Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Windows Server 2016 TP5 & System Center 2016 TP5 Now Available

Microsoft team released final public technical previews of Windows Server 2016 and System Center 2016. Technical Preview 5 (TP5) for download today.

Access the TechNet Evaluation Center for product Download: Windows Server Technical Preview

Review the updated TechNet Documentation here : What's New in Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview 5

Access the Servers and Tools Blog post below,

Microsoft simplifies hybrid management with new System Center 2016 Preview and Operations Management Suite

What’s new in System Center 2016 Technical Preview 5

One more key announcement is the changes to the Azure Enterprise Agreement Support Offer : Announcing Azure support upgrade for enterprises

Access the full list of other key announcements here: Cloud Platform Release Announcements for April 27, 2016

Stay tuned for more updates...


Skype for Business for Mac Preview now available

Hottest topic in today's Microsoft Skype for Business world is the availability of  Skype for Business Mac Public Preview, The preview will release in three cumulative stages leading to public availability, planned for the third quarter of 2016.



Access the Official Blog post here: First step to the all new Skype for Business for Mac

Navigate to the Resource page for additional information :  https://www.skypepreview.com/Home/Resources

Read here to know additional innovations in this Month for Office 365 : New to Office 365 in April—Skype for Business Mac Preview, bringing collaboration to the forefront in Office and more

Update:

New udpates for Skype for Business Mac preview: Skype for Business Mac Preview adds contacts, presence and IM

Stay tuned for more updates...

Friday, April 22, 2016

SharePoint Server 2016 Overview Guide

The SharePoint Server 2016 Overview Guide provides an overview of new capabilities in SharePoint Server 2016.



Microsoft IT Pro Cloud Essentials and Career Center Now Available !

I am writing this reference post today and happy to share the availability of  Microsoft IT Pro Cloud Essentials and Career Center. We can refer this as a one stop resource for Microsoft's Cloud learning which also give you guidance to choose the right Career path with Microsoft Cloud Technologies.




Below is the extract from the Official Announcement,

IT professionals need to rapidly familiarize themselves with cloud technologies, and evolve their skills. Microsoft is listening to the needs of IT professionals and today is addressing the most common questions we hear: “How do I to get started with cloud?” and “How can I advance my career using cloud?”

1)  Get started in the cloud with the FREE Microsoft IT Pro Cloud Essentials annual subscription.

Microsoft IT Pro Cloud Essentials provides IT professionals with access to cloud services, training, support and certification. Details include:
  • Free Azure credits to try cloud scenarios like backup, disaster recovery, security & dev/test.
  • Free Pluralsight subscription for on-line training.
  • Free Priority support in the TechNet forums.
  • A free phone support incident for Azure or on-premises products.
  • A free certification exam voucher.
  • Extended trials of Enterprise Mobility Suite and Office 365.

2) Advance your IT career in cloud technologies with the FREE Microsoft IT Pro Career Center.

Microsoft IT Pro Career Center provides IT professionals with cloud career paths, curriculum to learn the cloud roles, and industry insights. Details include:
  • Map your IT cloud role.
  • Follow a learning curriculum for your chosen cloud role.
  • Evolve at your own pace & learn with your peers.
  • Discover which cloud roles are in demand and their salary ranges.
  • Get insights on your personality traits and how they match up to cloud roles.
  • Hear from industry experts about the trends in cloud roles and skills you need.


Be sure the watch the Microsoft Mechanics video to know more: Introducing, Microsoft IT Pro Cloud Essentials

Get ready and sign-up today and start your Cloud Learning!!!

Introducing Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview e-Book

Microsoft team recently announced the availability of newest free ebook, Introducing Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview by John McCabe and the Windows Server team. Download today to know more on Windows Server vNext and extend your learning and evaluation.


Download here:Introducing Windows Server 2016 Technical Preview

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Office Blogs: Expanding FastTrack to help Office 365 customers with end-user adoption

Microsoft FastTrack is now expanded to support End-User adoption Services as a part of the FastTrack programme, this is really a great move as Organizations migrating to Office 365 not only focuses on Deployment and Migration, the key for the successful roll-out is the end-user awareness and training to adopt the new changes and utilize the resources fully and experience the richness of migrating to Office 365.


Access the Office Blogs post to know more:  Expanding FastTrack to help Office 365 customers with end-user adoption

View the Microsoft Mechanics session here: Achieving more with Office 365, through FastTrack

Join the upcoming YamJam on Thursday, April 21 from 9–10 a.m. PDT on the Office 365 Network to talk more about adoption best-practices and ask your questions live.

Additionally Register for the FastTrack Webinars herehttp://fasttrack.microsoft.com/office/webinar/live

Get ready to sing-up for FastTrack for a successful Office 365 Adoption.

Update:



Read here: FastTrack expands to support Windows 10, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Teams


Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Delve Analytics in Office 365 Updates

Being productive is more important and to track your productivity and increase your work efficiency, you now have the Delve Analytics.  Delve Analytics is available today as part of the Office 365 E5 plan or as an add-on to Office 365 Enterprise plans. Microsoft team continue to enhance more in this space and new enhancements were announced earlier this month.


Access the Office Blogs post here: Take back your time with Delve Analytics

Watch the Microsoft Mechanics video here: Introducing Delve Analytics in Office 365

Admin Support Article : Delve Analytics for Office 365 admins

Update: 

At Ignite conference 2016, Microsoft announced that they are renaming Delve Analytics to MyAnalytics. MyAnalytics is a personal analytics service in Office 365 that helps people understand how they spend time at work. Users will get information such as how much time they spend in meetings, or how long it takes someone to reply to their emails, is based on data they can already find in your mailbox and calendar.

MyAnalytics is available today as part of the Office 365 E5 plan or as an add-on to Office 365 Enterprise plans.


Access Official Blog post here: Create better work habits with MyAnalytics (formerly Delve Analytics)

Know in depth here: Learn more about the insights in Microsoft MyAnalytics

Stay tuned for more updates...


Global Azure Bootcamp 2016 : Azure AD with Office 365 and Beyond!

Global Azure Bootcamp 2016 completed last Saturday with a great success and large participation across the world, I got an opportunity to deliver a session on this major event held in Chennai, India. Have uploaded the slide deck for you.



Access the Slides here: Azure AD with Office 365 and Beyond!

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

OneDrive for Business Updates !!!

Earlier I have written couple of posts recently on OneDrive for Business topic in series, OneDrive for Business Next Generation Sync Client and OneDrive for Business Product Recap and Roadmap Primer. As stated in their Roadmap Microsoft team announced the roll-out of 8 great new features and enhancements to the New OneDrive Sync Client (Refered from Now on). Also there few more additional sync updates with their timelines are shared, including the availability of Bandwidth Management, Extended Windows Explorer Integration and finally the SharePoint Document Library Sync.


Access the Official Blog post to know more on the aforesaid topics along with key innovations on Sharing, Security and Mobile experience.

Read here : OneDrive for Business recognized as an EFSS leader and continues momentum with spring updates

Few more demanding features from customers are still need to be addressed and these current updates and announcements are a step forward, hope they show up soon in the upcoming days.

Submit your feedback through UserVoice and attend the Future of SharePoint and OneDrive event on May 4th 2016 to know more.

Stay tuned for more updates...


Get to know Safety Tips in Office 365

E-mail security is foremost important for any Organization and having a strong Anti-Spam, Anti-Spoofing, Anti-Malware and Anti-Phishing solution to provide this functionality is quite challenging, When it comes to Office 365, you have the power of Exchange Online Protection (EOP) that get these challenges addressed, Microsoft team has brought lot of innovations in this space and now they started to roll-out Safety Tips in Exchange Online Protection, an additional layer of protection for all users that provides a warning to the user in an email that is marked suspicious, or a reassurance when a message is safe.


More information is available in the Official Blog post here: Email Safety Tips in Office 365

Believe most of you are aware about the latest Anti-Spoofing Protection capabilities added to EOP, called Exact Domain Spear Phishing Protection (name subject to change) this helps in detection of spoofing for your domain even without the standard SPF, DKIM, or DMARC records.

Read the below Blog from Terry Zink MSFT,


To read the below TechNet Documentation to know about Anti-Spam and Anti-Malware support with EOP.


Add-on Support Article,


Read the More Information Section in the article for related content.

For Enhanced Security and advanced protection of your E-mail environment use Exchange Online Advanced Threat Protection


Ensure that you know and utilize all of these resources to provide a safe E-mail environment.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

MVA Learning : Managing and Troubleshooting Exchange Server 2013 Email Delivery

Understanding the E-Mail Transport Architecture and trouble shooting E-mail Delivery issues are always challenging and interesting, Recently while reviewing the Microsoft Virtual Academy website came across this excellent Course on Exchange Server 2013, thought of a writing a quick post to share it with readers.


This course gives you an practical guidance on Exchange 2013 Transport Architecture and common troubleshooting scenarios,

Below is the categorization of topics covered in this course,
  • Implementing Exchange Transport Services - Explore Exchange Server Roles and explore Transport Services. Take a look at Transport Agents and the Transport Pipeline.
  • Configuring and Managing Transport Services - Learn to create and configure accepted domains, email address policies, and transport rules. Take a look at implementing high availability for Transport Services.
  • Troubleshooting Transport Services -Explore the tools and methods that help identify and resolve message delivery problems. Enable and review Transport Logging.

Microsoft Cloud App Security is GA

I am writing this post a bit late, Microsoft team announced the General Availability of Cloud App Security last week, based on the Adallom technology, Microsoft Cloud App Security brings the same level of visibility and control that IT departments have in their on-premises network to their SaaS applications including apps like Box, SalesForce, ServiceNow, Ariba, and of course Office 365.




More information is available in the below Official announcement from Cyber Trust Blog,

Read here: Microsoft Cloud App Security is generally available

Access the Microsoft Mechanics video for a quick demo : Introducing Microsoft Cloud App Security

Need a One to One demo for your Organization, Sign up here: Schedule a demo for Cloud App Security with one of our trained experts

Access TechNet Content here: What is Microsoft Cloud App Security?

Access the new POC guidance here: Microsoft Cloud App Security Proof of Concept Playbook

Stay tuned for more updates...

Saturday, April 09, 2016

Ten reasons you’ll love Windows Server 2016 Series

We have a new series from Microsoft Windows Server Blog for Windows Server vNext a.k.a 2016, The “Ten Reasons you’ll love Windows Server 2016” video series by Matt McSpirit, Technical Evangelist at Microsoft.



Below are couple of  posts published on this series,

Ten reasons you’ll love Windows Server 2016 #1: PowerShell and DSC - Manage your servers “DevOps-style” and share code with the PowerShell community

Ten reasons you’ll love Windows Server 2016 #2: Active Directory and Identity - Manage your servers “DevOps-style” and share code with the PowerShell community

Know more about the upcoming series here : Join us for a webinar on Windows Server 2016 this week

Access The Windows Server Channel in Channel 9 for direct access to the video series.

Add-on Read:

Moving forward with PowerShell and Windows Server 2016

Stay tuned for more updates...

Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition

Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition is a hybrid offering that consists of a set of packaged Virtual Machines (VMs) that implement on-premises PSTN connectivity with Cloud PBX. By deploying a minimal Skype for Business Server topology in a virtualized environment, users in your organization, whether located in the cloud or on premises, will be able to send and receive calls with landlines and mobile phones through the existing on-premises voice infrastructure.


Review the TechNet Documentation of planning for Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition below

Read here: Plan for Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition

Download software package here: Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition

Documentation is not yet complete for the configuration, we should expect to see the content soon : Configure Skype for Business Cloud Connector edition

Update: 

Here is the Official Announcement of Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition GA from NextHop

Worldwide use of Office 365 Cloud PBX Now Simplified

Stay tuned for more updates...