With more than 30 years of experience covering Microsoft, Directions on Microsoft provides unique perspectives about the shifts in Microsoft technologies, roadmaps, and licensing policies that matter most to enterprise-size companies. Twice each month, industry veteran Mary Jo Foley interviews a different Directions analyst for informed insights and advice to help you drive full value from your Microsoft investments.
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Stuck in a VMware Squeeze? You've Got Microsoft Options
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Broadcom's purchase of VMware late last year has left many customers in the lurch. Microsoft is making a play for the disenfranchised. Directions analysts Jim Gaynor and Wes Miller provide guidance with host Mary Jo Foley to help you navigate the potential technology and licensing minefields.By Directions on Microsoft
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Like It Or Not, The New Outlook Is Coming Soon
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Microsoft's new Outlook (and the on-premises Exchange Server SE release) are marching ahead. What do customers need to do now to prepare? Directions' Rob Helm, Jim Gaynor, and Mary Jo Foley share the very latest info and their insights on what's happening with these two key new products.By Directions on Microsoft
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Onboarding AI With ROI: A Directions on Microsoft Brainstorm
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What should companies be doing to on-board AI in ways that generate a positive return on investment? Directions analysts Barry Briggs, Michael Cherry, and Rob Sanfilippo tackle some of the biggest AI-related compliance, legal, and implementation questions that we're getting from customers.By Directions on Microsoft
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Microsoft Customers: Your Security Strategy Needs an Overhaul, Too
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After the U.S. Cyber Safety Board gave Microsoft a terrible report card, Microsoft reiterated its plans for a company-wide security overhaul. But what should its customers be doing? Directions analyst Michael Cherry and Mary Jo Foley offer guidance on steps organizations should take in light of Microsoft's recent security missteps.…
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Want the curated highlights from Directions on Microsoft's latest licensing bootcamp AND Microsoft's Build 2024 developer conference? Directions analyst Wes Miller and Mary Jo Foley have you covered. We talk about the highs, lows and lessons learned from both events.By Directions on Microsoft
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Understanding Microsoft's Edge-Computing Strategy
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Microsoft's edge-computing strategy has been shifting in some subtle and not-so-subtle ways. In the evolving AI era, edge computing will become even more central for customers, partners and Microsoft itself. Directions analyst Barry Briggs and Mary Jo Foley dissect Microsoft's evolving edge-computing plans and tactics in this episode.…
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More Microsoft End-of-Life Meteors Appear on the Horizon
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There's a new wave of end-of-life Microsoft product meteors coming for your organization. Directions on Microsoft analyst Joshua Trupin talks with Mary Jo Foley about what to watch out for in 2025 and beyond, including new, pricey, Pay As You Go options -- and how customers can try to blunt the impact.…
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Windows Server 2025: What you need to know
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Windows Server is back! Directions on Microsoft analyst Jim Gaynor and Mary Jo Foley delve into the new features and capabilities coming with Windows Server 2025 worth knowing about, including new Active Directory and security features, GPU partitioning for Hyper-V, hotpatching – and the Azure services you need to use them.…
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Microsoft Licensing Boot Camp Lessons Learned
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Mary Jo Foley interviews veteran Directions analyst Wes Miller, who shares surprising insights gained teaching customers how to navigate the Microsoft licensing maze for more than a decade. From over-licensing and under-licensing to underestimating Microsoft's revenue drive, you’ll learn the important do’s and don’ts of effective Microsoft licensin…
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Cloud Repatriation! A Directions on Microsoft Brainstorm
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Directions analysts Jim Gaynor, Rob Sanfilippo and Andrew Snodgrass debate when, how, and why customers might want to move some (or even all) of their workloads and apps from the cloud back to on-premises.By Directions on Microsoft
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Directions on Microsoft analyst Rob Sanfilippo talks with Mary Jo Foley about how the Directions' twice-yearly Azure roadmap comes together. The two compare notes on the latest Azure trends and hot buttons. Plus, Rob takes the Azure codename challenge (and loses).By Directions on Microsoft
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Subscriptions! A Directions on Microsoft Brainstorm
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Directions analysts Michael Cherry, Jim Gaynor, and Wes Miller dive into how subscriptions have transformed Microsoft business model and what it means for Microsoft customers, both now and in the future.By Directions on Microsoft
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Directions analysts Barry Briggs and Andrew Snodgrass talk with Mary Jo about the hype and the reality surrounding database systems this episode of the Directions podcast. Are organizations any closer to harnessing the power of data now than before? What works and what doesn't when it comes to data-management strategies?…
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Copilots! A Directions on Microsoft Brainstorm
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In our first Brainstorm episode, Mary Jo Foley, Andy Snodgrass, Rob Sanfilippo, and Barry Briggs discuss the avalanche of Copilots announced by Microsoft, whether they’ll live up to the marketing hype, and what they mean to enterprises and to enterprise users.By Directions on Microsoft
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In the last episode of the Directions on Microsoft EA podcast series, Mary Jo Foley quizzes former Microsoft negotiator Dean Bedwell about common Microsoft negotiation traps customers should avoid and the negotiation levers they can apply to optimize their EA renewal outcomes.By Directions on Microsoft
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Microsoft Roadmap: What was hot in 2023 and will matter in 2024
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Our panel of Directions on Microsoft analysts talk enterprise product and licensing hot buttons for 2023 and what will be top-of-mind in 2024 -- and answer customer questions.By Directions on Microsoft
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Executive Focus: Microsoft's Seismic Shift to AI
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After years of promoting "Cloud, Cloud, Cloud," Microsoft has shifted to "AI, AI, AI." Mary Jo and former Microsoft CTO Barry Briggs put Microsoft’s big bet on AI into perspective by comparing it to its other strategic initiatives – past, present, and future.By Directions on Microsoft
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Microsoft EA Negotiation Podcast Series: Discounts and Concessions
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In episode five of the Directions on Microsoft EA Negotiation podcast series, Mary Jo Foley talks with former Microsoft negotiator Dean Bedwell about the top pricing, business, and legal concessions every Microsoft customer should ask for and the best way to negotiate for them.By Directions on Microsoft
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Think you know all about Microsoft's telephony services in Teams? In this episode, Directions analyst Jim Gaynor talks with Mary Jo Foley about the Teams Phone use cases, licensing requirements and more. Whether you're replacing your organization's phone system or looking for the best way to dial into a Teams meeting, Jim has you covered.…
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Microsoft EA Negotiation Podcast Series – Negotiation
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In this fourth installment of a series covering Microsoft Enterprise Agreements (EAs), Directions on Microsoft's director of advisory services and former Microsoft negotiator Dean Bedwell shares his top tips and tricks for a successful EA negotiation.By Directions on Microsoft
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Fourteen Years of Microsoft Licensing Rule Changes: Looking Back and Forward
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Directions analysts Rob Horwitz and Wes Miller talk with Mary Jo Foley about what they've learned about Microsoft licensing after delivering more than one hundred Licensing Boot Camps over the past fourteen years. You learn what’s changed – and what never seems to change – about Microsoft licensing programs and rules. You’ll also find out about upc…
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Microsoft EA Negotiation Podcast Series - Analysis
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In this third installment of a series covering Microsoft Enterprise Agreements (EAs), Mary Jo Foley discusses the analysis phase of a successful EA negotiation with senior Directions on Microsoft negotiator Steve Kelley.By Directions on Microsoft
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Microsoft's products, priorities, and strategies never stop changing. In this episode, Directions analyst and former Microsoft CTO for IT Barry Briggs interviews veteran Microsoft watcher and Directions editor in chief Mary Jo Foley about the strategy she’s used to track big shifts at Microsoft for more than 30 years.…
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When Should You Walk Away from a Microsoft Product?
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When Microsoft stops investing, you should, too. Mary Jo Foley talks with Directions on Microsoft analyst Wes Miller about how to know when it's time to walk away from Microsoft technologies. He also identifies key Microsoft technologies you may being using that are already on that list.By Directions on Microsoft
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Microsoft EA Negotiation Podcast Series - Discovery Process
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In this second installment of a multi-episode series covering Enterprise Agreements (EAs), Mary Jo Foley talks with Direction on Microsoft senior consultant Joshua Osborne about the EA negotiation discovery process -- what it is, why it matters, how best to do it and key mistakes to avoid.By Directions on Microsoft
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Microsoft is changing its data and analytics playbook with a new end-to-end platform called Microsoft Fabric. In this episode, Mary Jo Foley and analyst Andrew Snodgrass dissect Fabric to parse out what’s really new. They also discuss how Fabric will -- and won't -- change the way customers work with Microsoft business intelligence technologies.…
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Viva EXP: What you need to know about Microsoft's employee-experience platform
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Microsoft's Viva employee-experience platform is a morphing collection of brand-new and older technologies aimed at improving workers' productivity and job satisfaction. Mary Jo Foley talks with Directions analyst Joshua Trupin about Viva's capabilities (including its AI capabilities), and how its packaging, pricing, and licensing are evolving.…
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Microsoft EA Negotiation Podcast Series - Project Management
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In this first installment of a multi-episode series covering Enterprise Agreements (EAs), Mary Jo Foley talks with Direction on Microsoft consultant Gus Volpe about EA negotiation project management -- why it's key to the EA negotiation process; the pillars of an effective EA project plan; and the top EA project management pitfalls to avoid.…
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Generative AI: Where Customers Need to Look Before They Leap
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Generative AI is taking off in the enterprise, but there are many legal, governance, compliance, and privacy issues that customers need to consider first. Mary Jo Foley talks to Directions analyst Michael Cherry about some of the big-picture issues that organizations need to tackle before putting these new AI technologies into production.…
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People forget, but Teams isn't Microsoft's only collaboration solution: Exchange combined with Outlook is by far Microsoft’s most mature and popular collaboration platform. In this episode, Mary Jo Foley talks with Directions' Rob Helm and Jim Gaynor about where Teams and Outlook overlap, integrate and compete -- and what it means for customers pla…
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Microsoft Licensing for Non-Microsoft Clouds
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Microsoft licensing rules are written to favor customers that use Azure and penalize customers who run their Microsoft software on competitors’ cloud platforms, especially AWS, Google, and Alibaba. In this podcast, Mary Jo Foley and analyst Wes Miller discuss the extra licensing costs Microsoft customers face when they use non-Microsoft clouds to r…
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SQL Server 2022’s New Azure-Connected Features
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In this episode, Mary Jo Foley and Andrew Snodgrass discuss the advantages, limitations and workarounds of Azure-connected features in SQL Server 2022. They cover the activities you need to take, and other services required, for use of certain features. Final considerations before adoption are summarized as well.…
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The World of Microsoft Regulatory Compliance Solutions
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Regulatory compliance is a challenge for most large organizations. In this podcast, Mary Jo Foley and Directions analyst Barry Briggs discuss the headaches regulatory compliance creates for IT departments and the “good news-bad news” of new cloud solutions Microsoft offers to help.By Directions on Microsoft
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In this episode of the Directions on Microsoft Briefing, Mary Jo Foley and Directions analyst Rob Sanfilippo discuss Microsoft’s case studies of its migration from the .NET Framework to .NET. What were the benefits gained and lessons learned, what is missing from Microsoft’s narratives, and under what circumstances is it best to migrate to .NET? Ma…
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Microsoft Teams What's Next for the Platform
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In this episode of the Directions on Microsoft Briefing, Mary Jo Foley and Directions analyst Jim Gaynor discuss recent Teams announcements, including what features are likely to launch, and which may not be generally available in the near future. They also discuss how to choose which Teams options are right for your organization as well as which n…
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The Microsoft End-of-Life Meteor Approaches
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In this episode of the Directions on Microsoft Briefing, Mary Jo Foley and Directions analysts Joshua Trupin and Rob Helm discuss upcoming end-of-life dates for Microsoft on-premises products that could catch many Microsoft customers by surprise. They also offer advice and guidance on how organizations can prepare to minimize the impact.…
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The Microsoft Cloud: Past, Present and Future
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In this episode of the Directions on Microsoft Briefing, Mary Jo Foley and Directions analyst Barry Briggs discuss the uneven history of Microsoft’s cloud strategy, including what it got right and got wrong. They also discuss where the Microsoft Cloud is now headed and what that means for both its customers and competitors.…
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Top 5 Microsoft Licensing Questions Answered
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In this episode, Direction on Microsoft co-founder Rob Horwitz takes on one of the biggest pain points for Microsoft enterprise customers: licensing. He explains why Microsoft licensing is mind-bogglingly complex and what makes compliance practically impossible. He also provides advice on how customers should approach their own Microsoft compliance…
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Trusting Microsoft -- Features, Updates and Security
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In this episode, Mary Jo Foley and Directions on Microsoft senior analyst Michael Cherry discuss who you should trust as speaking for Microsoft, and whether Windows 11 is the most secure version of Windows.By Directions on Microsoft
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GitHub versus Azure DevOps: Is Panic Warranted?
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GitHub has received major Microsoft investments since it was acquired. It is now a centerpiece of Microsoft’s developer platform. Directions on Microsoft analyst Rob Sanfilippo joins Mary Jo Foley to discuss how GitHub will impact the future of Azure DevOps, how organizations can respond, and some new Azure services that organizational development …
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Five Things You Need to Know About Power Platform
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Power Platform, a set of low-code, easy to use development services from Microsoft are assuming a rapidly expanding role in many companies’ IT footprints. Analyst Joshua Trupin joins Mary Jo Foley to discuss some of the licensing traps and complexities that every company needs to know about before adopting these services.…
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Mary Jo talks to veteran negotiator Dean Bedwell about Microsoft Enterprise AgreementsBy Directions on Microsoft
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In this episode, Mary Jo Foley and Directions on Microsoft analyst Wes Miller talk about Windows on ARM, Apple silicon Macs, and the feasibility of using Windows on ARM running virtually on a modern Mac.By Directions on Microsoft
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Mary Jo Foley and Jim Gaynor talk about Windows Server 2022, Windows Server Azure Edition, Azure Stack HCI, and the future of Microsoft’s server operating systems both on-premises and in the cloud.By Directions on Microsoft
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Power BI is a sprawling set of business analysis and reporting technologies that can be hard to comprehend. In this podcast, Andy Snodgrass and Mary Jo Foley discuss key Power BI capabilities, likely future improvements, and the licensing and deployment challenges facing customers who use it.By Directions on Microsoft
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Meet the Co-Founders! Mary Jo Foley chats with Jeff Parker and Rob Horwitz, who founded Directions on Microsoft almost 30 years ago!By Directions on Microsoft
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It's All About the Cloud! Mary Jo Foley and Barry Briggs discuss the outlook and strategy for Microsoft in 2022.By Directions on Microsoft
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