Kurt Shintaku's Blog

I’ve posted the following .PDF files because I can’t find them anywhere and they’re super-useful to folks trying to make heads or tails of what’s in the different suites that Microsoft customers can purchase:

• Enterprise
  • • Microsoft 365 E3, E5, E5 Security & E5 Compliance
    • Office 365 E1, E3, E5
    • EMS E3, E5
    • Windows 11 Pro, E3, E5
    • Microsoft 365 F1, F3, F5 Security, F5 Compliance, F5 Sec+Comp
• Government
  • • Microsoft 365 G3, G5, G5 Security, G5 Compliance
    • Office 365 G1, G3, G5 suites & F3
    • EMS G3, G5
    • Windows 11 G5
    • Microsoft 365 F1, F3, F5 Security, F5 Compliance, F5 Sec+Comp

You can download the documents below:

• “Transform your Enterprise with Microsoft subscriptions”
  Modern Work Plan Comparison – Enterprise
  https://aka.ms/M365EnterprisePlans 
• “Transform your organization with Microsoft subscriptions for GCC”
  Modern Work Plan Comparison – GCC
  https://1drv.ms/b/s!Ao0Dfn8MQdoAs9gfGeYZfYHb15TkGA?e=4VMM78

There is also a documented called “Licensing Guide Microsoft 365 Enterprise” that is available directly off Microsoft.com that may be useful for folks trying to understand what contracting vehicles are necessary to get this licensed:

• Licensing Guide for Microsoft 365 Enterprise (.PDF)
  https://download.microsoft.com/download/3/D/4/3D42BDC2-6725-4B29-B75A-A5B04179958B/Licensing_guide_Microsoft_365_Enterprise.pdf

Imagine an Azure Storage emulator you can install & run locally for free to test against.

That’s Azurite.

The Azurite open-source emulator provides a free local environment for testing your Azure Blob, Queue Storage, and Table Storage applications. When you’re satisfied with how your application is working locally, switch to using an Azure Storage account in the cloud. The emulator provides cross-platform support on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Find the emulator download and instructions here:

• Use Azurite emulator for local Azure Storage development
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/storage/common/storage-use-azurite?tabs=npm

It’s of course directly accessible using the Azure Storage Explorer.  Download the Storage Explorer here:

• Get started with Storage Explorer
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/vs-azure-tools-storage-manage-with-storage-explorer?tabs=windows

[Microsoft 365 and Azure AD admins! This one is for you in case you missed the Message Center announcement.]

In today’s landscape, organizations and users utilize various authentication methods with varying levels of security. Unfortunately, users often select less secure MFA methods, even when more secure options are available. This may be due to convenience, lack of awareness, or technical limitations.

To encourage the use of the strongest available method, we are introducing system-preferred authentication for MFA. This system prompts users to sign in with the most secure method they’ve registered and the one that’s enabled by admin policy. This transition from choosing a default method to always using the most secure method will promote better security practices. If users can’t use the prompted method, they can choose an alternative MFA method.

We will begin rolling out in early July (previously late June) and expect to complete by early August (previously late July).

We launched this with Microsoft-managed set to disabled. As mentioned above, we will be setting "Microsoft-managed" to enabled from the first week of July 2023. While we highly encourage you to adopt this feature for your entire tenant, should you need to you can either scope the feature for a segment of your user population or disable it if necessary. The feature will ultimately be set to Microsoft-managed (enabled) for all tenants, with no option to disable it.

Deploying this feature with the rollout controls is highly encouraged to enhance security and ensure users always use the most secure authentication method first. The feature is now available from your tenant.

• Message Center (MC565271) for System-preferred MFA: https://admin.microsoft.com/Adminportal/Home?ref=MessageCenter/:/messages/MC565271
• General Availability Announcement for System-preferred MFA:
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-entra-azure-ad-blog/ga-system-preferred-multifactor-authentication/ba-p/3773138
• Docs (System-preferred MFA):
  https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/active-directory/authentication/concept-system-preferred-multifactor-authentication

Up until now in Excel Desktop for Microsoft 365 Apps, you could create and modify automations using JavaScript and TypeScript using the Office Scripts Code Editor.

With the Action Recorder, you can automate repetitive worksheet tasks without needing any programming experience.

1. Open any existing workbook.
2. Select Automate >Record Actions (Preview).
3. Record actions in your workbook.
4. When you’re done recording, click the Stop recording button in the Record Actions (Preview) task pane to save the recorded actions into a script that you can run at any time on any workbook.

Not all actions are recordable at this time—we are continuing to add support to increase the number of recordable actions. We encourage you to continue trying to record actions useful to your workflow as that will help us prioritize the order in which we add support.

(Note: This feature requires Microsoft 365 E3/E5 or A3/A5)

Read more about this new feature in Excel here:

• Record worksheet actions using Office Scripts in Excel
  https://insider.microsoft365.com/en-us/blog/record-worksheet-actions-using-office-scripts-in-excel

As your digital footprint continues to expand with more identities, resources, apps, and endpoints to secure, identity and access must evolve.

We hope you will join us on July 11, 2023, as we introduce the next stage of our vision at Reimagine secure access with Microsoft Entra. Register for this digital event to hear from Microsoft Security leaders about the latest innovations and current best practices in identity and access. You’ll hear announcements about new products and capabilities, see demonstrations, and get insights about the future of identity and access.

Join this digital event to explore ways to:

• Provide secure access for any identity to any application or resource across your on-premises and multicloud environment.
• Keep up with a rapidly expanding and evolving cyberthreat landscape by optimizing your tech stack.
• Reduce your attack surface while improving experiences for all users—no matter where they are.

Have questions for experts? Ask them during the live Q&A chat.

• DATE/TIME:
  Tues, July 11, 2023, 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM PT

• EVENT PAGE:
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/06/07/join-our-digital-event-to-learn-whats-new-in-microsoft-entra/

Wouldn’t it be great to have reports that showed what the network connectivity performance was between your organization & Microsoft’s cloud?

Do you know what kind of speed & latency to M365 is being delivered on the circuit your network provider is providing you?

We are thrilled to announce the availability of a Public Preview for network provider performance and availability reporting in the Microsoft 365 admin center.

With these new reports, admins can see their users’ network performance and availability based on the detected network provider. Network performance and availability relates to the network connectivity between Microsoft 365 users and Microsoft’s network. These reports may also enable you to identify network settings that adversely affect your users’ experience with Microsoft 365.

The new reports (illustrated below) show tenant-wide information but if you added office network locations, then we provide reports based on office location, as well. The reports also separate network providers for corporate offices from those used by remote workers. They also separate network providers by ISPs and overlay providers (for example, VPN providers).

…

To apply to use the public preview solution, visit the site below.  Space is limited!

• Public Preview for Network Provider Performance and Availability Reporting
  https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-365-blog/public-preview-for-network-provider-performance-and-availability/ba-p/3827239

<blatantly stolen from Merill Fernando>

Here’s a quick Microsoft Graph productivity tip. Need to figure out the Graph attribute for a setting in the admin portal?

1. Use the Graph X-Ray chrome extension (and yes, it works in Microsoft Edge), make the change in the UI and view the Graph API call that saves the change.
   https://graphxray.merill.net/
   
   
2. Unfortunately, not all admin portals use Microsoft Graph. In these instances, you can use a diff tool like Partial Diff to compare the json file to quickly figure out what changed.
   https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ryu1kn.partial-diff
   

Continue learning with highlighted sessions and explore the full session catalog focused on cloud development, AI, .NET, collaborative apps, data platform, developer tools, DevSecOps and SRE, low-code, and Windows.

Don’t miss this sessions from the May 2023 Build event:

• Microsoft Build Opening
• The era of the AI Copilot
• Next generation AI for developers with the Microsoft Cloud
• How to build next-gen AI services with NVIDIA AI on Azure Cloud
• Getting started with generative AI using Azure OpenAI Service
• Inject the power of the cloud and AI into your development workflow
• …

And more. See the entire catalog here:

• Microsoft Build 2023 On-demand Session Catalog
  https://build.microsoft.com/en-US/sessions

We are proud to announce that Microsoft Defender for Office 365 has been recognized as a leader in The Forrester Wave ™: Enterprise Email Security, Q2 2023 report, which we believe demonstrates its strong track record for being a comprehensive and robust email and collaboration security solution.

Forrester noted that “Microsoft’s continued investment in security is paying off as it protects end users from attacks that target communication and collaboration environments in addition to email,” and that “email and collaboration security are key elements of Microsoft’s extended detection and response (XDR) strategy, adding prevention capabilities to its unified approach to detection, investigation, response, and remediation.”

The Forrester Wave report evaluates email security solutions based on criteria that include email filtering capabilities, threat intelligence, data leak prevention control enforcement, endpoint detection and response (EDR) and XDR integrations, performance, and product strategy. In the latest evaluation for Q2 2023, Defender for Office 365 has demonstrated its excellence in these areas, offering a range of industry-leading capabilities that set it apart from its competitors. Defender for Office 365 received the highest possible score in the incident response, threat intelligence, EDR and XDR solutions integration criteria, as well as in the product vision and roadmap.

…

Read the rest of the blog post here:

• Microsoft a Leader in the 2023 Forrester Wave for Email Security
  https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/06/12/forrester-names-microsoft-a-leader-in-the-2023-enterprise-email-security-wave/
• Forrester Wave ™: Enterprise Email Security, Q2 2023 report 
  https://reprints2.forrester.com/#/assets/2/108/RES178496/report

The Public Sector Center of Expertise provides thought leadership and research enabling digital transformation and innovation in the public sector. Find lessons, insights, and best practices to help advance your own digital transformation.

Digital technology has increasingly helped public sector organizations address global challenges in recent years, from ensuring public safety and protecting the environment, to enabling new ways of living, learning, and working during a global pandemic.

In the years ahead, we believe that cloud technology, artificial intelligence and data will further enable governments to deliver agile services to citizens and societies around the world. Moreover, as digital services become an intrinsic part of government, the technology industry must continue to be a trusted partner on their digital transformation journey.

The Microsoft Public Sector Center of Expertise supports the evolution of public sector organizations by sharing insights and best practices, research, and resources on digital innovation. Our Public Sector Future podcast delves into these topics with global expert interviews.

Our aim is to help public sector organizations on their journey to becoming truly intelligent organizations that use real-time data to inform policy, provide security and compliance, better manage people and finances, and leverage responsible AI to protect citizens and make informed decisions.

We provide case studies to inspire, guidance to support implementation of digital transformation approaches, and knowledge to build understanding of the fundamentals needed for the journey.

Join us here as we share important lessons learned, challenges, and opportunities in our collective efforts to help nations leverage the power of digital to deliver social good.

CURRENT TOPICS
Current topics you can find on the Public Sector Center of Expertise:

• Latest Thinking: Skilling Your Workforce
• Insights into Generative AI Technology
• Generative AI and the Public Sector
• Future of Infrastructure Podcast Series
• Public Sector Future Podcast Series

CONTENT LIBRARY
There is a huge library of information available at the Public Sector Center of Expertise content library with various dedicated collections including:

• Public Sector Cybersecurity
• Public Sector Cloud
• Public Sector Artificial Intelligence

For all Public Sector CoE content, visit:

• Microsoft Public Sector Center of Expertise
  https://wwps.microsoft.com/