Information about SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Azure, Mobility and Productivity from the Computer Information Agency
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmvuKIkLexY
How to add a metered or consumption billing to Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is provided in this video. You’ll see s step by step process of what you need to do to allow agents built with Copilot Studio to your free version of Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat.
A common concern that holds many back from using all the resources available in Azure is consumption billing aka being billed for what you use rather than a flat fee as you get with Microsoft 365 services.
Here’s a way to keep an eye on those costs daily via email.
Firstly, login to the Azure portal as an administrator and then navigate to Cost Management + Billing. Next, you want to set up the report that you want to see daily.
For me I want to see Cost Analysis for the current monthly with accumulated costs, grouped by resource, granularity daily and as a stacked column as shown above. When you have it the way you want select the Save option on the menu at the top of the page.
You’ll be asked for a name, as you see above. Select Save when complete.
Also on the menu at the top, now select Subscribe as shown above.
Select the Add option from the Subscribe to emails option that appears on the right as shown above.
You should see the View you just saved at the top. Now complete the rest of the fields as desired. Personally, I select the option to include a CSV and want the report every day. The only challenge is that you can only specify a maximum end date 12 months out from the day you configure this. You’ll need to return annually to update this.
Select Save at the bottom of screen and you should now see your configuration listed as shown above.
You’ll get a summary email confirming these settings as shown above.
You should now start receiving a summary email on at the frequency your selected as shown above. You’ll see a screen shot of the report and a CSV attachment if you elected to include that.
Hopefully, this option provides greater piece of mind when it comes to monitoring costs with Azure. Remember, you can create as many subscription reports as you want to see a range of different details if desired.
Take action by February 1: Azure AD Graph is retiring –
Copilot for all: Announcing Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1h77wRwkb0
New Star Blizzard spear-phishing campaign targets WhatsApp accounts –
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat and Agent Starter Kit –
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat – Enterprise-ready web chat demo –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElcsGanlvRI
Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat – Manage agents demo –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMCn0-ZCHOM
Enabling agents in Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat –
I tried Microsoft Loop and here’s why I’m never going back to traditional productivity tools –
https://www.androidpolice.com/tried-microsoft-loop-never-going-back-to-old-tools/
New block screen capture for iOS/iPadOS MAM protected apps –
Customize the location of notifications in Teams –
Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc-fc7pT9nw
Innovating in line with the European Union’s AI Act –
The First Purview AMA of 2025 is Now On-Demand –
Windows 11 tips edition – January 2025 –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gei0otVeueA
Step-by-Step Guide : How to use Temporary Access Pass (TAP) with internal guest users –
Introducing Core AI – Platform and Tools –
https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2025/01/13/introducing-core-ai-platform-and-tools/
Analyzing CVE-2024-44243, a macOS System Integrity Protection bypass through kernel extensions –
3 takeaways from red teaming 100 generative AI products –
AI Companions Will Change Our Lives –
https://time.com/collection/time100-voices/7204530/ai-companions/
Pop out Chat, Copilot, and Notes panes in Teams meetings –
After hours
Starship launch and Super Heavy landing, 16 January 2025 – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_4oS_M_0cc
Editorial
If you found this valuable, the I’d appreciate a ‘like’ or perhaps a donation at https://ko-fi.com/ciaops. This helps me know that people enjoy what I have created and provides resources to allow me to create more content. If you have any feedback or suggestions around this, I’m all ears. You can also find me via email director@ciaops.com and on X (Twitter) at https://www.twitter.com/directorcia.
If you want to be part of a dedicated Microsoft Cloud community with information and interactions daily, then consider becoming a CIAOPS Patron – www.ciaopspatron.com.
Watch out for the next CIA Brief next week
Microsoft now provides the ability to check yoru environment for oversharing my running a data assessment report which you’ll find in DSPM for AI inside Microsoft Purview.
Here’s my video to get you started:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVUQ6PGnMmE
some documentation to help is here:
Get started with Data Security Posture Management
Hopefully, the reporting will become more details and allow you to take direct action on individual items that are reported. However, for now, it is a handy report to have in your bag of tricks.
*** Update 5 Feb 2025: Delete billing plan is now available. Developers were working on the back end causing the issue.
I want to delete the Power Platform PAYG Billing plan called CopilotStudio as seen above.
If I select the pla, as shown above, the the options See details and Edit are available only.
If I Select See details the above information is shown but with no delete option.
Selecting Edit plan displays the above, again with no Delete option.
The billing plan has no environments inside it.
Originally, the PAYG Billing plan was tied to an Azure Resource Group that has also now been removed. Yet, the billing plan remains?
Where is the delete option? Anyone know?
CISA released a Microsoft Expanded Cloud Logs Implementation Playbook that I recommend Microsoft 365 administrators take a look at.
“This playbook provides an overview of the newly introduced logs in Microsoft Purview Audit (Standard), which enable organizations to conduct forensic and compliance investigations by accessing critical events, such as mail items accessed, mail items sent, and user searches in SharePoint Online and Exchange Online. In addition, the playbook also discusses significant events in other M365 services such as Teams. Lastly, administration/enabling actions and ingestion of these logs to Microsoft Sentinel and Splunk Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems are covered in detail.”
“Default enablement is defined at a license level. For example, Auditing (Standard or Premium) is enabled by default for E3/E5/G3/G5 licenses. Some licenses, such as M365 Business Basic, M365 Business Standard, M365 Business Premium, and trial license accounts do provide access to Audit but do not currently have auditing enabled by default. These licenses will have Audit enabled by default in the future. If you are leveraging one of these license types, the steps below can be utilized to ensure that all audit features are enabled.”
Thus, if you are using ANY Microsoft 365 license in my books you want to ensure all the logging available to you is enabled for all user, regardless of Microsoft does.
The playbook will take you what needs to be done. Most of it relates to:
Mailbox actions for user mailboxes and shared mailboxes
with the most important being around the MailItemsAccessed setting, but there are others.
The most important thing to remember is that most of these settings cannot be set in the web portal and can only be set using PowerShell commands like:
Set-Mailbox – @{Add=“SearchQueryInitiated”}
Apart from these settings the playbook has lots of additional handy information that will help with the security of your Microsoft 365 environment and this makes it a recommended read for all administrators.
Welcome to 2025. Thanks so much for listening. A couple of ‘summary’ or ‘annual’ blog posts that are worth taking a look at. I also do some annual posts on my blog around what I used over the previous year if you wanted to know. I also share how I capture and work with information on a daily and the tools I use to achieve this. Let me know what works for you.
Brought to you by www.ciaopspatron.com
You can listen directly to this episode at:
https://ciaops.podbean.com/e/tools-of-the-workday/
Subscribe via iTunes at:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/ciaops-need-to-know-podcasts/id406891445?mt=2
or Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7ejj00cOuw8977GnnE2lPb
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
The transition to the new Outlook will begin on January 1, 2025
Microsoft OneNote, a year in review: AI innovation and enhanced creativity
Build custom email security reports and dashboards with workbooks in Microsoft Sentinel
6 AI trends you’ll see more of in 2025
CES 2025: The year of the Windows 11 PC refresh
SharePoint Roadmap Pitstop December 2024
Microsoft Entra: Top 50 features of 2024
What is Microsoft Security Copilot? –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmpyimizs-s
Microsoft OneNote, a year in review: AI innovation and enhanced creativity – https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/Microsoft365InsiderBlog/microsoft-onenote-a-year-in-review-ai-innovation-and-enhanced-creativity/4363833
Build custom email security reports and dashboards with workbooks in Microsoft Sentinel – https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoftdefenderforoffice365blog/build-custom-email-security-reports-and-dashboards-with-workbooks-in-microsoft-s/4352242
Co-author a document in Microsoft 365 –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-5UGuQnD0g
Unified coverage management across SIEM and XDR in SOC optimization –
Choose a breakout room as a Teams meeting participant –
Exciting News: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Extends Support to ARM-Based Linux Servers –
6 AI trends you’ll see more of in 2025 –
https://news.microsoft.com/source/features/ai/6-ai-trends-youll-see-more-of-in-2025/
Achieve more with AI you can trust –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mu0aXee6FE
Automate the employee identity lifecycle with Microsoft Entra ID Governance –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mX-j7lC2L3A
Microsoft announces US $3bn investment over two years in India cloud and AI infrastructure to accelerate adoption of AI, skilling and innovation –
Why security teams rely on Microsoft Defender Experts for XDR for managed detection and response –
Considerations for risk identification and prioritization in Defender for Cloud –
CES 2025: Advancing the future of automotive and mobility –
Amedisys clinicians provide better home care with mobile devices managed by Microsoft Endpoint Manager –
Access your new apps in Microsoft 365 –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-TuVtwgKAM
CES 2025: The year of the Windows 11 PC refresh –
SharePoint Roadmap Pitstop December 2024 –
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/spblog/sharepoint-roadmap-pitstop-december-2024/4361689
Microsoft Entra: Top 50 features of 2024 –
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/identity/microsoft-entra-top-50-features-of-2024/4352584
After hours
Scott & Mark Learn To… Find Joy in Hobbies – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ypcog_lv0DA
Editorial
If you found this valuable, the I’d appreciate a ‘like’ or perhaps a donation at https://ko-fi.com/ciaops. This helps me know that people enjoy what I have created and provides resources to allow me to create more content. If you have any feedback or suggestions around this, I’m all ears. You can also find me via email director@ciaops.com and on X (Twitter) at https://www.twitter.com/directorcia.
If you want to be part of a dedicated Microsoft Cloud community with information and interactions daily, then consider becoming a CIAOPS Patron – www.ciaopspatron.com.
Watch out for the next CIA Brief next week
CIAOPS 