On the show this week, Microsoft has just finished their big Microsoft Partner and MVP airlift for Microsoft 365 technologies, so as the year ends, there are fewer announcements. So it’s a shorter episode this week for news – which means we have time to ask the big questions and go into a deep dive on the podcast.

Will 2023 be the Year of Yammer?

As Yammer becomes Viva Engage, we ask: Should rolling out Viva Engage be your New Year’s resolution? And – if it is – what are the pitfalls to avoid?

With all the new Yammer features, its metamorphosis into Viva Engage, and deep integration into Teams – Is it the year of Yammer? Or, practically speaking, if your comms team says they want to use it – should you?

Paul and I discuss all the above and have a fairly open discussion – so cynical views and prior experiences aside, we consider the scenario where someone has seen Yammer work well at a previous employer and hopes to replicate the success. Making the magic happen twice can be quite difficult though – and we explore why that is.

Fewer announcements than usual: We explain why

Microsoft has a big event this week, but you haven’t heard of it, and you’re probably not invited. Microsoft’s Airlift! This event is all under NDA, mostly for internal audiences but including MVPs, and is cross-product, engineering-focused. It’ll be interesting to see what, if anything, is announced at this event.

There are a few select noteworthy new features and changes coming to Azure AD

Number matching is being rolled out to us all in Microsoft Authenticator, which means the death of the Apple Watch app. A real shame, as wrist-approving MFA requests were simple, easy, and quick. Paul explores this on the podcast.

And in the roadmap and message center (MC466201, MC466202), Azure Active Directory (AAD) and Microsoft (MSA) accounts can be linked to earning Microsoft Rewards points (MC466201). We ask: Did anyone ask for this?

We’ll be back next week for our pre-Christmas episode – so get your Santa hats and elf ears ready!

About the Author

Steve Goodman

Technology Writer and Chief Editor for AV Content at Practical 365, focused on Microsoft 365. A 12-time Microsoft MVP, author of several technology books and regular Microsoft conference speaker. Steve works at Advania in the UK as Field Chief Technology Officer, advising business and IT on the best way to get the most from Microsoft Cloud technology.

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