The July 2023 announcement around the coming Azure AD Multi-factor Authentication “registration campaign” that will be pushed to end users on Sept 25th, 2023 to have them register for Microsoft Authenticator app-based MFA… caught several Microsoft 365 Admins I’ve talked to by surprise. The only reason they were alerted to the campaign was because there was a last minute email that was sent directly to M365 Admins.
WAYS TO STAY UP TO DATE WITH MESSAGE CENTER
The announcement was made in the Microsoft 365 Message Center and underlines the importance of reviewing alerts posted there. The following are best practices, as a Microsoft 365 Admin, for staying up to date with Message Center notices.
- Get Message Center posts emailed to you
- “You can select to have a weekly digest emailed to you and up to two other email addresses. The emailed weekly digest is turned on by default. If you aren’t getting your weekly digests, check your spam folder. See the Preferences section of this article for more information on how to set up the weekly digest.”
- Track new and changed features in the Microsoft 365 Message center
- See snapshot above for where to configure email notifications.
- Sync Message Center messages to Microsoft Planner
- “Keep track of which Message Center changes require tasks to be done, when, and by whom, and to track each task to completion… Make a note of something and tag it to check on later. Sync your messages from the Microsoft 365 admin center to Microsoft Planner.”
- Track message center tasks in Microsoft Planner
- Automate alerts of key notices from Message Center using Microsoft Power Automate
- Use Microsoft Power Automate to send an alert with key notices from the Office 365 Message Center
- Microsoft 365 message center – Connectors
- Review Message Center posts from the mobile Microsoft 365 Admin App
THE “OFFICE 365 UPDATE SCOUT” POST
A very good summary of these techniques and more are available at:
- Staying on top of Microsoft 365 / Office 365 Updates
https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/core-infrastructure-and-security/staying-on-top-of-microsoft-365-office-365-updates/ba-p/1201118
