Skilling Snack Series

Microsoft team has recently started a new blog series to provide you with essential resources improve your Windows security, deployment, and management skills.

Below are the available Skilling Snacks published till date in the Series

• Skilling snack: Windows security fundamentals
• Skilling snack: Windows feature update management
• Skilling snack: Windows end-user readiness
• Skilling snack: From on premises to the cloud
• Skilling snack: Intro to Azure Active Directory
• Skilling snack: Windows Autopilot
• Skilling snack: Windows 365 or Azure Virtual Desktop

You can access the detailed post and view the latest collection here: Windows skilling snacks: bite-sized learning for IT pros

Follow Windows IT Pro Blog for more updates.

Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity training and certifications Guide

Microsoft Security team has published Microsoft Security training and certifications guide which is designed to outline the training and certification options and available resources that can help you to achieve your personal and professional goals.

Download the guide here: Microsoft Security, Compliance, and Identity training and certifications

The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Workshop Training

Security plays a vital role in every Organization and in today's modern IT World implementing a strong Security strategy is crucial, if you are playing a key role in your Organization within the Security space, and interested to know more on this, Microsoft has provided an excellent workshop with all vital information and guidance to support your journey.

The Chief Information Security Office (CISO) workshop helps accelerate security program modernization with reference strategies built using Zero Trust principles.

Access here to know more: The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Workshop Training

You can watch the video sessions and download the slide deck and refer the essential links provided to know more on the topic.

Azure Architecture Center

Azure Architecture Center is your one stop resource providing guidance for architecting solutions on Azure using established patterns and practices. You have architectures and guides available for various Technology areas like AI & Machine learning, DevOps, IoT, Microservices etc.

Access here: Azure Architecture Center

Understanding Microsoft 365 Licensing at Ease

Microsoft 365 adoption is now on the rise, having strong understanding of Licensing Microsoft 365 is essential and you have official Microsoft documentation and licensing Guidance already made available, and to add to this Aaron Dinnage MSFT has created Licensing diagrams that easily explains Microsoft 365 Licensing visually.

Access the  Microsoft 365 Licensing diagrams here: Microsoft 365 licensing diagrams

Official Licensing guidance: Microsoft 365 Licensing

Identity and Device Protection for Office 365 Poster !

Microsoft provides many protection capabilities across the cloud services. It can be challenging to choose the right set of capabilities for your organization.

This document / Poster recommends the most common capabilities to help you secure your data, identities, and devices.

Capabilities are recommended in three tiers:

• Baseline protection
• Sensitive protection
• Protection for environments with highly regulated or classified data. 

Download here to know more: Identity and Device Protection for Office 365 

Access Microsoft Cloud IT architecture resources site for more resources. 

Learn How global organization can adopt the Microsoft cloud

Adopting Cloud in a Global Organization is an evergreen process, Choosing the Right Cloud Platform and also having the right knowledge and skill set in that platform becomes essential when it comes to planning, deployment and Managing the new Cloud IT Infrastructure.

Microsoft Cloud Advisory Board team published the new Contoso in the Microsoft Cloud poster shows how the Contoso Corporation, a fictional but representative global organization, is embracing a cloud-inclusive IT infrastructure that includes all of Microsoft’s cloud offerings (Office 365, Microsoft Azure, Dynamics 365, and Microsoft Intune).

These resources gives you the right confidence to embrace your Journey to the Cloud.

Access the Resource here: Contoso in the Microsoft Cloud

Source Blog post here: "Contoso in the Microsoft Cloud” poster describes how a global organization is adopting the Microsoft cloud

Be sure to read the additional Content provided in the Blog post

Want to Know more, Access the below essential Video Series from Microsoft Virtual Academy 

How Microsoft does IT” with regard to the cloud? - Cloud at Microsoft

Why wait start your Journey to the Cloud!!!

Go to Microsoft Fasttrack Center or contact a Microsoft CSP to begin, Stay tuned for more updates..

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

Azure Information Protection: Available in public preview now!

Following the announcement of Microsoft Azure Information Protection in June, Now Azure Information Protection is Available in public preview that  brings together Azure Rights Management (RMS) and classification and labeling technologies from Secure Islands.

This initial preview comprises two components:

• An Azure management portal for the configuration and management of information protection policies, rules and labels.

• An Azure Information Protection client for the consumption and enforcement of classification, labeling and protection policies across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook (2010/13/16).

Read the Official Blog post here: Azure Information Protection: Available in public preview now!

Add-on Read: 

Also read the new Office Blog posts on Information protection for Office 365 and a related reference for Admins.

Make sure your download the Information protection for Office 365 Poster that helps you plan your information protection strategy based on the needs of your organization.

Read here to know more: Take a systematic approach to security and information protection with Office 365

Another related Blog post : Enhancing information rights management in Word, Excel and PowerPoint mobile apps

Interactive Azure Platform Big Picture

Access the Interactive site for quickly accessing list of Azure services, pricing, documentation.

View here: http://azureplatform.azurewebsites.net/

Skype for Business Voice Solutions Poster

Use this poster to choose the right Voice solution for your organization: an all-in-the cloud solution delivered by Office 365 or a hybrid solution that combines on-premises software and Office 365 services.

Download here: Skype for Business Voice Solutions Poster

Microsoft Cloud IT Architecture Resources

Microsoft Cloud IT Architecture resources are available and these architecture tools and posters give you information about Microsoft cloud services and platforms, including Office 365, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Intune, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, private cloud datacenter, and hybrid on-premises and cloud solutions.

Below are the key resources available,

Microsoft’s Enterprise Cloud Roadmap

Microsoft Cloud for Enterprise Architects Series

You can access the Complete Resources here: Microsoft cloud IT architecture resources

IT decision makers and architects can use these resources to determine the ideal solutions for their workloads and to make decisions about core infrastructure components such as identity and security.

Stay Updated:

You can access Microsoft Cloud Platforms Roadmap to stay updated about latest happenings in Microsoft Cloud world here:  Cloud Platform Roadmap

Additionally access Cloud Platform News Bytes Blog for periodic updates

Update:

Office 365 Roadmap is Individually available and widely used and now it has been moved to Office 365 FastTrack website.

Access here: Office 365 Roadmap

Vision eBook - Protecting and Empowering Your Connected Organization

Microsoft Enterprise Mobility team published a great e-Book for readers, to know how to Protect Identities, Devices and Company Information in Today’s Device-Centric World.

Register and Access the e-Book here: Vision eBook - Protecting and Empowering Your Connected Organization 

In Today's cloud connected world, its essential to know how to move your workloads to cloud and also allow users to utilize the benefits of latest technology innovations, without compromising security and this e-Book is worth reading to know more on this topic and begin your journey with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite (EMS).

Update:

I recently came across few more vital resources on the topic and referenced below for your reading as an add-on read.

Download: Managing Access and Help Protect Corporate Email Data on Mobile Devices

Download: Deploying Enterprise Solutions for Protecting Email Data on Mobile Devices

EMS Architecture Poster: Enterprise Mobility Poster

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

Microsoft Cloud Ecosystem Poster

Microsoft team released a new Cloud Ecosystem Poster today, Review this poster to know the features of Microsoft Azure, System Center 2012 R2 and Window Server 2012 R2.

This poster is a visual reference for understanding key Microsoft Private Cloud and On-premises Cloud. technologies

 
Downlaod here:  Cloud Ecosystem Poster: Microsoft Azure, Windows Server 2012 R2, System Center 2012 R2

ITIL 2011 - The Big Picture

ITIL is not a new term for our IT folks, Most Organizations has accepted this world renowned IT Service Management framework and using it in their day to day activities, having some basic idea on how this framework functions and how it benefits our IT Infrastructure makes our job easier. I recently came across this below ITIL 2011 big picture poster which clearly shows the critical components of ITIL Service Lifecycle providing a clear visual approach to learn and understand the topic in a nutshell.

Download here: ITIL 2011 - The Big Picture

Exchange 2013 Platform Options Poster

When it comes to Exchange Server 2013 deployment we have various options available and its always good to know all these possible deployment models, understand their pros and cons and choose the best one for your requirement and if you are a Architect or a deployment consultant then knowing this becomes mandate for you to advice Organizations with the appropriate model suitable for their needs providing best solution possible.

Download here: Exchange 2013 Platform Options

Lync Server 2013 On-Premises Architectures Poster

Today Microsoft Team released a new Lync Server 2013 On-Premises Architecture poster and this is a quite significant one to have handy to know more on how an On-Premises Architecture can be designed and what are new changes made to Lync 2013 along with the new features introduced and it is a one stop resource that will provide a strong understanding of Lync Server 2013.

Download here : Lync Server 2013 On-Premises Architectures Poster

I Also referenced this posted under the Poster section, you can download the related posters to know more visually.

Lync 2013 Platform Options

Lync support various deployment models and this Poster is for the BDMs and Architects, and it describes the available platform options for Lync 2013. Customers can choose from Lync Online with Office 365, Hybrid Lync, Lync Server on-premises and Hosted Lync.
 

The poster includes details of each architectural option, including the most ideal scenarios for each, the license requirements and IT Pro responsibilities

Download the Poster: Lync 2013 Platform Options

Cloud Models Overview Poster

Take a Quick look at the Overview of Various Cloud Servicing Models available in Cloud Computing in general, There are other Models available like Backup as a Service (BaaS), Computing as a Service (CaaS), Authentication as a Service (AaaS), Desktop as a Service (DaaS), Hardware Solutions as a Service (HaaS) and Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)etc. provided by Various Hosing providers in the IT Market, and I believe other new Servicing models are in pipeline and yet come soon.