I have been in the IT industry since 1998. In my first job, I worked on computers running Windows NT 3.51. I got a taste of what cloud computing has to offer only a few years later when a few of us enthusiasts in the company were using Groove to synchronize our calendars and files. At the time, we had a 512 kbps internet connection, but the service worked fairly well.
Does Groove sound familiar? Groove.exe rings a bell? Microsoft bought it and later built SharePoint and OneDrive on top of it.

Have a really great day.
Matic Z.

[FEATURED STORY] Want to get a job in cloud computing? Start getting experience.

Microsoft certification has sometimes been perceived to come at a high cost regarding training and exam fees. Yes, it’s true, you might be able to pay for an expensive week or more long in-person training. But why if there are other options that may suit you better?
If you have some motivation to study Microsoft 365 and Azure technologies on your own, there are plenty of pathways.
Microsoft itself has excellent materials on its Certifications website. You just need to drill down and there’s a treasure trove of relevant learning materials. Even with demo environments, there’s no problem, as you can use free trial periods in Azure and Microsoft 365. Here you can create a free Azure account with $200 USD of Azure credit, and some of the services are free forever.
Another option for you is to search for YouTube videos and channels. Some experts have published entire preparation courses for the still relevant exams.
And a third option is to take one of the very affordable courses on websites like Udemy or something similar.
In the IT world, it’s the concrete knowledge and skills that count. Create a demo environment and start testing the technologies in practice.

MS-900 – Microsoft 365 Fundamentals. A good exam for the starters.

Top 25 Tips and tricks for Assignments in Microsoft Teams. A very appropriate video for the back-to-school season. The development teams at Microsoft seem to be quite busy.

How to create Year Planner in One Note. Some people still like paper planners, while others use OneNote to create a close approximation to paper planners. And some weirdos use the Planner service, which most packages in Microsoft 365 have. If you like paper but want to go green, this video tutorial will come in very handy.

Zoom Phone vs Microsoft Teams Phone: The Complete Breakdown. As it seems, classic PSTN telephony is still a thing. If you need this kind of service, then perhaps it’s worth looking at what Microsoft has in its portfolio. Zoom telephony is also competitively priced. And you can also connect the two solutions.

Slide theme in PowerPoint. I’ve been wondering for a while whether it’s possible to use PowerPoint to create cool video effects that you can then use in videos. I’m becoming more and more convinced that it can be done. Just look at this effect in the video. It looks perfectly OK.

How to improve screenshots in 3 steps. Preparing technical instructions can be quite tedious. Especially when you have to include a significant number of screenshots. But if you’re going to the trouble, do it the right way.

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Converting mailboxes already migrated to Exchange Online to Shared mailboxes. “Let’s say that your organization is in Exchange hybrid setup and you already migrated some mailboxes to Exchange Online. Now you need to convert some of those migrated user mailboxes to shared mailboxes. How do you do this?” It turns out it can be a bit tricky because of the hybrid setup.

10 Super Useful End User Portals From Microsoft 365 Intune. Did you know that users can do a lot without bothering the sysadmin? They can manage their MFA credentials, log out of all their devices with a single click, access Bitlocker keys, and so on. Get users used to using these portals and your sysadmin life will be a lot easier. I know – easier said than done.

The Storm Around Microsoft 365, Office 2016, and Office 2019. We can only conclude with resignation that perhaps the best thing is for everyone to get used to Office products in a subscription model as soon as possible. Adobe did something similar a long time ago, and Microsoft is going down that road too. That is not necessarily bad for users.

How To Integrate Microsoft Teams With Google Calendar. Why would you want to do that? Okay, if you need to do it, here’s a great guide.

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September 19 to 23 – Data, Artificial Intelligence & Advanced Analytics Summit. SQL Server, Power BI, Azure SQL, AI, Arc, Pureview, … Free summit.

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Russian APT29 hackers abuse Azure services to hack Microsoft 365 users. A few years ago I sat down for coffee with two DarkTrace technicians. The company is famous for being advised by ex-spooks from Mi5 and the CIA. As a joke, I asked them what the hell they had so much against the Russians. They didn’t find it funny. It has been a long time since it was funny.

How to setup Self-Service password reset in Microsoft 365. How to show users the “Forgot my password” option on Microsoft 365 login page.

Notes from the field: Using OAuth for ActiveSync and POP/IMAP in Exchange Online. Have we all had enough of these articles about Basic Authentication being discontinued? No. Until it’s over and done with, there’s never too much information about it. Read this article. You might find something useful.

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How cybersecurity vendors are misrepresenting zero trust. My 5 cents. More security means more work for IT staff, not less. More security adds to the complexity of IT systems, not the other way around. Yes, users are more secure, but they have to pay the price for that. A few days ago, a user said to me: “I just want to work, not have to press the approve button on my phone to get to my email”.

Microsoft is a Leader in 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for UEM. Yes, another Gartner quadrant with Microsoft as the leader in the field. The hybrid way of working has also brought entirely new challenges in terms of endpoint management and Microsoft clearly knows how to pull the right moves in this area.

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DATES TO KEEP IN MIND

October 1, 2022 – Basic Authentication Deprecation in Exchange Online. This may fast become a serious issue for unprepared organizations.

October 3, 2022 – New rules for achieving MS partnership designations are in place.

April 11, 2023 – Exchange Server 2013 – End of support.

[April 11, 2023 – Microsoft Office 2013 – End of support. You might experience performance or reliability issues if you continue to use Office 2013 with Microsoft 365 services because it will no longer be a supported client to connect to M365.

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☁️ Last but not least …

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