Microsoft Inspire 2022 started today, with the tech giant announcing a new contact center platform using Nuance technology, enhancements to Teams and Viva plus a new partner program for space-focused businesses.

The partner-focused event, which goes from Tuesday to Wednesday online, comes amid a time of great change for the Microsoft partner program. Microsoft partners have had to make business and systems adjustments while navigating new customer demand for cloud and collaborative technology.

This year, Microsoft has rolled out controversial partner program changes – including a 20 percent premium on monthly commitments to Microsoft 365 and other popular software packages and a partner capability score to determine who qualifies as a “solutions partner.”

In May, channel chief Rodney Clark left the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant. And days before Inspire, Microsoft named its new “chief partner officer,” Nicole Dezen.

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What Microsoft Announced At Inspire 2022

Unlike other tech conferences, which have returned in person or done a mix of live and online events, Microsoft held Inspire entirely online as the world continues to grapple with COVID-19.

Microsoft boasts one of the largest and most diverse partner programs in IT – 400,000 partners employing 22 million people worldwide, according to the company.

What follows are some of the biggest announcements at Inspire 2022.