Microsoft Ignite 2018 – Day 5 Preview

Today is the last day of Microsoft Ignite 2018. The convention center is quiet this morning. The Expo is packed up, and people have already started to head for home. For the hardy (or foolhardy) souls such as myself, however, we’re still here, trying to squeeze out every last bit of the experience.

I have a few sessions marked for seeing today or watching later. At the moment I’m sitting next to the Hangout, so I’ll probably be watching on the big screen (assuming they put my sessions up) or on my Go. Here’s what I have marked:

• BRK2242 – What’s new in Remote Desktop Services on Windows Server 2019
  We use RDS to support a virtual lab for our students to access several applications that aren’t licensed for use on their personal machines. I’m not sure if this is something our central IT is going to take from us when we move into the new shared services group, so I’m starting to look at upgrading our setup next year. The farm is still on 2012 R2, so it’s time to jump forward. Then ew Windows Virtual Desktop looks compelling, but I’m not sure whether their pricing models will work for that scenario. So sticking with RDS may be the way we’ll go.

• BRK2424 – New multi-session virtualization capabilities in Windows
  More RDS. Same reason as I mentioned above.

• THR3141 – Desktop Deployment Jeopardy Game Show
  This is a great session for a Friday morning after four days of getting blasted with an information firehose. Lighthearted and fun with a solid dose of desktop deployment wisdom. Stop by if you want to see who wins bragging rights as the best of Ignite 2018 in desktop deployment.

• MUP3002 – Enabling device admins for modern management success
  We’re all looking to move to Modern Management for our WIndows 10 clients, and here’s a chance to find out what resources, tips, and tricks are out there to help us get there.

• BRK3147 – Scott Schnoll’s Exchange and Office 365 tips and tricks
  I live and die by tips and tricks in my job. Official documentation is great, but so much of what’s really cool and useful isn’t always obvious. Looking forward to learning something new (although to be fair that applies to most sessions).

• BRK3007 – Deep dive into Configuration Manager infrastructure simplification with the cloud
  I question the wisdom of scheduling any deep dive session on Friday after the celebration, but I’m sure there are some hardy souls who will be there. I’m not going to be one of those people. My brain is pretty full at the moment, so I will need to let things settle a bit up there before I try to add some more. More and more of our devices are going mobile and living their lives completely off of our network, so I want to do more to leverage some of these new capabilities in Configuration Manager.

I will be rolling out of here after that second session slots, and heading over to… Walt Disney World. Not really a surprise I know, but I can’t wait to spend a few days with Mickey and giving my brain a solid rest. Hopefully everyone else has some time to decompress as well and get recharged for reentry into the real world.

I’m planning to blog more later about this year’s event (and try to actually post my previews before the sessions start each day), but it’s never too early to start thinking about next year. The location and dates for Ignite 2019 have been announced, and there’s a bit of a surprise. We are back in Orlando of course (it’s a multi-year deal after all), but the dates are new. Microsoft is moving us again, this time from late September to early November. We will be her November 4-8! (The K12 and Higher Ed folks are going to love this change.)

You can pre-register for Microsoft Ignite 2019 now, so go do it. I just did, and I hope I see you in Orlando next year. Save travels everyone.