Get ready for Microsoft Ignite 2026
Microsoft Ignite 2026 is coming November 17–20, and it’s time to get ready. Whether you join in person or digitally, Microsoft Ignite is where you can build connections, accelerate customer conversations, and get early product access to shape your 2027 plans. Attending in person? Register now to access exclusive partner programming and experiences, including the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program booth, exclusive networking areas, and dedicated partner sessions. Joining online? Access livestreamed and on-demand keynote and breakout sessions, a session scheduler and sponsor directory to plan your experience and connect with other attendees, plus online-exclusive experiences. However you choose to participate, dedicated partner sessions, early product access, and networking spaces give you practical ways to scale your business and lead with AI. Register today and check out the session catalog to start planning your Microsoft Ignite experience. Plus: Exciting benefits news! Buy or renew your partner benefits package today and get even more AI value at Microsoft Ignite. New AI products will automatically unlock at launch—including Microsoft 365 Copilot Business across all three packages—with no increase to your package price. Starting at $350 a year, packages include discounted licenses, Azure credits, and one-on-one support so partners can save, innovate, and grow. Buy today and visit the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program booth to learn more.Partner Blog | FabCon + SQLCon Barcelona: Turning the latest data and AI innovation into partner growth
The European Microsoft Fabric + SQL Community Conference took place in Barcelona September 28 to October 1, 2026, and brought together nearly 5,000 data and AI professionals to connect, learn, and explore what it takes to move from AI experimentation to enterprise-scale impact across Microsoft Fabric, Azure SQL, and the broader Microsoft data and AI platform. For nearly 1800 Microsoft partners in attendance, the message was clear: customers need more than isolated data and AI projects. They need a unified, governed foundation that connects data, databases, analytics, AI development, enterprise context, security, and governance. That creates a powerful opportunity for partners across strategy, migration, modernization, AI innovation, governance, adoption, and ongoing optimization. The partners who can connect Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Foundry, Azure SQL, Microsoft IQ, and Power BI around a customer’s priorities can accelerate the transformation journey while expanding the scope and durability of their own practices. “As an ISV based in Australia, FabCon Europe has been a valuable opportunity to meet customers, connect with other partners, and build relationships in the European market. Spending time with Microsoft’s experts and the Fabric team has helped us understand the latest announcements and explore how we can help customers modernize their data estates with Microsoft Fabric. We’ve also had the chance to demo our solutions and exchange ideas—and we’re looking forward to continuing those conversations closer to home at the next FabCon in Sydney.” - Julien Redmond, CEO, Ignition Data Solutions What launched in Barcelona and why it matters for partners FabCon and SQLCon 2026 in Barcelona reinforced a broader Microsoft platform direction. As customers move AI into production, their data, business context, agents, security, and governance increasingly need to operate as a connected system. Microsoft announced new capabilities across Fabric and its database portfolio designed to connect those pieces, from unifying the data estate to grounding Microsoft Copilot and agents in trusted business context and operating those workloads reliably at scale. For partners, that creates an opportunity to expand customer conversations beyond a single workload. Bring trusted business context into Copilot with Fabric IQ Microsoft is bringing business context from Fabric IQ into Microsoft Copilot. Fabric IQ in Copilot Chat and Cowork is generally available, with integration into the new Code experience coming through the Frontier program. Fabric IQ connects unified data in Microsoft OneLake, trusted metrics from Power BI semantic models, and operational context so people and agents can work from a shared understanding of the business. For partners, this opens a more outcome-led conversation about AI readiness. Customers are asking for more than access to models. They need governed data, common business definitions, and operational context that enable Copilot and agents to deliver relevant, reliable results. Partners can bring together data estate modernization, semantic modeling, governance, and agent implementation as part of one transformation roadmap. This gives customers a clearer path from foundational data work to AI adoption. Operate AI-ready data estates with greater visibility Microsoft also introduced new observability capabilities for Fabric, now in preview. Workspace monitoring, an enhanced monitor hub, and operations agents provide a unified view across workspaces, jobs, capacities, and workloads—along with alerts, AI-assisted investigation, root-cause analysis, and recommended actions. That visibility becomes more important as customers move from pilots to production. Their growing data and AI estates require ongoing monitoring, optimization, and governance. This creates a repeatable way to support customers after deployment—into operational readiness, performance optimization, and managed services—while improving the resilience of their data and AI environments. These announcements sit alongside broader innovations across OneLake, Fabric Apps, Fabric agents, Database Hub, Azure SQL, and other database capabilities. Together, they reinforce a practical partner opportunity: connect the customer’s data foundation, business context, AI applications, and operations rather than treating them as separate technology decisions. Customers want to put AI into production, but fragmented data, limited business context, and operational complexity can slow progress. Partners can differentiate by connecting Microsoft Fabric, Microsoft Foundry, Microsoft IQ, Azure databases, and SQL modernization around an outcome-led customer strategy. By doing so, partners can enable customers to unify their data estate, add trusted enterprise context, and establish the governance and operational foundation required to scale AI with confidence. "Partner Day at FabCon+SQLCon Europe brought us up to speed on Microsoft Fabric and its data and AI strategy. It also allowed us to learn and connect with peers solving the same customer challenges and gave our team a close look at the latest Fabric innovations. I'm leaving ready to help our customers move faster toward data modernization and AI transformation." - Liam McNeilly, Manager, Data and AI Platforms Lead, Campana & Schott What we heard at Partner Day The opportunity around data and AI continues to grow, and partners are central to turning that innovation into real customer impact. Partner Day brought partners together with Microsoft leaders, product experts, and the broader community to explore how to translate the latest innovation into customer outcomes. A few themes stood out: Continue reading here.Join SQL Modernization Day on October 20, 2026, to explore Azure SQL migration, AI apps, and new modernization tools for customers.
Help your customers modernize SQL: Join the SQL Modernization Day livestream on Oct 20. Your customers’ SQL Server estates are ready for their next move, and SQL Modernization Day can help you guide them there. Join the Microsoft SQL team for a no-cost, half-day livestream on Microsoft Reactor on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, from 9:00 AM–1:00 PM PT. Across eight sessions, you’ll explore: The full modernization path: moving SQL Server to Azure SQL, Azure SQL Managed Instance, Azure Virtual Machines, and SQL database in Microsoft Fabric. Building AI apps once customers land in Azure. The new SQL modernization agent, in public preview, delivered as skills that plug into any interface that supports skills, starting with GitHub Copilot CLI and Visual Studio Code. Expanded Azure Arc migration, in public preview, to migrate multiple instances at once to Azure SQL Database, Azure SQL Database Hyperscale, or Azure SQL Managed Instance. With SQL Server 2016 now out of support, this is a timely resource to share with customers still running it. Register today and invite your customers to join you. If you can’t make it live, every session will be available on YouTube after the event. Disclaimer: The SQL modernization agent and multi-instance Azure Arc migration to Azure SQL Database and Hyperscale are in public preview. Preview features are subject to change and may have limited availability. Agenda and speakers are subject to change. Participation is subject to the Microsoft Reactor Code of Conduct, linked on the registration page. Register for the livestreamPartner Blog | MCAPS Start for Partners is almost here: Your final readiness checklist
On Wednesday, July 22, Microsoft partners will come together for a no-cost, digital-only event designed to provide a clear view of Microsoft FY27 priorities, investment focus, and go-to-market direction. This is more than a moment to hear what is ahead. It is an opportunity to prepare your organization for the customer conversations, capability decisions, and execution priorities that will shape the year. The partners who will receive the most value from MCAPS Start for Partners will be the ones who tune in ready to listen, align, and act. Don’t miss out—there’s still time to register for the event. Why this moment matters The pace of AI adoption is moving quickly. Customers have moved beyond experimentation and are now focused on measurable business outcomes, return on AI investments, and trusted systems that protect their data, intellectual property, and competitive advantage. The start of the Microsoft fiscal year is an important planning moment for the partner ecosystem. It is when Microsoft priorities become clearer, investment areas come into focus, and partners can assess how to align business plans, customer motions, and internal readiness for the year ahead. MCAPS Start for Partners is designed to provide that early clarity. It gives partner leaders and teams a shared view of where Microsoft is focused, how customer demand is evolving, and what actions partners can take to build capability, go to market, and align with Microsoft sellers. Whether your business serves small and medium-sized business customers, enterprise customers, or both, your team can use the insights from MCAPS Start for Partners to start FY27 with a stronger operating rhythm and clearer alignment across your sales, technical, marketing, delivery, operations, and alliance teams. Continue reading blog herePartner Blog | From Microsoft Build to AI implementation: Build the skills to lead Frontier Transformation
Microsoft Build showcased the next phase of AI transformation. Across AI platforms, agents, and secure development, one message came through: customers are moving from AI exploration to implementation. For partners, that shift creates a practical opportunity. Customers are looking for guidance on ways to design, deploy, manage, secure, and scale AI-powered solutions that create measurable business value. That takes skilled teams, repeatable delivery capabilities, and a clear path from learning to implementation. This month’s skilling updates focus on turning Build momentum into action. New Frontier Transformation Engineering resources, on-demand Frontier Transformation Summit content, upcoming certification preparation, Microskilling, and go-to-market assets give partners multiple ways to strengthen AI implementation capabilities and show customers they are ready to lead. Build Frontier Transformation Engineering capability Frontier Transformation describes the shift from AI pilots to embedded, governed operating models. It requires technical depth across agents, Copilot, Microsoft Foundry, Microsoft IQ, security, governance, and business process transformation. The Frontier Transformation Engineer Badge is designed for technical professionals building this capability. It validates the skills needed to design and deliver AI agents across Copilot Studio, Microsoft Foundry, and the broader Frontier stack. For partners, the badge signals readiness to move from AI vision to execution. To support that journey, all of the Frontier Transformation Engineer Summit sessions are now available on demand, giving your teams a chance to revisit key content or catch up on sessions they missed. Use the recordings to continue progressing toward badge attainment and prepare your teams for the AI implementation work customers are prioritizing now. Continue reading here
