I have recently completed a roadshow for Microsoft where I spoke about the options and potential processes for the migration of Small Business Server (SBS) environments to Office 365 and Azure. I have posted the slides from that presentation on my docs.com site so they are available for people to download. The presentation is also posted above.

The idea with the presentation was to show the possibilities when it comes to migration to Office 365 and Azure. It is not a step-by-step procedure for those environments, there are simply too many variables. However, hopefully, it does give people looking to do this a better overall picture of what can be done and a potential way of going about it.

I’ll be diving deeper into the migration process from SBS to Office 365 and Azure, based on this presentation, in upcoming articles so stay tuned for more.

Administering SharePoint

For those who are not familiar with SharePoint Online it can be a very daunting product to wrap your head around. This is even more so when it comes to administering SharePoint Online.

So with that in mind I have created the above video to give you an overview and some guidance when it comes to administering SharePoint Online that is part of Office 365.

Hopefully after watching the video you’ll be more comfortable with managing and configuring SharePoint Online which will allow you to more easily unleash SharePoint Online’s benefits in your business.

Need to Know Podcast–Episode 105

Join myself and Marc as we catch up on all the latest Azure news and discuss Marc’s recent blog posts on updates that have recently come to Azure. We cover off some updates to SQL, Microsoft’s new documentation service and more. Plenty of really great content aimed at keeping you right up to date with everything Azure and in the Microsoft cloud.

As always don’t forget to send us your questions and feedback as well as leaving review to help grow our audience. We appreciate you taking the time to listen.

or can listen to this episode at:

http://ciaops.podbean.com/e/episode-105-azure-updates/

or subscribe to this and all episodes in iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ciaops-need-to-know-podcasts/id406891445?mt=2

The podcast is also available on Stitcher at:

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ciaops/need-to-know-podcast?refid=stpr

Don’t forget to give the show a rating as well as send me any feedback or suggestions you may have for the show.

Resources

Marc Kean on Twitter

Robert Crane on Twitter

Azure news week 22 (Marc Kean)

Use PowerShell for Windows updates

Azure tenant subscription accounts

Azure Enterprise enrolment hierarchy

Office 365 Azure

Office 365 Azure—Robert Crane Docs.com

https://docs.com/d/embed/D25193685-5871-8149-4450-000618648953%7eMd4186d87-61d5-259a-4d26-00a8bd86cfff

I’ve been doing a lot of presenting around Azure and Office 365 of late and there is a lack of appreciation that when you sign up for Office 365 you automatically receive a free (limited) Azure account.

The difference between the available versions of Azure can be found here:

Azure AD Editions feature comparison – https://blog.ciaops.com/2015/08/azure-ad-editions-feature-comparison.html

How to enable the free version of Azure with Office 365 I have covered here:

Enabling your Office 365 Azure AD – https://blog.ciaops.com/2015/01/enabling-your-office-365-azure-ad.html

This free Azure account allows you to perform some basic functions such as:

Configuring an Azure Single Sign On portal – https://blog.ciaops.com/2015/02/configuring-azure-sso-portal.html

Enabling self-service password resets in Office 365 – https://blog.ciaops.com/2015/02/enabling-self-service-password-resets.html

Using Azure AD B2B sharing with SharePoint Online – https://blog.ciaops.com/2015/11/using-azure-ad-b2b-sharing-with.html

The above presentation on Office 365 Azure provides a good overview of what is possible with Azure from Office 365 that most people don’t even realise is available.

The real message is that you need to think of Office 365 and Azure together, especially in the SMB space. You START with Office 365 to get a free Azure tenant AND then you add a paid subscription of Azure and build from there. You DON’T start with Azure first and add Office 365 as that creates two separate tenants. Always, Office 365 first and then Azure but I’ll cover more about that in upcoming pos

Need to Know Podcast–Episode 104

I’m joined by returning guest Sonia Cuff to talk about the secrets of successful presentations. They cover off the things that you should and shouldn’t do when it comes to giving meaningful and memorable presentations. Sonia shares her extensive experience from presenting both locally and internationally that will benefit anyone who has to stand up in front of a crowd. In this episode you’ll learn a lot about delivering an experience that will leave your audience asking for more.

As always don’t forget to send us your questions and feedback as well as leaving review to help grow our audience. We appreciate you taking the time to listen.

or can listen to this episode at:

http://ciaops.podbean.com/e/episode-104-sonia-cuff/

or subscribe to this and all episodes in iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ciaops-need-to-know-podcasts/id406891445?mt=2

The podcast is also available on Stitcher at:

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ciaops/need-to-know-podcast?refid=stpr

Don’t forget to give the show a rating as well as send me any feedback or suggestions you may have for the show.

Resources

Sonia Cuff – @Cuff_S

http://soniacuff.com

James Whittaker

Resonate – Nancy Duarte

Talk like Ted

Office 365 Delve and Groups

I would contend that most people have more technology at their fingertips than they imagine. The problem is that most don’t make full use of what’s available to them. In fact I would contend that most people are far from effective when it comes to using technology.

Why is this? The simple answer is legacy. Human beings are creatures of habit, they don’t like change and prefer to do things ‘the way they have always been done’. The typical manifestation of this is the common statement ‘I’m just too busy’.

In short, you need to invest to get the reward. To be constantly busy, as I have pointed out before, is a cop out. It is simply an excuse for being unfocused. Technology is there to be our slave not our master. What many fail to appreciate is that if we don’t use technology appropriately it actually makes us less effective. That’s right, the inappropriate use of technology makes you more unproductive and ‘busier’.

Therefore to reap the benefits of technology we need to invest in education to learn how to make best use of the technology we have. Typically this will also mean changing the way we do things to get optimal returns but isn’t that the end game? Isn’t the ultimate aim to become more productive and attain more ‘free’ time to do with what you choose? Yet few seem to be willing to make that investment in education, which to me is very strange.

A good case in point is the feature set that is available to people using Office 365. Most simply use it for email and they use in exactly the way they have always. What real benefit does that provide? How is their life really any better if they are just what they have always done? A smaller subset of people use OneDrive and Teams Sites but little else.

Having been available for many months, most people are still puzzled at what Delve actually is. I wrote an article a while back that explains it in detail and why it is so important:

Delve should be the centre of your Office 365 universe

Delve is automatically configured in Office 365, there is nothing that needs setting up. All you need to do is use it! Sure, it’ll mean doing things differently but the productivity rewards are great.

Another component of Office 365 that I don’t used nearly as frequently as it should be is office 365 Groups. Groups are merely a combination of an email distribution list and file storage and make a great starting point for basic collaboration inside a business. Sadly, most overlook it.

What I find helps is getting an overall picture of a product like Office 365 and then mapping data and functions into that. Here is an article I wrote to help people understand that very fact:

Where to put data in Office 365

To therefore help people better understand Office 365 Delve and Groups I have published the above webinar I conducted which will give you a deep dive into both areas and hopefully open you eyes to the potential benefits they can provide when it comes to boosting your productivity.

Remember, improved effectiveness means education and being ‘busy’ all the time is simply an excuse to avoid becoming more effective. Technology is merely a tool, whether you use to improve your life is totally up to you. Technology can only perform to the skill level of the operator, it doesn’t do anything magic or miraculous on its own. If you therefore want to use technology more effectively, educate yourself on the tools you have and the above video maybe a great place to start if you are yet to undercover the power of Delve and Groups in Office 365.

Need to Know Podcast–Episode 103

Join myself and co-host, Azure Technical Specialist Marc Kean, as we take a closer look at the backup options available from Azure. We speak about things such as Azure Backup for files and folders, backup for applications and especially Azure Site Recovery. There is of course coverage of the latest cloud news from the world of Microsoft as well as details about technologies such as Azure Resources Manager.

As always don’t forget to send us you questions and feedback as well as leaving review to help grow our audience. We appreciate you taking the time to listen.

or can listen to this episode at:

http://ciaops.podbean.com/e/episode-103-azure-backup-and-recovery/

or subscribe to this and all episodes in iTunes at:

https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ciaops-need-to-know-podcasts/id406891445?mt=2

The podcast is also available on Stitcher at:

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/ciaops/need-to-know-podcast?refid=stpr

Don’t forget to give the show a rating as well as send me anyfeedback or suggestions you may have for the show.

Resources

Marc Kean

Robert Crane

Windows 10 app for OneDrive

Skype for Business for Mac

Microsoft Gigjam

Azure Recovery Service Vault goes GA

Azure Cool Storage

Azure Backup for Files and Folders

Azure Backup for Applications

ARM Azure Site Recovery [VIDEO] – Part 1

ARM Azure Site Recovery [VIDEO] – Part 2

Azure Backup for Applications

In a previous article I showed how the first step into Azure is typically to use Azure backup for files and folders. I also covered off how you can restore files via that method. That backup method works great for static files and folders on a network but what about applications such as SQL, SharePoint, Exchange, etc where important data also resides? You typically can’t backup the data because it is ‘in use’ by the application. In most cases you need a special ‘agent’ that allows the data inside these applications to be backed up even when the data is in use. Luckily, Azure provides that with a service called Azure backup for applications.

This walk through covers how to use Azure Backup for applications with Azure Resource Manager. if you are looking for how to do this in the older ‘classic’ Azure Service Manager check out my previous article on that topic:

Azure Backup Server for Applications configuration

Azure backup for applications is an extension of Azure backup for files and folders. You’ll back the data up into the same Azure Backup Vault that I detailed how to create in a previous article. What I’ll therefore show you here now is how to set up Azure backup for applications.

You’ll need to navigate back to the Azure Recovery Vault in the new Azure portal. When you do you should see a screen similar to that shown above. Select the Backup button at the top of the page.

You’ll now be prompted to work through the steps required to configure the Azure backup. For the option Where is your workload running? Select On-premises from the selections available. For the option What do you want to backup select either Microsoft SharePoint, Microsoft SQL or Microsoft Exchange (i.e. an application).

When you do you’ll see a warning message appear below prompting you to click on it to get started. Do so.

You’ll be taken to the Prepare Infrastructure blade as shown above. You’ll now need to download the dedicated Azure Backup software. This is different from what was used with Azure Backup for files. It is in fact a version of Microsoft Data Protection Manager (DPM). To download the DPM software select the Download link. This will open a browser windows to:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49170

You are now taken to the download page for the Azure Backup for applications software as shown above. Select the Download button to continue.

You’ll need to select all the components and download them to the machine on which you plan to install the software. You’ll note that this software is much larger (at 3GB) than that for Azure Backup for files and folder, that is because this Microsoft Data Protection Manager.

Once the software has downloaded, kick off the setup and select Next to continue.

Select the location where the files can be extracted. Typically, just accept the default and press Next to continue.

Select Extract to expand the compressed files from the download.

You should now see the files being extracted as shown above.

Ensure the Execute setup.exe is select and press the Finish button.

The above splash screen should now appear. Select the Microsoft Azure Backup option under the Install column in the top left.

You may see some additional software components being installed as shown above.

Select Next at the Welcome screen to continue.

Select the Check button in the top right to verify the current computer meets the requirements for the Azure Backup software.

Hopefully everything is in order and the check are passed as shown above.

Select Next to continue.

The backup software will need to store its data in an SQL database. You can either elect to install a new version of this or use an existing version. Typically, you’ll allow the installation to create a instance of SQL server and install the SQL software.

Select the Check and Install button in the top right to continue.

For Azure Backup software to install successfully you’ll need to ensure you have .Net 3.5 SP1 as well as ensuring that the machine can access a Domain Controller. Typically this means it is a member server in the network attached to the Domain Controller. You can install the software on a Domain Controller if you wish but you may need to take additional steps to accomplish this. Here is an article on this:

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff399416.aspx

If however, there are no red flags you should see a summary of the confirmation as shown above. Select Next to continue.

You’ll now need to specify a password that will be tied to a system account for the installed software. Enter and appropriate password and select Next to continue.

Typically select the option to allow Microsoft updates and select Next to continue.

You will now see a summary of the installation. If all is good, select Next to continue.

The first step in the installation process will be the registration of the software with the Azure Recovery vault. You’ll need to browse to the location of the downloaded vault credentials. These will then be validated as shown above.

Select Next to continue.

As with the Azure Backup for files and folders, you’ll now need to enter or generate a strong passphrase to use to provide encryption of the backed up data.

Remember that you need to save this pass phrase in a location independent of the machine that you are currently using. If you lose the password you will be unable to restore the data you backup here, so best practice is to ensure you have multiple copies of the password.

Select Next to continue.

The registration process will now complete.

The installation process will then continue with the installation and configuration of SQL Server as shown above. The process will then proceed to complete the installation of the Azure Backup for applications.

When the process is complete you should all tasks have been completed successfully.

Press Close to complete the process.

You should see two icon now displayed on the desktop, one for the Azure Backup for applications program and one for an Azure Backup for applications PowerShell environment. Select the Azure Backup for applications program to launch the software.

You should now see Azure Backup for applications (basically Microsoft Data Protection Manager) as shown above.

Future articles will cover how to use this software to actually backup and restore from network locations.

In summary, if you are looking to backup more than files and folders to Azure you need to install Azure Backup for applications which means basically installed the Microsoft Data Protection software on a server in the network which is connected to an Azure Recovery Services vault configure using Azure Resource Manager.

For more details about using Azure Backup for applications see:

Preparing to back up workloads using Azure Backup Server