Microsoft Debuts Collaborative Community for Intelligent Cloud, Intelligent Edge Vision

At Microsoft Ignite last September, CEO Satya Nadella spoke about his vision for the intelligent cloud and intelligent edge, what he said will shape the next phase of innovation.

Putting muscle behind his vision, Nadella announced a major company reorganization in March. In his keynote at Microsoft Build last month in Seattle, Nadella talked about “two massive platform opportunities” — Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365. 

“Both these platform opportunities are being shaped by one major shift in the technology paradigm, the shift to the intelligent cloud and the intelligent edge,” he said. Nadella went on to describe the three foundational technologies impacting this shift: ubiquitous computing, artificial intelligence; and multi-sense, multi-device experiences. 

Satya Nadella

Satya Nadella

On Wednesday, Microsoft brought its partners into the loop with the introduction of two new programs, as well as a new category of devices. The company made the announcements at Computex Taipei. 

The new Microsoft Intelligent Edge Partner Community invites all partners, particularly those involved in devices, to connect with one another to identify collaboration opportunities on technology innovation and shared business goals. The community provides a single source for training material, technology previews, hardware developer kits, OS builds and end-to-end solution certification programs to accelerate partners’ intelligent edge businesses, whether that’s on Linux or Windows. 

Microsoft also announced Windows 10 IoT Core Services to enable partners to commercialize a secure IoT device, backed by industry-leading support. The service offering helps make it easier to manage updates for the OS, apps, settings and OEM-specific files; includes Device Health Attestation (DHA); and is backed with 10 years of support.

Windows 10 IoT Core is an edition of Windows 10 designed for building smart things and optimized to power intelligent edge devices. It was first released in 2015.

“For Microsoft, it’s more than just screens and devices; it’s about creating services and experiences with technology that support ambitions and aspirations,” said Nick Parker, corporate vice president of consumer and device sales at Microsoft. “Imagine the devices and experiences we can create with ubiquitous computing, infused with AI and connected to the cloud. This is such an incredible time for the industry.”

Nick Parker

Nick Parker

A new category of devices called Windows Collaboration Displays was also announced. The new devices allow users to experience Microsoft 365 collaboration tools – Office, Teams and Whiteboard – at room scale. A variety of Collaboration Displays from Sharp and Avocor will be available later this year, according to Roanne Sones, corporate vice president, platforms, Microsoft.