Countdown to Microsoft Ignite: What I will be paying attention to during that week

Microsoft Ignite, the software and cloud company's annual mega conference, begins in just 10 days and we will be there to cover it in downtown Atlanta, Georgia.

This is the second year for the conference that combined several smaller events and TechEd into one event and it had its inaugural run in Chicago last year. The 2016 version of Ignite was supposed to be back in Chicago, a decision that many in attendance last year were not enthralled about because of the challenging logistics in the host city last year, but a scheduling conflict resulted in a change of venue to accommodate a later conference date.

So with all of that myself and my colleagues Michael Morisy (IT Pro: Windows) and Lisa Schmeiser (SuperSite: Windows) will all be onsite in Atlanta that week to bring you the news and details of the event.

Of course, the week kicks off Monday morning with the big corporate keynote where several product announcements are expected and then there is a Innovation Keynote later that afternoon but that description is missing from the Ignite schedule so I suspect some product related surprises in that one as well.

Outside of the keynotes I plan to be checking out these key sessions (descriptions from the Microsoft Ignite Catalog):

Enhance Windows 10 deployment: what's new with Windows 10 deployment? - We continue to invest in new capabilities to make Windows deployment easier. In this session, we provide an overview of the latest enhancements for Windows 10 deployment.

Explore OneDrive for Business key features and roadmap - Learn about the latest key Microsoft OneDrive for Business innovations and a detailed update of our strategy and roadmap. We demonstrate all the latest sync, mobile, browser and Office product experiences as well as the rich IT and developer tools available. You'll see how OneDrive for Business as part of Microsoft Office 365 empowers your people and organization to drive successful outcomes with simple and powerful file sharing and collaboration on any device. We also detail and show the exciting roadmap for this crucial component of Office 365.

Halt hackers: do those tricks still work with Windows 10? - Over the past years, attacks have become more sophisticated and what once was the most safe operating system on the planet, can now easily be hacked. What are the most compelling dangers for Microsoft Windows 7 and 8.1, and how is Windows 10 capable of fixing them? This session shows what Windows 10 will help to protect out of the box and what you can do about the remaining threats.

Improve enterprise browsing with Microsoft Edge - Microsoft Edge is a safer, faster, more productive way to browse the web. It's great for large organizations, and can fall back to Internet Explorer for sites that need backward compatibility. This session covers Microsoft Edge in-depth for large organizations who want a better Microsoft Windows 10 web browser.

Explore advanced Windows Defense -Interested in security? Want to protect your data in the real world? See how Microsoft Windows addresses security as a whole system, one layer at a time. Explore methods of developing a secure baseline and how to harden your Windows Enterprise architectures and applications from pass-the-hash and other advanced attacks.

Upgrade to Windows 10: in depth -With Windows 10, we are encouraging everyone, including organizations, to upgrade from their existing OS (Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1). This upgrade process is easy and reliable, but how exactly does it work? In this session, we dig deep and explore how the process works to ensure that everything (apps, settings, data, drivers) is preserved.

DIY – penetration testing Windows environments -Join this session to hear how Sami Laiho, a world leading Windows Security expert, penetrates company networks and learn how to secure yours.

Implement Windows as a Service: understanding how to do it -You've heard a lot about Microsoft Windows 10 and probably have a basic understanding of Windows as a Service and how Windows 10 will be updated with new functionality. But do you know how to implement Windows as a service effectively? In this session, we talk about exactly that, looking at the products and technologies that can help with this process.

Dive deeper into Windows Store for Business -Microsoft Windows Store for Business is one place for organizations to find, acquire, manage, and distribute Windows 10 apps in volume across your organizations. This session provides a deep dive into Windows Store for Business, options for managing and distributing apps, including integration with EMM/MDM solutions.

Troubleshoot Windows 10 deployment: top 10 tips and tricks - Need help with troubleshooting Windows deployment issues? Johan and Mikael share lessons learned around handling device drivers in the deployment process, common deployment issues and their workarounds, parsing log files, WinPE and PXE troubleshooting, UEFI deployments. As a foundation, Microsoft Deployment Toolkit and Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager will be used. You can expect a lot of live demos, tips, and tricks in this session.

Be sure to follow me along with Michael and Lisa on Twitter as I am sure we will be discussing what we are hearing and seeing during our sessions, the keynotes and checking out the vibe of this years version of Microsoft Ignite. Plus, there will be all of our written coverage as well on both IT Pro: Windows and SuperSite: Windows.

If you are going to be attending Ignite make sure to give us a shout so we can say hello in person.

But, wait...there's probably more so be sure to follow me on Twitter and Google+.

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