Join Microsoft at IACP 2025: Empower public safety operations with trusted AI
The International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) Annual Conference and Exposition is the premier global event for law enforcement leaders, bringing together more than 16,000 public safety professionals. This year, IACP 2025 takes place October 18–22 at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, and Microsoft is proud to be part of the conversation. As your trusted partner in public safety innovation, we invite you to connect with us at booth #362 to discover how Microsoft and our ecosystem of partners are helping agencies modernize operations, improve decision-making, and build safer communities through trusted AI. Microsoft’s presence at IACP 2025 centers around three key pillars that reflect the evolving needs of law enforcement and public safety agencies: Empower the government workforce Streamline workflows with secure AI copilots, enhance collaboration across departments, and boost efficiency with intuitive digital tools. Enable AI-driven decision making Accelerate officer workflows with real-time insights and unify data to support faster, more informed decisions. Transform emergency response Modernize communications, integrate systems for real-time situational awareness, and automate operations to improve coordination and outcomes. Experience Innovation Firsthand At booth #362, attendees can explore hands-on demos of Microsoft solutions including Microsoft 365 Copilot, Researcher and Analyst agents, and Copilot Studio agents tailored for first responders. These tools are designed to help agencies work smarter, respond faster, and serve communities more effectively. You’ll also have the opportunity to connect with our partners, Altia, DisasterTech, Insight, Pimloc, Remark, Revelen.AI, Triangula, and Zencos who are showcasing their solutions that support officer workflows, evidence management, reporting, and analytics. Don’t miss the Emergency Response Platform vehicle demo, supported by Darley, Dejero, and 3AM which highlights how AI and real-time data can transform field operations and emergency response at the tactical edge. Attend Our Thought Leadership Session Join us for a featured education session in the Leadership Track: Is "Technology Sharing" the Key to Law Enforcement Innovation? 📅 Saturday, October 18 🕤 9:30 – 10:30 AM MT 📍 Room 505/506 This session explores how collaborative platforms and shared technology models can reduce costs, accelerate deployment, and improve outcomes across jurisdictions, offering a blueprint for scalable innovation. Let’s Connect We’d love to meet with you one-on-one to discuss your agency’s goals and challenges. Request a meeting with a Microsoft expert to explore how AI and cloud technologies can support your mission. Visit Microsoft at booth #362 to explore AI-powered public safety solutions and skilling opportunities. Together, we can build safer, more resilient communities through innovation.Step-by-Step Guide: Integrating Microsoft Purview with Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric
Co-Authored By: aryananmol, laurenkirkwood and mmanley This article provides practical guidance on setup, cost considerations, and integration steps for Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric to help organizations plan for building a strong data governance framework. It outlines how Microsoft Purview can unify governance efforts across cloud platforms, enabling consistent policy enforcement, metadata management, and lineage tracking. The content is tailored for architects and data leaders seeking to execute governance in scalable, hybrid environments. Note: this article focuses mainly on Data Governance features for Microsoft Purview. Why Microsoft Purview Microsoft Purview enables organizations to discover, catalog, and manage data across environments with clarity and control. Automated scanning and classification build a unified view of your data estate enriched with metadata, lineage, and sensitivity labels, and the Unified Catalog gives business-friendly search and governance constructs like domains, data products, glossary terms, and data quality. Note: Microsoft Purview Unified Catalog is being rolled out globally, with availability across multiple Microsoft Entra tenant regions; this page lists supported regions, availability dates, and deployment plans for the Unified Catalog service: Unified Catalog Supported Regions. Understanding Data Governance Features Cost in Purview Under the classic model: Data Map (Classic), users pay for an “always-on” Data Map capacity and scanning compute. In the new model, those infrastructure costs are subsumed into the consumption meters – meaning there are no direct charges for metadata storage or scanning jobs when using the Unified Catalog (Enterprise tier). Essentially, Microsoft stopped billing separately for the underlying data map and scan vCore-hours once you opt into the new model or start fresh with it. You only incur charges when you govern assets or run data processing tasks. This makes costs more predictable and tied to governance value: you can scan as much as needed to populate the catalog without worrying about scan fees and then pay only for the assets you actively manage (“govern”) and any data quality processes you execute. In summary, Purview Enterprise’s pricing is usage-based and divided into two primary areas: (1) Governed Assets and (2) Data Processing (DGPUs). Plan for Governance Microsoft Purview’s data governance framework is built on two core components: Data Map and Unified Catalog. The Data Map acts as the technical foundation, storing metadata about assets discovered through scans across your data estate. It inventories sources and organizes them into collections and domains for technical administration. The Unified Catalog sits on top as the business-facing layer, leveraging the Data Map’s metadata to create a curated marketplace of data products, glossary terms, and governance domains for data consumers and stewards. Before onboarding sources, align Unified Catalog (business-facing) and Data Map (technical inventory) and define roles, domains, and collections so ownership and access boundaries are clear. Here is a documentation that covers roles and permissions in Purview: Permissions in the Microsoft Purview portal | Microsoft Learn. The imageabove helps understand therelationship between the primary data governance solutions, Unified Catalog and Data Map, and the permissions granted by the roles for each solution. Considerations and Steps for Setting up Purview Steps for Setting up Purview: Step 1: Create a Purview Account. In the Azure Portal, use the search bar at the top to navigate to Microsoft Purview Accounts. Once there, click “Create”. This will take you to the following screen: Step 2: Click Next: Configuration and follow the Wizard, completing the necessary fields, including information on Networking, Configurations, and Tags. Then click Review + Create to create your Purview account. Consideration: Private networking: Use Private Endpoints to secure Unified Catalog/Data Map access and scan traffic; follow the new platform private endpoints guidance in the Microsoft Purview portal or migrate classic endpoints. Once your Purview Account is created, you’ll want to set up and manage your organization’s governance strategy to ensure that your data is classified and managed according to the specific lifecycle guidelines you set. Note: Follow the steps in this guide to set up Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management: Data retention policy, labeling, and records management. Data Map Best Practices Design your collections hierarchy to align with organizational strategy—such as by geography, business function, or data domain. Register each data source only once per Purview account to avoid conflicting access controls. If multiple teams consume the same source, register it at a parent collection and create scans under subcollections for visibility. The imageaboveillustrates a recommended approach for structuring your Purview DataMap. Why Collection Structure Matters A well-structured Data Map strategy, including a clearly defined hierarchy of collections and domains, is critical because the Data Map serves as the metadata backbone for Microsoft Purview. It underpins the Unified Catalog, enabling consistent governance, role-based access control, and discoverability across the enterprise. Designing this hierarchy thoughtfully ensures scalability, simplifies permissions management, and provides a solid foundation for implementing enterprise-wide data governance. Purview Integration with Azure Databricks Databricks Workspace Structure In Azure Databricks, each region supports a single Unity Catalog metastore, which is shared across all workspaces within that region. This centralized architecture enables consistent data governance, simplifies access control, and facilitates seamless data sharing across teams. As an administrator, you can scan one workspace in the region using Microsoft Purview to discover and classify data managed by Unity Catalog, since the metastore governs all associated workspaces in a region. If your organization operates across multiple regions and utilizes cross-region data sharing, please review the consideration and workaround outlined below to ensure proper configuration and governance. Follow pre-requisite requirements here, before you register your workspace: Prerequisites to Connect and manage Azure Databricks Unity Catalog in Microsoft Purview. Steps to Register Databricks Workspace Step 1: In the Microsoft Purview portal, navigate to the Data Map section from the left-hand menu. Select Data Sources. Click on Register to begin the process of adding your Databricks workspace. Step 2: Note: There are two Databricks data sources, please review documentation here to review differences in capability: Connect to and manage Azure Databricks Unity Catalog in Microsoft Purview | Microsoft Learn. You can choose either source based on your organization’s needs. Recommended is “Azure Databricks Unity Catalog”: Step 3: Register your workspace. Here are the steps to register your data source: Steps to Register an Azure Databricks workspace in Microsoft Purview. Step 4: Initiate scan for your workspace, follow steps here: Steps to scan Azure Databricks to automatically identify assets. Once you have entered the required information test your connection and click continue to set up scheduled scan trigger. Step 5: For Scan trigger, choose whether to set up a schedule or run the scan once according to your business needs. Step 6: From the left pane, select Data Map and select your data source for your workspace. You can view a list of existing scans on that data source under Recent scans, or you can view all scans on the Scans tab. Review further options here: Manage and Review your Scans. You can review your scanned data sources, history and details here: Navigate to scan run history for a given scan. Limitation: The “Azure Databricks Unity Catalog” data source in Microsoft Purview does not currently support connection via Managed Vnet. As a workaround, the product team recommends using the “Azure Databricks Unity Catalog” source in combination with a Self-hosted Integration Runtime (SHIR) to enable scanning and metadata ingestion. You can find setup guidance here: Create and manage SHIR in Microsoft Purview Choose the right integration runtime configuration Scoped scan support for Unity Catalog is expected to enter private preview soon. You can sign up here: https://aka.ms/dbxpreview. Considerations: If you have delta-shared Databricks-to-Databricks workspaces, you may have duplication in your data assets if you are scanning both Workspaces. The workaround for this scenario is as you add tables/data assets to a Data Product for Governance in Microsoft Purview, you can identify the duplicated tables/data assets using their Fully Qualified Name (FQN). To make identification easier: Look for the keyword “sharing” in the FQN, which indicates a Delta-Shared table. You can also apply tags to these tables for quicker filtering and selection. The screenshot highlights how the FQN appears in the interface, helping you confidently identify and manage your data assets. Purview Integration with Microsoft Fabric Understanding Fabric Integration: Connect Cross-Tenant: This refers to integrating Microsoft Fabric resources across different Microsoft Entra tenants. It enables organizations to share data, reports, and workloads securely between separate tenants, often used in multi-organization collaborations or partner ecosystems. Key considerations include authentication, data governance, and compliance with cross-tenant policies. Connect In-Same-Tenant: This involves connecting Fabric resources within the same Microsoft Entra tenant. It simplifies integration by leveraging shared identity and governance models, allowing seamless access to data, reports, and pipelines across different workspaces or departments under the same organizational umbrella. Requirements: An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account for free. An active Microsoft Purview account. Authentication is supported via: Managed Identity. Delegated Authentication and Service Principal. Steps to Register Fabric Tenant Step 1: In the Microsoft Purview portal, navigate to the Data Map section from the left-hand menu. Select Data Sources. Click on Register to begin the process of adding your Fabric Tenant (which also includes PowerBI). Step 2: Add in Data Source Name, keep Tenant ID as default (auto-populated). Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Purview should be in the same tenant. Step 3: Enter in Scan name, enable/disable scanning for personal workspaces. You will notice under Credentials automatically created identity for authenticating Purview account. Note: If your Purview is behind Private Network, follow the guidelines here: Connect to your Microsoft Fabric tenant in same tenant as Microsoft Purview. Step 4: From your Microsoft Fabric, open Settings, Click on Tenant Settings and enable “Service Principals can access read-only admin APIs”, “Enhanced admin API responses within detailed metadata” and “Enhance Admin API responses with DAX and Mashup Expressions” within Admin API Settings section. Step 5: You will need to create a group, add the Purviews' managed identity to the group and add the group under “Service Principals can access read-only admin APIs” section of your tenant settings inside Microsoft Fabric Step 6: Test your connection and setup scope for your scan. Select the required workspaces, click continue and automate a scan trigger. Step 7: From the left pane, select Data Map and select your data source for your workspace. You can view a list of existing scans on that data source under Recent scans, or you can view all scans on the Scans tab. Review further options here: Manage and Review your Scans. You can review your scanned data sources, history and details here: Navigate to scan run history for a given scan. Why Customers Love Purview Kern County unified its approach to securing and governing data with Microsoft Purview, ensuring consistent compliance and streamlined data management across departments. EY accelerated secure AI development by leveraging the Microsoft Purview SDK, enabling robust data governance and privacy controls for advanced analytics and AI initiatives. Prince William County Public Schools created a more cyber-safe classroom environment with Microsoft Purview, protecting sensitive student information while supporting digital learning. FSA (Food Standards Agency) helps keep the UK food supply safe using Microsoft Purview Records Management, ensuring regulatory compliance and safeguarding critical data assets. Conclusion Purview’s Unified Catalog centralizes governance across Discovery, Catalog Management, and Health Management. The Governance features in Purview allow organizations to confidently answer critical questions: What data do we have? Where did it come from? Who is responsible for it? Is it secure and compliant? Can we trust its quality? Microsoft Purview, when integrated with Azure Databricks and Microsoft Fabric, provides a unified approach to cataloging, classifying, and governing data across diverse environments. By leveraging Purview’s Unified Catalog, Data Map, and advanced governance features, organizations can achieve end-to-end visibility, enforce consistent policies, and improve data quality. You might ask, why does data quality matter? Well, in today’s world, data is the new gold. References Microsoft Purview | Microsoft Learn Pricing - Microsoft Purview | Microsoft Azure Use Microsoft Purview to Govern Microsoft Fabric Connect to and manage Azure Databricks Unity Catalog in Microsoft PurviewDouble Thunking Works Wonders!
Given that most Excel users would not dream of employing one thunk, you might well ask why even consider nested thunks! The use case explored here is to return all the combinations by which one might choose m objects from n (not just a count of options =COMBIN(n, m), but the actual combinations) Knowing that sometimes allows one to deploy an exhaustive search of options to determine the best strategy for a task. Before considering the task further, one might ask 'what is a thunk; isn't it far too complicated to be useful?' All it is, is a LAMBDA function that evaluates a formula when used, the same as any other function. The formula could be an expensive calculation or, rather better, no more than a simple lookup of a term from a previously calculated array. The point is, that whilst 'arrays of arrays' are not currently supported in Excel, an array of functions is fine, after all, an unrun function is little more than a text string. Only when evaluated, does one recover an array. In the example challenge, each cell contains an list/array of binary numbers, which might itself run into the hundreds of terms. A '1' represents a selected object whilst a '0' is an omitted object. Rather like the counts of combinations obtained from Pascal's triangle, each cell is derived from the contents of the cell to the left and the cell above. This is SCAN on steroids, accumulating array results in two directions. Running down the sheet, the new combination contains those of the above cell, but all the objects are shifted left and an empty slot appears to the right. These values are appended to those from the left, in which the member objects are shifted left but the new object is added to the right. So the challenge is to build a 2D array, each member of which is itself an array. The contents of each cell is represented by a thunk; each row is therefore an array of thunks which, for REDUCE to treat it as a single entity, requires it to be securely tucked inside its own LAMBDA, to become a thunk containing thunks. Each pair of rows defined by REDUCE is itself SCANned left to right to evaluate the new row. By comparison the 2D SCAN required for the Levenshtein distance which measure the similarity of text strings was a pushover. I am not expecting a great amount of discussion to stem from this post but, if it encourages just a few to be a little more adventurous in the way they exploit Excel, its job will be done! p.s. The title of this discussion borrows from the Double Diamond advert for beer in the 1960s
max corresponding to a value which may be in 1 or multiple sets
Hi G6 is showing error because F6 is not found in D15:D50. what would be the simple process that F6 is searched in D15:D50 and D56:D91 and returns value from col K instead of an error whether or not that value exist in either of the sets.
How to practice SC-200 content on an empty tenant
Hello, I am following the SC 200 course on Microsoft Learn. It is great and everything but my m365 business tenant is empty. I don't have VMs, logs, user activity or anything. I learned some KQL and microsoft provides some datasets for practice. Are there any such data I can load on my tenant for threat hunting and other SC-200 related practices or is there an isolated simulation environment I can use for learning?How to Be an Excel Detective: Finding and Highlighting Formulas
Hi everyone, I recently wrote a blog post on some simple, yet powerful, techniques for anyone who works with Excel spreadsheets, especially those with complex data. I wanted to share a summary of it with this community, as it might be helpful to others who are looking to understand and protect their work. The post covers two main things: Quickly Revealing All Formulas: A simple keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + `) or the "Show Formulas" option can instantly reveal all formulas in a worksheet. This is a great way to quickly see how a spreadsheet is structured. Permanently Highlighting Formulas: The article shows how to use the "Find & Select" > "Formulas" feature to select all cells containing formulas and then permanently highlight them with a fill color. This visual cue can help prevent accidental edits and protect your data. Watch This in Action: For a step-by-step guide on how to use these techniques, you can watch the video on my https://www.youtube.com/@BIGurus. 🔗 https://youtu.be/1x-1dbqlWXk You can also read the full article here: https://medium.com/@anandsharad/how-to-be-an-excel-detective-finding-and-highlighting-formulas-fe9d4fdbc1b1 I'd be happy to answer any questions you have or discuss other Excel tips and tricks in the comments!M365 Copilot Prompt-a-thon: A Hands-On Event for Government Innovators
Ready to supercharge your workflow with AI? Join us for Power Your AI Transformation with Microsoft Cloud — a dynamic, hands-on workshop designed exclusively for government professionals! Discover how to harness the power of Copilot in Microsoft 365 GCC to tackle real-world mission scenarios, boost productivity, and collaborate with experts and peers.🚀 Microsoft Edge Gets Smarter: Copilot with GPT-5, AI Podcast Creation & Advanced Security!
Big news for productivity and creativity lovers! 🎯 The latest Microsoft Edge update brings some game-changing features: ✅ Copilot Smart Mode powered by GPT-5 – Your AI assistant just got even smarter. 🎙 Create Podcasts with Copilot – Turn ideas into audio content effortlessly. 🎨 Generate Images & Videos directly in Edge – No extra tools needed! 🛡 AI-Powered Shield Against Scareware – Stay safe while you browse. I’ve created a detailed video on my YouTube channel where I explore these features in action and share tips on how to make the most of them. 👉 Watch it here: https://youtu.be/73KEDh2MDow What do you think about these updates? Which feature excites you the most? Let’s discuss in the comments! #MicrosoftEdge #Copilot #AI #Productivity #CyberSecurity #GPT5Register for the Cloud and AI Platforms FY26 Partner Playbook Walkthrough Replay and Q&A session
Join us for a replay and exclusive Q&A session on September 11, at 8:00 AM Pacific Time or 5:00 PM Pacific Time to learn about the exciting go-to-market (GTM) priorities and initiatives planned for FY26 across the Cloud and AI platforms solutions area, aligned to the System Integrator partner audience. We are excited to invite you to an exclusive session where we will unveil the FY26 Cloud & AI Platform Partner Playbook and guide you through any Q&A. This comprehensive guide is designed to help you leverage Microsoft's latest investments and strategies to grow your business and enhance customer engagement. What to Expect: Business Overview: Gain insights into the FY26 investments and strategic priorities. Customer Opportunities: Understand the growth drivers and market opportunities for FY26. Solution Plays: Learn how to migrate and modernize your estate, innovate with Azure AI apps and agents, and unify your data platform. Partner Skilling: Discover opportunities for partner skilling and certifications to enhance your capabilities. Why Attend? Exclusive Insights: Get a detailed overview of the playbook and how it can benefit your business. Interactive Sessions: Participate in discussions and Q&A sessions to address your specific needs and questions. We look forward to your participation and collaboration in driving mutual growth and success. Please register now to secure your spot. Can’t attend the live event? Register anyway to get notified when the event content is available on demand. Register here for the morning and evening session! When you join this meeting, your name, email address and/or phone number may be viewable by other session participants in the attendee list. By joining, you’re agreeing to this experience. Learn more at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=521839. This event may be recorded and shared publicly with others, including Microsoft’s global customers, partners, employees, and service providers. The recording may include your name and any questions you submit to Q&A. You may submit questions anonymously.
