Azure Backup now does servers

Azure backup has allowed to backup up files and folders from servers and workstations to Azure very quickly, easily and cheaply. I have detailed this previously at;

Azure desktop backup

As announced here:

Announcing Microsoft Azure Backup Server

Azure backup now has the ability to backup server workloads like Exchange, SharePoint and SQL to both a local storage location as well as to Azure storage.This means that it can not only protect files and folders but all of the data on premises just as quickly and easily as it could for files and folder, however now there is also the added ability to have a local copy of the backup as well.

This now makes Azure backup a really compelling option for any business and provides the flexibility many demand.

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To get started have a look at the above links or login to your Azure backup vault and download the Application Workload client to get started.

Microsoft Findtime

Microsoft has just released a new product for Office 365 that allows you to more easily schedule meetings with both people inside and outside your organisation.

Take a look at these two videos for more information.

Basically, it is a add-in for Outlook on your desktop and your Outlook Online.

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When you select the meeting poll button you’ll get a new pane in your Outlook on the desktop like that shown above where you can select a few options for a meeting to send to every one.

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You can then post those option into the email and send it off, in this case, to someone outside the organisation. If they were inside the organisation you would see their availability.

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The recipient receives the email invite with a link to a page as shown above allowing them to vote on a suitable times.

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You get the same style of interface from Outlook Online as you can see above when requesting an appointment.

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You receive notification of those preferences as shown above.

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Once the times are clear for everyone the meeting is automatically finalised.

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A new calendar appointment item is automatically added to everyone inside your organisation with the meeting details as shown above.

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While those outside the business receive a normal calendar appointment, as shown above, in an email they can accept and add to their calendar.

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You can now also login to a web dashboard to see and manage your appointment requests as you see above.

I’ve only started to play around with Findtime but I gotta say it is really cool and is going to be a big benefit to many people. Best part? It’s free for Office 365 subscribers, so go to

http://findtime.microsoft.com

and get started today!

Enterprise Mobility Suite

https://docs.com/d/embed/D25195311-0229-9411-3450-000996151277%7eMd4186d87-61d5-259a-4d26-00a8bd86cfff

I did a presentation recently on the Enterprise Mobility Suite for Microsoft and have uploaded the slides (Above) to my docs.com for you to download if you want. You’ll find the direct link at:

https://doc.co/j28JKd/qcihGm

The main benefits I see of using the product is the fact that you get Azure AD Premium which means added features like password write back and more functionality in the Azure Single Sign On Portal amongst other things. There is plenty to commend EMS to customers but the first start for resellers is to understand the product.

Here are some additional links that I found relevant but didn’t include during my research:

Supported SaaS apps – https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/marketplace/active-directory/

Deploying the Azure RMS connector – https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn375964.aspx

Advanced Threat Analytics – http://www.microsoft.com/en-au/server-cloud/products/advanced-threat-analytics/

Advanced Threat Analytics Installation – https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn707704.aspx

Although I did include this link to a presentation on Advanced Threat Analytics from Microsoft Ignite in May I’ll repeat it here because I think that anyone interested in what this product can do should take a look. It is also really cool technology as well, so even if you don’t you’d deploy I’d still encourage you to take a look.

https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Ignite/2015/BRK3870

Office 365 E5 is here

After an announcement earlier this year Microsoft has released a new Office 365 suite plan called E5.

E5 will replace the current E4 plan that will be retired over the next 12 months. What does E5 include? Basically it includes everything E4 included but adds services like:

  • PSTN Conferencing provides the flexibility to dial in to a meeting from a traditional phone, in addition to the existing ability to join a meeting with a single click on your PC or mobile device.
  • Skype Meeting Broadcast makes it easier than ever to produce large virtual meetings for up to 10,000 meeting attendees, who can join from virtually any browser or device. Now Skype for Business truly is a single platform for every type of meeting.
  • Cloud PBX enables companies to eliminate separate PBX systems and transition to the cloud with Office 365 as the central location to manage users for communication and
  • With PSTN Calling, Office 365 customers can also subscribe to Microsoft managed calling plans and phone numbers, starting in the U.S. with more markets coming later.
  • Delve Analytics—Empowers individuals through rich dashboards that provide insights on time and relationships, with the goal of helping individuals get time back and spend it effectively.
  • Power BI—A business analytics service that enables information workers to visualize and analyze data with greater speed, efficiency and understanding through live data dashboards, interactive reports and compelling visualizations.
  • Customer Lockbox—Gives customers new approval rights, transparency and control over their data in the cloud.
  • Advanced eDiscovery—Integrates Equivio machine learning, predictive coding and text analytics capabilities, to reduce the costs and challenges that come along with sorting through large quantities of data for eDiscovery purposes.
  • Advanced Threat Protection—Protects against unknown malware and viruses by applying behavioural analysis.

For more information about the E5 SKU including pricing visit:

Office 365 Enterprise E5 overview and documentation

Join the CIAOPS Office 365 Tech email newsletter

One of the greatest challenges faced by IT Professionals today is simply keeping up with the technology. The problem is there are so many different sources that it comes from as well as the volume that it flows at.

What makes it even more difficult for todays IT Professional is that they need to be able to administer the systems as well as assist end users get the most from the same systems. This means understanding both the front and back end of systems. In effect that means keeping abreast of the twice the amount of information.

I do my best to provide the best quality of technical information via a number of sources but not all information is relevant to all audiences. With that in mind I have created an new email list dedicated to IT professionals and administrators of products like Office 365. It is aimed at providing technical information about the products in more depth to help administer them better.

You can sign up for this new CIAOPS Tech email list directly at:

http://eepurl.com/bFYpEX

If you are also interested in end user information via email I’d encourage you to sign up to my free 23 part SharePoint Online training course at:

http://bit.ly/gs-spo

because after the end of the SharePoint course the information continues with detailed emails about getting the best from Office 365 products like OneDrive, Delve and more.

Why via email? Email provides the ability to automatically collect the information, store it for later review. I have found that many people still prefer to use email as their primary source of information for these reasons.

There’ll still be plenty of detailed information in this blog and via my other social media sources as usual but if you want to receive information from me about Office 365 and the Microsoft cloud then subscribe to one or both of the above email lists as suits your needs. Of course you should also feel free to send me any suggestions, at any time, about what topics you’d like to see covered on these lists as I want them to be as relevant as possible.

As always, I appreciate people consuming what I produce via various channels and I look to continue to improve what is offered.

Office 365 Service Trust Portal

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Security is a journey not a destination and that’s what makes it so hard when dealing with technology. One of the things that I believe that makes Office 365 the best product on the market is Microsoft’s commitment to security and compliance. A great place to start if you aren’t already aware is the

Office 365 Trust center

which has a huge amount of information around security for products like Office 365. If you have a security question about Office 365, start there.

What you may not be aware of is that Microsoft has just made available a dedicated an Office 365 Service Trust Portal for each Office 365 tenant. Once you sign up, you’ll find a vast array of security and compliance information tailored specifically for your Office 365 tenant. Here’s how you sign up.

Start by visiting:

https://trustportal.office.com/

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You’ll be presented with the page shown above which you’ll need to login as an Office 365 global administrator.

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After successfully logging in you need to approve access from the Office 365 Service Trust Portal to your Office 365 tenant. Simply select the Accept button to proceed.

(now for some reason I’ve had to repeat the login and accept twice a couple of times for different tenants I enabled, so if it doesn’t work the first time, simply try again)

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You’ll then be asked to enter you region and industries. Simply select from the pull down options.

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When you have made your selections select the Save button to the right.

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In a moment or two you’ll receive a message that your configuration has been save and the Trust Portal has been updated with relevant information.

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You can now navigate to the menu options on the left of the page, like Compliance Reports which are shown above. Here you will see all the security and compliance information available to you as you can see. You can also use the options at the top of the page to easily search for specific information.

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One of the first options I suggest you take a look at is the Office 365 Customer Security Considerations spreadsheet. You’ll find details of this here:

https://blogs.office.com/2015/11/23/announcing-office-365-customer-security-considerations-preview/

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You’ll find it by selecting Trust Documents from the menu on the left,

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From the options on the left locate Office 365 Customer Security Considerations Preview. Selecting this will download a spreadsheet which you can save locally.

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When you open the spreadsheet you should see something like that shown above.

If you take a look at all the content in the spreadsheet you’ll find links, PowerShell commands, best practices and more. There is also an Office 365 Customer Security Considerations Preview Reference Guide available from the portal to help you use the spreadsheet.

Security is a very important aspect of cloud computing and given resources like the new Office 365 Service Trust Portal I am confident that Microsoft is making available the best information needed to help both customers and resellers understand and better secure their information in their commercial services like Office 365. This is yet another reason why Office 365, for me, stands out from the pack when it comes to being serious about business cloud computing.

Wanna transform your current technology business?

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One of the most common frustrations I see when I speak with IT businesses is the fact that they are still struggling to transform their business to the new cloud model. The challenge is independent of technology, it is about the business model and many simply don’t know what to do.

Nigel Moore and myself, who also head up Cloud Business Blueprint, have decided to address these frustration head on with a new offering called My Cloud Business.

How is My Cloud Business different? It is totally business focused and technology independent. So if your business is Office 365, Amazon, Google, etc it doesn’t matter. If you want to transform your technology business to the new cloud model then My Cloud Business is for you.

Cloud Business Blueprint will remain doing what it does so well, providing technology resellers a community to share, learn and obtain both technical and business resources from. My Cloud Business however will be the place for people who want to take the step outside the technology and learn how to structure, build and grow their business to not only adapt to the world of cloud but also thrive in it. You’ll need to be committed to this transformation. My Cloud Business is therefore not for everyone but is designed to fully support those who want to ‘step up’.

Nigel and I are busily building content for release very shortly but this is an opportunity to be an early adopter. If you sign up right now you’ll go on our mailing list to be kept abreast of everything we have planned. We also expect to provide early adopters significant benefits for supporting us early in the piece.

So, if you are struggling to transform your business to the new cloud model and are looking to step up and really exploit the opportunity it now presents then I suggest you sign up to our notification list today to get in on the ground floor. There is no obligation if you do, you’ll simply receive updates via as we bring them online.