Office 365 Network Onboarding tool

A lot of questions have questions when onboarding into Office 365 around networking.  There is a new proof of concept tool that is available to help you with this planning.  Go here for more information - https://connectivity.office.com/

Windows Virtual Desktop Preview

Windows Virtual Desktop is a new solution that is in preview.  This solution:

• Delivers a Windows 10 experience
• Provide an experience with Office 365 ProPlus
• Supports your ability to move your Windows Server desktops to Azure

For some more information about this – read this - https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/modern-desktop/enterprise/windows-virtual-desktop

New Updates Coming for Office 365 Security and Compliance Centers

If you have not been watching, there are some new changes to the Microsoft Office 365 Security and Compliance Center.

This new portal experience is bringing together all the information being collected by Office 365, Windows 10, EMS and Azure.  Security administrators will be able to see a singular view and have the ability to drill in on areas that they need to investigate.  Additionally, features will be highlighted that you can use to help mitigate risk.

The new compliance center provides information about our current compliance with reminders on areas where customer configuration is required to stay in compliance.

Announcement - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Security-Privacy-and-Compliance/Introducing-the-new-Microsoft-365-security-center-and-Microsoft/ba-p/326959

Microsoft Teams Support when user mailbox is in Exchange On-Premises

I have been asked a lot lately, it is possible to use Microsoft Teams while still having your mailbox located on Exchange On-Premises.

The answer is yes, this is a supported scenario.  Microsoft Teams has a strong dependency on Exchange Online because all of your personal discusses are stored in Exchange Online.  If the user’s mailbox is still on-premises, a cloud-based storage area will be created for that user called a “cloud-based mailbox for on-premises user”.  This solution will only store Teams conversations and the user cannot directly log into this mailbox.

To support this, you must have Exchange Hybrid configured and you must be using AAD Sync.
To enable this, there is a request process you must go through, defined in the references below.

Additionally, if the on-prem mailbox is ever migrated to Exchange Online later, the Teams chat data will not be lost, the data will be migrated over to the primary mailbox in the cloud.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/exchange-teams-interact
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/securitycompliance/search-cloud-based-mailboxes-for-on-premises-users

Microsoft Teams Government Cloud Service Descriptions

Microsoft Teams has published out Service Descriptions for GCC, GCCH and DoD cloud deployments.  Please review this closely as the accurately convey what capabilities are available and not available in the respective clouds.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/plan-for-government-gcc
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/plan-for-government-gcc-high
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/plan-for-government-dod

K2 Blackperl Wrox Book 10 Years Later

On a personal note, it was brought to my attention that 10 years ago the K2 Blackpearl Wrox book that I co-authored was published.  Ten years seems like ages ago given how may career has gone.  When I started out of college, I would have never dreamed I would be in a position to co-author a Wrox book.  At the time, blogging was not really around, and the way many of us learned was through "books" 😊  Yes books.  Wrox at the time published some of the best software books out there.

Reflecting, it was the blogging that I started that put me in a position to write the book.  I will admit, if you read my blog, at times my work could use grammar edits.  However, learning how to write and communicate like this has really helped me advance in my career.  Sitting down and writing a whitepaper about Office 365 is something that I actually find fun to do.

Direct Routing with Microsoft Teams

If you are looking to learn about what is Direct Routing with Microsoft Teams, recommend you start with the references below.  Direct Routing allows customers to bring their trunk and then use a certified SBC to integrate with Microsoft Teams.  You have the ability to host the SBC yourself or do partner hosted SBCs.

References
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-Teams-Blog/Direct-Routing-is-now-Generally-Available/ba-p/210359#M1277

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/direct-routing-plan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N478Sq1v7Ss