After cancelling the in-person MVP Summit and given the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Microsoft is now moving to cancel all the in-person events through June 2021. And, if the move follows through, Ignite IT pro conference, which is slated for September 2020 in New Orleans, the MVP Summit 2021 and Build 2021 will all be held as digital-only events.
A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed to ZDNet that all the Microsoft events scheduled to happen throughout fiscal 2020 are going digital.
‘In light of the challenges presented by COVID-19, we are adjusting our event calendar and strategy. For the remainder of 2020, we are embracing the opportunity to experiment with new platforms to provide our partners, customers, and developers the highest quality, digital-first experiences,’ ZDNet reported a Microsoft spokesperson as saying.
Microsoft has also cancelled the in-person Build 2020 developers conference scheduled to happen in mid-May in Seattle and its Inspire 2020 partner conference in July in Las Vegas.
Microsoft is planning to release the Surface hardware in an event in New York, but now given the changes, it's not yet known whether it will also impact the launch of Surface 3 and Surface Go 2. Its highly likely that Microsoft will make it an online-only event, as it did for a recent announcement centred around new Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family subscriptions.
Last month, Microsoft rebranded the Office 365 to Microsoft 365 and announced a few new features including an AI-powered editor, and smart templates in Excel, etc. The new features along with Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions plans will be rolled out globally by April 21.
Under the new pricing, the Microsoft 365 Personal is priced at Rs 4,199 a year, and a family of up to six people can use Microsoft 365 Family for Rs 5,299 a year.
