Migrating On Premises SharePoint to Office 365

A very common request I receive is about migrating an on-premises SharePoint installation (typically Companyweb on Small Business Server) to Office 365. I have done a few previous blog posts on the topic but I think it is time to revisit this topic and share the challenges and ways I have overcome these.

Start fresh

The initial starting point for any SharePoint migration should always be asking the question, is it quicker, easier and better to start from scratch? Most smaller on premises SharePoint installations don’t contain a lot of data and have generally been thrown together in a very ad hoc manner. In this case, it is probably best to consider the migration to Office 365 SharePoint Online as an opportunity for a ‘fresh beginning’.

Any SharePoint environment should be governed by a least a little planning and forethought, which I can assure you will pay huge dividends down the track. So, if you are starting again, take a moment to do some planning and understand exactly what you want from SharePoint Online using the experience you have gained from previous on premises installation.

Copying files

As the size and complexity of local installations of SharePoint grows so too does the reluctance to start again, which is totally understandable. However, it is important that in most cases you can’t simply ‘move’ SharePoint for reasons I’ll go into shortly. You can however ‘move’ file data by simply mapping a drive to the source and destination and copying / pasting between locations. the downside of using this method is that you are going to only bring the files across, not any of the associated properties such as previous versions, check ins, workflows, etc. However, if SharePoint has simply been used as a document dumping ground then just map a location using Windows Explorer for the source and destination, then drag and drop between them.

To get a better understanding of how to map a drive in SharePoint have a look at my video:

Uploading documents to SharePoint Online

Templating

More complex SharePoint sites also typically contain other things such as calendars, contact lists, announcements and so on. These can’t generally be copied directly across they need to be migrated.

If you are migrating between identical versions of SharePoint i.e. 2013 on premises to Office 365, then you can template the source elements, including the data contained within, and then import into the destination. A fairly arduous task if there are are lots of different elements but provided you have SharePoint 2013 on premises the process is pretty straight forward.

This video of mine will give you a basic idea of how to template a site:

Saving a SharePoint Online site as a template

Migrating between different versions of SharePoint

The challenge arises when you DON’T have SharePoint 2013 on premises. This is the case with Small Business Server (SBS) which has SharePoint Foundation 2010 (SBS 2011), Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 (SBS 2008) and Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 ( SBS 2003). The rule with SharePoint is that you can’t take a template from one version and use it on another version. Thus, you can’t take a template of something from SharePoint Foundation 2010 and import it directly into Office 365, it needs to be migrated.

The first solution to this problem is to upgrade the on premises version of SharePoint to SharePoint 2013 so it matches that in Office 365. For SharePoint Foundation 2010 this means a single upgrade to SharePoint Foundation 2013, However for WSS v3 this means 2 migrations, the first to SharePoint Foundation 2010 and the second to SharePoint Foundation 2013 and then to Office 365. You can probably guess the story for the upgrade of WSS v2.0. It needs to be migrated to WSS v3, then 2010, then 2013 and then to Office 365.

SBS is also a special case (as it always is) in that you should NOT be upgrading it as it will break everything. Thus, doing an in place upgrade is not an option for SBS (and besides SharePoint 2013 no longer supports in place upgrades).

Typically this on premises migration is done using a database swing process which basically copies the old database to a new SharePoint server installation and then attaches it using a command line option. During this process the old database is upgraded to the new SharePoint version. if you want to learn more about this database attach method I suggest you consult my freely available comprehensive SharePoint Guides at:

SharePoint Foundation 2010 Guide

Windows SharePoint Services Guide

Thus, an upgrade from WSS v3 is going to mean two database swing migrations even before attempting to got to Office 365.

It is important to be aware that any SharePoint migration from an old version will never be prefect. Some features (if utilised in the old version) are not available in the never version. The main change is the fact that things look very different when you migrate SharePoint versions doing a database swing.

Third party tools

The better way to approach the migration process is to use a third party tool that will not only move the data but also upgrade the information on the fly. I have spoken previously about some options I have used:

Migrating from Companyweb to Office 365 SharePoint

but by far and away the best is Sharegate. It is very simply to use, yet extremely powerful to use. It truly makes migration from previous versions a breeze.

A good example, is that I recently used Sharegate to migrate from a 12 year old on premises WSS v2 installation to Office 365 with success. It wasn’t exactly straight forward but Sharegate made life so much easier than doing it any other way.

The challenge with Companyweb

There still remains a challenge with SBS systems because third party tools like Sharegate require direct access to the SharePoint site. This works fine if you are on premises running Sharegate from a workstation on the network but what if you want to do it remotely like I was? It’s simple. You can’t without major changes to SBS and your local firewall configuration because Companyweb is effectively hidden behind Remote Web Workplace (RWW), meaning there is no easily way to provide direct access.

The solution was going to be to copy the SharePoint site to a new stand alone server that was configured to be directly on the Internet and then use Sharegate. This is going to mean the need to run a copy of WSS v3 somewhere.

A while back I detailed how I used to do this using on premises virtual machines hosted on a laptop but I now had this set up in Azure:

I finally get Azure

What I have there is two things I need to complete this task. Firstly, I have a demo WSS v3 machine, fully patched and secondly I have a workstation on which I have Sharegate installed.

Thus, the next task to accomplish was getting the WSS v3 server in Azure up and running with the data from the on premises SBS instance. This meant getting a copy of the on premises SharePoint databases and attaching them to the WSS v3 installation in Azure. The trick was getting the on premises SharePoint database into Azure given that it was a few gigabytes.

The solution to this upload problem is relatively easy. What I did was create an Azure SMB file share per:

Creating an Azure SMB fileshare

and had the on premises SharePoint databases uploaded here by simply mapping a drive letter to Azure from a local workstation.

Once the database was in Azure I simply mapped that same SMB file sshare to my WSS v3 Azure virtual machine and copied the databases to the appropriate location on the virtual machine. I then attached these uploaded databases to WSS v3. Once complete, I then had a direct copy of the on premises SharePoint server but now directly accessible via the Internet.

I then fired up my Azure VM with a copy of Sharegate on it. I connected Sharegate to the source WSS v3 site, now in Azure, and the destination Office 365 SharePoint Online. I configured Sharegate appropriately and then stepped back to let it do its magic.

You may be asking, why didn’t you just run Sharegate on you local machine? Why do you need to use a virtual machine hosted in Azure to run the migration tool? Here’s why kids. I learnt during an early SharePoint migration that things ALWAYS take far longer than you expect. In my case I was on the client’s premises still doing the migration as the end of day approached. I couldn’t easily leave because that would mean stopping the migration and returning when they reopened, since I would need to power off my local workstation. I therefore figured out that if I did everything in an Azure virtual machine I could simply disconnect and leave the VM running and not interrupt the migration. I could then easily relocate elsewhere and reconnect to the still running migration session. Much more flexible I think you’ll agree, so that’s the way I do all migrations now. You gotta love Azure don’t you?

Once the Sharegate migration was complete, I checked the logs and the destination. I then let the client know that the migration was complete and they should check the result to ensure they were happy. Of course there still things that will need to be fixed because the source site did things not supported in SharePoint 2013 and used bad practices like direct URL links, but these are relatively minor problems and easily rectified. In one swoop, the site was upgraded from WSS v3 to SharePoint 2013 and moved to Office 365. The power of third party tool ins action. Thank you Sharegate.

Sharegate is a fantastic tool but the its only downside is the fact that it is rather expensive. This puts it out of the reach of most small businesses and resellers, especially if they only need to do a single migration. I have put a case to Sharegate that they look at a cheaper offer for SMB. Hopefully they’ll be open to that but in my opinion, Sharegate is the premier tool for SharePoint migrations, bar none.

Migrating on premises SharePoint to Office 365 is a challenge and there are many ways of approaching it (SBS even more so). To do a complete content migration in one swoop you’ll need a third party tool, and I have said, my recommendation is Sharegate. However, if you don’t have the skill set to do this or find Sharegate a bit beyond your budget then you really need to contact me (director@ciaops.com) so I can help you. Hopefully, as you can tell from this post, I do this sort of thing a lot and have the tools and set up to streamline the process and therefore make it far more cost effective for those smaller and one off migrations. So don’t be afraid to contact me directly (director@ciaops.com) for advice and assistance for your on premises to Office 365 SharePoint migration. I’m here to help.

Please support my free content efforts at http://patreon.com/ciaops where as a supporter you can access other benefits.

I ask for your support

I have been wondering about the best way that I can ask for support from people who receive benefit from all the stuff I create for free like this blog, my YouTube channel, the Need to Know podcast and more. Of course there are my publications as well as my online courses but they may not appeal to everyone.

What I have therefore created is a patron page at:

https://www.patreon.com/ciaops

on which you’ll find the following support levels (per month)

$2 per month– pledge two dollars a month as a way of saying “I want to support you and help you focus on creating more content”. Backers at this level get the rights to say to friends “I supported CIAOPS and what they do.”

$10 per month – Pledge ten dollars a month and you’ll receive access to my restricted Facebook support group that will answer your questions on Office 365, Azure and other Microsoft cloud technologies. You’ll get 25% discount off any one of my online courses per month. You’ll get access to the monthly recorded support webinar. You’ll get 50% discount off any one of my existing paid publications.

$50 per month – Pledge fifty dollars a month and you’ll receive access to my restricted Facebook support group that will answer your questions on Office 365, Azure and other Microsoft Cloud technologies. You’ll get 50% discount off an one of my online courses per month. You’ll receive an invite to attend live my monthly support webinar that will answer questions and demonstrate Microsoft cloud technologies as well as receive access to the recording. You’ll also receive free access to all my existing paid publications and any new paid publications I create.

$100 per month – Pledge one hundred dollars a month and you’ll receive access to my restricted Facebook support group that will answer your questions on Office 365, Azure and other Microsoft Cloud technologies. You’ll get 80% discount off an one of my online courses per month. You’ll receive an invite to attend live my monthly support webinar that will answer questions and demonstrate Microsoft cloud technologies as well as receive access to the recording. You’ll also receive free access to all my existing paid publications and any new paid publications I create. You will also receive a monthly one on one remote consulting session for training or problem solving.

My aim is to hopefully get enough regular monthly income so I can focus a good part of my time on creating more and deeper content for people. I am really keen to take a lot of the stuff that I do to the next level but to do so I need some funding to allow me to pay the bills while I focus on creating content.

So, if you like the stuff that I do then I’d really appreciate your patronage at any level. Every little bit helps.

Thank you.

Need to Know Podcast–Episode 98

We’re joined again by Microsoft Senior Technical Evangelist Jeff Alexander to talk about the latest with Windows Server 2016. Jeff tells us about all the latest cool features that are now available and where the direction of this product is headed. We talk about virtualisation, Nano servers, containers, PowerShell, Azure and more.

You’ll also get a round up of the latest Office 365 and Azure new from us including information on Azure Resource Manager, increased SharePoint Online Team Site storage and more. Listen in to stay up to date with the latest in the Microsoft Cloud.

You can listen to this episode at:

http://ciaops.podbean.com/e/episode-98-jeff-alexander/

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

Jeff Alexander – http://about.me/jeffa36

Free Windows 10 eBook for IT Pros

Exploring Nano Server

Getting Started with Nano Server

Azure SDK

Azure Resource Manager Basics

Windows 10 update information

Windows 10 update history

Version numbers for update branches for Office 365 clients

Office 365 client branch releases

Updated Delve profiles

Office 365 Team Sites storage increased

Azure Resource Manager basics

One of the challenges of working in a virtual infrastructure envionment is that you need to keep track of all the different resources. Things like virtual machine images, storage, network cards, etc all need to be assembled into a completed virtual machine.

Typically, all of this has been done piecemeal and by hand. Microsoft’s best practice is to move away from this IaaS version 1 to IaaS version 2 or using something it calls Azure Resource Groups.

You can basically think of Azure Resource Group as a container into which you put everything your need for your infrastructure configuration. Because everything is now in a single object it makes it easier to build and delete if necessary. That way it makes it easier to build is that you can now basically script the whole process.

The following will take you through a very basic process of creating a single Azure virtual machine using the Azure Resource Manager so you get an idea of the differences from the ‘classic’ method of building infrastructure.

The easiest way to deploy using Azure Resource Manager is to use Visual Studio. However, don’t install Visual Studio first! You’ll have problems if you do.

Instead, visit the following location:

https://www.visualstudio.com/en-us/features/azure-tools-vs.aspx

and select the link to Download Azure SDK and then run the download.

This will launch the Web Platform Installer as shown above. This will download not only the free Visual Studio Community Edition but also add the appropriate Azure components for you automatically.

You should now see the installer for Visual Studio Community 2015 with Microsoft Azure SDK displayed as shown above.

Select Install to continue.

Ensure you have enough free space on the machine to install all the components. The total size of the installation is displayed as shown above.

Select I Accept to continue.

The installation will then commence. This whole process of downloading and installing the appropriate components will take a fair amount of time, so generally allow 45 – 60 minutes for the process to complete.

You’ll see the progress displayed on the lower bar along with the total of components that have been installed so far.

When the process is complete, you’ll see the above screen.

Select Continue.

You’ll then see a summary of installation process.

Select Finish.

You’ll then be given the option to download additional components if desired.

Select Exit.

Run Visual Studio. Select File | New | Project.

On the left hand side of the dialog that appears, open Installed | Templates | Visual C# | Cloud. On the right, you should see Azure Resource Group at the bottom of the list, as shown above.

Select Azure Resource Group, provide a name for the project and press the OK button to proceed.

You’ll then be prompted to select an Azure template. In this case Windows Virtual Machine will be selected.

After selecting the template, press OK to continue.

This will open Visual Studio proper on your desktop like shown above.

In the top right you’ll see the Solution Explorer box as shown above. In here will be a Templates folder that you need to open. You should then find two .JSON files inside.

Select WindowsVirtualMachine.json to continue.

This should open the file in a large window in the center of the page.

Take a look through the file to see all the options. If you want to customise your virtual machine deployment you’ll need to do it in this file.

However, don’t make any changes to the file at this stage.

Right mouse click on the project name in the Solution Explorer box in the top right of the Visual Studio desktop.

From the menu that appears, select Deploy and then New Deployment from the submenu.

This will open a new window as shown above. Here select Add an account.

You’ll then need to add the login details for the Azure account in which the new Virtual Machine will be created in.

When you have added your Azure account most of the remaining fields will be populated has shown above.

Select the pull down option for the empty Resource group.

From the pull down menu that appears select .

Enter a name for the Resource Group. This will the container in which all the assets live.

Next, select a region where this Resource Group and the items it contains will reside. Here, Australia East has been selected.

Select Create to continue.

You’ll be returned to the previous window. Here, select the Edit Parameters button.

Enter the virtual machine administrator login name in the adminUsername field.

Enter the virtual machine administrator password in the adminPassword field.

Enter a name in the dnsNameForPublicIP field. This fieldmust be in lowercase and not contain special characters (i.e. !@$%- etc is not supported).

All of these values could have be entered in the configuration JSON if desired.

It is also recommended that you select the option Save passwords, otherwise you’ll be prompted top continually enter all these details during the creation process.

When complete, select the Save button to continue.

Select the Deploy button.

The deployment of the Resource Group will now commence. You can view the progress in the Output box at the bottom of the Visual Studio desktop.

The results of each step in the deployment process will be displayed. If there are any errors they will also be displayed here.

If you now look in the new Azure portal, as shown above, under the Resources groups area, the Resource Group just created should appear. Select this.

This will then display all the assets contained within that group. Select any whitespasce in the lower part of this blade.

Doing so will open the Resources blade where you can see each individual resource as it is created. Select the Refresh button at the top of the page to see new resources as the configuration progresses.

After a while the Output box on the Visual Studio desktop should show you that the deployment process is complete as shown above.

If you then return to the Resource Group and drill down into the virtual machine, you should see something like shown above. That is a running virtual machine.

So, that’s the way to get a single basic virtual machine up and running with Azure Resource Manager. It may seem like more work but as you begin to scale and manage large and more complex configurations it makes life much easier.

It is also interesting to note, as I have said many time here before, the future is about software. Azure Resource Manager shows how important it is to be comfortable with coding, which is not something I see with most IT Professionals. So now is the time to start getting comfortable!

You can also do all of this using PowerShell, which will be post coming in the future. For now, be fruitful and multiply using Azure Resource Manager for your IaaS environment.

Cloud App Discovery coming to Office 365

One of the handy features of Azure AD Premium was the ability to install a small program on each workstation and then have it report on cloud based applications used. All the data was collected by Azure and then reported in a handy dashboard.

That way you could see what cloud based applications were in use, how much data was flowing through them and whether they were being used outside the Azure AD Single Sign On Web Portal.

A good example I have seen is where cloud app discovery uncovered the fact that a number of employees were sharing large amounts of corporate information using Dropbox which had been banned from the workplace. Cloud Discovery allowed these users to be identified along the times sharing was taking place. The business could then take appropriate action.

According to this post from Microsoft:

https://blogs.office.com/2016/02/25/new-security-management-and-transparency-capabilities-coming-to-office-365/

Cloud App discovery is a new feature, amongst others, coming to Office 365. To quote:

Office 365 cloud app discovery gives you the ability to understand which other cloud services your users are connecting to. From the Office 365 admin portal, you can view a dashboard on network activity. For example, you can see where users are storing and collaborating on documents and how much data is being uploaded to apps or services outside of Office 365.

Not quite sure how exactly it works but I expect it will be a slightly cut down version of what is available in Azure AD Premium, like many other enhanced features of Office 365 are.

There are also some other great security enhancements announced in that blog post so check it and be ready for the new features arriving in an Office 365 near you soon!

Getting Started With Skype For Business Online

I am happy to report that the ePUB and MOBI versions of our book Getting Started With Skype For Business are now available. You can find these versions here:

ePUB – http://www.e-junkie.com/ciaops/product/509403.php

MOBI – http://www.e-junkie.com/ciaops/product/509404.php

as well as the original

PDF – http://www.e-junkie.com/ciaops/product/509275.php

I am also pleased to report the book is also now available on Kindle here:

Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01C29M2DO

We are expecting a version to be shortly available on the Apple iBookstore and Barnes and Noble Nook, with a printed version also available shortly thereafter.

We thank everyone who supported us through this process and those who pre-ordered the book. We hope every one who does purchase the book gets value from it and we’d love to get your feedback and suggestions about the content. Email your comments directly to (director@ciaops.com).

Find this and other books from me on SharePoint, Office 365, etc. at:

www.ciaops.com/publications

Windows Phone 10 Continuum is key

I continue to be a big supporter of the Windows Phone platform for many reasons, even as the market dwindles below one percent. I agree that there certainly aren’t as many apps as there are on Android and iPhone but that is not the whole story here. So let me explain my thinking on why Windows Phone is going to be so much more relevant in the future and thus why you shouldn’t write it off.

The growth in mobility is huge. Mobile devices out sell traditional desktop PCs by more than five to one with that growth only accelerating. Clearly, mobile is where it is all going. As our mobile devices become more and more capable we use them more and more and our traditional desktops less and less. You would then probably agree that there will come a day in the not too distant future, when the majority of users will have a mobile device as their primary device at work.

If a mobile phone is now your primary device all you really need is the ability to hook it up to a large screen and normal keyboard and ‘voila’, you now effectively have a desktop. So it would seem that the future holds people having a mobile phone they plug into some sort of docking station when they want to use it like a desktop.

Let’s turn our attention to the growth of the mobile phone market for just a second. Apple were the first to market with the modern mobile phone as we know it today. They still dominate the market because they have continued to capitalise on that innovation. Android emerged as a strong, and now dominate, competitor because it allowed more apps to be developed on its platform more easily than Apple. The analogy would be the state of play when it comes to desktop software, i.e. Apple Mac vs PC. Microsoft has a platform that was much easier and more widespread to develop for. Thus, it became the dominate player in the market.

Ok, so how do these concepts relate to Windows Phone you may ask? In one word. Continuum.

Continuum is a Windows 10 technology that allows the device to automatically reconfigure itself depending on its form factor. If you take a Windows 10 Surface machine and detach the keyboard, thanks to Continuum, it instantly changes the interface to be that suit for a tablet.

That’s great for PC’s with detachable keyboard BUT now think about Continuum on phones. You have a phone that you plug into a docking station that converts it to a desktop. As I mentioned before, this most agree, is the direction we are heading with mobile devices. That indicates to me that Microsoft is already ahead of the game with this concept. Android and iPhone don’t have that ability as yet to my knowledge, so Microsoft is already gaining experience in what will be the future of the way the majority of people use mobile phones.

I have a Lumia 950 XL phone that is running Windows 10 (and Continuum). I also have the phone docking station( (shown above) that allows you to connect your 950 XL to and then connect a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse, an external monitor as well as plug in USB storage.

The dock small enough to be carried just about anywhere, so now I can transform my phone effectively into a desktop PC anywhere I am.

The way you do this is to plug the phone into the dock and then select the Continuum app from the list of apps on the phone.

You then let the phone know how you’ll be connecting to the dock, either wired or wirelessly. Again, note here that Microsoft has recognised that wirelessly connecting is going to be the easiest way for people to use this. That is, as long as the phone is near the dock, it will seamlessly connect to your full size keyboard and screen, transforming into a desktop PC .

Once Continuum is active the phone screen becomes a mouse pad, as shown above, and you have a Windows 10 desktop on the large monitor you are connected to. Thanks to my Bluetooth keyboard and mouse I effectively now have the full desktop experience.

You can go in and adjust the setting for Continuum on the phone as shown above.

You can adjust the display as well.

As well as controlling the desktop experience.

Now thanks to Continuum I have a Windows 10 desktop and a phone. Even with Continuum in operation, I can still use the phone as a phone, make and receive calls, run apps, etc.

You’ll get a much better idea of Continuum from the above video.

Thanks to phone based apps like Excel, Word, PowerPoint, etc you can still get your work done directly using the phone. Apps have to be written to support Continuum which many still need to be converted but for example apps like FitBit, TED and Audible are Continuum ready. I would expect to see more and more apps become Continuum ready in the future.

Of course the naysayers are going to point to the fact that you can’t run ‘normal’ desktop apps that businesses need to work because they only run on an Intel platform. Agreed, but the Windows 10 phone has a Remote Desktop app that allows to connect to any any desktop.

You’ll find that app here:

https://www.microsoft.com/store/apps/9NBLGGH30H88

So now with this Remote Desktop app on my phone and with my phone connected to a large keyboard, screen and standard mouse I would suggest to you that I now have a complete desktop replacement.

In my case I used this Remote Desktop app to connect to an Azure VM without issue and run normal desktop apps just as you would on a PC. So now with the power of Windows 10 phone and Azure do you really need to have traditional servers and desktops inside the business? I’m thinking not.

So now, thanks to the Remote Desktop client, you have full access to all the software that is written PC’s anywhere, all directly on your device.

If you step back and take a look at what Microsoft is doing with Windows 10 phone in light of Continuum, I see them investing in a key mobile trend that most agree is the direction we are headed (just like Apple did with the iPhone). I see Microsoft allowing users the ability to connect to their legacy apps and continue to develop on existing platforms yet have these accessible via the device, thus giving users access to the greatest range of software (much like Android).

Thus, many have written off Windows Phone, however I’d suggest that people are overlooking how rapidly this market continues to develop and to be truly succeed you need to be play where ‘the ball is going, not where the ball currently is’. I don’t see Apple or Android investing in this replacement desktop paradigm, it is only Microsoft. In my mind that gives Microsoft a HUGE advantage in the mobile space and is the reason I see Windows Phone as a platform with far more potential than many see.

Those who look to the future and prepare stand a better chance of winning than those who only consider today. There is still a long way to go and much more development will be required but importantly (like Apple and iPhone), I think Microsoft and Windows 10 Phone is well placed to lead the pack going forward. So, ignore Windows 10 phone at your peril.

Getting Started With Skype For Business Online–PDF version

I am pleased to announced that the PDF version of our “Getting Started With Skype For Business Online” is now available for purchase at:

http://www.e-junkie.com/ciaops/product/509275.php

Abstract

This book is designed to get you up and running with Skype for Business Online fast! It takes you step by step through using everything in Skype for Business Online, showing you each item in detail, including screen shots at every stage. This book will help you use and better understand the capabilities of Skype for Business Online and the power that is can bring your business. Most importantly, it will show you how to be more productive by using the tools you already have to communicate better. If you use Office 365 but are not yet familiar with Skype for Business then this book is for you.

This book contains over 200 pages of detailed information and screen shots of every option.

The book will soon be available from Amazon, iBooks and in printed format but we don’t have exact dates on that yet. if you are wondering what topics the book contains here’s the index:

– Preface
– What is Skype for Business Online?
– What is Lync?
– What is the difference between Skype and Skype for Business?
– What does this document contain?
– How can I use Skype for Business Online?
– Installing Skype for Business on a PC
– Using the Skype for Business client
– Types of Meeting Members
– Scheduling a meeting in Outlook
– Scheduling a meeting using the Web
– Attending a meeting
– Instant Messaging
– File Transfer
– Call Monitor
– Phone
– Video
– Sharing
– Participants
– More Options
– Mobile Access
– Recordings
– Exiting a meeting
– Skype for Business Web Apps
– Conclusion
– Where to go from here
– Glossary
– Useful Links
– Useful Videos
– About

I take this opportunity to thank my co-author Greg Plum for all the effort he was invested in this book and his help in making this a reality. We hope it helps people adopt Skype for Business as a central part of their business.

Watch out for other formats coming soon.