Do you have SharePoint Online and want to better automate and streamline your business processes? Have you heard of PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, or Power BI, but you’re not sure how to use them with SharePoint Online? You’ve come to the right place! We’ve written a paper that explores how to build out a basic project-management app based on SharePoint lists and three key technologies that integrate with SharePoint Online: PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and Power BI. These three technologies are all part of the Microsoft business platform, which makes it easy to measure your business, act on the results, and automate your workflows.
Business scenario
In the paper, the company Contoso has a SharePoint Online site where they manage the lifecycle of projects, from request, to approval, to development, to final review. A project requestor, such as a department head, requests an IT project by adding an item to a SharePoint list. A project approver, such as an IT manager, reviews the project, and then approves it or rejects it. If approved, the project is assigned to a project manager, and additional detail is added to a second list through the same app. A business analyst reviews current and completed projects using a Power BI report embedded in SharePoint. Microsoft Flow is used to send approval email and respond to Power BI alerts. When you’re done with the paper, you will have a cool scenario like the following:
Downloading the paper
You can download the entire package, with the paper and the accompanying files, or you can download individual pieces. After you download, open spo-scenario.docx, and follow the paper. The paper describes the role of the other downloads. Before using the sample apps and report, create your own SharePoint lists and update connections in the samples. For more information, see the section "Task 1: Set up SharePoint lists" in the paper.
The scenario we present in the paper is simple compared to a full-blown project management and analysis app, but it still takes some time to complete all the tasks. If you just want a quick introduction to using PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and Power BI with SharePoint, check out the following articles:
When you’re done, we hope you’ll be back to check out the full scenario. Even within the scenario, you can focus on the tasks that interest you, and complete the tasks as you have time.
Trailblazers show girls the world of science and tech is cool – and needs them
Trailblazers show girls the world of science and tech is cool – and needs them
By Deborah Bach as written on new.microsoft.com
One day in her senior year of high school, Cristina Mittermeier sat on the floor with her classmates listening to a man talk about career opportunities in marine sciences while she looked up, transfixed, at the otherworldly images he showed on a screen.
Mittermeier knew right then that she wanted a career focused on the ocean. But her hometown of Cuernavaca, in central Mexico, was nowhere near the water, and there were no female scientists around who could offer her guidance. Mittermeier’s father wanted her to be an accountant, like him. Her grandmother wanted her to find a husband. Her mother, a psychologist, told her she should follow her dream.
Mittermeier couldn’t have imagined that three decades later, she’d be standing before a room of girls at the Microsoft store in Bellevue, Washington, encouraging them to consider a future in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math.
Girls need to know that there are a lot of women who have blazed a trail for them, and we are just waiting to see what they can do.
“When I look at this room, I recognize myself as a young girl,” she said to the standing-room-only crowd of more than 50 girls. “Growing up in Mexico, we didn’t have a lot of opportunities. It was so hard for me to imagine doing all these things.”
Mittermeier and her partner, Paul Nicklen, were at the store for Microsoft’s #MakeWhatsNext workshop, part of a broader campaign aimed at engaging young girls in STEM. As part of the #MakeWhatsNext campaign, Microsoft’s Global Ads team initiated a partnership with National Geographic for the March 18 event, one of six at Microsoft stores around the U.S. featuring women working in STEM fields — from a bioinformatics CEO to an astrophysicist and a young volcanologist in training. The event included a Facebook livestream with Jennifer Adler, a marine biologist and National Geographic Young Explorer, and presentations from the speakers, followed by an hour of codinginstruction.
Mittermeier and Nicklen are renowned National Geographic photographers and conservationists who have traveled to more than 100 countries and worked in some of the remotest corners of the planet. They are also the co-founders of SeaLegacy, a Canada-based organization launched in 2015 that aims to combine the pair’s award-winning images with storytelling to raise awareness about climate change and protect marine ecosystems around the world. They told the audience at the workshop that the planet needs the contributions women in STEM can offer.
“We need great scientists out there like yourselves understanding oceans,” Nicklen said. “Half of the air we breathe comes from oceans.”
Our whole society loses out when a significant proportion of the world’s brainpower is not engaged in creating those solutions.
With the pair’s stunning color images as a backdrop, Mittermeier detailed her circuitous career path. Afraid to leave home after high school, she enrolled at a university in her hometown and studied communications for a year. She was getting straight A’s but wasn’t feeling challenged. So Mittermeier swallowed her fear and made the decision to move away and study science.
Because there was no major in marine biology available at the time in Mexico, Mittermeier got a degree in biochemical engineering. Her studies exposed her to industrial fishing and commercial food production, which cemented her passion for conservation.
“I did a 180 as soon as I left university,” she said.
Mittermeier hoped to become a scientist and get a Ph.D., but she married soon after finishing university and had three children. Her husband at the time was a scientist and anthropologist who studied tribal communities, and Mittermeier borrowed his camera and starting taking photos in the field. Her work caught the attention of the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which asked to include some of her images in an exhibition on Amazonian tribes. Mittermeier has now edited 24 photographic books and been named among the World’s Top 40 Most Influential Outdoor Photographers by Outdoor magazine.
Cristina Mittermeier
“When I was starting my career, so many people said to me, ‘Don’t do that. Why don’t you become this or this instead?’” she said. “I’m so glad I persevered.”
Mittermeier is a role model for girls considering a career in STEM, but research points to a dearth of women like her as a primary reason more girls don’t enter those fields. Little early exposure to STEM subjects, lack of confidence in their own abilities and a masculine culture that discourages girls are also cited as factors. Just 6.7 percent of female college students in the U.S. graduate with STEM degrees, according to BestColleges.com, and women currently hold fewer than 25 percent of STEM jobs in the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Microsoft has launched several initiatives aimed at reducing that gender gap. The company partners with nonprofits such as Girls Who Code and Code.org to provide computer science classes and coding workshops, and Microsoft’s DigiGirlz initiative connects high school girls with Microsoft employees and other industry leaders through various events. Microsoft also works with policymakers to ensure that students have access to computer science classes.
Corporate Vice President Mary Snapp is the head of Microsoft Philanthropies, which launched in 2015 with a focus on providing technology to young people, particularly girls and underserved populations. Women’s representation in STEM is critical for reasons beyond equity, Snapp says.
“We need everyone to help to solve the big challenges our economies and our societies are facing,” she says. “Our whole society loses out when a significant proportion of the world’s brainpower is not engaged in creating those solutions. We want to encourage girls to stay in STEM so they can solve the problems they care about most, from finding solutions to climate change to curing cancer and beyond.”
Constance Adams knows firsthand how powerful the influences discouraging girls from STEM can be. Adams, who was the featured speaker at the March 18 workshop in Troy, Michigan, is a space architect and National Geographic Emerging Explorer who has designed habitations for Mars and helped design several space shuttles.
About a decade ago, Adams was passing a gift shop at the Johnson Space Center in Houston shortly before Halloween and noticed a child-sized replica of the distinctive orange launch entry suits worn by space shuttle crews. Delighted, she picked up one for her young daughter. Adams had been raising her as a single mother, taking her on work trips around the world, and the little girl was familiar with Adams’ work.
So Adams was shocked when, after presenting her daughter with the suit, she burst into tears.
“She said, ‘I can’t wear that — that’s for a boy,’” Adams recalls. “I was absolutely floored. If that child, growing up attached to my hip, had absorbed that narrative that astronauts weren’t women, wow. Somehow the girls really are not getting the picture that they have these options.”
Adams promptly arranged to bring her daughter to lunch with her friend Pamela Melroy, then a NASA astronaut. Adams’ daughter came away with an autographed photo and a new perspective on who could be an astronaut, but the experience stuck with Adams.
“I became much more conscious about doubling down on promoting STEM for women,” she says.
Despite the factors working against girls’ interest in STEM, Snapp believes the gender gap can and will be overcome.
“We’re already seeing some positive change. There is growing interest in computer science programs, for example, at the university level — in fact, some university science programs are having trouble keeping up with demand,” she says.
“And that growing interest, according to the universities we’re hearing from, is also coming from women. That’s one of the many reasons that I’m optimistic about the future for women in STEM.”
Back at the Bellevue workshop earlier this month, girls gathered at tables after the presentation and got to work on a coding exercise. Shilpa Asrani watched as her 7-year-old daughter, Trishaa Khanna, and two other girls huddled around a computer. Asrani said Trishaa was exposed to coding through her older brother and has a natural interest in science, but she thinks popular culture must do a better job of signaling to girls that they belong in STEM fields.
“I think the media needs to focus more on girls,” she said. “That’s what needs to happen.”
Trishaa said she liked hearing Mittermeier and Nicklen talk about wild animals and their environments because she hopes to become a veterinarian and work in a zoo.
“That’s my dream job. I want to be a vet, a zoo helper who takes care of the new baby animals who are born,” she said.
Kyra Mohr, 10, was intrigued by the chance to do some coding, which she considers fun. She hasn’t decided what she wants to do for a career yet, but thinks it will involve technology and space.
“I like space, planets and how humans have evolved to know how to go into space,” she said.
For Mittermeier, the workshop was an opportunity to provide the encouragement she wishes she’d had as a young girl.
“If I had imagined myself in these roles, it probably wouldn’t have taken me this long to get where I am,” she said. “Girls need to know that there are a lot of women who have blazed a trail for them, and we are just waiting to see what they can do.”
Microsoft’s Windows 10 Creators Update will launch April 11
Microsoft’s Windows 10 Creators Update will launch April 11
By Frederic Lardinois as written on techcrunch.com
After months of teasing, Microsoft is finally ready to ship the Windows 10 Creators Update, the next major iteration of its desktop operating system, to its users. The free update will start rolling out globally on April 11. This process usually takes a few weeks, but users will also be able to force the update from their Windows settings.
As the name implies, the focus of the update is on “creators.” Microsoft is going for a pretty broad interpretation of this theme here, but the highlights of the release are improved support for the upcoming crop of Windows-centric mixed reality and virtual reality headsets (especially for developers), better support for games thanks to a new dedicated game mode and built-in streaming to Beam, as well as new creative tools like Paint 3D.
The update also features the new night light mode to help you sleep better, screen time limits that parents can set for their children, and updates to the Windows Hello security feature.
When I talked to Windows General Manager Aaron Woodman earlier this month, he noted that what he has been seeing over the last few years is a pivot back to the roots of Microsoft and Windows — and he sees this update as another example of this. In his view, the three big highlights of the release are Windows Mixed Reality (which was once called Windows Holographic), the new gaming features, and the updates to the Edge browser.
Indeed, while it was long fashionable to make fun of Microsoft’s browser efforts and the early Edge releases definitely had a few usability issues, it’s now become a respectable competitor. Woodman noted that Microsoft wanted to first “nail the fundamentals” like performance and security and has now worked on other areas like tab management and the integration of Cortana (which actually works quite well).
With this update, the company is doing something interesting in that it is bringing e-books to the Windows Store, which will be displayed in Edge. At first, this seems like an odd move. We have all been accustomed to using specialized apps and even devices for reading e-books. Woodman, however, argues that while this holds true on mobile, on the PC, the browser is the default place for people to consume text.
The update will start rolling out on April 11. How long it’ll take to arrive on every PC remains to be seen and Microsoft tunes the process depending on the feedback it gets.
In addition to announcing the release date for this update, Microsoft also today announced that it will bring its Surface Book and Surface Studio hardware to more markets. The Surface Book can now be pre-ordered in Austria, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. It will ship April 20.
The Surface Studio (and Dial) can now be pre-ordered in Australia, Canada and New Zealand. There, too, it will ship April 20.
J. Walter Thompson pioneers new brands on a global scale with Office 365
J. Walter Thompson pioneers new brands on a global scale with Office 365
By Jamie McLellan, chief technology officer at J. Walter Thompson as written on blogs.office.com
For 152 years, J. Walter Thompson (JWT) has been moving at the speed of culture—and in some cases even shaping it.
As one of the world’s best-known communications brands, JWT achieved this level of cultural relevance through our deep understanding of people, from our clients to our employees. And as the CTO of JWT, it is my job to make sure the technology we choose is people-first: supportive, intuitive and connected.
We are a people business, so collaboration among employees and across the agency-client line is key to getting work done. We use Microsoft Office 365 cloud-based services, like the newly launched Microsoft Teams, to support frictionless collaboration among the 12,000 people and 200 offices that make up our global workforce.
One of the most appealing features of Microsoft Teams is the ability to start a small project among four or five people, and expand that group naturally with quick and easy onboarding as the project grows. The threaded conversations, tabs and dedicated Microsoft SharePoint sites within Teams make it simple for new team members to get up to date quickly. The faster that new team members become informed, the sooner they can start contributing value to the project overall.
Microsoft Teams connects our organization with an interface that supports the way we work, and I have seen firsthand how diverse working styles and demographics can all flourish within the Teams framework. For the employees in our company who are excited about technology that mirrors the software they use at home, the immediate chat-based collaboration and feedback across devices and the engaging Teams interface are very familiar and appealing. At the same time, employees who prefer a structured working environment, or who are concerned with policy, find that Teams fully meets their needs as well. It’s the best of both worlds and it’s not often that you find a single tool that has such a wide appeal.
The responsibilities of a large IT group extend beyond providing employees with the most effective tools to do their jobs. We are also accountable for the security concerns of JWT clients, which include some of the world’s largest and best-known brands. Microsoft Teams incorporates advanced Office 365 security and compliance capabilities, giving us and our clients peace of mind. It helps, too, that Microsoft is such a trusted entity; clients are likely to feel safer interacting with us in a Microsoft platform like Teams as opposed to a third-party or start-up program.
We chose Teams as a powerful alternative to a disparate collection of ad hoc solutions. Now, our employees all use the same tool that integrates with the rest of Office 365 to support collaboration, while maintaining a high standard of security. We consider Office 365, and all the powerful tools that come with it, a major strategic investment that helps us continue to shape culture at JWT.
In the future, we envision Teams becoming our central platform for collaboration on a global scale. We see it outpacing third-party tools that are not designed for enterprise collaboration, and enticing users back onto a single platform. The value of Teams is simple and powerful: wherever we can collaborate more productively as a team, we are better able to innovate and create stronger brands for our clients.
IP licensing program announced by Microsoft to power digital transformation in connected cars
The automotive industry is undergoing a digital transformation. The tech that is now in automobiles allowing them to connect to the internet and giving them capability of receiving services from the cloud is bringing a new wave of innovation. It is believe that over the next three years, more than 90% of cars will be connected. From amazing fuel savings, to predictive maintenance and safety features, to self-driving cars, this new tech will change driving altogether. Microsoft is working in conjunction with the top auto companies in order to deliver these technologies and services to customers everywhere.
“The connected car represents an enormous opportunity for the auto industry, and at the core it’s a software challenge,” says Peggy Johnson, executive vice president of Business Development at Microsoft. “Our mission is to empower car makers with technology that allows them to focus on building even better driving experiences for their customers.”
Microsoft is announcing that they have reached an agreement to license its intellectual property (IP) for connected cars to Toyota, as its first partner in the launch of their new auto licensing program. Learn more here.
This digital transformation that Microsoft is spearheading in the automotive sector is exciting and innovative. They will empower customers with new experiences and an altogether new driving experience.
Infographic: Azure 5 Steps to a Solid Disaster Recovery Plan
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Ever wonder how your company would function during a catastrophic data loss? Ninety percent of executives agree they need a business continuity and disaster recovery (BCDR) plan, so why put your business at risk any longer? Download this infographic and learn the 5 steps to a solid disaster recovery plan with Microsoft Azure.
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Microsoft's first-ever desktop PC blows away the Mac
Microsoft's first-ever desktop PC blows away the Mac
Whether you're a Mac fan or a PC person, I can hand you any laptop in the world, you can log into your Facebook and Google accounts, and do probably 90% of what you need to do. It means that, for a lot of people, one computer is pretty much interchangeable with any other.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
For the last two months, I've been using a Microsoft Surface Studio — a beautiful all-in-one PC, made with the goal of breathing new life into the tired old desktop computer.
It's Microsoft's first-ever desktop computer, following the well-received Surface Pro tablet and Surface Book laptop lines. Starting at $2,999, it's a piece of premium hardware that's not for everyone. Still, I'm here to tell you that for the last two months, this machine has put a grin on my face every dang day. Here's why:
It's tempting to compare the Surface Studio to Apple's iMac all-in-one PCs. They do share a certain design sensibility. But, in my opinion, the Surface Studio is so much more.
Apple
This is the Surface Studio. It's got a giant, gorgeous 28-inch touchscreen display, and comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Just like this, it was enough to engender jealousy and admiration from coworkers.
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
It's a fabulous computer, with enough processing power to handle all the tabs, Slack chats, and Steam windows I have open. But luxury doesn't come cheap: The cheapest Surface Studio starts at $2,999; the tricked-out configuration I tested goes for $4,199.
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
It even comes with a Surface Pen stylus that magnetically clips to the side, much like on the Surface Pro 4 tablet and Surface Book laptop. Note also that the screen is about as thin as the pen.
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
The included Bluetooth mouse and keyboard are, you know, fine. Not great, not bad. But if you have strong feelings about mice and keyboards, you probably have your own already?
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
Flipping it around, the back of the computer shows a little more of what makes the Surface Studio so special.
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
(If you're wondering, the back of the machine sports 4 USB 3.0 jacks, an SD card reader, and a mini displayport jack. Microsoft was courageous enough to include a headphone jack, as well.)
Just push down on the screen...
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
...and it totally flattens out! Again, note how thin it is. And the hinges make it easy and oddly addictive to push up and down. There's basically no resistance. It's soooo satisfying. Feel free to make "whoosh" sounds when you push it up and down, as I do.
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
Pushed all the way down, the Surface Studio sits at a 20 degree angle, which is perfect for sketching and taking notes.
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
I'm not an artist (this house is about as far as my artistic talents take me), but it's slick and responsive and a lot of fun to use that way. I've taken to sketching up photos and notes for friends and coworkers on the fly. But wait, what's that in my left hand?
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
Meet Microsoft's $99 Surface Dial. It was introduced alongside the Surface Studio, but it'll work with any Windows 10 PC.
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
The idea behind the Surface Dial is that it's a little gadget designed to complement the Surface Pen stylus. So if you're sketching with one hand, your other hand could be choosing colors.
Matt Weinberger/Business Insider
An important note: While the Surface Dial works with any Windows 10 device, you need to be using a Microsoft-made machine like the Surface Studio or Surface Pro to put it straight on your screen.
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
Some more notes on the Surface Dial:
1. It's super-satisfying to turn, and uses rumble feedback to really give you a visceral "click" when you turn it or push it in.
2. I didn't end up using it much in my day-to-day use. It's neat, but the novelty of using it to change the volume of my music or scroll up and down in Google Chrome wears off really quickly.
3. In theory, the Surface Dial adheres to the Surface Studio's screen when it's in the tablet mode, using a tacky surface on the Dial's underside. But if that bottom of the Surface Dial gets dusty or covered in crumbs, it won't stick to the screen as well. Just, um, trust me on this one.
4. It still works when it's not attached to the screen. Just, you know, see point #2.
And then, when you're done with tablet mode, it folds right back up into a PC again. It's super simple, no muss no fuss. You can bring it up and down like DJ Khaled just walked into the building.
Microsoft
Depending on the configuration you get, the Surface Studio packs a surprising amount of power: It's not exactly a dedicated gaming PC, but you can play titles like "Overwatch" at reasonably high settings. Nice.
Blizzard Entertainment
There are a few neat little bonuses, too. Like the fact that the base is cleverly designed to anchor itself steadily in place, but also somehow be really easy to push around your desk. So if you need to flip it around and show someone your notes, you can.
The back of the Surface Studio's base includes the power cable, which Microsoft claims will never come out even if you slide it around your desk.
Matt Weinberger/Business Insider
Compare all of this with Apple's Macs, none of which sport so much as a touchscreen, let alone the other stuff. Suddenly, the iMac looks a little bit...basic.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Like Microsoft's other recent Surface devices (and a few non-Microsoft machines), the Studio also supports Windows Hello, which lets you log in with your face by looking at the camera. Hello was super neat when it was introduced in 2015, and it's super neat now.
Matt Weinberger/Business Insider
And if you're a Mac fan nervous about the Surface Studio because of Windows 10, don't worry. I came to Windows 10 after years of rolling Mac only... and now I'm a big convert. It's just so much easier to stay organized on Windows 10.
Matt Weinberger/Business Insider
It's not TOTALLY perfect. I'd be lying if I said I didn't run into some oddities with the Surface Studio, most commonly a bug that made it so that the machine didn't connect with the mouse or keyboard until I rebooted.
Wikimedia Commons
But, in general, the Surface Studio is an absolute joy to use. I actually looked forward to coming into the office every day to use my computer!
Darren Weaver/Business Insider
The obvious caveat here is that, as a desktop computer, I couldn't put it in my bag with me at the end of the day. Until Microsoft somehow invents a way to fold a 27-inch touchscreen into a backpack, I guess that's why there's the Surface Book laptop.
Melia Robinson/Business Insider
So, to quote the great sage Ferris Bueller, the Surface Studio is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend it.
Adobe unveils new Microsoft HoloLens and Amazon Alexa integrations
Adobe unveils new Microsoft HoloLens and Amazon Alexa integrations
Many of these new innovations are backed by the company’s artificial intelligence and machine learning platform Adobe Sensei and the company’s catalog of cloud offerings.
Virtual reality is a big part of Adobe’s newest projects. In the advertising realm, the company envisioned a situation where someone could be standing in the middle of Times Square in New York City with a VR headset on. Based on the individual, various Adobe products such as Sensei and the Adobe Experience Cloud would come together to virtually replace the iconic billboards in the neighborhood with advertisements that might better speak to that person.
The HoloLens project visualizes data and layers it on top of the real world. For example, a retailer could use the technology to visualize sales data, so an employee wearing a HoloLens could see how various items are doing and decide to emphasize the more popular ones in the store. Additionally, retailers could place sensors on items, and see which products are generating the most foot traffic.
Here is a look at how Adobe and Microsoft are working together on virtual reality and retail:
Adobe wants to personalize Amazon’s digital brain Alexa. Alexa is open to third party developers, and Adobe wants to tie in its Experience Cloud to make it possible for consumers to ask Alexa for their reward status for a hotel chain or airline, for example.
Alexa would then use their customer profile data and preferences to recommend promotions or activities that take advantage of those rewards. Adobe said it would be able to do this in a way that protects people’s privacy.