Announced at Microsoft Ignite were some new product features related to data platform and AI. Below are the ones I found most interesting:

• Azure Cosmos DB adds distributed PostgreSQL support: Azure Cosmos DB now brings fast, flexible and scalable service to open-source relational data with the introduction of distributed PostgreSQL support. Built upon the Hyperscale (Citus) engine, the new Azure Cosmos DB for PostgreSQL brings everything developers love about PostgreSQL and the powerful Citus extension to Microsoft’s fast and scalable database for cloud-native app development. Developers can now build apps with both relational and non-relational (NoSQL) data using the same familiar database service. More info
• Autoscale IO feature for Azure Database for MySQL (preview): Azure Database for MySQL, a fully managed and scalable MySQL database service, can now scale input/output (IO) on-demand without having to pre-provision a certain amount of IO per second. Customers will enjoy worry-free IO management in Azure Database for MySQL Flexible Server because the server will scale input/output operations per second (IOPS) up or down automatically depending on workload needs. With the Autoscale IO preview, Azure Database for MySQL customers pay only for the IO they consume and no longer need to provision and pay for resources they are not fully using, saving both time and money. In addition, mission-critical Tier 1 apps can achieve consistent performance by making additional IO available to the workload at any time. Autoscale IO eliminates the administration required to provide the best performance at the least cost for Azure Database for MySQL customers. More info
• Azure Data Studio now supports Oracle database assessments for migration to Azure-managed databases (preview): The Database Migration Assessment for Oracle, an Azure Data Studio extension powered by Azure Database Migration Service, now offers a migration assessment for moving from Oracle Database to Azure Database for PostgreSQL. The assessment includes database migration recommendations and an evaluation of database code complexity. Through the same tooling, customers can get target sizing recommendations for Oracle Database migration to Azure Database for PostgreSQL and Azure SQL, including Azure SQL Database Hyperscale, which is ideal for large workloads up to 100 TB. More info
• Azure Synapse Analytics – Microsoft 365 features (preview): A new pipeline template for Microsoft 365 data will simplify the configuration experience by enabling a one-click experience to set up Mapping Data Flows. This new feature will eliminate the extra steps needed to connect Microsoft 365 source data for analytics, making it easier for customers to configure an always synchronized and compliant integration. Mapping Data Flows builds on top of the Copy Activity functionality by improving the way Microsoft 365 data is brought in for analysis. Mapping Data Flows will clean, normalize and flatten the data (Parquet format) in multiple data sinks such as Azure Data Lake Storage (ADLS), Azure Cosmos DB and Synapse SQL DW (dedicated SQL pool). Flattened data is much cheaper and faster to process with big data processing. Additional data sync support gives customers flexibility and greater efficiency in constructing data pipelines that optimize workflows
• Azure Synapse Analytics – R language support (preview): The R language will enable data scientists to apply the industry-standard R language to process data and develop machine learning models. Azure Synapse Spark now supports Python, Scala, C#, Spark SQL, and R
• Azure Data Explorer adds new sources for near real-time analytics: Ingestion support for the following data sources: Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3); Azure Synapse Link from Azure Cosmos DB to Azure Data Explorer; OpenTelemetry Metrics, Logs and Traces; Azure Stream Analytics output; Streaming ingestion support for the Telegraph agent output. More info
• SAP Change Data Connector for ADF now GA: The SAP Change Data Connector (CDC) for Azure Data Factory is now generally available. This feature, which previewed in June 2022, allows customers to easily bring SAP data into Azure for analytics, AI and other apps. More info
• Microsoft Purview new features (preview): Improved root cause analysis and traceability with SQL Dynamic lineage and fine-grained lineage on Power BI datasets. Customers can do thorough root cause analysis from a single location in Microsoft Purview; Metamodels that will enable customers to define organization, departments, data domains and business processes on their technical data; Machine learning-based classifications will make detection of human names and addresses simple and scalable in user data
• Azure Stream Analytics native support of Delta Lake output: Allows you to directly write streaming data to your delta lake tables without writing a single line of code. More info
• Power BI updates: Power BI in Office installer; View and edit Power BI reports directly from OneDrive and SharePoint; B2B dataset sharing and report discoverability; Large dataset reporting support; Easier migration to Power BI Premium; Power BI reports and datasets in a Power App solution. More info

For more details, check out the Microsoft Ignite book of news.

More info:

Microsoft boosts Azure’s big-data cred with flurry of database-related enhancements