Author: Tony Redmond

Latest Articles

Microsoft Insists on Office 365 E5 for Automatic Decryption of Protected Documents in eDiscovery Searches 8 Comments

Microsoft Insists on Office 365 E5 for Automatic Decryption of Protected Documents in eDiscovery Searches

Microsoft insists that encrypted SharePoint and OneDrive for Business files found by eDiscovery searches can only be decrypted by Advanced eDiscovery, which requires Office 365 E5 licenses. This seems unfair, especially as Office 365 E3 tenants can create and use sensitivity labels to protect Office documents stored in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business. An example of not very joined up thinking when it comes to software licensing?

August 2, 2021
Microsoft 365 and Office 365: Microsoft’s Confusing Branding 2 Comments

Microsoft 365 and Office 365: Microsoft’s Confusing Branding

The recent 10th anniversary of the launch of Office 365 brought some questions about the demarcation between Office 365 and Microsoft 365. For instance, do I have an Office 365 tenant or is it a Microsoft 365 tenant? Is a feature part of Microsoft 365 or does it belong to Office 365? And why does Microsoft insist on calling its desktop Office apps Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise? Welcome to the bizarre world of branding, and that’s before throwing Windows 365 into the mix.

July 28, 2021
Teams Chat Becomes Fluid (or Lively) 3 Comments

Teams Chat Becomes Fluid (or Lively)

Teams is the first major Microsoft 365 application to ship support for Fluid components. Teams chats can include components like a task list, checklist, table, or paragraph. When a live component is sent to other chat participants, everyone involved in the chat can edit and update the component. It's a new way of collaborative working which challenges traditional approaches. Fluid components will also find their way into applications like OneNote, Outlook, and Whiteboard. Looks like a good thing, but how do these components work in practice?

July 27, 2021
Microsoft Is Moving the Office 365 Service Communications API to the Graph 9 Comments

Microsoft Is Moving the Office 365 Service Communications API to the Graph

Microsoft is moving the Office 365 Service Communications API to the Microsoft Graph. The new API is in public preview. Converting PowerShell scripts from the old API to the new isn't particularly difficult if you have ever worked with the Graph before. As always, the devil is in the detail, but persistence and some mild swearing should be enough to get scripts over the line. This article explores how to use the new API to fetch and report details of service incidents.

July 15, 2021
Upgrading PowerShell Scripts with Azure AD Cmdlets to Use Graph API Calls
PowerShell Microsoft Graph

Upgrading PowerShell Scripts with Azure AD Cmdlets to Use Graph API Calls

Microsoft has announced that they won't support the Azure AD Graph after June 30, 2022. This means that the Azure AD PowerShell module won't be supported either. With that in mind, it's probably a good idea to think about how to upgrade scripts to use Graph API calls instead of Azure AD cmdlets. In this article, we take a script created to count members in distribution lists and convert it to use the Graph. As it turns out, the Graph bit is easy. It's all the housekeeping beforehand that takes the time.

July 7, 2021
Office 365 Ten Years On

Office 365 Ten Years On

Launched on June 28, 2011, Office 365 is ten years old. The effect of Microsoft's cloud office system has been profound on corporate IT. In this article, we reflect on some of the major developments relating to Office 365 since 2011.

June 28, 2021
Using Filters with the Get-ExoMailbox Cmdlet 17 Comments

Using Filters with the Get-ExoMailbox Cmdlet

It's a good idea to replace older calls to the Get-Mailbox cmdlet with Get-ExoMailbox. However, it's not just a matter of cut and paste updates. In some cases, the nature of the new REST-based cmdlets mean that some additional care is necessary to ensure that the updated code works as expected. As we examine in this article, filters are just one example where some attention to detail is needed to make sure Exchange Online delivers the right set of mailbox data.

June 21, 2021
Scheduler for Microsoft 365 Debuts 2 Comments
Using Cortana and Scheduler for Microsoft 365 AI voice command

Scheduler for Microsoft 365 Debuts

Scheduler for Microsoft 365 is a new meeting scheduling service launched with a $10/month price tag (per user). Scheduler and Cortana work together to find the most suitable meeting times for participants to get together. Scheduler works for any kind of attendees (as long as they can receive email) and the big pay-out is that you can ask Cortana to set things up and leave the meeting for artificial intelligence to sort out. Sometimes things don't work out and humans need to get involved, and that's when privacy concerns come into play. If you can cope with the issues and have a lot of meetings to organize, Scheduler for Microsoft 365 might do a job for you.

June 17, 2021