Author: thepathcast

Episode 3

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Cloud Productivity

IUR SkyKick Migration Offer

  • Microsoft Partner Network (MPN) has teamed up with SkyKick to give you FREE use of the SkyKick Migration Suite to enable you to migrate your company to Office 365, fast, easy and free!
    Source: https://www.skykick.com/iur

Download the new Salesforce App for Outlook

  • Today, as part of our ongoing strategic partnership with Salesforce, the new Salesforce App for Outlook was announced to give users a great new way to work with Salesforce right from within Outlook. This lets users view Salesforce contacts, leads, accounts and opportunities in the context of an email from a customer. Salesforce for Outlook works with Outlook 2013, Office 365, Outlook for Mac and the Outlook Web App (OWA).
    Source: http://blogs.office.com/2015/03/18/download-the-new-salesforce-app-for-outlook/

Skype for Business is here—and this is only the beginning

  • As Microsoft brings together the much loved Skype interface, with an expanded Lync feature set that continues to deliver enterprise-grade performance, security, compliance and control.
  • Microsoft will be delivering three new services in Skype for Business. We will offer enterprise voice and audio conferencing in Office 365, starting with a technical preview in the U.S. this summer, as well as enterprise-grade PSTN connectivity, beginning in the U.S. later this year, followed by a global roll out.
  • Modern meetings with Skype Room Systems, which will deliver the Skype for Business experience to the more than 50 million meeting spaces of all shapes and sizes in use by organizations worldwide.
    Source: http://blogs.office.com/2015/03/18/skype-for-business-is-here-and-this-is-only-the-beginning/

IT Control and Management

  • Earlier this week Microsoft announced the IT Pro and Developer preview for Office 2016. We’ve since then received more information around IT Control and Management which brings significant improvements to Deployment and Update Management. Office 365 is designed to deliver the best Office experience with minimal effort, and provide high confidence around faster deployment, flexible update management and simplified administration. More details can be found on the Office Blogs and direct links in our show notes.
    Source: http://blogs.office.com/2015/03/19/office-365-proplus-it-control-and-management-update/

Cloud Platform

Windows 10

  • Will be available this summer in 190 countries and in 111 languages
  • There will be a free upgrade to Windows 10 if you are running Windows 7, 8.1, and Windows Phone 8.1
  • Windows Hello
    • Authentication based on biometrics
    • Use your face, iris, or fingerprint to unlock your devices, applications, and certain online experiences without having a password stored somewhere
  • Windows 10 IoT (Internet of Things)
    • There will be a version of Windows 10 designed for many different devices, from ATM’s and ultrasound machines to robotics, TV’s, and augmented reality devices
  • Windows 10 Phone
    • Limited technical preview available on some Lumia phones
      • Lumia 635

Microsoft Ignite, Chicago, May 4-8

New additions to the Azure VM PowerShell DSC Extension

  • The Azure PowerShell Desired State Configuration (DSC) Extension team has announced some exciting new additions to provide a seamless experience for using DSC on Azure Windows VMs. One of them is a new cmdlet to retrieve DSC configuration status from the Azure Virtual Machine. If you haven’t taken a look at using DSC on Azure, please check out the blog post here.
  • In a nutshell, the Azure DSC Extension allows you to upload and apply DSC configuration to a remote Azure VM using PowerShell or Azure Portal . This enables you to leverage the power of DSC in Azure without requiring you to configure any extra ports on the VM. As with any other VM Extension, it can be added to the VM anytime during its lifecycle.
    Source and references:
    New additions to the Azure VM PowerShell DSC Extension
    Introduction to Windows Powershell Desired State Configuration
    How to install and configure Azure PowerShell

Episode 2

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Cloud Productivity

Office 2016 IT Pro and Developer Preview for Windows

Get Ready for Skype for Business!

  • Microsoft announced last November that the next version of Microsoft Lync would become Skype for Business. The technical preview of the Skype for Business client started on Monday, and that the new client, server and online service will become generally available starting in April! The tech preview gives current Lync customers and partners a chance to trial Skype for Business and get ready to upgrade.
    Source: http://blogs.office.com/2015/03/16/announcing-the-office-2016-it-pro-and-developer-preview/
  • For additional announcements regarding Skype for Business make sure to following @SkypeBusiness on Twitter where you’ll find a link to the live stream of the Skype for Business Keynote that is scheduled for Wednesday 10AM ET. You’ll also find a link to the Skype for Business YamJam event where the technical product team will be answering your questions.
    Source: https://twitter.com/SkypeBusiness

Cloud Platform

Email notifications for Azure Site Recovery

New Features in Azure Backup

Azure IoT Suite

  • The Azure IoT Suite is an integrated offering that takes advantage of all the relevant Azure capabilities to connect devices and other assets (i.e. “things”), capture the diverse and voluminous data they generate, integrate and orchestrate the flow of that data, and manage, analyze and present it as usable information to the people who need it to make better decisions as well as intelligently automate operations.       The Azure IoT Suite will be released in preview later this year.
    Source: Microsoft Azure IoT Suite

Project Spartan

Episode 1

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Cloud Productivity

Mobile Outlook App Improvements: http://blogs.office.com/2015/02/17/pin-lock-updates-outlook-ios-android/

Skype for Business on Twitter (@SkypeBusiness): https://twitter.com/SkypeBusiness

Microsoft Ignite: http://ignite.microsoft.com/

Office 365 Partner Group on Yammer: https://www.yammer.com/msuspartner/#/threads/inGroup?type=in_group&feedId=3714095

Extended email retention for deleted items in Office 365

  • Until now deleted items were moved into the Deleted Items folder, then they would disappear after being in that folder for 30 days. With this update, the length of time items remain in the Deleted Items folder is extended to indefinitely or according to the duration set by your administrator. So that email or calendar invite you were looking for is still there if you search for it later—even if you accidentally deleted it. If you are an Office 365 administrator, this means we’ll be updating the Default MRM Policy for everyone using Exchange Online over the next month. As an administrator, you also have control over this behavior. If you want to keep the 30-day policy or set a custom retention period, that can be done as well and you don’t even need to wait for the change. Also, if you have already created a custom MRM policy, (as long as it has a name other than “Default MRM Policy”), you don’t need to do anything and the change will not impact you. Source: http://blogs.office.com/2015/02/20/extended-email-retention-deleted-items-office-365/

US Partner Training and Certification Destination Guide – February 2015

  • The attached deck provides a curated list of options for US Partners to find training options from Microsoft and associated Learning Partners for technical, sales, and licensing roles. The slide deck outlines aliases, blogs, and other forms of social media to receive information on the latest training from Microsoft. More importantly, the deck also outlines courses, and learning paths to prep for exams and accreditations for different roles. The intent of this asset is to make it easier for the you to find what you need to train your teams on Microsoft products and priorities. Source:https://www.yammer.com/msuspartner/uploaded_files/30796142

Sign in page branding and cloud user self-service password reset for Office 365

  • Today we are adding two Identity and Access Management features to the Office 365 subscription, which were previously only available with an additional Azure Active Directory (AD) Basic, Azure Active Directory (AD) Premium, or Enterprise Mobility Suite subscription. The new features are the Sign in page and Access Panel company branding and cloud user self-service password reset. These two new features are beginning to roll out for Office 365 customers starting today.
    Source: http://blogs.office.com/2015/02/17/sign-page-branding-cloud-user-self-service-password-reset-office-365/

Cloud Platform

Save the date for news from the Azure team on March 24

Attribute Based Dynamic Group Membership for Azure AD Premium is now in Preview

Microsoft Azure Network Security Whitepaper version 3 is now available

Assessment and Planning Experience (APEx)

New A10/A11 Azure Compute Sizes

Azure Cost Estimator Tool

Immersion materials– for more information please contact: