S2E12: MS Ignite Zeroes In On Industrial IoT & Manufacturing, No Code/Low Code Is the Gateway to Coding, Apple Escapes the Chip Shortage, And Are Analysts Being Surpassed by Business Consultants

MS Ignite

https://myignite.microsoft.com/home

Industrial IoT was a trend at re:invent and continued at MS Ignite with the cloud reaching into the network edge and deep into manufacturing.

Manufacturing is going through an evolution, and that's why the cloud is focused there. Companies are taking more of a nationalistic approach toward manufacturing. There's a real push for the first time in a long time for all countries, not only the US, to build more factories at home. This push will result in a revolution, so it's a market that will accelerate, so Amazon and MSFT see the opening and push for new technologies.

Microsoft Power Fx

The low-code programming language for everyone https://powerapps.microsoft.com/en-us/blog/introducing-microsoft-power-fx-the-low-code-programming-language-for-everyone/ Based on Excel syntax!

Convergence with "real" programming https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/02/microsoft_debuts_lowcode_power_fx/

And wtf was going on with Cirque du Soleil?

MSFT for the win again!! microsoft-ai-powerpoint-presenter-coach-available-desktop-mobile

No Code/Low Code 

One major analyst firm doesn't buy-in and only views "lower code."

Insights from Mike: The way to get people into programming is to start with No Code/Low Code, and then people will want more and more and begin to code eventually. The avenue to come in is different, and I think that no code/low code is here to stay.
Insights from Lilac: It (no code/low code) lowers the barrier to entry in what was seen as specialized and usually for a very specific club of people, often a boys club of people who had had CS degrees.

Virtual events — Gartner charging $1000 plus for virtual events

Insights from Dominic: MS Ignite was free as most virtual events were this past year. These events are valuable, but it typically isn't the part on the official agenda, it's the hallways track, coffee break, and networking and meeting people, and I have yet to see a visual format where all of that works.

What does the future hold for analysts?

Are analysts being surpassed by business consultants? Are analysts seeing a risk for the first time that wasn't there before? Will the analyst and their research maintain staying power? The business analysts with newsletters and opinions are taking the story telling may be taking away from traditional analysts. You go to the analyst for thought leadership, but you can get that from talking to CIOs, industry leaders, and platforms, including podcasts and Clubhouse.

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