[m365weekly] #131

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Issue #131

☁️What’s on my mind

If you’re looking for a niche market to specialize in, I might have an idea for you.

Some companies still do not have the basic mechanisms in place to prevent email abuse.

The implementation of SPF, DKIM, and DMARC mechanisms is a necessity today. However, I still notice that too many system admins, and especially web developers, have no idea what these mechanisms do, what they are for, and why they need to be implemented.

For me, this kind of specialization paid off a long time ago. Additionally, I have built on my knowledge of copywriting to be able to advise in this area as well.

Have a really nice rest of the week,
Matic Z.

[FEATURED] Holy trinity of email deliverability

I was recently hired by an e-commerce company to review their email system. Their email marketing and transitional emails are landing in spam. While discovering errors in the configurations of various services, I once again refreshed the basics of three nowadays essential mechanisms that are a prerequisite for an email to even have a chance of falling into the inbox and not directly into spam. I’m talking about SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

Exchange Online Enforces Sender DMARC Policy. Microsoft will respect the wishes of organizations and adhere strictly to the instructions in the DMARC record. It’s time to double- and triple-check your DMARC records.

Configure SPF record for Microsoft 365. | Configure DKIM record for Microsoft 365. | Configure DMARC record for Microsoft 365.

☁️Productivity & Modern Workplace

Bing Chat Enterprise FAQ. Microsoft has introduced Bing Chat, an AI-powered chatbot designed to assist enterprise users in finding information quickly and efficiently. Integrated with Microsoft Search, Bing Chat improves the search experience by providing direct answers to common queries.

Microsoft Teams Premium | Intelligent Recap and other new features. Microsoft Teams Premium tutorial showcases new features designed to enhance meetings, virtual appointments, and webinars. Key highlights include organization branding, AI-powered live translations, intelligent recaps, advanced meeting protection, and high-quality webinar experiences.

20 Tips for Successfully Delivering Your Virtual Event with Microsoft Teams. By implementing these recommendations, you can enhance your virtual event experience and ensure a smooth, professional presentation.

How (and why) to use conditional formatting in Excel. Enhance your spreadsheets with color-coded cells, icons, and data bars, and boost your productivity by following this step-by-step guide. Don’t miss out on this essential Excel feature that can elevate your data visualization skills.

☁️Sysadmin Stuff

Report on all Microsoft 365 email addresses. Useful PowerShell script that generates a report on all Microsoft 365 email addresses in a tenant. The script is helpful for administrators who want to review and manage their organization’s email addresses efficiently.

Enable Bing Chat Enterprise on your Microsoft 365 tenant. Follow the steps in this blog post to set up Bing Chat Enterprise. BTW … Bing Chat Enterprise will not use the data from your org. environment to improve itself. Your business data should be safe.

Find Who Created a User Account in Microsoft 365 | Audit User Creations. Easily track down the origin of any user account.

☁️Security & Data Governance

Practical Protection: Who Watches the Watchers? As a Microsoft 365 administrator, ensuring security and compliance is crucial. Practical Protection dives into the importance of monitoring and auditing your admin activities and establishing a strong audit trail, detecting potential threats, and maintaining a secure environment for your organization.

Microsoft 365 accounts of execs, managers hijacked through EvilProxy. A newly discovered phishing campaign targets Microsoft 365 users by bypassing multi-factor authentication (MFA) and security measures. Cybercriminals utilize legitimate-looking emails with malicious links, gaining access to sensitive data and user accounts. How to protect against it? Read on …

Disable MFA for a Single User Using Conditional Access Policy in Azure AD. Disabling Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for a single user is possible using Conditional Access Policy in Azure Active Directory. Useful for implementing a break-glass global admin account.

☁️Noteworthy (long)reads

How Microsoft is Using Copilot to Drive Customers to Microsoft 365 E5. Is Microsoft pushing pricey SKUs?

AI is simply another IT tool. AI is not a mysterious or magical solution, but rather a practical IT tool that can enhance your business operations. By integrating AI into your organization, you can automate repetitive tasks, improve decision-making, and increase efficiency.

No backing away from the Cloud. As businesses continue to embrace cloud technology, there’s no turning back from the numerous benefits it offers.

DATES TO KEEP IN MIND

August 31, 2023 – Microsoft will retire Kaizala. After the retirement date, access to and support for Kaizala will be discontinued. 

October 10, 2023 – Office 2016 and Office 2019 will no longer be supported when connecting to Microsoft 365. While these versions may still be able to connect to Microsoft 365, their connections will not be supported and may experience performance or reliability issues in the future. Official documentation here.

November 15-16, 2023 – Microsoft Ignite 2023

January 2024, Wiki page in Teams retiring. More info here. (ThanksTeresa for providing a reminder!)

February 15, 2024 – Microsoft Stream (Classic) retirement. Final stage. You can use Stream on Sharepoint.

☁️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

☁️ Last but not least …

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