Microsoft Inspire 2020: Our experts' top picks

It’s less than a week to go until one of the biggest events in the technology industry calendar, Microsoft Inspire!

On Tuesday 21st and 22nd July, our experts will be joining peers from the global partner community for a completely re-invented digital event experience, ready to explore what’s on the horizon for the year ahead in the Microsoft landscape and share valuable insights to help us build even better solutions for our customers.

Although the format may be different to what we’re used to, it’s great to see Microsoft embracing the same powerful, cloud technologies that have been so pivotal in supporting businesses through the recent shift to remote working.

We want our customers to be the first to know about any interesting developments or exciting announcements from the event, so we’ll be hosting two ‘de-brief’ sessions after each day of the conference to break down the jargon and bring you the latest information – direct from Microsoft.

Make sure you don’t miss these exclusive insights by registering your interest here – we’ll send the recording straight to your inbox!

Meet our panel of experts

Rory McKeand – Chief Operating Officer

My background:
“I strongly believe that technology empowers people and businesses to do more.  I have spent over ten years turning ideas into solutions that make a difference in project, programme and organisational leadership roles.”

Areas I’m looking forward to seeing at Inspire 2020:
“Really interested to see some step changes in both robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI) – specifically how existing products and tools can leverage the investments made by Microsoft.  Put another way, I am looking for practical applications of the awesome technology being worked on in the Microsoft labs.”

Andrew Wolfe – Dynamics 365 Solutions Architect

My background:
“I am a Solution Architect for our Microsoft Solutions teams; my work spans our Productivity (SharePoint Online, Canvas Power Apps, Teams, Power Automate), BC/NAV and Power Platform/CE teams. I have over 25 years of experience delivering software and hardware solutions in SharePoint, CRM, SQL, Windows Server systems and now Microsoft Cloud solutions. I split my time between delivery projects work, envisioning solutions, designing architectures, defining and governing our understanding of best practice and helping to develop our talented teams.”

Areas I’m looking forward to seeing at Inspire 2020:
“It is 15 years since I last attended a Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference; now called Inspire. It is virtual this year and I’m looking forward to being able to attend again and not spending a day travelling each way. My focus is Microsoft Business Apps backed up by Azure features and I’m looking forward to hearing the latest news on all these areas. Microsoft recently released the 2020 Wave 2 plans and I’m hoping for some insights into how Microsoft chose some of those key new features and which ones they left out. I’ll also be looking out for what Microsoft see as the next big things in the technology space.”

Andrew Fox – Operations Infrastructure Analyst

My background:
“I’ve worked at TSG for the last 8 years, currently as an Infrastructure Analyst for our internal Operations team and part of my job is to ensure we are taking advantage of new technologies and platforms in order to provide the best possible service to our customers.  Having worked in IT for nearly 20 years now, the one thing that continues to be impressive is the rate of progress in the industry – the continuous flow of new ideas and technology every year has always kept things interesting for me throughout my career.”

Areas I’m looking forward to seeing at Inspire 2020:
“For Inspire 2020 I’m looking forward to seeing what further advances are in the pipeline from Microsoft across the board, particularly the latest cutting-edge Azure developments in things like Analytics and AI.”

Steven Osprey – Director of Microsoft Solutions

My background:
“I am passionate about the Microsoft technology platform, as I believe it to be the strongest, most innovative and best value suite of tools available on the market. I have 13 years’ experience in the applied technology business, helping businesses across all sectors build technology strategies and roadmaps that directly underpin their business objectives.”

Areas I’m looking forward to seeing at Inspire 2020:
“Keen to see the latest AI and automation innovations in Dynamics, and also the plans for Power Platform over the next 12 months. I’m also curious on the stats from the Azure platform (particularly via the Teams workload) to see how it managed to scale with the demand placed on it during the Covid-19 pandemic.”