Friday, April 24, 2015

Global Azure Bootcamp 2015 !!!

Global Azure Bootcamp 2015 scheduled for this Saturday April 25, 2015 is on the way, Whole world is getting ready to experience the power of Microsoft Azure and I am eager to be a part of this great event and share my contributions to the community.


Got a chance to deliver a session on this Event held in Chennai India, Access the slide deck presented in my session below

 Access here: Office 365 for IT Pros

Watch out this space for more updates...

Thursday, April 23, 2015

MVA Learning: Azure Networking Fundamentals for IT Pros

If you need guidance configuring Azure multi-site virtual private networks (VPNs), check out this course.
Get a general overview of networking in Azure, and cover all the steps required to set up VPNs in Azure. Explore deployment planning, connectivity testing, monitoring, and more.


Access the course here: Azure Networking Fundamentals for IT Pros

Monday, April 20, 2015

Get ready for Exchange Server and SharePoint Server 2016 !!!

Microsoft team recently released two great resources this April to provide us with some insight on what's coming in the next version of Exchange Server and SharePoint Server, Microsoft named these versions are traditional 2016 with no new surprises here as with Next version of Lync in their naming context, but there are more exiting enhancements and new innovations added to the product line inline with Microsoft "Cloud First, Mobile First" strategy, which we are going to experience in the next few days.


Access the Official resources below to know more.

SharePoint Server 2016 update - Office Blogs

Coming soon: A first look at Exchange Server 2016 - EHLO Blog

Microsoft Ignite event  is only a couple of weeks away, which is going to be the dream destination for most of the things to get uncovered that we are going to shape the future of Microsoft Technology and revolutionize the IT industry.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Skype for Business 2015 Protocol Workloads Poster

Download this poster to better understand requirements of Skype for Business 2015 servers and clients under different levels of service complexity.


Download here: Skype for Business 2015 Protocol Workloads Poster

Skype for Business Online - Switching the client user interface

The scripts provided here are used to easily switch the client interface between Skype for Business and Skype or Business (Lync). These scripts are to be only used with Skype for Business Online in Office 365.


Download here: Skype for Business Online - Switching the client user interface

Finally the day has arrived for Skype for Business !!!

As Microsoft team recently announced, today April 14 2015, New Skype for Business client started to roll-out and Skype for Business Online is rolling out to Office 365 users worldwide.


Below is the Official announcement extract from Office Blogs post,

A few weeks ago, we announced the technical preview of the Skype for Business client, and today, we’re thrilled to announce that the new Skype for Business client is now rolling out as part of the April monthly update for Office 2013! In addition, Skype for Business Online is now rolling out to Office 365 customers worldwide, and we expect the roll out to be complete by the end of May.

If you currently use Lync Online in Office 365, the new Skype for Business user experience will appear for you in the coming weeks. For customers that need a little more time to prepare for Skype for Business, we have provided the ability for administrators to switch between Skype for Business and the traditional Lync user interface.  You can learn more here for Lync Online or here for the client experience with Lync Server.

Access the Official Announcement here: Skype for Business is here!

Review the FAQs section in the above article for more information.

Also review the below detailed FAQ article for Skype for Business, to know answers for few commonly asked questions.

Access here: FAQ for Skype for Business (Lync)

Update:

To Ease your Adoption process review and utilize the below Readiness resources from Microsoft.

Download here: Skype for Business client awareness and readiness resources 

Official TechNet Documentation here: Skype for Business Server 2015

Update: 

New issue reported with Google Chrome, when users Joining Lync or Skype for Business meetings, Below knowledge base article explains this in detail with the Resolution.

Lync or Skype for Business client does not start when you click a meeting link if the default browser is Google Chrome

Enjoy the experience and share your feedback to the community, stay tuned for more updates...

Thursday, April 09, 2015

Exchange Online Advanced Threat Protection is on the way !!!

Microsoft team made a significant update yesterday with regards to Office 365 Email security by Introducing the new Exchange Online Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), a new email filtering service that provides additional protection against specific types of advanced threats. ATP is currently in private preview and is expected to be available this summer as an optional service for Office 365 commercial customers


ATP for Exchange Online delivers the following benefits:

Protection against unknown malware and viruses

Real time, time-of-click protection against malicious URLs

Rich reporting and URL trace capabilities

Access the Official Blog post below : Introducing Exchange Online Advanced Threat Protection

Watch the Office Mechanics video below to know this feature in action.


View here: First look at Advanced Threat Protection: new tools to stop unknown malware & phishing attacks

Microsoft team states,

Exchange Online ATP will be available for purchase to all commercial customers for $2 per user per month. It will also be available to Government Pricing customers for $1.75 per user per month.

Review the FAQ Section for more details. Stay tuned for more updates...

Tuesday, April 07, 2015

MVP Virtual Conference 2015 Registration Now Open !!!

MVP Virtual Conference 2015 is scheduled this May 14 & 15, 8am-6pm (PDT/UTC -07:00), Register your self to meet the team of Americas’ Region Microsoft Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) in action, taking you to the Journey in to the new mobile-first, cloud-first world.



Key note session is presented by Steve Guggenheimer, Corporate Vice President & Chief Evangelist, Developer eXperience and evangelism Group

Access the Official post here to know more: MVP Virtual Conference 2015

Register your self here: The Power of Community

Be sure to check out the session details under each Track and also read the FAQs section to know more on the event, ensure that you register early within this April to be a part of this great Conference and experience the Power of Microsoft Technology.

Friday, April 03, 2015

Office 365 Compliance Center Overview

Microsoft team recently started to roll-out the Compliance Center for Office 365 customers as planned in the Road map. The Office 365 Compliance Center contains the key compliance-related features for an Office 365 admin to manage compliance across Office 365, Exchange Online, and SharePoint Online.


You can directly access the compliance center now available in the Office 365 Admin portal and start exploring the available features, we can expect more features to get added here soon.


Access the TechNet article to know more: Office 365 Compliance Center

Update:

Compliance Search Now Available !!!

Compliance Search is a new capability in the Office 365 Compliance Center, designed for times when the full-fledged search case management of eDiscovery search isn’t required.

Access the Official blog post to know more: Introducing Compliance Search in Office 365

Skype for Business is coming this April !!!

Microsoft team recently announced that Skype for Business will roll out as an update to Lync on April 14th as part of Office monthly updates.


Below is the key extract from the Official announcement,

Skype for Business will roll out as an update to Lync on April 14th as part of Office monthly updates. If you are using Lync Online today with Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Business Premium or Office 2013, the updated Skype for Business client—inspired by the look and feel of Skype—will be the default user experience and replace the Lync user experience.  If you are using Lync Server today, the Lync UI will be the default experience.

The good news is that regardless of whether you are using Lync Online or Lync Server, you have the ability to control when the updated experience is rolled out to your users. There are two ways to do this. First, Office 365 ProPlus and Office 2013 allow you to control when monthly updates are delivered to your users. Second, both the online service and the server now have policy settings to control the user experience using PowerShell. While the settings are slightly different for online and server customers, both are straightforward, and allow you to manage the UI centrally.

Access the Official announcement here: What’s new in Skype for Business and how you can take control of updates

Watch out the great Office Mechanics video to have a glimpse of the new experience.

Also review the What's Next ? update on the article to know what's coming next in the road-map, stay tuned for more updates...