Microsoft To Do

Some of you know I am an advanced user of Wunderlist.  It the only way to stay on top of the things.  As you know, Wunderlist is end of life on May 6, 2020.  Microsoft To Do is really awesome.  Some features to think about:

• In Microsoft To Doy ou get tons of additional features integrated with O365.  Any email flagged or task in Exchange Online appears in Microsoft To Do.  Awesome!
• In Microsoft To Do when you create sub steps, it shows you a count of how many you completed.
• Create groups and then lists in each group around work areas.
• I live and die by the My Day and Planned views.
• In Microsoft To Do tasks assigned to you from Planner are shown.
• Use both the mobile and desktop app.

If you have not become a power user of Microsoft To Do, you are missing out.


Microsoft To Do- https://todo.microsoft.com/tasks/en-us/

Import Wunderlist to Microsoft To Do- https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Import-your-Wunderlist-account-to-Microsoft-To-Do-1ccb85b5-32d7-4623-87ef-99764699ac0e

Microsoft Teams Linux Desktop App Now Available

If you have not heard, Microsoft Teams is now available in public preview for Linux users and is the first Microsoft Office 365 app that actually runs on a Linux desktop.  There is a separate down for this build using the link below.


https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-teams-blog/microsoft-teams-is-now-available-on-linux/ba-p/1056267

Microsoft Teams Now Deploying with Office 365 ProPlus

We have received a lot of feedback to have the Microsoft Teams client to be incorporated with Office 365 ProPlus such that organizations can deploy Teams and ProPlus in a single process.


Starting in Jan 2020, you will have the ability to start receiving Teams through ProPlus through the semi-annual channel.


More information can be found here.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/office-365-blog/streamline-deployment-and-management-of-microsoft-teams-with/ba-p/1100293

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/teams-is-coming-to-office-365-business-amp-office-365-proplus/ba-p/725481

Office 365 Identity Posters

I have been getting tons of questions on Office 365 identity.  I definitely recommend people refresh themselves using these new posters.


https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Microsoft-365-Blog/Get-the-new-Identity-infrastructure-for-Microsoft-365-Enterprise/ba-p/874941

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/enterprise/microsoft-cloud-it-architecture-resources#identity

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/enterprise/microsoft-cloud-it-architecture-resources#BKMK_O365IDP

Office 365 Tenancy Considerations

I have been receiving a lot of questions lately around Office 365 tenancy.

My simple answer is:

• Multiple tenants are ok, and are completely necessary for complex organizations.
• It is best to plan out tenancy as best as you can up front to avoid merging or divesting tenants only when necessary.
• Microsoft is investing in building solutions for complex organizations such that multiple tenants can work with each other in a B2B relationship.

Here is a great video on the futures for cross tenant collaboration - 

https://myignite.techcommunity.microsoft.com/sessions/81571

Here is a poster on tenant-to-tenant migration scenarios you should be thinking about - 

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/enterprise/microsoft-cloud-it-architecture-resources#architecture-approaches-for-microsoft-cloud-tenant-to-tenant-migrations

Zero Trust Architecture and Office 365

If you are not thinking about leveraging Zero Trust principles when connecting to the Office 365 cloud, you should be.

The industry and customer shift from traditional on-premises application delivery to the cloud as well as the rapidly growing consumption of SaaS services has inverted network and security paradigms, shifting the focal point to the identity, device, application and data, and away from relying solely on traditional network perimeters, which are becoming less effective in reasoning and securing rich and complex application scenarios. Extending legacy network perimeter architectures into the cloud is becoming impractical, requiring customers to transform network and security architectures for the needs of the cloud.  Such transformation is captured in the Zero Trust Architecture models that are being adopted by the private industry (Implementing a Zero Trust security model at Microsoft) and DoD (The Road to Zero Trust (Security)).

Office 365 incorporates Zero Trust principles in its internal service design and operations as well as allows customers to natively achieve Zero Trust outcomes in consuming the service by taking advantage of built-in features which apply continuous validations across identity, device, service, and data layers.  This allows customers to achieve the same or better security outcomes with Office 365 natively, compared to security outcomes that are achievable with legacy network perimeter controls.  Implementing Zero Trust principles allow customers to modernize and in many cases simplify their network perimeter dependencies, particular for Office 365 application experiences and use a more differentiated and scaled-out connectivity approach. This shortens the network distance between the user and Office 365, reduces processing overhead at the enterprise network perimeter, thus improving user experience.

Highly recommend reading the following.
The Road to Zero Trust (Security)
Implementing a Zero Trust security model at Microsoft

Which Office 365 Gov Cloud Should I use???

I get lots of questions on which cloud is right for me?  Specifically there are Office 365 GCC, GCCH and DoD.  A colleague of mine wrote this really good article to help you with this - https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Public-Sector-Blog/Understanding-Compliance-Between-Microsoft-365-Commercial-GCC/ba-p/718445


It goes through all the standards and accreditations and will help you make the right decision on which cloud to go to.