Microsoft Azure is fluid, and the experts at Microsoft are constantly taking feedback into consideration as they roll out new features. At New Signature, we always watch for the newest and most impactful updates and relay them to our customers. Over the past month, Microsoft has changed some items that help to enhance your experience and add increased functionality for Microsoft stack users across the globe. Here are a few of the major Azure updates from May 2018: Anomaly Detection for Stream Analytics Last month, most of our updates revolved around stream analytics and updates to Power BI as Microsoft continues to lead the way in machine learning. This month, there have been some follow-up enhancements, including updated built-in machine learning models for anomaly detection in Azure Stream Analytics. The tool now includes machine learning model support for spike and dip error detection, as opposed to just the slow trends it could detect before. New Region Availability for Azure Database for MySQL and Gen 5 Compute Microsoft has made Azure Database for MySQL along with Gen 5 compute generally available in both Australia South East and South India regions. They have also added Gen 5 compute availability to the following regions that were currently functioning under Gen 4 compute: Brazil South East US 2 Japan East Japan West South Central US Southeast Asia Learn more about regional availability by visiting the official Microsoft announcement. Azure Blockchain Workbench is in Public Preview Blockchain technologies have taken the world by storm after BitCoin was introduced. However, New Signature knows that there are uses for blockchain technologies beyond BitCoin and cryptocurrency, and now blockchain functionalities are available in public preview. Azure Blockchain Workbench is the fastest way to get started with blockchain on Azure. Developers can link blockchain identities with Active Directory for easier log-in and collaboration, and can store secrets and keys securely with Azure Key Vault and synchronize on-chain data with off-chain storage and databases to more easily query attestations and visualize ledger activity. </ Important name changes One major change this month has been some adjustments to the Microsoft naming conventions for a number of technologies. Learning these changes as they happen can help avoid confusion and adjust with the fluidity of Microsoft products and tools. Here are a list of name changes that were revealed in May, along with the official Microsoft announcements and explanations for each: Azure Maps Azure SQL Data Warehouse Gen1 and Gen2 Azure App Service on Linux Premium plan Azure App Service on Linux Basic plan Azure App Service on Linux Standard plan If you’re interested in staying up do date on Azure updates, you can follow the New Signature blog, and subscribe to the Azure Quarterly Perspective by reaching out to a New Signature expert, our newsletter specifically curated for those who wish to optimize their Azure environment.