Microsoft Ignite 2024 Event Recap

Author: Tom Hoblitzell | 6 min read | January 2, 2025

Microsoft Ignite delivered a wealth of announcements across Microsoft and Azure technologies, with everything from Microsoft Fabric to SQL Server getting lots of attention. With 100s of announcements, it can be hard to make your way through to the good stuff. Here are the highlights from the event to help you prepare for 2025.

Microsoft Fabric Announcements at Microsoft Ignite 2024

Dealing with a lack of clarity around your Microsoft Fabric costs? Microsoft is working on making that easier with the Microsoft Fabric SKU Estimator, now in private preview. This is the next iteration of the Microsoft Fabric Capacity Calculator, and seeks to improve pricing transparency around capacity requirements.

Microsoft Fabric is now getting operational databases, with the first round bringing SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric in public preview. The data stored in these databases get replicated in near-real time to OneLake, as well as being transformed into the delta parquet format. Billing for this database will also roll under Fabric capacity units.

Fabric Data Factory Pipelines got a few new features, including table and partition refreshes added to Semantic Model Refresh activity, and importing and exporting your pipelines from your Fabric workspace.

Mirroring in Fabric got another upgrade through Open Mirroring in Fabric, using the open Delta Lake table format. With this feature, you’re able to write change data directly into a Mirrored Database from applications and data ISVs. Several data platforms that are taking advantage of this capability in Microsoft Fabric include MongoDB and Oracle Golden Gate. DataStax is also planning on adding its solution.

Microsoft Azure Migrate Announcements at Microsoft Ignite 2024

Azure Migrate is getting a few additions to improve the cloud migration experience. Application aware experiences, now in limited preview, provides a current state analysis of the IT estate. CSV Import powered discovery for SQL Servers is also supported, in limited preview.

The user experience as a whole also got a refresh, taking you through the Decide, Plan, and Execute phases. Migrate has broadened platform support, including expanded open source software support.

Database Announcements at Microsoft Ignite 2024

Microsoft gave plenty of love to its entire database portfolio!

SQL Server 2025 is now in private preview. One of its highlighted features is built-in AI that’s designed to make it easier to develop intelligent applications, as well as working with RAG patterns.
Azure SQL Managed Instance now has instance pools in general availability for improved right-sizing and better cost management.
Azure Cosmos DB is now able to dynamically autoscale, with this feature generally available.
Azure Database for MySQL now has support for both MySQL 9.1 and MySQL LTS version 8.4, both in public preview. The Business Critical service tier will also be zone-resilient by default.
Azure Database for PostgreSQL now has elastic clusters in public preview for horizontal scaling.
Azure Managed Redis was also introduced at Ignite, with a focus on offering cost-effective caching for AI apps.
Here’s a deeper look at how SQL Database in Microsoft Fabric works, and information on exploring the public preview.
Oracle Database@Azure also got some love, with Microsoft Purview integration and support for Oracle Exascale and Fabric’s Open Mirroring capabilities.

Other Azure Announcements at Microsoft Ignite 2024

Azure AI Foundry was a big deal at Microsoft Ignite 2024, which is a unified platform to design, customize, and manage AI solutions. It includes a unified AI toolchain, the Azure AI Foundry SDK, to bring Azure AI capabilities to GitHub, Copilot Studio, and Visual Studio.

Azure Integration Services updates have improved Azure API Management and Azure Logic Apps capabilities. It offers support for GPT4o, generative AI gateway token quotas, and AI capabilities in the Azure Logic Apps Consumption SKU.

Azure Container Apps, a fully managed serverless container service, received several enterprise features at Microsoft Ignite. Azure Container Apps Serverless GPUs were announced to better support AI workloads and are in public preview. Azure Container Apps dynamic sessions, Private endpoints, and planned maintenance are now generally available.

Want to discuss how these Microsoft Ignite 2024 announcements may impact your data estate? Get in touch with our Azure experts now!

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Blog Author

Tom Hoblitzell

Vice President of Data Management

Tom Hoblitzell is an accomplished IT Executive and Board Member with more than 33 years of success in the retail, information services, FSI, healthcare, transportation, and manufacturing industries. His broad areas of expertise include strategic planning, business development, digital client-centric solutions, project and program management, M&A, big data science, data management, predictive analysis, business intelligence, data virtualization, and agile methodology. Tom’s experience enables rapid, practical development and execution of the profitable application of big data and leading-edge business intelligence. He has led initiatives using service-oriented and web architectures for transactional, analytical, and web business-enabled solutions using leading vendor solutions and technologies. Tom holds an MBA in Finance/Management Information Systems from Rutgers University, Graduate School of Management and a BS in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.