Users of Zoom‘s free tier might start seeing advertisements on the platform as part of a new pilot programme.

The ads will only be used on the browser page displayed when users end a meeting, and will not appear during calls. This will also only be implemented on the basic tier of the service.

Banner ads will appear at the top of the browser screen and there will also be a link that lets users manage cookies.

It marks a significant change from Zoom, which became a household name during the pandemic largely because of its free tier. However, there have been questions about how it would monetise its free users as the world returned to some type of normalcy.

The basic service allows users to host group meetings for up to 40 minutes, but there will potentially be a new restriction on the basic tier, one which Zoom says is a necessary step.

“This change ensures that our free Basic users are able to continue connecting with friends, family, and colleagues with the same robust platform we have always offered,” Janine Pelosi, Zoom’s chief marketing officer, wrote in a blog post.

Zoom has spent much of 2021 trying to grow beyond a video conferencing platform, investing heavily into hybrid working capabilities, which included a $100 million fund for startups to build applications on the platform.

The company has also been busy with potential acquisitions; it recently announced plans to acquire German machine learning startup Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions. The firm also attempted to make a multi-billion dollar takeover of customer service software maker Five9. But the deal was called off, reportedly due to Five9 investor concerns, with US regulators also uneasy about the takeover.

GitHub CEO Nat Friedman has announced he will be stepping down from his role to pursue investment opportunities with developers elsewhere.

The company’s chief product officer, Thomas Dohmke, will replace Friedman as CEO, officially taking charge on 15 November.

Friedman will move to “chairman emeritus”, which is a title held by executives that retire. In this role, Friedman will act as an advisor to both GitHub and Microsoft, but he will have more time to get back to his “roots” working with startups and developers.

Before taking the top job at GitHub, Friedman co-founded Xamarin, a startup that built cross platform dev tools, which was acquired by Microsoft in 2016.

“With all that we’ve accomplished in mind, and more than five great years at Microsoft under my belt, I’ve decided it’s time for me to go back to my startup roots,” Friedman said in a blog post. “What drives me is enabling builders to create the future.

“I’ve loved working with and learning from developers who are building new tools and new projects, solving thorny problems, and creating magic out of code. That’s why I’m moving on to my next adventure: to support, advise, and invest in the founders and developers who are creating the future with technology and tackling some of the biggest opportunities of our day.”

Both Friedman and Dohmke joined GitHub’s executive team shortly after its acquisition by Microsoft closed in 2018. Friedman replaced the coding platform’s co-founder, Chris Wanstrath as CEO, who stepped down as part of the acquisition. Dohmke became the chief product officer, having also joined Microsoft via an acquisition.

Dohmke has been a registered GitHub user since 2009, not long after it was founded in 2008, and previously co-founded an app-testing software startup, HockeyApp, which was also acquired by Microsoft in 2014. He is also credited with leading Microsoft’s acquisition process for GitHub, as well as deals for code-distribution startup Npm, and Semmle, which analyses code.

Microsoft has announced a brand-new security suite designed specifically for the threats faced by small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Microsoft Defender for Business was announced at Microsoft Ignite 2021 today and it will aim to bring what Microsoft is calling its “enterprise-grade endpoint security” found in Microsoft Defender for Endpoint and optimising it for companies with 300 employees or fewer.

Entering public preview later this month, it will be available as a standalone product for businesses to purchase at a rate of $3 (£2.20) per user, or alternatively the new tools will be available as part of a Microsoft 365 Business Premium subscription.

Specifically designed to protect businesses against malware and ransomware across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android devices, Defender for Business will have the following features:

• Threat and vulnerability management: allows customers to build a secure foundation by identifying and addressing software vulnerabilities and misconfigurations
• Attack surface reduction: Using capabilities such as ransomware mitigation, application control, web protection, network protection, network firewall, and attack surface reduction rules, SMBs’ attack surface can shrink
• Endpoint detection and response (EDR): Behavioural-based detection and response alerts allowing SMBs to identify persistent threats and remove them from their environments
• Automated investigation and remediation: reduces alert volume and remediates threats. SMBs can automate Defender for Business to carry out tasks automatically, allowing them to prioritise the most important tasks
• APIs and integration: allows SMBs to automate workflows and integrate security data into their existing security platforms and reporting tools

IT managed service providers will also have the option to use Microsoft Defender for Business with Microsoft 365 Lighthouse, applying the product’s endpoint security production for multiple customers as they monitor security events with a multi-customer view.

“Small and medium businesses will be empowered to elevate their security by moving from traditional antivirus to next-gen protection, endpoint detection and response, and threat and vulnerability management – all while taking advantage of simplified setup and management,” said Microsoft on the announcement.

According to Microsoft’s own research, almost 60% of SMBs report not feeling adequately equipped to contend with today’s ever-widening cyber security threat landscape, citing insufficient resources and a lack of specialised security skills as the reason. 

Microsoft said Defender for Business requires no specialist knowledge in order to install and manage effectively. It has a wizard-driven set-up and it will recommend security policies out of the box to expedite the process.

Among Microsoft’s myriad Ignite 2021 announcements, on the security side of things Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (formerly Microsoft Cloud App Security) has added a new
application governance capability which is generally available as of today. It aims to help identify and alert the customer to risky behaviour across data, users, and applications.

Defender for Cloud also received an update to multi-cloud environment control. Customers can now secure Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) environments from one place, giving users the same experience as they would find in AWS Security Hub.

Microsoft has made its pitch for the ‘metaverse’ at its annual Ignite conference with the launch of Mesh for Microsoft Teams. 

The new service builds on ‘Together mode’ and ‘Presenter view’ in Microsoft Teams to make remote and hybrid meetings more immersive, according to the company’s corporate vice president Jeff Teper. 

It was just one of a number of Teams announcements unveiled at the tech giant’s 2021 conference, which also saw the launch of a redesigned Teams store and hardware created specifically for the video conferencing service, such as the Yealink deskVision monitor.

Mesh for Microsoft Teams, which will begin rolling out in 2022, is a mixed reality service that allows people in different physical locations to join collaborative and shared holographic environments within Microsoft Teams. This space will allow for virtual meetings, chats, and the sharing of documents and more, according to Microsoft.

The tools used for Mesh are ways “to signal we’re in the same virtual space, we’re one team, we’re one group, and help take the formality down a peg and the engagement up a peg,” Teper said.

“We’ve seen that those tools have accomplished both goals of helping a team be more effective and also helping individuals be more engaged.”

The Mesh announcement follows on from a big shakeup at Facebook, which has rebranded to ‘Meta‘ as part of a new ‘metaverse’ business shift. The Teams’ version is accessible via laptops, smartphones and mixed reality headsets, but like Mark Zuckerberg’s proposal, it is also described as a ‘new version of the internet’.      

Microsoft, however, has been working on its version of the metaverse for 12 years, according to technical fellow Alex Kipman, with the product already used by accounting service Accenture.

“We started to call it the Nth Floor, this magical, mythical campus that could only be found in virtual reality,” said Jason Warnke, senior managing director and global digital experiences lead for Accenture. 

Warnke added that his favourite feature was the ability to bump into colleagues from around the world and have deep and meaningful conversations. 

VMware has completed its spin-off from Dell to officially become a standalone company once again, allowing Dell to raise cash to pay off its debts and giving VMware more business flexibility.

Dell shed its 81% equity ownership in the company, which will create an independent company with a stock market value of around $64 billion. VMware has distributed a special cash dividend of $11.5 billion to all VMware shareholders, including Dell which has received $9.3 billion that will be used to pay down debt. Michael Dell will remain chair of the VMware board, and the rest of its directors remain unchanged.

The companies said that they will continue to retain a strong and unique commercial agreement that preserves their relationship, including the co-development of critical solutions and alignment on sales and marketing activities. VMware will also continue to use Dell Financial Services to help its customers finance digital transformation.

Raghu Raghuram, VMware CEO, said that as a standalone company, VMware now has the flexibility to partner even more deeply with all cloud and on-premises infrastructure companies to create a better foundation to drive results for its customers. He added that it will also have increased flexibility to use equity to complete future acquisitions, allowing the company to remain competitive.He said the move will strengthen VMware’s mission to be “the Switzerland of the cloud industry”, uniquely positioned to provide its customers with the best combination of options as it grows its partner ecosystem.

Raghuram added that the company will continue to work closely with Dell, providing products for customers through its new commercial agreement, in particular its channel synergies, partner, and go-to-market programmes.

“I’m confident this next step in the VMware journey will enhance our ability to deliver the trusted foundation that our customers rely on to accelerate innovation,” said Raguram. “That is and will remain our top priority.”

In April this year, Dell was set to spin off its 81% stake in VMware to create two separate entities to generate billions of dollars in cash to pay down its debt. This was a reversal of the move from 2016 in which Dell merged with VMware’s parent company EMC in a $67 billion deal. The merger allowed the hardware giant to branch out when it came to business pursuits but resulted in it taking on substantial debt.

Gaming giant Sega has announced a strategic alliance with Microsoft to develop big-budget titles on the Azure platform. 

The Tokyo-based game maker is looking to develop “super games” as part of a long-term strategy to build titles for a global online community.

Sega and Microsoft have enjoyed a long partnership on the hardware front, but the Japanese firm has had to abandon its own console business after a series of failed products. The latest agreement with Microsoft, however, isn’t about hardware, but rather about cloud technology and software. 

Microsoft’s involvement is essentially about future-proofing the development of these games by utilising its cloud technology. The aim is to “anticipate” accelerating industry trends and optimise the development process with high-quality experiences for Sega users.

The foundations of this alliance also include mutual agreements to develop new technologies, focusing on areas such as network infrastructure and communication tools. 

“Sega has played such an iconic role in the gaming industry and has been a tremendous partner over the years,” said Sarah Bond, Microsoft’s CVP.

“We look forward to working together as they explore new ways to create unique gaming experiences for the future using Microsoft cloud technologies. Together we will reimagine how games get built, hosted, and operated, with a goal of adding more value to players and Sega alike.”

Microsoft has been looking to add more to its gaming portfolio in recent years, with reports that it was initially interested in acquiring Sega fully. The tech giant also reportedly made a £10 billion move for communication platform Discord, though the deal was said to be rejected because Discord preferred its own expansion plans.

“By considering a strategic partnership with Microsoft, we seek to further advance our game development so that our titles can be enjoyed by fans all over the world; in this regard, we aim to build an alliance that utilises both Sega’s powerful game development capabilities and Microsoft’s cutting-edge technology and development environment,” said Yukio Sugino, the president and COO of Sega.