Skype for Business Online retired

Skype for Business Online is retired last month and most of the Organizations already deployed Teams and started their Transition, if you are one of the Organization who are on the Journey read the official documentation and get your upgrade completed.

Access here: Skype for Business Online retirement

Office 2019 Servers now Available

Microsoft Announced the release of of Exchange Server 2019, Skype for Business Server 2019, SharePoint Server 2019, and Project Server 2019. Commercial preview of the products were available from July 2018 and now they are generally available. Microsoft announced the general availability of Office 2019 during Microsoft Ignite 2018 and now the 2019 Server products reached GA for commercial customers.

Access the below Announcement to know more: Office 2019 servers available for commercial customers

Stay tuned for more updates...

Get Ready for Microsoft Ignite 2018

Microsoft Ignite 2018 starts today September 24 - September 28 in Orlando Florida. This year Microsoft planned to live stream all the sessions and also you can watch the sessions On-demand, this is a great news for everyone.

Access here to know more: Microsoft Ignite—coming to you live from wherever you are

Below are few of the recommended sessions shared from Microsoft team and we have more on the list.

Get Ready for Microsoft Ignite 2018

Ignite 2018: Matt’s list of recommended sessions

Get deeper into security at Microsoft Ignite 2018

Come check out Azure Stack at Ignite 2018

Ignite 2018 – Windows Server 2019 Sessions

Microsoft Ignite Immersion Zone: So much to do and learn!

Follow @MS_Ignite and @MSTCommunity for latest updates.

Update:

You can now access all the sessions on-demand from Microsoft Tech Community and also download them offline at one go using this PowerShell Script

Update:

Microsoft Ignite "The Tour" is Now On.

Select a City closer to you and get be a part of this great event.

Register here: Microsoft Ignite | The Tour

Stay tuned for more updates...

Understand the journey from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams Training

Microsoft team recently published a new training documentation to understand the journey from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams inline with their New Intelligent Communications Vision and explain the future of Skype for Business and Teams.

The key learnings of this tutorial are:

• Understand the Intelligent communications vision
• Understand the journey from Skype for Business Online to Teams
• Understand what actions should be started today

Access the Training here: Understand the journey from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams

Review the Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams Capabilities Roadmap for more information.

Hybrid Modern Authentication (HMA) is now available for Exchange On-Premises and Skype for Business

Hybrid Modern Authentication (HMA) is now available for Exchange On-Premises and Skype for Business. Hybrid Modern Authentication provides users ability to access On-premises applications using Auth tokens obtain from the cloud (Azure AD). HMA allows to leverage Azure AD capabilities like MFA, Conditional Access across both On premises and Cloud seamlessly.

You can read this blog post to know how HMA works: Deep Dive: How Hybrid Authentication Really Works

Below are the Official Posts on the HMA availability for Exchange On premises and Skype for Business.

Exchange On-Premises

Read here: Announcing Hybrid Modern Authentication for Exchange On-Premises

Skype for Business

Read here: Hybrid Modern Authentication for Skype for Business   

Following are the updates required for HMA to get enabled for Exchange On-premises and Skype for Business.

• Skype for Business Server (SfB) 2015 May 2017 cumulative update supports Hybrid Modern Authentication (HMA).

• Hybrid Modern Authentication (HMA) is available with next set of Cumulative updates for Exchange 2013 and 2016 that's CU8 for Exchange Server 2016, and CU19 for Exchange Server 2013.

Read the support article provides the complete set of prerequisites here: Hybrid Modern Authentication overview and prerequisites for using it with on-premises Skype for Business and Exchange servers

Stay tuned for more updates...

Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams Capabilities Roadmap Available !

Microsoft during last month Ignite event announced, Microsoft Teams becoming the Primary client for Communication and Collaboration in Office 365. Today Microsoft published more details on their Planned Roadmap for adding Skype for Business capabilities to Teams.

Download the Roadmap here: Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams Capabilities Roadmap

Access the Official Microsoft Tech Community post to know more: Roadmap for Skype for Business capabilities coming to Microsoft Teams now available

Be sure to participate in the upcoming Microsoft Teams "Ask Microsoft Anything" on October 25th, at 9 AM PDT and a live broadcast on October 27th, at 9 AM PDT on Teams On Air to hear the product team discuss the roadmap in more detail and have your questions answered.

Get started with your Microsoft Teams Journey today with the help of  Microsoft FastTrack.

Add-on Read:

New usage reports for Microsoft Teams is now available :  New usage reports for Microsoft Teams   

Microsoft Ignite 2017 Sessions on demand !

Microsoft Ignite 2017 completed last week successfully with a ton great announcements across all major Microsoft Technologies. The excitement is still on following the event, and now its time for us to revisit the great announcements and download the Sessions on demand and watch out for the latest updates in the upcoming days.

Though I have not attend the event in person, I watched the keynote sessions online on day one,  through which got a glimpse of the latest innovations and the upcoming Roadmap, following this I received active updates through-out the event and round the clock from fellow Microsoft MVPs, Microsoft Product Teams and Technical Enthusiasts direct from the event via twitter tweets, Tech Community posts and live blogs. I am thankful to all of them for sharing the latest updates timely through which I was able to get to know the latest news and share those updates with the fellow Community members.

Some of the Key announcements related to Office 365 are below:

• Vnext announcement of Office 2019, Exchange Server 2019, SharePoint Server 2019, Skype for Business Server 2019.
• Microsoft Teams to replace Skype for Business Client in Office 365 over time. 
• New Office 365 Admin capabilities, Security & Compliance updates and Analytics & Reporting enhancements. 
• Most awaited Multi-Geo Capabilities for OneDrive, SharePoint Online and Exchange Online.

Also we had some major announcements on Microsoft 365, Enterprise Mobility + Security, Microsoft Azure, Azure Stack and much more.

Not to forget some great announcements on Microsoft's new Mantra for Digital Transformation "New Era of Intelligent Cloud and Intelligent Edge" spreading across the innovations in Artificial Intelligence, Serverless Computing, Machine Learning, IoT, Mixed Reality and the future with Quantum Computing.

You can get to know more by reading the information available in Official Channels like Microsoft News Center,  Office Blogs, Enterprise Mobility and Security Blog, Azure Blogs etc. and also through the Articles and Blogs of well known Microsoft MVPs and Technical Enthusiasts in the Community.

Access the dedicated Microsoft Tech Community Space to view all the sessions on demand here:  Microsoft Ignite Content 2017

You can also access the On demand sessions on Channel 9 now: Microsoft Ignite 2017

Download the Recordings and slide decks using the PowerShell script created by MVP Michael De Rooij here: Get Microsoft Ignite session information or contents

Access the related Microsoft Mechanics videos here: Microsoft Ignite 2017 - Microsoft Mechanics Live!

You can further read the latest news on the Microsoft Tech Community spaces dedicated for each of the Technology.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Skype for Business is now Microsoft Teams ?

Most of you might already be aware about this ongoing buzz in today 's IT World, that Skype for Business is going to be upgraded to Microsoft Teams. Users try to login to Skype for Business saw this surprise change notification, and there were no Official Public Announcements made by Microsoft on this change through their major channels.

Office 365 Message center notification that indicated the changes confirmed this, which was later removed, but the news spread across the world and made everyone aware on possible upcoming changes to get prepared soon, and to add to this Microsoft Teams finally got the most awaited "Guest Access" support.

Since there are lot of Excellent write-ups are already made available, I am going to refer some of the posts that I came across on this topic in the community that could be helpful.

First this new change was reported by  Mary Jo Foley via ZDNet article: Microsoft may be repositioning some (or all) of Skype for Business as Teams

Then we have the following Blog posts from Petri IT Knowledgebase that outlined more information on this update

Goodbye Skype for Business, Hello….Teams - Brad Sams

The Teams-SfB Fiasco and What Might Happen Next - Tony Redmond | MVP

There are lot more great posts in the community on this topic and above one's covers things in a nutshell.

Yesterday Microsoft announced the availability of Guest Access in Microsoft Teams along with the new developer Tools 

Official Announcement here: Expand your collaboration with guest access in Microsoft Teams

EMS Blog post:  Azure AD B2B Collaboration in Microsoft Teams

Support Article: Guest access in Microsoft Teams

Tips and Tricks: Microsoft Teams tips & tricks

Note: Currently Users with an Azure Active Directory (Azure AD) account can be added as a guest in Teams. Ability to add anyone with a Microsoft Account (MSA) to be added as a guest in Teams will be available in the next few weeks.

A Nice walk-through from  UC Expert Randy Chapman here: How to enable external guest access in Microsoft Teams

Another great post from MVP Matt Landis here: Microsoft Teams Guest Access: How it Works

A detailed write-up from MVP Tony Redmond on Microsoft Teams Guest Access below

How External Access for Microsoft Teams Works

Things You Should Know About External Access for Teams

Also review this post from Matt Soseman MSFT : Microsoft Teams: Enabling and Using Guest Access

We are only few weeks away from Microsoft Ignite 2017 to get more updates on the new changes and innovations in Skype for Business and Microsoft Teams.

Following Microsoft Tech Community post outlines the key sessions on this topic to watch-out for

Access here:  An exciting week for Microsoft Teams and Skype for Business at Ignite

Stay tuned for more updates...

MVA Learning : Skype for Business Infrastructure

If you are planning to learn, deploy and manage Skype for Business, and also preparing for the Microsoft Exams  70-333, Deploying Enterprise Voice with Skype for Business 2015 and 70-334, Core Solutions of Microsoft Skype for Business 2015, you now have the latest Microsoft Virtual Academy course series to begin your journey.

Following Courses are available now in this series:

• Learning Skype for Business
• Skype for Business: Infrastructure Planning and Design
• Skype for Business: Infrastructure Implementation and Conferencing
• Skype for Business: Voice Concepts and Planning
• Skype for Business: Infrastructure Advanced Configuration
• Skype for Business: Voice Hybrid and Routing
• Skype for Business: Voice Advanced Workloads
• Troubleshooting Skype for Business

As an add-on learning take a look at the below video to know the available deployment models for Skype for Business Cloud PBX presented by MVP Tom Arbuthnot.

View here: Skype for Business Cloud PBX - your four deployment models explained

Update:

Read the real time Microsoft IT Showcase Business case studies below to know how Microsoft as an Organization adopted Skype for Business in the cloud and received enhanced benefits

Deploying Skype for Business in the cloud

How Microsoft IT planned and deployed Skype for Business to the Office 365 Enterprise E5 cloud

How cloud-based PBX and PSTN save Microsoft IT more than $120,000 per day with Skype for Business

Cutting costs in the cloud with Skype for Business and Office 365

Stay tuned for more updates...

Skype for Business topologies supported with Modern Authentication

As of August 1, 2017, for all newly created Office 365 tenants, use of modern authentication is now on by default for Exchange Online and Skype for Business Online. 

Microsoft team updated the Office Blogs post to reflect the new updates and the related Support article is updated to reflect the new changes. 

You can access the support article here: Using Office 365 modern authentication with Office clients

You can follow the instructions in the below posts to know how to turn on Modern Authentication for Skype for Business Online.

Skype for Business Online: Enable your tenant for modern authentication 

Office 365: Enable Modern Authentication

This Blog post is written to share the above updates and direct you to the new TechNet article published recently on the Skype for Business topologies supported with Modern Authentication.

This article lists what online and on-premises topologies are supported with Modern Authentication in Skype for Business, as well as security features that apply to each topology.

Supported MA topologies in Skype for Business

There are potentially two server applications, and two Office 365 workloads, involved with Skype for Business topologies used by MA.

• Skype for Business server 2015 (CU 5) on-premises
• Skype for Business online (SFBO)
• Exchange server on-premises
• Exchange server online (EXO)

Read here to know more: Skype for Business topologies supported with Modern Authentication

If your Organization is planning to enable Modern Authentication for your users with Skype for Business, this article is quite handy to know the supported topologies for Modern Authentication.

Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition version 2.0 now Available

Microsoft recently announced the availability of Skype for Business Cloud Connector Edition version 2.0

This new version brings the latest capabilities that lets customers integrate their existing PSTN trunks to Cloud PBX providing three modalities:

• Authentication of the local trunk to Office 365 Cloud PBX;
• Keep media within enterprise boundaries;
• Negotiation of codecs between the clients and a PSTN gateway/Session Border Controller (SBC)

Also it addresses the most requested improvements by our customers including media bypass, support of 16 Cloud Connector Editions per one PSTN site, the ability to manipulate SIP headers, use of Office 365 Skype for Business accounts and more.

More updates are available in the Official announcement post in Microsoft Tech Community site: Announcing Skype For Business Cloud Connector Edition 2.0

Be sure to review the documentation references and the recorded training videos to know more.

Update:

Next Version of Cloud Connector Edition 2.1 will support Coexistence with On-Premises Skype for Business server 

Access the below Blog post from renowned MVP Tom Arbuthnot to know more: Cloud Connector Edition 2.1 with Coexistence with On-Premises Hybrid due 2017 Quarter 4, Requires SfBS CU6

Stay tuned for more updates...

Microsoft Teams Reaches GA !

Microsoft Teams is the chat-based workspace in Office 365 that helps teams achieve more together. Access Official Announcement here and in depth look here  Microsoft Teams preview received much positive feedback across the globe,  finally on March 14 2017,  Microsoft Teams reached General Availability.

Access the Official Blog post here: Microsoft Teams rolls out to Office 365 customers worldwide

To get started with Microsoft Teams Access the Success with Teams website: Get Started with Microsoft Teams

Make sure you utilize all the resources in the site, including the New Bandwidth Calculator released recently.

Additionally, review the Microsoft Teams Survival Guide, Your one stop resource to know more and do more with Microsoft teams: Microsoft Teams Survival Guide

Access Microsoft Teams Space in Microsoft Tech Community site to know the latest announcements.

New Interactive Demo for you to experience Teams: Microsoft Teams Interactive Demo

Review Excellent Blog posts from "Matt Soseman's "The Productive Cloud" Blog" to know more on Microsoft Teams here: Microsoft Teams Useful Blog Posts

Access the latest Microsoft Teams update in my new blog post here: Skype for Business is now Microsoft Teams ?

Additionally, access this new blog post from Matt Soseman MSFT on Microsoft Teams: Overview and Demonstration

Share your Feedback through UserVoice Forums

Stay tuned for more updates...

New Skype for Business Online Training Videos !

Microsoft Skype Academy team partnered with the Office 365 Center of Excellence (CoE) of Microsoft Consulting Service, to create the following trainings' to help all customers and partners leverage Skype for Business Online.

We have 8 training videos Available now.

• Hybrid Configuration  
• Upgrading Server 
• Meetings
• Skype Meeting Broadcast
• Maintaining Health 
• Cloud PBX Introduction 
• Cloud PBX with PSTN Calling
• Cloud PBX with on premises PSTN connectivity via existing pool
• Cloud PBX with on premises PSTN calling via Cloud Connector Edition

Review this full Announcement in the following Microsoft Tech Community Post, Register soon to start your learning :  Training extravaganza: New training sessions about E5 workloads

Join Microsoft Tech Community today if you have not yet Joined for more exciting opportunities and be a part of the Elite community and stay updated.

Enterprise Organizations and Office 365 Content Set

Microsoft team published a One stop Resource for IT Admins to learn and to plan, deploy and manage Office 365 and hybrid environments, Office client deployment and Office 365 services (including Exchange Online, Skype for Business Online, SharePoint Online and more) all in one place.

Access Enterprise Organizations and Office 365 Content here: aka.ms/O365ITPro

Microsoft Certification Updates!!!

Microsoft team released five new Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) and Developer (MCSD) specialties.  These credentials are aligned to Centers of Excellence, used by the Microsoft Partner Network to identify technical competencies that are widely recognizable by both Microsoft partners and customers.

The five new expert certifications are:

• MCSE: Cloud Platform and Infrastructure - focusing on skills validation for Windows Server and Microsoft Azure
• MCSE: Mobility - focusing on skills validation for Windows Client and Enterprise Mobility Suite
• MCSE: Data Management and Analysis - focusing on skills validation for both on-premises and cloud-based Microsoft data products and services
• MCSE: Productivity - focusing on skills validation for Office 365, SharePoint, Exchange, and Skype for Business
• MCSD: App Builder - focusing on skills validation for Web and Mobile app development

To earn each of these credentials, you must first earn a qualifying Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) certification and, then, pass a single additional exam from a list of electives associated with the corresponding Center of Excellence.

The resulting MCSE or MCSD certification will be added to your transcript and will never expire.  Instead, the achievement date will signify your investment in continuing education on the technology.  Every year, you will have the opportunity to re-earn the certification by passing an additional exam from the list of electives, demonstrating your investment in broadening or deepening your skills in a given Center of Excellence.  Each time you earn the certification, a new certification entry will be added to your transcript.  This process will replace the existing recertification requirement  of taking a specific recertification exam every 2 years (MCSD) or 3 years (MCSE) in order to prevent your certification from going inactive.

Also the existing MCSE and MCSD exams will be retired on March 31, 2017.

Access the Born To Learn blog post here to know more in detail: Microsoft Streamlines Technical Certifications

If you have already earned the required certifications, Microsoft team is aligning you to the new road-map as updated in the blog post, and if you are in the mid of your Certification Journey, then this is the right time to earn an MCSA certification and choose the appropriate elective exam and gain your MCSE / MCSD certification. Be sure to remember that you need to continue your learning and pass one of the elective exam every calendar year to re-earn the certification to keep your certification status current.

This new change has created mixed reviews in the Community, review the comments section of the Blog post to know the questions raised by fellow community members and answered by Microsoft, Submit your questions to get it clarified. Since this is the beginning we can see more updates to come in the next few days.

Stay tuned for more updates...

Skype for Business Network Assessment Tool now available

Microsoft team recently released the new Skype for Business Network Assessment Tool, which provides the ability to perform a simple test of network performance to determine how well the network would perform for a Skype for Business Online call.

The tool tests the connection to Microsoft Network Edge by streaming a set of packets to the nearest edge site and back for approximately 20s for a configured number of iterations. The tool reports:

Packet loss
Jitter
Round-trip latency
Reorder packet percentage

A Nice tool to assess your environment for Skype for Business calls quality.

Download here: Skype for Business Network Assessment Tool

Review the install instructions and perform the tests.

Additionally, access this excellent blog post from Skype for Business Expert Randy Chapman on the installation and usage of this new Tool : Hands on with the new Skype for Business Online Network Assessment tool

Make sure you review the Microsoft Ignite On demand Sessions on Skype for Business to know more on the latest enhancements.

Update:

Microsoft team released updated version of the tool in December 2017,  Starting around 12/15, older versions of the tool may stop working and will report an issue with the relay configuration. Download and update to the latest version accordingly.

Above Tool download link is updated to point to the new version.

Read here for more information: Updated Network Assessment Tool released on 12/8 - added network connectivity checks

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..

Administrating Skype for Business Server 2015 Step by Step for Anyone eBook

Its time for a new E-book, Administrating Skype for Business Server 2015 Step by Step for Anyone by two Skype for Business MVP's Fabrizio Volpe & Matt Landis provides straightforward, step by step, guidance to help Skype for Business administrators to get up to power.

A must read for every Admin to effectively Administrate Skype for Business Server environment.

Download the E-book here: Administrating Skype for Business Server 2015 Step by Step for Anyone eBook PDF

Access Official blog post here: Administrating Skype for Business Server 2015 Step by Step for Anyone eBook Released

Skype for Business Online - new features

A nice support article to find out about what are new features are coming to Skype for Business Online.

Access the article here: Skype for Business Online - new features

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...