[m365weekly] #88

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Issue #88

☁️What’s on my mind

I have been using Exchange Server in one form or another since 2003. Even then it was already one of the best mail servers. Yes, there were free and good alternatives in the form of Exim, Postfix, and others. Practically only Exchange covered the calendar and contacts under the same roof. POP3 and IMAP were slowly becoming obsolete through the years, but Exchange was improving the connectivity with Outlook, by far the best mail client, year after year.
Not even 10 years ago I was talking to the CEO of a company. He was feeling very miserable. The company he had just taken over was using Lotus Notes and the version they were using did not yet support the Android. At that time Exchange (Online) users had been using ActiveSync apps on Android phones for quite a few years.
Quite frankly, I can’t even imagine using anything other than Exchange Online anymore. Exchange technologies are 26 years old which would suggest a mature product. I’m not saying that Google Workspaces plans, for example, are not good. They are probably great. I’m just not used to them.

Have a really great day.
Matic Z.

[FEATURED STORY] Meet the new Microsoft Cloud Partner Program (MCPP)

Just over two weeks until the new Partner Program comes into force. A lot of things are changing. If you’re a Microsoft Silver or Gold Partner, you need to read this official Microsoft resource.
If you’re just a registered partner so you can transact in CSP, don’t panic. Nothing is changing for you. For the time being, the Action Pack remains as it was.

☁️Productivity & Modern Workplace

How to get total weekdays or business days between dates in Excel. I often overcomplicate things when I try to do something in Excel. Most of the time, it turns out that there is a function that has already been done that does exactly what I wanted to do with a complicated workaround. Calculating working days is one of them.

What happened to OneNote? OneNote 2016, OneNote for Windows 10 and OneNote. Three apps that are different, yet do the same thing. Why is Microsoft complicating things? A good video explaining what’s actually going on.

How to create a PDF file with Power Automate [FLOW]. Step-by-step instructions, with a real-life example.

Meet Microsoft Teams Rooms Pro. Microsoft has very quietly changed the Teams Rooms packages and changed pricing at the same time. They say it is to simplify the purchasing process and to take advantage of the development of hybrid ways of working that have evolved over the last two years.

Alternatives to OneDrive and SharePoint (and when to consider them). There are scenarios in which it is difficult to avoid some of the technical limitations of SharePoint technology. What to do in such cases?


☁️Sysadmin Stuff

IT Admins Can Pause Exchange Online Basic Auth Deprecation. Just a piece of short unsolicited advice: do not do it. You’re just postponing the inevitable for a few months.

How To Set Up A Hybrid Exchange Office 365 Environment. This is a detailed and informative blog post on how to go about this task, which may look scary, but only until you do it for the first time.

Microsoft Teams Essentials: The Setup, Intro & Tutorial. Teams Essentials isn’t just for those who already use Microsoft 365. In fact, it’s for those who use other collaboration suites, have found a competitive advantage in Teams, or have been forced to use Teams for business reasons. How to implement Teams Essentials?

Microsoft Sets Out to Clear Up Azure AD Unmanaged Accounts. Azure AD unmanaged accounts (aka “viral accounts”) are the target of a Microsoft initiative to help tenants remove these accounts from their directories.

I am a Global Admin but don’t have access to Azure Subscriptions. So, you’re an admin, but you don’t have access to an Azure subscription? That’s really inconvenient. Here’s how you can fix it.


💻 Upcoming Webinars

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


☁️Security & Data Governance

What to check with spoofed email in Microsoft 365. By now, it should be clear to every sysadmin that basic domain hygiene should be taken care of first. SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and maybe BIMI. Then you have to configure a few things in Exchange online. More about this in the following blog post.

Microsoft 365 Disaster Recovery Plan: Do We Need A Separate Office 365 Backup? The eternal question that divides the professional audience. Let’s debunk some myths and clear confusion.

What to Know Before Enabling External Collaboration in a Zero Trust Framework. Are you working with Zero Trust but need to work with external organizations? Not everything is straightforward in Microsoft 365 when it comes to sharing content with external users. We can quickly make big mistakes.


☁️Noteworthy (long)reads

You’ve Migrated…​ But What Did You Leave Behind? Migrations in Microsoft 365 are a complex beast. Every shiny new tool Microsoft releases is another consideration for the migration team.

Hybrid Work Made Easy: 5 Tips From AvePoint Podcast Guests. Is your organization struggling to make the change to hybrid work? If so, here are 5 tips directly from industry experts that should help.


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.


☁️Classifieds

The Sample. A whole new way of discovering exciting email newsletters. Sign up and you will get sample newsletters based on the interests that you’ve tagged.


☁️On a Less Serious Note

If you don’t know what the object was used for, then: a) you have always played by the book, b) you have never been a hacker, c) you are quite young. Most probably all 3 statements are true. 🙂

☁️ Last but not least …

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