The Many Advantages of Using Microsoft SharePoint

source: news.microsoft.com

SharePoint is Microsoft’s document management and collaboration platform that’s used by everyone, from SMBs to Fortune 500 companies for intranet creations, collaboration within an organization, streamlining business processes, and much more. More than just a platform, you’ll gain SharePoint advantages from their many offerings, such as SharePoint Online, the SharePoint Server, OneDrive for Business, and more.

For example, with SharePoint in the cloud, users can upload and disseminate files that can be viewed by anyone in the organization. Sites can also be created for easier sharing of data within an organization or with customers, and because SharePoint in the cloud can be hybridly deployed, secure information remains on premise while low-security data move around the cloud. There’s also a lot of customization, as you can use the out-of-box offerings or opt for a more personal approach that incorporates your brand’s designs and logo into everything.

You also have the option of creating communication sites for the sole purpose of spreading information. They’re so easy to create than anyone within an organization can do it, and will look good everywhere — PCs, Macs, and mobile devices. And by connecting SharePoint with Microsoft Office 365, your organization can get Office 365 features like email, application and storage for any connected device, be it a desktop, laptop or phone. You also have many backup options like a ‘secondary’ backup that stores everything that’s deleted for up to 90 days.

The point is that there are a lot of SharePoint advantages with near limitless capabilities, and that is exactly what we’ll be covering today.

SharePoint Advantages

SharePoint is considered by many to be one of the most productive and collaborative platforms out there. Let’s see why.

Centralization

With SharePoint, nothing is fragmented because everything is stored in a single place. Whether it’s hard drives, mailboxes, or external storage devices, everything is in one place and can be accessed and shared by everyone within the organization. You can store documents securely, track information, and collaborate like never before, all from one central location.

Seamless Work Environment

SharePoint creates a seamless work environment whereby everything is tightly integrated for a consistent user experience. Manual workflow processes can be automated to increase productivity and so that employees can focus on tasks that require greater attention.

Collaboration

We’ve already touched on collaboration, but we’re going to delve deeper for a better understanding. For example, you have end to end document management, in which you and your team can stay connected and track a document throughout its lifecycle. Files can be easily shared with other users, and multiple people can simultaneously work on a document at once. You have access to anything at anytime, and can track business activities like document reviews and approvals.

Final Thoughts and TL;DR

SharePoint is for you if you’re part of a small business or an enterprise. In case you don’t have the time for the full read, here’s the tl;dr version:
● Microsoft SharePoint is a document management and collaboration platform used by many
● With SharePoint on the cloud, you can upload and share files across the organization
● SharePoint in the cloud can be deployed with a hybrid approach in which more important and sensitive data is stored on-premise while less secure information remains in the cloud
● You can either use the out-of-box option or customize as your brand sees fit
● Communication sites can be created for easier collaboration
● Microsoft Office 365 can be integrated with SharePoint, a process that gives you the benefits of Office 365 in the SharePoint environment
● You also have a variety of backup options that prevent the accidental deletion of important data
● Centralization of everything, from hard drives to mailboxes, creates a seamless work environment that promotes collaboration

One final comment, do yourself a favor and pair SharePoint with your business.

The Many Advantages of Using Microsoft SharePoint

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

source: news.microsoft.com

SharePoint is Microsoft’s document management and collaboration platform that’s used by everyone, from SMBs to Fortune 500 companies for intranet creations, collaboration within an organization, streamlining business processes, and much more. More than just a platform, you’ll gain SharePoint advantages from their many offerings, such as SharePoint Online, the SharePoint Server, OneDrive for Business, and more.

For example, with SharePoint in the cloud, users can upload and disseminate files that can be viewed by anyone in the organization. Sites can also be created for easier sharing of data within an organization or with customers, and because SharePoint in the cloud can be hybridly deployed, secure information remains on premise while low-security data move around the cloud. There’s also a lot of customization, as you can use the out-of-box offerings or opt for a more personal approach that incorporates your brand’s designs and logo into everything.

You also have the option of creating communication sites for the sole purpose of spreading information. They’re so easy to create than anyone within an organization can do it, and will look good everywhere — PCs, Macs, and mobile devices. And by connecting SharePoint with Microsoft Office 365, your organization can get Office 365 features like email, application and storage for any connected device, be it a desktop, laptop or phone. You also have many backup options like a ‘secondary’ backup that stores everything that’s deleted for up to 90 days.

The point is that there are a lot of SharePoint advantages with near limitless capabilities, and that is exactly what we’ll be covering today.

SharePoint Advantages

SharePoint is considered by many to be one of the most productive and collaborative platforms out there. Let’s see why.

Centralization

With SharePoint, nothing is fragmented because everything is stored in a single place. Whether it’s hard drives, mailboxes, or external storage devices, everything is in one place and can be accessed and shared by everyone within the organization. You can store documents securely, track information, and collaborate like never before, all from one central location.

Seamless Work Environment

SharePoint creates a seamless work environment whereby everything is tightly integrated for a consistent user experience. Manual workflow processes can be automated to increase productivity and so that employees can focus on tasks that require greater attention.

Collaboration

We’ve already touched on collaboration, but we’re going to delve deeper for a better understanding. For example, you have end to end document management, in which you and your team can stay connected and track a document throughout its lifecycle. Files can be easily shared with other users, and multiple people can simultaneously work on a document at once. You have access to anything at anytime, and can track business activities like document reviews and approvals.

Final Thoughts and TL;DR

SharePoint is for you if you’re part of a small business or an enterprise. In case you don’t have the time for the full read, here’s the tl;dr version:
● Microsoft SharePoint is a document management and collaboration platform used by many
● With SharePoint on the cloud, you can upload and share files across the organization
● SharePoint in the cloud can be deployed with a hybrid approach in which more important and sensitive data is stored on-premise while less secure information remains in the cloud
● You can either use the out-of-box option or customize as your brand sees fit
● Communication sites can be created for easier collaboration
● Microsoft Office 365 can be integrated with SharePoint, a process that gives you the benefits of Office 365 in the SharePoint environment
● You also have a variety of backup options that prevent the accidental deletion of important data
● Centralization of everything, from hard drives to mailboxes, creates a seamless work environment that promotes collaboration

One final comment, do yourself a favor and pair SharePoint with your business.

Let’s Talk About Your SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365 Backup Options

We can all agree that one of the most bothersome plagues of the modern workplace is the deletion — accidental or otherwise — of a file that was not supposed to be deleted in the first place. Sure, it can happen to anyone, but when it happens to you, it feels like end of the world. It feels like you wasted X amount of hours working on something, only to see it get flushed down the toilet. More specific, it makes you feel like a schmuck. And when someone else does it, may divine intervention swoop in and save them, because saying that you will be upset is putting it lightly.

The problem is that at the end of the day, there’s really nothing you can do about it… or is there? As we’ll see today, when you’re working with SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365 you have a couple of backup options that are there to save the day.

Your SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365 Backup Options

First and foremost, the Administrator’s Recycle Bin will be your best friend. As this post explains:

“Unlike PC’s Recycle Bin, SharePoint Recycle Bin can store not just files and folders. It is a catch-all place for any user-created content that was deleted. That includes documents, folders, whole document libraries, SharePoint lists and even complete sites! So in other words, whether you delete a document from a document library, an event from a calendar, task from a task list, contact from a contacts list or even the whole SharePoint Site – they will all end up in SharePoint Recycle Bin.”

source:  http://www.offthecusp.com

It’s a simple solution that’s available for 90 days — plenty of time for you to remember that the file shouldn’t have been deleted in the first place. In essence, anything you delete, anything at all, will be stored in the Recycle Bin. And if you do a secondary delete and empty the Bin without realizing that there was a precious file in it, rest assured knowing that there’s a ‘secondary’ backup to save the day (a quick note, only the SharePoint Administrator can access the secondary stage Recycle Bin).

Another backup option that’s not really a backup option per se, you should always manage your security and permissions. For example, if a user only needs to view a file, minimize their permissions and don’t give them contribute privileges; if they do need to make edits, don’t give them full control. A similar preemptive action you can take is to set up alerts that notify you when a file is deleted. And as you can see below, the process is pretty simple:

1. Name the alert
2. Choose who to send the alert to
3. Choose a delivery method — email or text
4. Choose the ‘change type’ — in this case, it’ll be when an item is deleted
5. Edit your change type further and specify whether to filter alerts based on specific criteria — when anything changes, when someone else changes a document, when someone else changes a document created by me, or when someone else changes a document last modified by me
6. Choose when to send alerts — immediately, as a daily summary, or as a weekly summary

source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Finally, if it’s the case there there are certain files that are especially important and you don’t want to even risk deleting, designate them as records, which essentially prevents their deletion. For some help with this, use this guide to set up retention and deletion policies.

Final Thoughts and TL;DR

Before we had the ubiquitous cloud — when things were physical and on-premise — an accidentally deleted file could be brought back to life with the help of the IT department and the regular backups they conducted. Many still do this, but many others bypass the pains that these backups entail.

Thankfully, with collaborative environments like SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365, where things are virtual and spread out everywhere, there are a couple of backup options you can make use of. We already covered these options, but if your schedule is packed and you don’t have the time for the full read, here’s the tl;dr version:

● The Recycle Bin and the secondary stage Recycle Bin will be your best friends
● Only the Administrator can access the secondary Bin
● Remember, you only have 90 days to recover files from the Bin
● Manage security and permissions and restrict what users can do
● Set up alerts to notify you when a file is deleted
● If the files are extremely important and you don’t want to take the risk, designate them as records to prevent their deletion

Best of luck!

Let’s Talk About Your SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365 Backup Options

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

We can all agree that one of the most bothersome plagues of the modern workplace is the deletion — accidental or otherwise — of a file that was not supposed to be deleted in the first place. Sure, it can happen to anyone, but when it happens to you, it feels like end of the world. It feels like you wasted X amount of hours working on something, only to see it get flushed down the toilet. More specific, it makes you feel like a schmuck. And when someone else does it, may divine intervention swoop in and save them, because saying that you will be upset is putting it lightly.

The problem is that at the end of the day, there’s really nothing you can do about it… or is there? As we’ll see today, when you’re working with SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365 you have a couple of backup options that are there to save the day.

Your SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365 Backup Options

First and foremost, the Administrator’s Recycle Bin will be your best friend. As this post explains:

“Unlike PC’s Recycle Bin, SharePoint Recycle Bin can store not just files and folders. It is a catch-all place for any user-created content that was deleted. That includes documents, folders, whole document libraries, SharePoint lists and even complete sites! So in other words, whether you delete a document from a document library, an event from a calendar, task from a task list, contact from a contacts list or even the whole SharePoint Site – they will all end up in SharePoint Recycle Bin.”

source:  http://www.offthecusp.com

It’s a simple solution that’s available for 90 days — plenty of time for you to remember that the file shouldn’t have been deleted in the first place. In essence, anything you delete, anything at all, will be stored in the Recycle Bin. And if you do a secondary delete and empty the Bin without realizing that there was a precious file in it, rest assured knowing that there’s a ‘secondary’ backup to save the day (a quick note, only the SharePoint Administrator can access the secondary stage Recycle Bin).

Another backup option that’s not really a backup option per se, you should always manage your security and permissions. For example, if a user only needs to view a file, minimize their permissions and don’t give them contribute privileges; if they do need to make edits, don’t give them full control. A similar preemptive action you can take is to set up alerts that notify you when a file is deleted. And as you can see below, the process is pretty simple:

1. Name the alert
2. Choose who to send the alert to
3. Choose a delivery method — email or text
4. Choose the ‘change type’ — in this case, it’ll be when an item is deleted
5. Edit your change type further and specify whether to filter alerts based on specific criteria — when anything changes, when someone else changes a document, when someone else changes a document created by me, or when someone else changes a document last modified by me
6. Choose when to send alerts — immediately, as a daily summary, or as a weekly summary

source: https://commons.wikimedia.org

Finally, if it’s the case there there are certain files that are especially important and you don’t want to even risk deleting, designate them as records, which essentially prevents their deletion. For some help with this, use this guide to set up retention and deletion policies.

Final Thoughts and TL;DR

Before we had the ubiquitous cloud — when things were physical and on-premise — an accidentally deleted file could be brought back to life with the help of the IT department and the regular backups they conducted. Many still do this, but many others bypass the pains that these backups entail.

Thankfully, with collaborative environments like SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365, where things are virtual and spread out everywhere, there are a couple of backup options you can make use of. We already covered these options, but if your schedule is packed and you don’t have the time for the full read, here’s the tl;dr version:

● The Recycle Bin and the secondary stage Recycle Bin will be your best friends
● Only the Administrator can access the secondary Bin
● Remember, you only have 90 days to recover files from the Bin
● Manage security and permissions and restrict what users can do
● Set up alerts to notify you when a file is deleted
● If the files are extremely important and you don’t want to take the risk, designate them as records to prevent their deletion

Best of luck!

Here’s What You Need to Know About SharePoint Communication

source: www.collaboris.com

Communication in our world is vital, especially if the world we’re talking about is preceded by the word ‘business’. Even more, it seems that our demand for instantaneous broadcasting increases as we stray farther and farther from the delays in communication that marked the 20th Century. With instant messages and mobile phones within arm's reach, we’ve come expect ‘real-time’ to mark everything we do.

Thankfully, SharePoint is here to help us out with their communication sites that make spreading information a breeze.

SharePoint Communication Sites

Create beautiful, dynamic communication sites

First off, don’t worry if you’re not a savvy SharePoint user — SharePoint communication sites are very easy to use. For example, new sites can be created and shared by anyone within an organization in seconds by clicking on ‘Create site’ on SharePoint home in Office 365. Once you do so, you’ll be presented with three configurable template options for the initial site design:

1. Topic: Select this template when you have a lot of content to share (e.g., news, events, press release, etc.)
2. Showcase: Select this template when you want to feature a product, event or team member with photos or images
3. Blank: Select this template when you want to start on a blank slate

source: blogs.office.com

After you create the initial site, it’s time to create the pages. As you’ll soon see, you can select from single to multi-column layouts (and adjust), use dynamic web parts from other Office 365 services, add content and pull data from other services, and all-around customize as you please. In terms of organizing content, just drag and drop — that simple.

Some of the Tools You’ll Love from SharePoint Communication Sites

Moving forward, the tools at your disposal are perfect for designing sites for campaigns, upcoming events, product launches, and other situations in which you want to transmit a message:

● Section Layouts: Use single or multi-column layouts to arrange information on your pages (e.g., one column, 2 columns, one third left column, one third right column, etc.)

● Web Parts: Use web parts to pull content from other Office 365 services to your pages. Four such web parts that are particularly useful for audience engagement are:

○ The Hero web part highlights important information

○ The People web part showcases notable team members

○ The Events web part calls out important upcoming events

○ The Stream web part presents a gallery of videos from a Stream channel

○ Others include Power BI, News list, Bing maps, Quick chart and more

● Theming: Use theming to preview and style your site

● Top Navigation: Use top navigation to facilitate your users’ time on your site and make it easier for them to arrive at important pages you want to showcase

● Site Usage: Use site usage to keep up to date with how your site is doing; you can review reports, catch trends, find active readers, etc.

Final Thoughts, Extra Information and TL;DR

Because SharePoint communication sites are excellent for disseminating information (hence the ‘communication’ in the name), you’ll get the most out of them for events, product launches, weekly or monthly reports, or the like. And because their emphasis is on ease and immediacy, you know for a fact that your information will reach its intended audience on time, every time.

As for the extra information and tl;dr:

● Creating sites is simple and anyone within an organization can do it
● SharePoint communication sites look good everywhere — PCs, Macs and mobile (full sites, pages, news, navigation, search and more are natively functionable and engaging on all devices)
● Collaboration is simplified when you connect with Office 365 groups
● You can embed documents and videos, and dynamically pull data in real-time across Office 365
● Organization is simplified with drag & drop functionality

Good luck creating sites!

Here’s What You Need to Know About SharePoint Communication

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

source: www.collaboris.com

Communication in our world is vital, especially if the world we’re talking about is preceded by the word ‘business’. Even more, it seems that our demand for instantaneous broadcasting increases as we stray farther and farther from the delays in communication that marked the 20th Century. With instant messages and mobile phones within arm's reach, we’ve come expect ‘real-time’ to mark everything we do.

Thankfully, SharePoint is here to help us out with their communication sites that make spreading information a breeze.

SharePoint Communication Sites

Create beautiful, dynamic communication sites

First off, don’t worry if you’re not a savvy SharePoint user — SharePoint communication sites are very easy to use. For example, new sites can be created and shared by anyone within an organization in seconds by clicking on ‘Create site’ on SharePoint home in Office 365. Once you do so, you’ll be presented with three configurable template options for the initial site design:

1. Topic: Select this template when you have a lot of content to share (e.g., news, events, press release, etc.)
2. Showcase: Select this template when you want to feature a product, event or team member with photos or images
3. Blank: Select this template when you want to start on a blank slate

source: blogs.office.com

After you create the initial site, it’s time to create the pages. As you’ll soon see, you can select from single to multi-column layouts (and adjust), use dynamic web parts from other Office 365 services, add content and pull data from other services, and all-around customize as you please. In terms of organizing content, just drag and drop — that simple.

Some of the Tools You’ll Love from SharePoint Communication Sites

Moving forward, the tools at your disposal are perfect for designing sites for campaigns, upcoming events, product launches, and other situations in which you want to transmit a message:

● Section Layouts: Use single or multi-column layouts to arrange information on your pages (e.g., one column, 2 columns, one third left column, one third right column, etc.)

● Web Parts: Use web parts to pull content from other Office 365 services to your pages. Four such web parts that are particularly useful for audience engagement are:

○ The Hero web part highlights important information

○ The People web part showcases notable team members

○ The Events web part calls out important upcoming events

○ The Stream web part presents a gallery of videos from a Stream channel

○ Others include Power BI, News list, Bing maps, Quick chart and more

● Theming: Use theming to preview and style your site

● Top Navigation: Use top navigation to facilitate your users’ time on your site and make it easier for them to arrive at important pages you want to showcase

● Site Usage: Use site usage to keep up to date with how your site is doing; you can review reports, catch trends, find active readers, etc.

Final Thoughts, Extra Information and TL;DR

Because SharePoint communication sites are excellent for disseminating information (hence the ‘communication’ in the name), you’ll get the most out of them for events, product launches, weekly or monthly reports, or the like. And because their emphasis is on ease and immediacy, you know for a fact that your information will reach its intended audience on time, every time.

As for the extra information and tl;dr:

● Creating sites is simple and anyone within an organization can do it
● SharePoint communication sites look good everywhere — PCs, Macs and mobile (full sites, pages, news, navigation, search and more are natively functionable and engaging on all devices)
● Collaboration is simplified when you connect with Office 365 groups
● You can embed documents and videos, and dynamically pull data in real-time across Office 365
● Organization is simplified with drag & drop functionality

Good luck creating sites!

Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft 365

As corporations spread and branch out across the globe, it’s clear that the modern workplace is transforming. Employers are looking to adapt with solutions that will empower their people with innovative technology to address the growing demands and challenges of the Digital Age.
Seeking to address the commercial needs of businesses of all sizes — from the largest enterprise to the smallest business — Microsoft recently announced Microsoft 365, a complete business solution bundled with Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security.

Microsoft 365

The business-only package (sorry consumers, this is not for you) comes in two versions — Enterprise and Business — for large organizations and small-to-medium size businesses (SMB) respectively.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise

The enterprise option comes in two versions as well (E3 & E5). Built on the foundation of the Secure Productive Enterprise, 365 Enterprise replaces it and empowers employees to work creatively, efficiently and securely.

Straight from Microsoft’s blog, Microsoft 365 Enterprise:

● Unlocks creativity by enabling people to work naturally with ink, voice and touch, all backed by tools that utilize AI and machine learning.

● Provides the broadest and deepest set of apps and services with a universal toolkit for teamwork, giving people flexibility and choice in how they connect, share and communicate.

● Simplifies IT by unifying management across users, devices, apps and services.

● Helps safeguard customer data, company data and intellectual property with built-in, intelligent security.

"We use Microsoft 365 Enterprise to foster a modern and highly secure workspace for employees empowered by teamwork and collaboration—everything we need to succeed in a global, digital market." - Bobby Berry, Senior VP, Business Solutions, Fruit of the Loom

Microsoft 365 Business

The SMB option, made for smaller organizations, supports up to 300 users, integrates Office 365 Business Premium, and includes three new applications that are part of the Business Premium pack. We’ll get into these shortly, but for informational purposes they are: Microsoft Listings, Microsoft Connections and Microsoft Invoicing (additionally, MileIQ, Microsoft’s mileage tracking app, will also be included). 

Also from Microsoft’s blog, Microsoft 365 Business:

● Helps companies achieve more together by better connecting employees, customers and suppliers.

● Empowers employees to get work done from anywhere, on any device.

● Protects company data across devices with always-on security.

● Simplifies the set-up and management of employee devices and services with a single IT console.

"We need creativity to push that next thing. We use Microsoft 365 Business, it’s all the things we need in one place." - Heyward Garner, Chief Operating Officer, Garner Food Company.

New Applications Coming to Office 365 Business Premium

Let’s get acquainted with the three new applications bundled with Office 365 Business Premium and, by extension, 365 Business.

Microsoft Listings

It’s a fact that a good way to get discovered is by listing your business online. Unfortunately, the listing process is time consuming. Here to help you out, Microsoft Listings lets you publish your business information on top sites like Facebook, Google, Bing and Yelp, and will help “get your business discovered online by new customers.” And when you update your information, the changes automatically occur across the different websites.

 

Microsoft Connections

Microsoft Connections is an easy-to-use marketing service that will help you “drive more sales with simple email marketing tools.” As we know — or should know — email marketing is of great use in lead generation and closing sales. Well, with Connections you’ll be able to create professional-looking email marketing campaigns, manage subscribers by segmenting them into different target groups, and track open rates, clicks, new sign-ups, new customers, and more.

Microsoft Invoicing

A very important part of running a business is time management. You have to get estimates and invoices out on time, and you also have to account for other things like pending payments and their processing. The problem comes when your information gets jumbled in all the different systems you have to use. With Microsoft Invoicing, you can create professional invoices and “get paid fast with hassle-free invoices and online payments.” It works with PayPal and, by using a connector to QuickBooks, can sync customer and catalogue data and even transfers invoicing information to your account.

Extra: MileIQ

MileIQ, Microsoft’s mileage tracking app (iOS and Android), will also be included with Office 365 Business Premium. This tool is especially useful for those whose occupation requires travel with their personal cars, such as those who make customer visits or attend partner meetings, as its automatic drive detection and mileage logging allows for a hassle-free experience.

Extra: Office 365 Business Center

Sort of an extra but not really, Office 365 Business Center offers a central location where you can manage your applications. It provides easy access to your business applications and data with a unified dashboard where you can view key metrics such as total outstanding invoices, number of appointments, invoices and payments being created or updated by employees, impressions and more. It also has an activity feed that lets you stay up-to-date with everything and, even better, once you connect an app and sync information, the same is automatically recognized in other apps.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking to grow your business, Microsoft 365 is there to help you out by simplifying your sales process and increasing your revenue. You’ll be able to virtualize your desktop with intelligent applications while safeguarding your corporate data on all devices. More than that, you and everyone you work with will be empowered to be creative and work together, securely. 

For additional benefits of adopting Microsoft 365, take a look at the Forrester Total Economic Impact Study (commissioned by Microsoft) for Business and Enterprise.

Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft 365

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

As corporations spread and branch out across the globe, it’s clear that the modern workplace is transforming. Employers are looking to adapt with solutions that will empower their people with innovative technology to address the growing demands and challenges of the Digital Age.
Seeking to address the commercial needs of businesses of all sizes — from the largest enterprise to the smallest business — Microsoft recently announced Microsoft 365, a complete business solution bundled with Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security.

Microsoft 365

The business-only package (sorry consumers, this is not for you) comes in two versions — Enterprise and Business — for large organizations and small-to-medium size businesses (SMB) respectively.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise

The enterprise option comes in two versions as well (E3 & E5). Built on the foundation of the Secure Productive Enterprise, 365 Enterprise replaces it and empowers employees to work creatively, efficiently and securely.

Straight from Microsoft’s blog, Microsoft 365 Enterprise:

● Unlocks creativity by enabling people to work naturally with ink, voice and touch, all backed by tools that utilize AI and machine learning.

● Provides the broadest and deepest set of apps and services with a universal toolkit for teamwork, giving people flexibility and choice in how they connect, share and communicate.

● Simplifies IT by unifying management across users, devices, apps and services.

● Helps safeguard customer data, company data and intellectual property with built-in, intelligent security.

"We use Microsoft 365 Enterprise to foster a modern and highly secure workspace for employees empowered by teamwork and collaboration—everything we need to succeed in a global, digital market." - Bobby Berry, Senior VP, Business Solutions, Fruit of the Loom

Microsoft 365 Business

The SMB option, made for smaller organizations, supports up to 300 users, integrates Office 365 Business Premium, and includes three new applications that are part of the Business Premium pack. We’ll get into these shortly, but for informational purposes they are: Microsoft Listings, Microsoft Connections and Microsoft Invoicing (additionally, MileIQ, Microsoft’s mileage tracking app, will also be included). 

Also from Microsoft’s blog, Microsoft 365 Business:

● Helps companies achieve more together by better connecting employees, customers and suppliers.

● Empowers employees to get work done from anywhere, on any device.

● Protects company data across devices with always-on security.

● Simplifies the set-up and management of employee devices and services with a single IT console.

"We need creativity to push that next thing. We use Microsoft 365 Business, it’s all the things we need in one place." - Heyward Garner, Chief Operating Officer, Garner Food Company.

New Applications Coming to Office 365 Business Premium

Let’s get acquainted with the three new applications bundled with Office 365 Business Premium and, by extension, 365 Business.

Microsoft Listings

It’s a fact that a good way to get discovered is by listing your business online. Unfortunately, the listing process is time consuming. Here to help you out, Microsoft Listings lets you publish your business information on top sites like Facebook, Google, Bing and Yelp, and will help “get your business discovered online by new customers.” And when you update your information, the changes automatically occur across the different websites.

 

Microsoft Connections

Microsoft Connections is an easy-to-use marketing service that will help you “drive more sales with simple email marketing tools.” As we know — or should know — email marketing is of great use in lead generation and closing sales. Well, with Connections you’ll be able to create professional-looking email marketing campaigns, manage subscribers by segmenting them into different target groups, and track open rates, clicks, new sign-ups, new customers, and more.

Microsoft Invoicing

A very important part of running a business is time management. You have to get estimates and invoices out on time, and you also have to account for other things like pending payments and their processing. The problem comes when your information gets jumbled in all the different systems you have to use. With Microsoft Invoicing, you can create professional invoices and “get paid fast with hassle-free invoices and online payments.” It works with PayPal and, by using a connector to QuickBooks, can sync customer and catalogue data and even transfers invoicing information to your account.

Extra: MileIQ

MileIQ, Microsoft’s mileage tracking app (iOS and Android), will also be included with Office 365 Business Premium. This tool is especially useful for those whose occupation requires travel with their personal cars, such as those who make customer visits or attend partner meetings, as its automatic drive detection and mileage logging allows for a hassle-free experience.

Extra: Office 365 Business Center

Sort of an extra but not really, Office 365 Business Center offers a central location where you can manage your applications. It provides easy access to your business applications and data with a unified dashboard where you can view key metrics such as total outstanding invoices, number of appointments, invoices and payments being created or updated by employees, impressions and more. It also has an activity feed that lets you stay up-to-date with everything and, even better, once you connect an app and sync information, the same is automatically recognized in other apps.

Final Thoughts

If you’re looking to grow your business, Microsoft 365 is there to help you out by simplifying your sales process and increasing your revenue. You’ll be able to virtualize your desktop with intelligent applications while safeguarding your corporate data on all devices. More than that, you and everyone you work with will be empowered to be creative and work together, securely. 

For additional benefits of adopting Microsoft 365, take a look at the Forrester Total Economic Impact Study (commissioned by Microsoft) for Business and Enterprise.

Here Are the Features You’ll Get When Upgrading to Microsoft SQL Server 2016

“Build intelligent, mission-critical applications using a scalable, hybrid database platform that has everything built in—from in-memory performance and advanced security to in-database analytics.” - Microsoft SQL Server 2016

The Latest Microsoft SQL Server Features

Have you made the upgrade yet? If not, upgrading to the latest Microsoft SQL server results in brand new features and enhancements to previously included features from past versions, so you might want to make the switch. For example, some enhancements include:

● In-Memory OLTP (In-Memory Optimization): Performance for transaction processing, data ingestion and data load, and transient data scenarios is improved.

● Always On Available Groups (SQL Server): A high-availability and disaster-recovery solution that provides an alternative to database mirroring (for the enterprise).
There are other enhancements, of course, but because our main focus today is on the completely new, here are some of the latest Microsoft SQL features.

Always Encrypted

Always encrypted protects your most sensitive information, such as your social security or credit card number, that’s stored in Azure SQL Database or SQL Server database. It’s also perfect for encrypting data inside client applications without actually divulging encryption keys to the Database Engine. In this way, there’s a much-needed separation between the people who own the data and those who manage it.

Row-Level Security (RLS)

With RLS, users can control access to rows in a database table. Because this simplifies the design and coding of security in your applications, you can implement restrictions on data row access. This means that if you have a customer that needs access to certain data, you can opt to control their access to relevant data.

Stretch Database

Stretch Database allows you to migrate cold data (rarely accessed data) transparently and securely to the Microsoft Azure Cloud. Some benefits are that it:

● Provides cost-effective availability for cold data: Stretch warm and cold transactional data dynamically from SQL Server to Microsoft Azure with SQL Server Stretch Database.

● Doesn’t require changes to queries or applications: Access your SQL Server data seamlessly regardless of whether it’s on-premises or stretched to the cloud. You set the policy that determines where data is stored, and SQL Server handles the data movement in the background.

● Streamlines on-premises data maintenance: Reduce on-premises maintenance and storage for your data. Backups for your on-premises data run faster and finish within the maintenance window.

● Keeps your data secure even during migration: Enjoy peace of mind as you stretch your most important applications securely to the cloud. SQL Server’s Always Encrypted provides encryption for your data in motion.

Dynamic Data Masking (DDM)

Because DDM limits data exposure by masking it to non-privileged users, users can designate how much of their (sensitive) data to reveal. For example, you can choose to ‘mask’ every digit except for the last four of a social security number. It can also be used with existing applications and is complementary to other SQL Server security features, like auditing, encryption, etc.

Final Thoughts

The latest Microsoft SQL Server features offer you a lot more scalability, advanced security, and is supported by SharePoint Online. With it, you can:

● Develop intelligent applications for online transaction processing (OLTP)

● Protect sensitive data such as credit card or social security information

● Mask data to non-privileged users

● Keep data secure during migrations

● A lot more

If you’re still unsure as to whether or not you should make the upgrade, consider what Rohan Kumar, Director of SQL Software Engineering, and Bob Dorr, Principal Engineer of SQL Server Support, have to say:

“With our focused investment in performance and scale, simply upgrading to SQL 2016 could bring 25% performance improvement. SQL 2016 supports 3X more physical memory than previous versions.” - Rohan Kumar

“SQL Server 2016 running on the same hardware as SQL Server 2014, 2012, 2008, 2008 R2 or 2005 uses fewer resources and executes a wide range of workloads faster.” - Bob Dorr

Feel free to download the official Microsoft SQL Server 2016 eBook to learn more about what you can gain from it. Best of luck!

Here Are the Features You’ll Get When Upgrading to Microsoft SQL Server 2016

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

“Build intelligent, mission-critical applications using a scalable, hybrid database platform that has everything built in—from in-memory performance and advanced security to in-database analytics.” - Microsoft SQL Server 2016

The Latest Microsoft SQL Server Features

Have you made the upgrade yet? If not, upgrading to the latest Microsoft SQL server results in brand new features and enhancements to previously included features from past versions, so you might want to make the switch. For example, some enhancements include:

● In-Memory OLTP (In-Memory Optimization): Performance for transaction processing, data ingestion and data load, and transient data scenarios is improved.

● Always On Available Groups (SQL Server): A high-availability and disaster-recovery solution that provides an alternative to database mirroring (for the enterprise).
There are other enhancements, of course, but because our main focus today is on the completely new, here are some of the latest Microsoft SQL features.

Always Encrypted

Always encrypted protects your most sensitive information, such as your social security or credit card number, that’s stored in Azure SQL Database or SQL Server database. It’s also perfect for encrypting data inside client applications without actually divulging encryption keys to the Database Engine. In this way, there’s a much-needed separation between the people who own the data and those who manage it.

Row-Level Security (RLS)

With RLS, users can control access to rows in a database table. Because this simplifies the design and coding of security in your applications, you can implement restrictions on data row access. This means that if you have a customer that needs access to certain data, you can opt to control their access to relevant data.

Stretch Database

Stretch Database allows you to migrate cold data (rarely accessed data) transparently and securely to the Microsoft Azure Cloud. Some benefits are that it:

● Provides cost-effective availability for cold data: Stretch warm and cold transactional data dynamically from SQL Server to Microsoft Azure with SQL Server Stretch Database.

● Doesn’t require changes to queries or applications: Access your SQL Server data seamlessly regardless of whether it’s on-premises or stretched to the cloud. You set the policy that determines where data is stored, and SQL Server handles the data movement in the background.

● Streamlines on-premises data maintenance: Reduce on-premises maintenance and storage for your data. Backups for your on-premises data run faster and finish within the maintenance window.

● Keeps your data secure even during migration: Enjoy peace of mind as you stretch your most important applications securely to the cloud. SQL Server’s Always Encrypted provides encryption for your data in motion.

Dynamic Data Masking (DDM)

Because DDM limits data exposure by masking it to non-privileged users, users can designate how much of their (sensitive) data to reveal. For example, you can choose to ‘mask’ every digit except for the last four of a social security number. It can also be used with existing applications and is complementary to other SQL Server security features, like auditing, encryption, etc.

Final Thoughts

The latest Microsoft SQL Server features offer you a lot more scalability, advanced security, and is supported by SharePoint Online. With it, you can:

● Develop intelligent applications for online transaction processing (OLTP)

● Protect sensitive data such as credit card or social security information

● Mask data to non-privileged users

● Keep data secure during migrations

● A lot more

If you’re still unsure as to whether or not you should make the upgrade, consider what Rohan Kumar, Director of SQL Software Engineering, and Bob Dorr, Principal Engineer of SQL Server Support, have to say:

“With our focused investment in performance and scale, simply upgrading to SQL 2016 could bring 25% performance improvement. SQL 2016 supports 3X more physical memory than previous versions.” - Rohan Kumar

“SQL Server 2016 running on the same hardware as SQL Server 2014, 2012, 2008, 2008 R2 or 2005 uses fewer resources and executes a wide range of workloads faster.” - Bob Dorr

Feel free to download the official Microsoft SQL Server 2016 eBook to learn more about what you can gain from it. Best of luck!

All About Microsoft's New Tools and Services for Developers

                                             
It’s time to talk about Build 2017. For those who don’t know, it’s Microsoft’s annual developer conference, and this year did not disappoint. In fact, Microsoft announced new tools and services they hope will help developers modernize existing apps and build more intelligent ones.

As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said, “In a world of near infinite compute power and an exponential growth in data, we are focused on empowering every developer to build applications for this new era of intelligent cloud and intelligent edge.”Without further ado, let’s get to it.

The Latest Microsoft Services and How They’ll Help Your Business

One of Microsoft’s key discussion points was the abundance of information in our world and the opportunities to achieve it entails. To account for this, some of the latest Microsoft services are new Azure and AI services that allow developers to build intelligent apps with ease. More specifically, Microsoft announced:

● A preview of Azure IoT Edge, technology that extends the intelligence — and other benefits — of cloud computing to edge devices.
● Extensions to the Microsoft Graph to combine insights from the world of work with device insights and contextual awareness of the physical world.
● Technology that will allow you to search the real world in the same way you search the digital world, helping to keep your data safe and secure while making you more productive.

Improvements to Azure

To show how they’re helping developers be more successful modernizing and building new apps, a Microsoft service they announced was Azure Cosmos DB, “the industry’s first globally distributed, multimodel database service to deliver horizontal scale with guaranteed uptime, throughput, consistency and single-digit millisecond latency at the 99th percentile.” Built from the ground up, this Microsoft service offer developers the needed flexibility to develop apps for everything from AI to mobile.

Also announced are new MySQL- and PostgreSQL-managed services for the Azure SQL Database (promotes high availability and scalability to developers), a new Managed Instance private preview that offers customers SQL Server instance-level compatibility, general availability of Threat Detection and Visual Studio 2017 for Mac (allows developers to work across Windows and Mac environments with full support for mobile, web and cloud), and preview of Graph support. To help developers move their data, Microsoft also showed an early preview of their new database migration services that they hope will encourage developers to modernize their apps.

Office 365: Another Improved Microsoft Service

                                                             Image Source: citecomputers.com

With over 100 million active users, it makes sense that Microsoft is improving Office 365 to better connect developers to customers. Exemplifying this, developers can now publish for Microsoft Teams, Office 365’s chat-based workspace, add new capabilities to Team apps (third-party notifications in the activity feed, Compose Extensions and Actionable Messages), and soon, apps in Teams will be more discoverable for end users.

They’re also making new Microsoft Graph APIs from Sharepoint Online and Planner available to developers, which give them access to Office 365 data and intelligence to help them build smarter apps. Developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) who host their production SaaS apps on Azure can now also have their apps’ data and workflow automatically extend to authorized Office 365 customers.

AI to Augment a Developer’s Capabilities

Our last subject today will be Microsoft’s aim to bring AI to every developer, thereby amplifying ‘human ingenuity with intelligent technology.’ In this vein, the tech giant added new cognitive services and custom intelligence capabilities such as vision, speech, language, knowledge and search into their app and bot experiences. Similarly, Microsoft launched the new Cognitive Services Labs that enable developers to experiment with new services.

Conclusion

In conclusion, whether you’re part of a startup or a large enterprise, the latest Microsoft services and tools will help any developer build smarter apps fit for the tech world we live in.

All About Microsoft's New Tools and Services for Developers

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

                                             
It’s time to talk about Build 2017. For those who don’t know, it’s Microsoft’s annual developer conference, and this year did not disappoint. In fact, Microsoft announced new tools and services they hope will help developers modernize existing apps and build more intelligent ones.

As Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, said, “In a world of near infinite compute power and an exponential growth in data, we are focused on empowering every developer to build applications for this new era of intelligent cloud and intelligent edge.”Without further ado, let’s get to it.

The Latest Microsoft Services and How They’ll Help Your Business

One of Microsoft’s key discussion points was the abundance of information in our world and the opportunities to achieve it entails. To account for this, some of the latest Microsoft services are new Azure and AI services that allow developers to build intelligent apps with ease. More specifically, Microsoft announced:

● A preview of Azure IoT Edge, technology that extends the intelligence — and other benefits — of cloud computing to edge devices.
● Extensions to the Microsoft Graph to combine insights from the world of work with device insights and contextual awareness of the physical world.
● Technology that will allow you to search the real world in the same way you search the digital world, helping to keep your data safe and secure while making you more productive.

Improvements to Azure

To show how they’re helping developers be more successful modernizing and building new apps, a Microsoft service they announced was Azure Cosmos DB, “the industry’s first globally distributed, multimodel database service to deliver horizontal scale with guaranteed uptime, throughput, consistency and single-digit millisecond latency at the 99th percentile.” Built from the ground up, this Microsoft service offer developers the needed flexibility to develop apps for everything from AI to mobile.

Also announced are new MySQL- and PostgreSQL-managed services for the Azure SQL Database (promotes high availability and scalability to developers), a new Managed Instance private preview that offers customers SQL Server instance-level compatibility, general availability of Threat Detection and Visual Studio 2017 for Mac (allows developers to work across Windows and Mac environments with full support for mobile, web and cloud), and preview of Graph support. To help developers move their data, Microsoft also showed an early preview of their new database migration services that they hope will encourage developers to modernize their apps.

Office 365: Another Improved Microsoft Service

                                                             Image Source: citecomputers.com

With over 100 million active users, it makes sense that Microsoft is improving Office 365 to better connect developers to customers. Exemplifying this, developers can now publish for Microsoft Teams, Office 365’s chat-based workspace, add new capabilities to Team apps (third-party notifications in the activity feed, Compose Extensions and Actionable Messages), and soon, apps in Teams will be more discoverable for end users.

They’re also making new Microsoft Graph APIs from Sharepoint Online and Planner available to developers, which give them access to Office 365 data and intelligence to help them build smarter apps. Developers and independent software vendors (ISVs) who host their production SaaS apps on Azure can now also have their apps’ data and workflow automatically extend to authorized Office 365 customers.

AI to Augment a Developer’s Capabilities

Our last subject today will be Microsoft’s aim to bring AI to every developer, thereby amplifying ‘human ingenuity with intelligent technology.’ In this vein, the tech giant added new cognitive services and custom intelligence capabilities such as vision, speech, language, knowledge and search into their app and bot experiences. Similarly, Microsoft launched the new Cognitive Services Labs that enable developers to experiment with new services.

Conclusion

In conclusion, whether you’re part of a startup or a large enterprise, the latest Microsoft services and tools will help any developer build smarter apps fit for the tech world we live in.

All You Need to Know About the Latest SharePoint Online Character Support Update

A relatively trivial update for some, yet a critically important change for others. Last month, Microsoft announced that the characters “#” and “%” will be now supported in file and folder names within document libraries for SharePoint Online and Microsoft SharePoint One Drive users.

What’s the Update All About?

Have you heard about the latest update to Microsoft SharePoint OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online? Specifically, the one including support for # and %?

Well, according to Microsoft’s blog post:

“This will allow people to create, store, and sync files containing # and % characters whether those characters are used as a prefix or suffix to the file or folder name. # and % will be limited to use in file names in addition to SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business document libraries and related folders. The use of # and % outside of document libraries is not supported at this time.”

You may be thinking, okay, so what exactly is the big deal?

The problem with using these particular characters is that for web developers and code editors alike, they represent more than just labeling.  The # symbol can sometimes represent the end of a string in C, and the % symbol can represent a space between text within a page URL.
Don’t worry though, all of these dilemmas are apparently none to worry about. As explained by

Microsoft’s SharePoint development team:

“To remove the ambiguity around intention, and to avoid breaking backwards compatibility with existing APIs, we are introducing a strongly typed, rich-featured representation of URLs to better represent the true developer intention of a URL… Specifically, we’ve introduced a new class (Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ResourcePath)… This class will be used to represent URLs across our APIs instead of string.”

                                                                           Image Source: static.pexels.com

Long story short, in an effort to streamline this new direction of SharePoint Online character support, Microsoft is urging developers to evaluate their scenarios and the lineage of URL paths they have placed for existing solutions. In other words, developers will eventually have to switch to the new API (Application Program Interface) or suffer a multitude of consequences.

How is this Beneficial for Users?

People like having the freedom and functionality to be able to name files and folders as they please. The ability to use a # for numbers and relative hashtags within a document title, or the chance to use a % for percentages of work completion for a folder heading presents a tremendous opportunity.

According to Microsoft;

“Files are as unique as the people who create them and we’re constantly working in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business to support a broad array of types of naming conventions.”
The tech giant wants to give developers freedom to better express their intent in URL creation for these file destinations. Providing them with less regulations or principles to follow, can allow for better labelling and increased work functions.

One thing to note from Microsoft’s blog post, “While SharePoint lists and libraries can have # and % in their URLs, there are no plans to enable their use through the SharePoint user interface at this time.” This just plays more into the fact that the logic behind this change isn’t for end users, but for developers and their style accordingly.

The Wrap Up

Taking what we learned from some of the other latest SharePoint updates, one question comes to mind:

Is the addition of these characters worth the headache of having to implement a new API?
The answer? It’s entirely subjective.

                                                                        Image Source: static.pexels.com

Some developers will appreciate the added functionality of naming and labelling for files and folders, while others will see it as an extra complicating factor making matters more difficult while throwing an extra hurdle in the process of coding.

We will definitely make sure to keep an eye on this and see how this update dictates the future of SharePoint library creations.

All You Need to Know About the Latest SharePoint Online Character Support Update

Posted by Sophina Dillard No comments

A relatively trivial update for some, yet a critically important change for others. Last month, Microsoft announced that the characters “#” and “%” will be now supported in file and folder names within document libraries for SharePoint Online and Microsoft SharePoint One Drive users.

What’s the Update All About?

Have you heard about the latest update to Microsoft SharePoint OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online? Specifically, the one including support for # and %?

Well, according to Microsoft’s blog post:

“This will allow people to create, store, and sync files containing # and % characters whether those characters are used as a prefix or suffix to the file or folder name. # and % will be limited to use in file names in addition to SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business document libraries and related folders. The use of # and % outside of document libraries is not supported at this time.”

You may be thinking, okay, so what exactly is the big deal?

The problem with using these particular characters is that for web developers and code editors alike, they represent more than just labeling.  The # symbol can sometimes represent the end of a string in C, and the % symbol can represent a space between text within a page URL.
Don’t worry though, all of these dilemmas are apparently none to worry about. As explained by

Microsoft’s SharePoint development team:

“To remove the ambiguity around intention, and to avoid breaking backwards compatibility with existing APIs, we are introducing a strongly typed, rich-featured representation of URLs to better represent the true developer intention of a URL… Specifically, we’ve introduced a new class (Microsoft.SharePoint.Client.ResourcePath)… This class will be used to represent URLs across our APIs instead of string.”

                                                                           Image Source: static.pexels.com

Long story short, in an effort to streamline this new direction of SharePoint Online character support, Microsoft is urging developers to evaluate their scenarios and the lineage of URL paths they have placed for existing solutions. In other words, developers will eventually have to switch to the new API (Application Program Interface) or suffer a multitude of consequences.

How is this Beneficial for Users?

People like having the freedom and functionality to be able to name files and folders as they please. The ability to use a # for numbers and relative hashtags within a document title, or the chance to use a % for percentages of work completion for a folder heading presents a tremendous opportunity.

According to Microsoft;

“Files are as unique as the people who create them and we’re constantly working in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business to support a broad array of types of naming conventions.”
The tech giant wants to give developers freedom to better express their intent in URL creation for these file destinations. Providing them with less regulations or principles to follow, can allow for better labelling and increased work functions.

One thing to note from Microsoft’s blog post, “While SharePoint lists and libraries can have # and % in their URLs, there are no plans to enable their use through the SharePoint user interface at this time.” This just plays more into the fact that the logic behind this change isn’t for end users, but for developers and their style accordingly.

The Wrap Up

Taking what we learned from some of the other latest SharePoint updates, one question comes to mind:

Is the addition of these characters worth the headache of having to implement a new API?
The answer? It’s entirely subjective.

                                                                        Image Source: static.pexels.com

Some developers will appreciate the added functionality of naming and labelling for files and folders, while others will see it as an extra complicating factor making matters more difficult while throwing an extra hurdle in the process of coding.

We will definitely make sure to keep an eye on this and see how this update dictates the future of SharePoint library creations.