited about radio access network (RAN) slicing. RAN slicing is one of the important new features of 5G networks; it makes differentiated services possible, enabling new features for customers and network monetization opportunities for operators. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications define the slice mechanism, but they don’t say anything about how to implement the slices. Also, we haven’t seen many production-level, real-world implementations of RAN slicing, perhaps because 5G business roll-out is complex. We have done resea ..read more

Offers and licensing benefits for Azure VMware Solution, including a new 20% discount Like many customers today, you are probably reevaluating how to best run your VMware workloads, and whether to keep them on-premises or move them to the cloud. Whichever path you choose, it will require an investment of time and resources. This is an opportunity to consider your long-term platform strategy – so you spend your resources wisely to reduce technical debt while you set yourself up for success in the future. With the era of AI upon us, the benefits of running your workloads in the cloud will grow i ..read more

In an era where digital innovation is king, the integration of Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service is cutting through the static of the telecommunications sector. Industry leaders like Windstream, AudioCodes, AT&T, and Vodafone are leveraging AI to better engage with their customers and streamline their operations. These companies are pioneering the use of AI to not only enhance the quality of customer interactions but also to optimize their internal processes—demonstrating a unified vision for a future where digital and human interactions blend seamlessly.   Azure OpenAI Service Build ..read more

Innovate. Connect. Cultivate. The Cloud Cultures series is an exploration of the intersection between cloud innovation and culture across the globe. ‘Mottainai,’ an idea deeply rooted in Japanese culture, is a call to respect resources and avoid waste. It goes beyond mere frugality; it’s an inherent recognition of the value of each item. I saw this ideology reflected everywhere during my trip to Japan for this episode of Cloud Cultures—in the transportation system, in my interactions with shop owners, even in the movements of a master sushi chef (or itamae) that I watched over the bar at an Om ..read more

In this article Groundbreaking performance at a small size Safety-first model design Unlocking new capabilities Get started today We are excited to introduce Phi-3, a family of open AI models developed by Microsoft. Phi-3 models are the most capable and cost-effective small language models (SLMs) available, outperforming models of the same size and next size up across a variety of language, reasoning, coding, and math benchmarks. This release expands the selection of high-quality models for customers, offering more practical choices as they compose and build generative AI applications. Sta ..read more

Running and transforming a successful enterprise is like being the coach of a championship-winning sports team. To win the trophy, you need a strategy, game plans, and the ability to bring all the players together. In the early days of training, coaches relied on basic drills, manual strategies, and simple equipment. But as technology advanced, so did the art of coaching. Today, coaches use data-driven training programs, performance tracking technology, and sophisticated game strategies to achieve unimaginable performance and secure victories.  We see a similar change happening in industr ..read more

Microsoft Entra is not only the identity system for users; it’s also the identity and access management (IAM) system for Azure-based services, all internal infrastructure services at Microsoft, and our customers’ workload identities. This is why our 99.99% service-level promise extends to workload identity authentication, and why we continue to improve our service’s resilience through a multilayered approach that includes the backup authentication system.  In 2021, we introduced the backup authentication system, as an industry-first innovation that automatically and transparently handles ..read more