Fabric mastery, Windows ML and more
Cloud Direct
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Did you know that football clubs can compete for the Hedgehog Cup?
Well now you do – and Wolverhampton Wanderers are the reigning champions!
That makes me an honorary Wolves fan for the rest of the year I'd say, but before we get caught up in football chat (more of that later in the Memo), we're here to talk all things Microsoft, including...
💻 Fabric being adopted by most of the Fortune 500
🎓 How to become a Fabric expert
🤖 Microsoft's brand new Machine Learning release
🧑💻 The future of AI in coding
Let's crack on, shall we?
Fabric now used by 70% of the world's biggest companies 🧵
To be amongst the Fortune 500, your business is doing something right. Collectively they are positioned as the 500 biggest companies in the US – and therefore, for the most part, the world – and generated $41 trillion in revenue in 2023.
How are their teams keeping track of their groundbreaking performance, analysing their enormous revenues, and assessing their impact on the world? More than seven in 10 of them are using Microsoft Fabric according to Arun Ulag , Corporate Vice President for Azure Data at Microsoft.
“We’re bringing all of our products together and unifying them into a single product, which is Microsoft Fabric,” said Ulag. “In some ways, you can think about Fabric as almost like what we did with Office 30 years ago.”
Since its launch in 2023, Fabric has been helping businesses get to grips with their datasets, and to enable innovation and the exploration of new technologies with empowered data. For the past two years there have been a whole host of new capabilities added to the platform – and that is a trend that is set to continue.
Become a Fabric aficionado 🎓
If you're interested in upskilling and are excited about the trajectory of Microsoft Fabric, then now is the best possible time to start building your skillset. Thankfully, Microsoft is helping tech professionals do just that by providing access to a range of skills, certifications, and learning opportunities across its platforms.
Whether you want to attain your DP-700 certification, become a qualified Fabric Data Engineer or you just want to brush up on your knowledge and understand how Microsoft Fabric will impact your ways of working, Microsoft's library of resources has been compiled to support you.
And if the learning opportunities aren't enough, there's the option to head to Vienna this September to attend the latest FabCon event!
Machine Learning at your fingertips 🫴
Machine Learning has been in the spotlight for a good few years now, but it's just got a whole lot more accessible with the launch of Windows ML.
With the launch of Windows ML into public preview, developers will no longer need to rely on high-end workstations and infrastructure to build and deliver Machine Learning solutions. Instead, they'll be able to work on a platform that is optimised for on-device model inference, using the foundations of Windows AI Foundry.
Windows ML is designed to support developers creating AI-infused applications with ease, making the most of Windows' powerful hardware ecosystem. It’s built to help developers leverage the client silicon best suited for their specific workload on any given device – whether it’s an NPU for low-power and sustained inference, a GPU for raw horsepower, or CPU for the broadest footprint and flexibility.
Additionally, it...
We're not just tech experts... ⚽
We know our way around a football pitch too!
Earlier this week, we fielded a team at Microsoft's UK Partners Championship and place fourth out of a total of 16 teams – but, more importantly, raised more than £5,000 for Cancer Ninjas UK on behalf of Cancer Research UK (CRUK) .
Although we weren't quite able to get our hands on any silverware, it was a fantastic day at the home of Charlton Athletic and a brilliant way to suppose such an important cause. We're especially grateful to inforcer , Nerdio and Evolve IP for their generous sponsorship donations, which contributed to the more than £100,000 raised in total.
We'll be back next year with two goals in mind... winning a trophy, and raising even more!
Will AI replace developers? 🤔
No, according to Microsoft Azure CTO Mark Russinovich – so you can all breathe a sigh of relief.
While AI has no doubt found its place in the industry as an assistant to professionals and wider teams, it's going to be a long while before it stretches any further than that, he says.
Real-world development work that span files, folders, and facilities "are, right now, still beyond the capabilities of our AI systems,” he said. “You’re going to see progress made. They’re going to get better. But I think that there’s an upper limit with the way that autoregressive transformers work that we just won’t get past.”
And that's where we'll leave it for now – I'll catch you in a fortnight.
All the best!
Eric 🦔