Microsoft Ignite 2016 has just begun!!!

Microsoft Ignite 2016 Conference has just begun, Excitement is just kicked in from today September 26–30, 2016, at Atlanta GA.

Watch the Event Keynote Live here: Microsoft Ignite 2016

You can favor and access the Microsoft Ignite Spaces on the new Microsoft Tech Community site to view the latest event updates and related Slide decks here : https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Ignite/ct-p/Ignite2016

Access the On demand videos in the Microsoft Ignite site here: Microsoft Ignite 2016 On-Demand

Direct link to the YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrhJmfAGQ5K81XQ8_od1iTg

MVP Michael de Rooij has created an excellent script to download the slidedecks and videos to view offline.

Access the script here: Ignite 2016 Slidedeck and Video downloader

Missed to attend this year, Pre-Register for Microsoft Ignite in Orlando, September 25 - 29, 2017 here: Microsoft Ignite Pre-Registration

Stay tuned for more updates...

Get ready for AzureAD admin experience in the new Azure portal !

After the announcement of portal.azure.com (codename Ibiza), general availability (GA) status Last December, which is now the default portal for Azure, Microsoft team started to move the Services and applications from the Classic portal to the new Azure Portal. In this road-map this week we had a significant announcement on the Public Preview of AzureAD Admin experience in the new Azure portal. Azure AD is moving to the new portal in phases and within a few months the new portal will have all the features of the classic portal and beyond.

As stated in the announcement, to try the new experience you need login to the new portal as a global administrator of your directory. In the coming weeks, Microsoft team will update the new experience so that it works well for other directory roles such as user administrators and password administrators.

This new portal looks pretty good and will be enhanced in the upcoming days, Login today and share your feedback!

Access the Official Announcement with the Walk-through guidance here:  The AzureAD admin experience in the new Azure portal is now in public preview!

Additionally review the below chart to check which portal supports the Azure services and applications that you use.

Access here: Azure portal availability chart

See Week 1 update here: AzureAD in the new Azure portal: Week 1 update – Already being used in 125 countries!

Update:

One more exciting announcement was made recently that, Ping Identity and Microsoft are partnering to provide secure access to on-premises web applications through the Azure AD Application Proxy and PingAccess. This partnership will expand the reach of Azure AD for customers and is a key proof point of Microsoft vision that “Identity is the new control plane.”

Access here: AzureAD and PingAccess: Partnering to bring you Secure Remote Access to even more On-Premises Web Apps

Stay tuned for more updates...

MVA Learning: Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Hybrid Topologies

After the release of Exchange Server 2016, Organizations started to upgrade their On premises Legacy Exchange Environment to the latest version of Exchange, and most of the large Organizations have adopted the Hybrid model, having strong understanding of how to set up a hybrid topology with Office 365 is now essential for an Exchange Administrator.  To make your learning easier Microsoft team has published a new Microsoft Virtual Academy video Series on Exchange Server 2016 Hybrid Topologies.

You will learn the below key topics in the sessions,

• Plan and implement a hybrid deployment.
• Plan and implement Exchange federation.
• Plan for Exchange federated sharing.
• Implement Azure AD Connect.
• Plan and implement Active Directory Federation Services (AD FS) for a hybrid deployment.
• Examine deployment topologies.
• Manage a hybrid deployment and advanced hybrid functionality.

Access the Series here:  Microsoft Exchange Server 2016 Hybrid Topologies

MVA Learning: Microsoft Azure for IT Pros Content Series: Live Kick-Off

Its time for another fast-paced live virtual session on Microsoft Azure from Microsoft Virtual Academy, starting tomorrow September 13, 2016 9am-12pm PDT. If you are an IT Pro and interested to know more on Microsoft Azure then this is the right course for you.

Know more and get Registered soon here: Microsoft Azure for IT Pros Content Series: Live Kick-Off

Solutions using Office Servers and the Cloud

Microsoft Office team has provided us with an one stop resource to solve business problems by leveraging the integration among SharePoint Server, Exchange Server, Lync Server, Microsoft Azure, and Office 365.

The resources are covered under these broad categories,

• Microsoft Cloud IT architecture resources
• Cloud adoption Test Lab Guides
• Architectural models for SharePoint, Exchange, Skype for Business, and Lync
• Technical diagrams for Office Server solutions

Access here: Solutions using Office Servers and the Cloud

Great News for AzureAD Customers

Great new is nothing but the announcement on the GA dates for AzureAD Identity Protection, Azure AD Privileged Identity Management and Azure AD Premium P2, which is happening this week on Sep 15th. Many Organizations already started using the AzureAD Identity Protection and AzureAD PIM in their environment during the preview stages and creating a secure environment by reducing identity risks, this GA is a great news for all. Also after the new changes to Microsoft EMS (Enterprise Mobility Suite) which is now EM+S i.e, Enterprise Mobility + Security, new SKU of Azure AD "Azure AD Premium P2" is getting GA'd  which includes all the capabilities in Azure AD Premium P1 as well as the new Identity Protection and Privileged Identity Management.

Access the Official Announcement with Walk through here: AzureAD Identity Protection, Azure AD Privileged Identity Management and Azure AD Premium P2 will be generally available Sept 15th

Be sure to watch the Office Mechanics video here: Intelligent identity protection with Azure AD

Get to know the new Enterprise Mobility + Security here : Introducing Enterprise Mobility + Security

Securing your user Identities using risk-based Conditional Access policies to block attacks in realtime is essential in today's world of cyber attacks, and additionally having your Privileged Admin accounts' elevated access under control by adopting the JIT model of making Admins to elevate their access on demand further keeps your Organization more secure.

Stay tuned for more updates... 

PowerShell is Open Sourced !

Greatest milestone in the history of PowerShell happened last month, Now PowerShell is provided as an open source project on GitHub, available on Windows, Linux and macOS! This is a great news, as many of the customers required to utilize PowerShell other platforms and Microsoft took to the right decision inline with their focus on the support for Open Source Software.

Official Announcement here : PowerShell is open sourced and is available on Linux

Read the Windows PowerShell blog post here for additional information :  PowerShell on Linux and Open Source!

Access the How-To demos from Channel 9 here : PowerShell Open Source Project

Be sure to watch the video session presented by the father of PowerShell himself "Jeffrey Snover" on the new announcements, and the story behind how this innovation started and went live.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Microsoft IT Showcase - Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft

I recently wrote a whereto post on the new Microsoft Virtual Academy expert level course for Deploying Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite, this course provides complete in-depth training for you to know more on EMS and enhance your skills to deploy and administrate EMS in your Organization. As an add-on to the learning, you want to know how Enterprise Mobility can be implemented in a large Organization, and the best practices that you ideally need when you plan for your's, now take a look at the IT Showcase Course on Microsoft's own Journey.

Learn how Microsoft implemented mobile solutions globally to support its 180,000 internal users, Be sure to take this IT Showcase course, as you continue your exploration of “how Microsoft does IT.” Get insight into the best practices Microsoft has employed to plan, design, deploy, and manage mobile solutions, and hear practical details from Microsoft IT subject matter experts (SMEs).

Below are the key topic covered in the course,

1 . Introduction - Get an overview of Microsoft IT, the IT Showcase team, and the background on the Microsoft IT story of how Microsoft went to the cloud.

2 . Evolution of Mobility and Storage - Explore the history of storage and how its evolution has enabled the modern mobile computing trends.

3 . Mobility Management - Learn about the Microsoft IT mobile strategy and how the team manages the mobile environment.

4 . Application Development - Find out how Microsoft IT develops applications in the modern cloud-first, mobile-first world.

5 . MS Approvals Case Study - Get the details on MS Approvals, an application that leverages legacy applications and cloud technologies to deliver a modern application experience.

6 . Security in Mobility - Explore the Microsoft IT approach to mobile security, from the basics to preparation for cyberattacks.

7 . Identity Management - Gain insight into the Microsoft IT transition to the mobile workplace and how identity and authentication changed.

8 . Access Management - Find out how Microsoft IT created a policy-driven enforcement of access to resources.

9 . Mobility Future - Learn about how Microsoft IT sees mobility evolving in the future.

10. Conclusion - Learn how it all comes together. Hear the story of a day in the life of a Microsoft employee.

Access the IT Showcase here: Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft

Microsoft Tech Community is now here!

Microsoft recently announced the public preview of the new Office 365 Network and now its renamed as the Microsoft Tech Community, Old Office 365 Network on Yammer is scheduled to shut down on September 15.

Below is the key extract from the Announcement,

"Today we are pleased to announce the launch of the Microsoft Tech Community, bringing multiple communities together in one central location to support discussions and best practice sharing across a variety of Microsoft products and services.  The Microsoft Tech Community is an evolution of the Office 365 Network, growing to support new Azure; Windows Server, and SQL Server Communities and in future many more communities."

Read here for complete information: Announcing the Microsoft Tech Community!

Access the new community site and share your feedback, hope this new change is effective and gain momentum in the upcoming days similar to the old Office 365 Network.

Update:

Access the lightning tour of the Microsoft Tech Community presented by Anna Chu MSFT. If you haven’t seen or joined the community, it’s the single place where experts in the community can share, collaborate and learn about products and services across Microsoft.

Access here: A lightning tour of the new Microsoft Tech Community

Update:

Access the countdown of the top 16 product news announcements, moments and conversations from the community in 2016.

Microsoft Tech Community - The 2016 Year Roundup is posted!

Stay tuned for more updates..