Jim leads the Directions on Microsoft editorial team and has been writing about technology since the early 1990s. Most recently he's covered Teams, Windows Server and related OSs, and enterprise IT infrastructure.
He brings with him over 15 years supporting and teaching academic and researching technology at large universities like University of Washington and The Ohio State University, a decade in operations management for a global engineering firm, and experience as technical producer of a live service game based on the popular Magic: The Gathering property.
Jim holds a B.A. with graduate studies in philosophy and a minor in computer science from The Ohio State University.
Latest Content by Jim Gaynor
Kits & Collections
Updated: November 13, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Microsoft Teams
This collection of Directions reports and resources can help organizations better understand the latest changes and roadmap for Teams, Microsoft's...
Analyst Report
November 10, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Teams Premium Goes Beyond Meetings and Webinars
Teams Premium features focus mainly on Teams events and AI features that overlap with Microsoft 365 Copilot, but Premium’s data...
Roadmap
November 1, 2025 · by Multiple Authors
Database, Analytics, and AI/ML Roadmap
Describes the near-term and long-term roadmaps for Microsoft database (proprietary and open-source), analytics, AI, and machine learning products. This roadmap...
Roadmap
Updated: October 18, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Cache for Redis Roadmap
Roadmap for Cache for Redis, an in-memory caching service that stores copies of application data on multiple servers, providing fast,...
Roadmap
October 18, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Managed Redis Roadmap
Azure Managed Redis is an Azure-hosted, Microsoft-managed caching service built on Redis software. Redis is an open-source, in-memory key-value data...
Roadmap
Updated: October 17, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Migrate
Azure Migrate is a managed service that helps organizations inventory, assess, and migrate VMs and SQL databases to Azure.
Roadmap
Updated: October 16, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Kubernetes Service
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Microsoft’s flagship Kubernetes (often abbreviated as “K8s”) offering, provides orchestration (deployment, provisioning, and automation) and management...
Roadmap
Updated: October 3, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Azure VMware Solution Roadmap
Azure VMware Solution (AVS) offers virtualization, storage, and networking for managed VMs using VMware software deployed on single-tenant infrastructure housed within...
Roadmap
Updated: October 3, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Azure Virtual Machines Roadmap
Roadmap for Azure Virtual Machines.
Roadmap
Updated: October 3, 2025 · by Jim Gaynor
Container Services in Azure Roadmap
In addition to the company’s flagship Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), Microsoft offers services that exist to support or simplify deployment...