Windows Server is back! Directions on Microsoft analyst Jim Gaynor and Mary Jo Foley delve into the new features and capabilities coming with Windows Server 2025 worth knowing about, including new Active Directory and security features, GPU partitioning for Hyper-V, hotpatching – and the Azure services you need to use them.

Mary Jo Foley interviews veteran Directions analyst Wes Miller, who shares surprising insights gained teaching customers how to navigate the Microsoft licensing maze for more than a decade. From over-licensing and under-licensing to underestimating Microsoft's revenue drive, you’ll learn the important do’s and don’ts of effective Microsoft licensing.

Directions analysts Jim Gaynor, Rob Sanfilippo and Andrew Snodgrass debate when, how, and why customers might want to move some (or even all) of their workloads and apps from the cloud back to on-premises.

Directions on Microsoft analyst Rob Sanfilippo talks with Mary Jo Foley about how the Directions' twice-yearly Azure roadmap comes together. The two compare notes on the latest Azure trends and hot buttons. Plus, Rob takes the Azure codename challenge (and loses).

Directions analysts Michael Cherry, Jim Gaynor, and Wes Miller dive into how subscriptions have transformed Microsoft business model and what it means for Microsoft customers, both now and in the future.

Directions analysts Barry Briggs and Andrew Snodgrass talk with Mary Jo about the hype and the reality surrounding database systems this episode of the Directions podcast. Are organizations any closer to harnessing the power of data now than before? What works and what doesn't when it comes to data-management strategies?

In our first Brainstorm episode, Mary Jo Foley, Andy Snodgrass, Rob Sanfilippo, and Barry Briggs discuss the avalanche of Copilots announced by Microsoft, whether they’ll live up to the marketing hype, and what they mean to enterprises and to enterprise users.

In the last episode of the Directions on Microsoft EA podcast series, Mary Jo Foley quizzes former Microsoft negotiator Dean Bedwell about common Microsoft negotiation traps customers should avoid and the negotiation levers they can apply to optimize their EA renewal outcomes.

Our panel of Directions on Microsoft analysts talk enterprise product and licensing hot buttons for 2023 and what will be top-of-mind in 2024 -- and answer customer questions.

After years of promoting "Cloud, Cloud, Cloud," Microsoft has shifted to "AI, AI, AI." Mary Jo and former Microsoft CTO Barry Briggs put Microsoft’s big bet  on AI into perspective by comparing it to its other strategic initiatives – past, present, and future.