ENow has experienced some incredible moments this year, and we wanted to share our recap with you. From conferences to product releases, 2024 has been a year for the books. In addition to that, we celebrated our 20th year in business!
We kicked off 2024 in cold and snowy Chicago for our annual Sales Kick Off! Being a remote organization, it was beneficial to see each other in person and align our company, professional, and personal goals for the year.
We were fortunate to collaborate with the talented M3 Learning team, including CEO Christine Rogers and Managing Partner Tom Latourette, who guided us in refining our approach to ensure we consistently provide meaningful insights and value to everyone we engage with! (Give them a follow on LinkedIn, you won’t regret it!)
A visit to Lou Malnati’s for Chicago-style deep dish and bowling rounded out an intense week of planning and training sessions – we left Chicago ready to hit the ground running!
The year didn’t start in April, but one of our highlights did. We traveled to Orlando, FL to attend the Microsoft 365 Community Conference. The conference hosted over 3,000 Microsoft community members. It was also one of the first conferences with a major focus on Copilot and AI.
#M365Con was the biggest Microsoft 365 community event of the year with over 150 sessions covering Copilot for Microsoft 365, Teams, Viva, SharePoint, Windows and more. This event explored Microsoft's latest AI innovations, connected IT pros with Microsoft product teams, experts, and the community. Attendees were able to deepen their Microsoft 365 and Copilot skills with a focus on harnessing the power of AI.
As a Microsoft partner, ENow sponsored the conference, and our team had a great time connecting with other Microsoft community members. We highlighted our products that provide deep visibility into Microsoft 365 with capabilities for License Optimization, Governance, and Reporting and Monitoring.
We also hosted our infamous ScheduledMaintenance party at Bar 17 Bistro at Universal's Aventura Hotel. ScheduledMaintenance is the featured party at select Microsoft IT conferences. It was created by ENow and first launched in 2014 at the Lync Conference. It is recognized and attended by IT leaders, MVPs, and Microsoft teams in the Azure and M365 communities. We were joined by ScheduledMaintenance sponsors, Dynamic Consultants Group, Stephen L Rose, and ZIRO.
In June, we headed to National Harbor, Maryland, for the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit to join the conversation surrounding threat actors and cyber-risk management.
Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit brought together experts, thought leaders and innovators to explore the evolving landscape of digital risks and strategies for resilience. With many CISOs and Security leaders in attendance, there was a lot of discussion around enhancing overall cybersecurity strategy and vision, with the reality that it’s nearly impossible to avoid every single risk and breach. Topic highlights included generative AI, risk and compliance management, cloud security, governance and policy, vulnerability management, and more.
As a conference exhibitor, ENow’s booth highlighted our App Governance Accelerator tool, which helps organizations quickly get in control of their Entra ID apps and remain in control. It enables IT collaboration and security teams to understand their current security posture, what they need to do to improve it, and accelerates making the necessary changes to get to their desired state.
Of course, we have fun wherever we go! During the Summit, we hosted an intimate event at Topgolf that our CEO & Technical Founder, Jay Gundotra, and other Security leaders attended.
We started our fall season by heading to the City of Angels—LA! ENow sponsored Microsoft Community Days Los Angeles. Community Days is a series of events organized and attended by the Microsoft Community. These events cover different tech-related topics and are hosted in various locations. The Community Day LA was a conference centered around Microsoft 365 and the Power Platform. Emily Crane, one of our Account Executives outlined her takeaways:
This year, Microsoft hosted its largest annual tech event, Microsoft Ignite, in the windy city Chicago, November 18-22nd! There were about 14,000 in-person attendees and over 200,000 virtual attendees.
We love Microsoft Ignite because it's where Microsoft typically unveils big announcements regarding updates to technology and services that keep our industry propelling forward. If there’s one thing that this community ecosystem agrees on, it’s that Microsoft is rapidly innovating and changing, and Microsoft Ignite was an opportunity to help us all keep up and hear the latest updates. Keynotes and sessions were largely focused on AI and Copilot and Security. Check out all the Ignite updates in the 2024 Ignite Book of News.
As a Microsoft Ignite sponsor, we had a booth in the Expo Hub. The Expo Hub is a space where attendees can network and get acquainted with the different Microsoft partners and technologies. We had a chance to connect with some of the best and brightest in the tech industry. For those across the globe who couldn’t make the trek to Chicago, we had the opportunity to connect with the digital attendees through the Ignite Partner page.
On the second night of Ignite, ENow hosted a VIP dinner at Chicago classic, Victory Tap. This dinner was a way to thank our clients, partners, and MVPs we’ve worked with throughout the year. |
In addition to the booth and VIP Dinner, we hosted our ScheduledMaintenance party at Puttery Chicago in Fulton Market, a trendy neighborhood in Chicago. Puttery Chicago is a modernized mini golf experience with themed courses, amazing cocktails, and great food. MVPs and some of the best in Microsoft Community attended the event. It was a night to remember! We were joined by our amazing sponsors, PowerSyncPro and ZIRO!
ENow’s Engineering department was hard at work this year, churning out impressive updates to our products and entirely new modules!
8.0
ENow's EMS 8.0 release focused on maximizing Microsoft 365 investments, offering enhanced governance reports for SharePoint and OneDrive, as well as a new Microsoft 365 storage dashboard to help manage costs. The new True Adoption Center was introduced in preview to help organizations track and improve technology adoption, boosting ROI. ENow 8.0 also introduced improved performance through reengineered architecture and a modern, intuitive user interface, making IT management more efficient. The release included several new reports and features designed to streamline operations and enhance cost control for organizations. For more details, visit ENow EMS 8.0.
8.1
ENow’s 8.1 release was all about enhanced license optimization for tracking both Microsoft 365 and third-party software spending, offering greater financial transparency. It also improved large meeting performance monitoring, added support for Windows Authentication for SQL integration, and added new troubleshooting tools. The user interface was redesigned, and it streamlines license management. The new monitoring capabilities enhance mail flow and database redundancy tracking. Its overall goal was to help organizations optimize costs and improve system performance. Read more about the 8.1 release here.
8.2
ENow Version 8.2 released in December enhances control, governance, and efficiency for managing Microsoft 365 environments. Key updates included new Power Apps and Teams governance reports, the introduction of Copilot readiness and adoption scores, smarter license optimization, and improved administrative workflows. These features help IT teams save time and money by offering better visibility into usage, simplifying license management, and streamlining tasks. With these updates, ENow aims to help organizations stay ahead of evolving Microsoft technologies and reduce administrative complexity. For more information about this release, please visit ENow 8.2 Release.
App Governance Accelerator 2.2
ENow's App Governance Accelerator 2.2 release focused on Continuous Monitoring, Detection, and Alerting. Key features included:
Please visit App Governance Accelerator 2.2 to learn more about the AppGov 2.2 release.
Founded in 2004 by Technical Founder and CEO Jay Gundotra, ENow proudly celebrated 20 years in business in 2024—a remarkable milestone in a rapidly evolving industry. When we began, our focus was on monitoring Microsoft Exchange. Over the years, we've adapted and grown alongside the technology landscape, empowering organizations with advanced solutions for Microsoft 365 and Entra ID. From License Optimization and Adoption to Entra ID Enterprise Application Governance and Security, ENow has consistently delivered better visibility and control to IT teams.
Thank you to our team members, customers, partners, and community members for joining the fun in 2024! This IT pro and Microsoft ecosystem is full of interesting and intelligent individuals and organizations, each sharing their unique knowledge and perspective. We're grateful to be a part of such a great community. Looking ahead, we're excited to lead the way with new innovations, continuing to support organizations on their Microsoft journey in 2025!
We look forward to connecting with you in the new year!