On the show this week, Paul and I discuss Microsoft’s end-of-year announcements, including significant infrastructure changes, product retirements, and the continued evolution of Microsoft’s AI strategy. We examine what these changes mean for IT pros and what you need to prepare for in 2025.
Cloud.Microsoft Domain Changes Signal Major Infrastructure Updates
Microsoft has announced the rollout of cloud.microsoft as their preferred DNS domain for Microsoft 365 services, representing a significant shift in their infrastructure strategy. This change aims to improve security and standardization across services, but it comes with important considerations for IT pros.
The migration will affect various Microsoft 365 services, including SharePoint Online URLs and Teams meeting links. While Microsoft promises a seamless transition, organizations need to be aware of potential impacts on their security tools and DNS filtering solutions.
Additionally, announced as Message Center ID MC958903, the introduction of the m365copilot.com domain is intended to make it easier for users to discover Microsoft 365 Copilot on the web. We’re a little sceptical about this, as along with renaming various other Copilot experiences it could actually be a little confusing, and Paul and I ponder what’s driving the seemingly constant cycle of renaming Copilot experiences.
Viva Goals Retirement: Another Product Heads to the Sunset
In a somewhat surprising move, Microsoft announced the retirement of Viva Goals, effective December 31, 2025. This decision impacts organizations that have invested in Microsoft’s OKR (Objectives and Key Results) solution, particularly those who recently adopted the platform following its integration with Viva.
Current users have approximately 12 months to migrate their data and processes to alternative solutions. Microsoft has promised migration tools and guidance, but organizations should start planning their transition strategies now.
New Outlook On By Default for Microsoft 365 Business Customers
As Tony reports in the Microsoft 365 2024 Review, Outlook Classic will remain supported until 2029, but Outlook Classic users in Small & Medium Businesses (those on Microsoft 365 Business and Business Premium plans) will experience automatic switching this upcoming January.
On the show, we discuss the recent Message Center announcement MC949965, which unless you configure devices to opt-out, will also auto-toggle Enterprise customers in April 2026. That’s some way out, but it is worth making sure you are prepared in advance, as configuring the opt-out setting requires changes to be deployed to the local machine via Cloud Policy, Group Policy or Intune, rather than set as a per-user or admin-center setting in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
The new Outlook brings improved performance and features, but organizations need to carefully evaluate how people in the business, like PAs, rely heavily upon Outlook and add-in compatibility. We discuss the timeline for transition and consider whether Microsoft will be providing sufficient support to organizations with possibly out-of-support Outlook add-ins that they are still reliant upon.
Teams Calendar Gets it Right
On a positive note, the new integrated calendar experience in Teams demonstrates Microsoft’s ability to deliver meaningful improvements to core functionality. This update has been well-received by users and shows what’s possible when Microsoft focuses on user needs rather than just feature additions.
Looking ahead to 2025, we expect to see continued emphasis on AI integration and security improvements coming by default to tenants. As AI models that can run cheaply in the cloud, or on local machines become more capable (see Phi 4, for example), we hope to see Microsoft see more value in widening access to existing paid-for Copilot features, similar to GitHub Copilot’s Free Tier announced earlier in the week.
Join us next week for our special year-end episode where we’ll be featuring the best moments from 2024, including highlights with Rich Dean and our fantastic guest lineup throughout the year. It’s been an incredible season, and we’re excited to share our favorite discussions and insights from the past year.
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