Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) is always changing. With five core services and hundreds of features, there is a lot to keep up with. If you are brand new to learning EMS where should you begin? If you are a seasoned veteran, what is available to help you stay up to date? If you are attending Microsoft Inspire 2017, what EMS sessions should you prioritize?
In this post and on the June 22 EMS partner call, I will share some resources to help you grow your EMS skills, regardless of where you are in your learning journey. I will also provide my recommendations on which EMS sessions to attend at Inspire 2017.
Sign up for the June 22 partner call
Inspire 2017
I feel very enthusiastic about this conference. As someone who works with partners every day, I greatly appreciate the chance to meet so many of you face to face. If you are going to Inspire and looking to learn more about building your EMS or Secure Productive Enterprise (SPE) business, there are plenty of sessions for you. Like most conferences, there are more sessions than hours in the day, so which ones should you choose? To help, I went through the session list, picked out a few of the best security focused sessions, and broke them into three mini-tracks for you.
Security practice building and Microsoft vision
CE005 The Microsoft Security Strategy
Tuesday, July 11
OCC02 Microsoft end to end security story
Monday, July 11
COM29 The value of defense in depth
Wednesday, July 12
CE400 How to take your security practice to the next level: Partner programs and resources
Wednesday, July 12
CE401 Partner with Microsoft and build a new security practice
Wednesday, July 12
EMS Core: a tour of Enterprise Mobility + Security
CE417t Gain visibility and protection against cloud security threats
Monday, July 10
CE414 Identity driven security
Monday, July 10
CE416 Managed mobile productivity
Tuesday, July 11
CE412p Secure your complete data lifecycle using Azure Information Protection
Wednesday, July 12
CE413p Protect your network from malicious attacks with Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics
Wednesday, July 12
Secure Productive Enterprise: Windows 10 and Office 365 Security
OFC34t The Advanced Threat Protection business opportunity
Monday, July 10
Monday, July 10
WIN27t Detect and respond to advanced and targeted attacks with Windows Defender ATP
Monday, July 10
Also, at Inspire, I’ll be at the US Lounge daily from Monday to Wednesday. I’d be honored to spend a few minutes with you and talk about helping you grow your security practice. To set up a time, just stop by the US Lounge and ask to schedule an EMS or SPE Huddle.
EMS Learning Resources
The most successful learning journeys we see for Enterprise Mobility + Security always start with setting a goal. Here are the three we hear most often when we ask partners about their training goals:
- Sales training
- Technical training
- Preparing for Enterprise Mobility Management competency technical assessments
EMS Partner Learning Plan
The EMS Partner Learning Plan is an Excel file that you can download and edit to fit your company’s needs. We’ve posted the file in our EMS Partner Yammer group.
Download the EMS Partner Learning Plan
Sales training strategy
Sales roles should start with the General EMS tab and focus on the Level 100 and 200 courses. This gives sellers a very good overview of EMS and provides them with enough information to have a broad conversation with customers. If you plan to specialize in one area, for example, Information Protection, click on the appropriate tab in the workbook and filter the content to level 100 and 200.
For some sales cycles, sellers may want or need to demo EMS. We have a blog series and podcast that can help you set up and run a demo.
Technical training strategy
Technical roles should filter the spreadsheet by desired level and topic and start learning. My word of caution is to pick one topic to focus on, build your knowledge and skills for that topic, and then pick your next topic. If EMS is new for you, I recommend starting with identity management. If you have some knowledge of EMS, start with what you know and build from there.
Technical roles will benefit from setting up the EMS E5 demo environment. Since it is a working system, you can modify and test anything you desire.
Enterprise Mobility Management competency attainment
The Enterprise Mobility Management competency recently updated technical assessments required as a part of competency attainment. The best way to prepare for assessments is Microsoft partner learning paths – collections of on-demand training available through Partner University. There is a learning path for the overall competency and for each course.
- Learn more about the Enterprise Mobility Management competency
- EMM Competency overview training
- MPN Competency: Enterprise Mobility Offerings for Technical
- MPN Competency: Enterprise Mobility Offerings – Identity & Access Management for Technical
- MPN Competency: Enterprise Mobility Offerings – Mobile Device & Application Management for Technical
- MPN Competency: Enterprise Mobility Offerings – Information Protection for Technical
- MPN Competency: Enterprise Mobility Offerings – Cloud App Security for Technical
Enterprise Mobility + Security Partner Community
On our June community call, we’ll talk about building an EMS learning plan and keeping up with the latest information. We will also discuss Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) Competency attainment and share tips for a great Inspire 2017. You can sign up today to join us on June 22 at 9 AM PT.
Learning about Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security can be an exciting journey. If you are learning a new part of the technology or building an entire practice, the EMS Partner community is here to help. If you have questions, feedback, or ideas, join the conversation in our Yammer group.