Kurt Shintaku's Blog

With the recent announcement of Intune Remote Help’s coming inclusion with Microsoft 365 E3/G3, (and other SKUs) many customers are just discovering the capabilities of Intune Remote Help.

Remote Help is a cloud-based solution that securely connects help desk teams to users. It features permission-based access controls, device compliance checks, organizational login requirements, and incident management ticket tracking. IT administrators can use session reporting to identify support trends and recurring issues.

The three main benefits of using Remote Help are:

• Reduce security risks: Remote Help enables secure IT and worker connections, strengthening your Zero Trust architecture.
• Boost efficiency: IT and help desk teams can quickly and effectively address service issues.
• Support employees anywhere: Remote Help provides a simple and reliable way to connect workers with the technical assistance they need.

The Intune Remote Help interactive demo walks you through scenarios step-by-step with interactive annotations and navigation controls. The demo reviews:

• Setting up Remote Help
• Configure the Remote Help app
• Deploy the Remote Help app
• Integrate with ServiceNow
• End user: Remote Help experience for Windows
• End user: Streamlined web app experience for macOS
• End user: A native app experience on macOS

To start the Intune Remote Help interactive demo, visit:

• https://regale.cloud/Microsoft/viewer/1746/remote-help/index.html#/0/0

For more information about the recent announcement of Intune’s new capabilities included in Microsoft 365 E3/G3 & other SKUs, visit:

• https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoftintuneblog/microsoft-365-adds-advanced-microsoft-intune-solutions-at-scale/4474272

Do you schedule meetings for your team within Outlook?
How about this Copilot prompt:

“Find a time next week to schedule a meeting called “Discuss City of Los Angeles’ Automation Requirements” between myself, Anya Merkle & Zach Gretch for 1 hour before 5PM. Make this a Microsoft Teams meeting but also book a room in the Orange County office. Put the following agenda in the body: Review customer requirements, Outline upcoming meeting, Assign responsibilities to team members, Document next steps.”

Microsoft 365 Copilot can find available times across all of your attendee’s schedules and present them for you to select, the schedule the meeting on people’s calendars and include:

• Sending out the invite with a specific subject & body
• Microsoft Teams meeting
• Booking a room via Microsoft Places

Here’s the output of the above Copilot prompt:

For more information:

• Schedule a meeting using Copilot
  https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/schedule-a-meeting-using-copilot-72712d86-ae55-4f2a-95de-19bce2e1ec5b

“Getting Started with Copilot Control System” is for IT and Security leaders and practitioners to prepare, deploy, manage & measure Microsoft 365 Copilot and agents at Enterprise scale.

This playbook is intended to be a practical, actionable guide for IT and security professionals, to confidently adopt and deploy Copilot and agents. In it, we’ll show you how to leverage familiar Microsoft technologies to exercise control without inhibiting innovation. The guidance, real‑world best practices, and built‑in capabilities explored in this playbook are intended to help organizations:

• Prepare your tenant for Copilot and agents with the right security, compliance, and readiness baselines to speed adoption and address oversharing.
• Deploy Copilot and agents with centralized controls, guardrails, and governance for optimal license
  allocation, cost control, and lifecycle management.
• Manage adoption to optimize performance and prove value to stakeholders through policy enforcement, audit readiness, and measurable ROI.

This playbook serves as a reference guide for each phase of the process for preparing, deploying, and managing Copilot and agents throughout your organization.

• DOWNLOAD: eBook, “Getting Started with Copilot Control System” – Secure, govern, manage, and measure AI at enterprise scale​
  https://adoption.microsoft.com/files/copilot/control-system/CCS-Getting-Started-Playbook.pdf

The Microsoft Fabric Chargeback app helps you understand which teams, users, and workloads are driving capacity usage, enabling you to build chargeback processes that fairly allocate costs based on actual consumption.

As a capacity admin, you can view key parameters such as metric types, dates, and operation names, and share the report with others in your organization to support transparent and informed cost management.

For more information:

• What is Microsoft Fabric Chargeback app (preview)? – Microsoft Fabric

View the following video to get a “first look” around the use of the Fabric Chargeback Reporting app.

First Look at Microsoft Fabric Chargeback Reporting | Install, Refresh & Report Tour

Announcing the 2026 Microsoft Government BizApps + Copilot Summit returning to Reston, VA on March 10–11, 2026

There is no cost to register for Government employees. Join us for a two-day experience bringing together government and industry leaders to explore how AI and Business Applications are transforming the U.S. Public Sector.

• Day 1: Hands-on Build-A-Thon, Hack-A-Thon, and Prompt-A-Thon so bring your device and your ideas.
• Day 2: Keynotes and deep-dive sessions on AI-powered processes, automation, and the future of the AI workforce across 4 different tracks.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn, build, and lead with AI.
Save your seat today!

• Dates:
  March 10–11, 2026
  8:00am – 5:30pm ET
• Location:
  Reston, VA (Details available upon registration)
• Registration:
  https://carahevents.carahsoft.com/Event/Details/682872-microsoft

Microsoft announced the end of support for Project Online and PWA in Office 365 by September 30, 2026. The following is a very thorough webinar from our partner, Projility, that breaks down what this announcement means for your organization and how to plan your next move with confidence.

This webinar specifically covers the following:

• Overview of the retirement timeline
• Licensing, planning, change management, and governance considerations
• Migration paths to Project Server SE or Planner Premium & best practices

ABOUT PROJILITY
Projility is a Microsoft Partner that provides Enterprise Project Management professional services to organizations looking for assistance with their Project Online migration, or overall EPM guidance. They also have a YouTube channel in which they provide Project expertise at no cost to subscribers & they are very experienced with State & Local Government customers:

• Tucson Airport Authority
• Santa Clara County, CA
• VIA Metropolitan Transit Authority, San Antonio, TX
• State of Michigan’s Center for Educational Performance and Information
• North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services
• City of Auburn, Alabama
• State of North Dakota
• State of Indiana Office of Technology

You can contact them at info@projility.com or if you’re a customer of mine, contact me & I’ll make a formal introduction.

Microsoft-in-a-Day series of workshops are all-day, “no cost”, virtual learning events, designed to teach users – in online, one-day trainings led by an instructor – how they can quickly & effectively address business challenges.  Workshops include:

• App in a Day
• Dashboard in a Day
• Agent in a Day
• Fabric Analyst in a Day
• Real-Time Intelligence in a Day

Take advantage of these online workshops to get a jumpstart on any of these technologies. For more information on Microsoft-in-a-Day workshops & available registration dates, visit: 

• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/power-platform/training-workshops

The following Microsoft-sponsored conferences are coming in 2026 so budget, register & block the times on your calendars now for these events.

Keep in mind that it’s not just about getting a registration, it’s about getting a HOTEL ROOM. Lodging is often the most difficult thing to secure so remember that – especially for the coveted “conference block” of discounted rooms – hotel reservations are “first come, first served”.

• Fabric Community Conference 2026
  • Fabric conference – https://fabriccon.com/
  • March 16-20, 2026 – Georgia World Congress Center – Atlanta, GA
  • Discount code: MSCUST ($150 off)

• SQLCon 2026
  • SQL Server conference – https://sqlcon.us/
  • March 16-20, 2026 – Georgia World Congress Center – Atlanta, GA
  • Discount code: MSCUST ($150 off)

• Visual Studio Live!
  • VSLive! Las Vegas 2026
    Developer Training conference – https://vslive.com/events/las-vegas-2026/home.aspx
    March 16-20, 2026 – Planet Hollywood – Las Vegas, NV
    Discount code: VSSOFFER ($900 off for Visual Studio subscribers)
  • VSLive! Microsoft HQ 2026
    Developer Training conference – https://vslive.com/events/microsofthq-2026/home.aspx
    July 27-31,2026 – Microsoft Conference Center – Redmond, WA
    Discount code: VSSOFFER ($900 off for Visual Studio subscribers)
  • VSLive!/Live!360 TechCon 2026
    IT pros, dev, data & security – https://live360events.com/events/orlando-2026/home.aspx
    Royal Pacific Resort, Universal – Orlando, FL – Nov 15-20, 2026
    Discount code: VSSOFFER ($900 off for Visual Studio subscribers)

• Agent & Copilot Summit North America
  • AI Business Solutions conference – https://copilot.summitna.com/
  • March 17-19, 2026
  • Hilton La Jolla – Torrey Pines, CA
  • Discount codes:
    • Local residents: Local599 ($600 off All Access), Tuesday299 ($500 off Tues-Wed Pass), Wednesday99 ($300 off Wednesday Pass)
    • Group, military, students: Contact joann@dynamiccommunities.com 

• Microsoft 365 Community Conference 2026
  • Microsoft 365 conference – https://m365conf.com/
  • April 21 – 23, 2026
  • Loews Sapphire Falls Resort/Royal Pacific Resort -Orlando, FL
  • Discount code: MSCUST ($150 off)

• NerdioCon 2026
  • Conference for Azure Virtual Desktop, Windows 365, Intune, Microsoft 365 – https://nerdiocon.com
  • May 4–6, 2026
  • La Quinta Resort & Spa – Palm Springs, CA
  • Discount code: $200 early bird discount until December 31st, 2025

• Microsoft Build 2026
  • Developer’s conference – https://build.microsoft.com/
  • Next: TBD
    (see “Microsoft is moving its Build conference out of Seattle for 2026” – The Verge)
  • Discount code: TBD

• TechMentor & Cybersecurity Live! 2026
  • Cybersecurity conference – https://techmentorevents.com/events/
    microsofthq-2026/
  • August 3-7, 2026
  • Microsoft HQ Conference Center (B33) – Redmond, WA
  • Discount code: NIT ($600 off full price registration, 4 day min)
    (Additionally, employees of a national, federal, state, or local government entity as well as full-time students & faculty of accreditied universities are eligible for special discounts by verifying government employment at sross@converge360.com or 949-296-9840. I believe this requires a .EDU or .GOV email address.)

• TechCon365/DataCon/PWRCon
  • IT Professional’s conference – https://techcon365.com/Seattle
  • August 24-28, 2026
  • Seattle Convention Center – Seattle, WA
  • Discount code: LOCALGOV (18% discount for employees of city, county or regional agencies including public educational institutions. I believe this requires a .EDU or .GOV email address.)

• Power Platform Community Conference 2026
  • Power Platform & Copilot Studio conference – https://powerplatformconf.com/
  • October 27-29, 2026
  • MGM Grand – Las Vegas, NV
  • Discount code: MSCUST ($100 off)
    (Also 50OFF provides a 50% discount for 2025 conference attendees)

• Microsoft Ignite 2026
  • IT Professional’s conference – https://ignite.microsoft.com
  • November 17–20, 2026
  • Moscone Center – San Francisco, CA
  • Discount code: TBD