Welcome to the March 3 - 9, 2019 edition of the Office 365 Weekly Digest.
There were nineteen features added to the Office 365 Roadmap last week, with multiple updates for Azure Active Directory, OneDrive, Outlook, SharePoint, and Teams. Also of note is "Phase 2" of the Mail Flow Insights improvements in Exchange Online, which provide multiple new reports and tools to help discover trends, insights and take actions to fix issues related to mail flow in your Office 365 organization.
In addition to the standard Teams, Customer Immersion Experience, and Azure Active Directory sessions, there are two new events in this week's post. The first, at 8am Pacific on March 13th, is a "prenote" focusing on SharePoint, PowerApps, Forms and Flow in preparation for the upcoming SharePoint Conference North America. The second is a webinar with the Outlook mobile team on ten time saving tips and tricks with Outlook mobile - see below under "Upcoming Events" for details as there is more than one session.
Highlights from last week's blogs include a new resource center page to help plan for governance in Microsoft 365, the addition of a Yammer tab in Microsoft Teams, a lookback at the updates for Microsoft To-Do in February 2019, and mailbox auditing in Exchange Online being enabled by default.
Noteworthy items from last week include lots of security and identity related updates from the RSA Conference, information on an upcoming change for Mac users and the Skype Meetings (web) App, and an announcement regarding the availability of Planner in Microsoft Teams for GCC customers.
OFFICE 365 ROADMAP
Below are the items added to the Office 365 Roadmap last week…
| Feature ID |
App / Service |
Title | Description |
Status |
Added |
Estimated Release |
More Info |
| 49093 |
OneDrive |
Full-fidelity shared libraries in OneDrive | Not only can you sync shared libraries from SharePoint and Microsoft Teams to your PC or Mac using OneDrive, you can now view shared libraries in OneDrive on the web with support for viewing file metadata. Initial capabilities include viewing, sorting and grouping by custom metadata and changing your file view to any previously saved file view. |
In development |
03/05/2019 |
April CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49081 |
OneDrive |
Intune allowed accounts on mobile - OneDrive | Admins will be able to block users from accessing personal accounts on OneDrive Mobile app. |
In development |
03/05/2019 |
March CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49092 |
OneDrive SharePoint |
Updates to File Hover Card-OneDrive and SharePoint | Across ODB and SPO, the updated file card can now help you keep track of activity around all files (not just Office). Guest and Anonymous file viewers will also be included in the list. Lifecycle signals such as checked-out file, malware, DLP and missing metadata will also be reflected. |
In development |
03/05/2019 |
March CY2019 |
n / a |
| 46613 |
Outlook |
Outlook for Windows: Set and share your Focused Inbox preference | Your preference to use Focused Inbox is stored in the cloud so your experience is consistent when you access Outlook for Windows from any computer and Outlook on the Web. |
In development |
03/05/2019 |
March CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49149 |
Flow Teams |
Flow can now notify individual users within Teams | Users can now use Microsoft Flow to create flows that notify individual users within Teams |
Rolling out |
03/06/2019 |
April CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49173 |
Teams |
Microsoft Teams - Firstline Worker capability: customizable Teams mobile experience | Teams will include a new customizable mobile Teams experience that gives Firstline Workers the tools they need to communicate and collaborate effectively on the go. It's simple, familiar, and secure, with several new mobile-only features that have particular relevance for Firstline Workers, including location sharing and smart camera, as well as the ability to record and share audio messages. |
Rolling out |
03/07/2019 |
March CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49200 |
Teams Shifts |
Microsoft Teams for Firstline Worker capability: Graph API for Shifts | We are releasing the Graph API for Shifts which includes the following scheduling scenarios: • The ability to create, read, and update Schedules and Schedule Groups • The ability to create, read, update, and delete Shifts and shift activities • The ability to create, read, update and delete time offs, time off reasons, and time off requests • The ability to track the last change date of any of these items from Shifts service. This feature is available to any user with an O365 license. |
Rolling out |
03/07/2019 |
March CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49288 |
OneDrive |
Customized Help Link for External Sharing | When a user is blocked from sharing externally by policy, IT administrators can how provide a "learn more" link that will be surfaced in the error message. This link can be used to explain company policies on external sharing or even to direct users to internal portals to request policy changes. |
Rolling out |
03/07/2019 |
March CY2019 |
n / a |
| 48396 |
Teams |
Microsoft Teams - Easily add new members to your team | Team members can request other users to be added to the team by sending a request on their behalf. Simply select "Add member" from the team options, search for a person, then select "Send Request". Team owners will get a notification and will have the ability to accept or deny the request. |
In development |
03/07/2019 |
March CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49172 |
Teams |
Microsoft Teams Firstline Worker capability - Praise | Praise, the employee recognition tool in Teams, enables managers, team members, in addition to all Teams users, to share a badge of recognition for a job well done. Celebrate the success of your team with Praise. |
Rolling out |
03/07/2019 |
Q1 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 44590 |
Outlook |
Outlook for Windows: Default permissions for sharing links | When you share a document in Outlook for Windows by inserting a link, the permission to access that link will be provided by how your administrator sets sharing permissions for documents at the organization level. Your email message will include a clear, clickable link with the document name. |
In development |
03/08/2019 |
Q4 CY2019 |
n / a |
| 45557 |
Outlook Teams |
Outlook for Mac: Adds presence for Teams customers | Outlook for Mac support a presence indicator on email addresses when creating or reading messages. |
In development |
03/08/2019 |
April CY2019 |
n / a |
| 32838 |
Azure AD |
Staged user rollout to Azure AD cloud authentication | Migrate users from federated authentication to Azure AD cloud authentication in groups or phases and manage from the Azure AD portal. Cloud authentication (Pass-through authentication or Password Hash Sync) enables benefits such as no real-time dependency on existing on-premises infrastructure, leaked credential protection, and seamless single-sign on. |
In development |
03/09/2019 |
April CY2019 |
n / a |
| 46595 |
OneNote |
Round-trip editing of embedded files | If you edit a cloud document that is embedded in a notebook, OneNote will support round-trip edits on the file so that you always have the latest edits of that document. |
Rolling out |
03/09/2019 |
April CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49361 |
Exchange |
Mail Flow Insights - Phase 2 | In this update we are adding multiple new reports and tools to help discover trends, insights and take actions to fix issues related to mail flow in your Office 365 organization. We are adding reports to understand domain health status in your organization (such as identify expired or incorrectly configured domain that prevents it from accepting emails); what messages sent by your users are being rejected at their destination; spot messages coming from your own on-premises server might be from compromised machines and user accounts; or identity mails being sent from your on-premises servers and attributed to your organization but not coming from configured accepted domains. We're also adding a mail flow map, a graphical report showing the characteristics of your organization's mail flow coming into and leaving Office 365. This report helps an admin understand mail routing pattern for their organization and can help identify anomalies and fix issues. Lastly, we're providing an SMTP Client Auth report displaying your organization's usage of SMTP Authenticated Submission (SMTP Auth) protocol for the past 7 days. This is a legacy protocol therefore user accounts are more susceptible to being compromised and used to send spam emails. |
In development |
03/09/2019 |
April CY2019 |
n / a |
| 49363 |
Azure AD |
Azure AD automatic user provisioning for Zscaler apps | Automated, policy-based provisioning and deprovisioning of Azure AD user accounts for Zscaler's single sign-on (SSO) apps across all production clouds, enabling lifecycle automation of user and group accounts for Zscaler. IT teams can use this SCIM integration to perform a user database sync with the Zscaler security cloud. This feature helps customers eliminate manual processes and increase timely user access and security. |
Rolling out |
03/09/2019 |
March CY2019 |
Automated user provisioning for Zscaler now in public preview |
| 48356 |
Azure AD |
Azure AD activity logs integration with Azure Monitor Diagnostics and Azure Log Analytics | Azure AD activity logs gain long-term retention via an Azure storage account and can be streamed to a SIEM tool without writing or maintaining any custom scripts. Unlock usage and security insights from user activity through an external or custom solution or save time by directly integrating with Azure Log Analytics dashboards without leaving the Azure portal. |
Rolling out |
03/09/2019 |
Q4 CY2018 |
Azure AD Activity Logs in Azure Log Analytics now |
| 48357 |
Azure AD |
Self-service password reset from the Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 sign in screens | Users with an Azure AD account can now reset their password from the sign in screen of devices using the Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 operating systems. This feature requires SSPR to be enabled for your organization from Azure AD settings and the Azure AD password reset add-in to be installed. |
Rolling out |
03/09/2019 |
Q4 CY2018 |
n / a |
UPCOMING EVENTS
Getting Started with Microsoft Teams
When: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 at 8am PT | This 60-minute session introduces you to the key activities needed to get started with Microsoft Teams today. From setting your profile, to running a meeting, users will leave this session with the foundation needed to use Teams with confidence. Check here for sessions in different time zones and other dates. The session is also available on demand at https://aka.ms/teamsgettingstartedondemand.
Make the switch from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams: End User Guidance
When: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 at 10am PT | Designed specifically for Skype for Business end users, this course offers everything you need to help make the transition to Microsoft Teams. We'll focus on the core communication capabilities you use today, chat and meetings, as well as provide an orientation to additional collaboration functionality Teams has to offer. Check here for sessions in different time zones and other dates. The session is also available on demand at https://aka.ms/fromskypetoteamsondemand.
Transforming business processes and content services
When: Wednesday, March 13, 2019 at 8am PT | Digital transformation isn't a product. It's an outcome – changing the culture of work. No-code and low-code applications have been essential tools in Microsoft SharePoint for a long time, and we've added many other new tools and capabilities. We'll showcase all and share best practices for creating business apps solutions (lists, Microsoft PowerApps, Forms, Microsoft Flow). We also discuss the patterns to help transform customer solutions that still remain on-premises and/or in legacy tool sets like InfoPath, SharePoint Designer or Access web apps. This prenote will showcase the art of the possible today – so you know the now and are ready for the SharePoint Conference North America in Vegas.
Azure AD Identity Protection and Privileged Identity Management
When: Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 7am PT | Learn how to detect potential vulnerabilities affecting your organization's identities. See how you can investigate suspicious incidents and configure auto responses. Understand how you can have a consolidated view of administrators, enable on-demand administrator access to Microsoft Online Services, get reports and set alerts about access to a privileged role.
10 time saving tips and tricks with Outlook mobile
When: Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 9am PT | Outlook mobile brings together your email, calendar, contacts, documents and more in one fast, fluid experience so you can accomplish the most important tasks in just a few seconds. All backed by enterprise-grade security you can trust. Join the Outlook mobile team for a webinar that will highlight cool tips and tricks that save you time and spark joy. You also get to ask any questions and share feedback with the team directly. In this webinar, you will learn: (1) Why Outlook mobile is the right choice for you, (2) Best practices for getting started, (3) Cool tips and tricks that spark joy and let you accomplish the most important tasks in just a few seconds, and (4) Ask questions or share your feedback directly with the Outlook team.
Getting Started with Microsoft Teams
When: Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 10am PT | This 60-minute session introduces you to the key activities needed to get started with Microsoft Teams today. From setting your profile, to running a meeting, users will leave this session with the foundation needed to use Teams with confidence. Check here for sessions in different time zones and other dates. The session is also available on demand at https://aka.ms/teamsgettingstartedondemand.
Azure AD Identity Protection and Privileged Identity Management
When: Thursday, March 14, 2019 at 11am PT | Learn how to detect potential vulnerabilities affecting your organization's identities. See how you can investigate suspicious incidents and configure auto responses. Understand how you can have a consolidated view of administrators, enable on-demand administrator access to Microsoft Online Services, get reports and set alerts about access to a privileged role.
Manage Your Enterprise Applications with Azure AD
When: Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at 7am PT | Learn the different ways Azure AD can help you achieve single-sign-on to your enterprise SaaS applications as well as best practices for controlling access for these applications.
Customer Immersion Experience: Connecting, Organizing & Collaborating with Your Team
When: Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at 9am PT and 12pm PT | During this session, you will have the opportunity to experience Windows 10, Office 365 and Microsoft's newest collaboration tool: Microsoft Teams. A trained facilitator will guide you as you apply these tools to your own business scenarios and see how they work for you. During this interactive session, you will explore how to use Microsoft Teams and Office 365 to: (1) Create a hub for team work that works together with your other Office 365 apps, (2) Build customized options for each team, (3) Keep everyone on your team engaged, (4) Coauthor and share content quickly, and (5) Gain skills that will save you time and simplify your workflow immediately. Each session is limited to 12 participants, reserve your seat now.
Manage Your Enterprise Applications with Azure AD
When: Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at 11am PT | Learn the different ways Azure AD can help you achieve single-sign-on to your enterprise SaaS applications as well as best practices for controlling access for these applications.
Getting Started with Microsoft Teams
When: Wednesday, March 20, 2019 at 10am PT | This 60-minute session introduces you to the key activities needed to get started with Microsoft Teams today. From setting your profile, to running a meeting, users will leave this session with the foundation needed to use Teams with confidence. Check here for sessions in different time zones and other dates. The session is also available on demand at https://aka.ms/teamsgettingstartedondemand.
Getting Started with Microsoft Teams
When: Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 8am PT | This 60-minute session introduces you to the key activities needed to get started with Microsoft Teams today. From setting your profile, to running a meeting, users will leave this session with the foundation needed to use Teams with confidence. Check here for sessions in different time zones and other dates. The session is also available on demand at https://aka.ms/teamsgettingstartedondemand.
Customer Immersion Experience: Simplifying Your Data Privacy & Compliance Journey
When: Thursday, March 21, 2019 at 9am PT and 12pm PT | Join us for a hands-on introduction to Microsoft 365 Compliance features and an opportunity to experience powerful solutions across the data lifecycle of assess, protect and respond. During this 2-hour interactive session, you will explore how to: (1) Understand your compliance from a single pane of glass, (2) Make identity the new perimeter, (3) Discover and govern sensitive data across clouds, devices and apps, (4) Recognize attacks, detect breaches, and recover quickly using automation, and (5) Streamline your operational processes and understand your security posture. Each session is limited to 12 participants, reserve your seat now.
Customer Immersion Experience: Securely managing apps and data on iOS, Android and Windows
When: Friday, March 22, 2019 at 7am PT and 11am PT | Join us for this online, facilitator-led learning experience, built in an Azure environment. This event is designed to allow you to experience real-world solutions that will secure your employees' mobile devices and applications with Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS). During this online experience exploring Microsoft Managed Mobile Productivity solutions, you will learn how implementing Microsoft Intune can provide your employees with access to corporate applications, data, and resources from virtually anywhere on almost any device, while keeping essential corporate data secure. During this interactive session, you will explore how to: (1) Keep corporate data secure, and (2) Utilize Microsoft Intune to provide your employees with access to corporate applications, data, and resources from virtually anywhere on almost any device. Each session is limited to 12 participants, reserve your seat now.
Customer Immersion Experience: Productivity Hacks to Save Time & Simplify Workflows
When: Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at 9am PT and 12pm PT | This 2-hour hands-on session will give you the opportunity to try Microsoft technology that secures your digital transformation with a comprehensive platform, unique intelligence, and partnerships. A trained facilitator will guide you as you apply these tools to your own business scenarios and see how they work for you. During this interactive session, you will: (1) Detect and protect against external threats by monitoring, reporting and analyzing activity to react promptly to provide organization security, (2) Protect your information and reduce the risk of data loss, (3) Provide peace of mind with controls and visibility for industry-verified conformity with global standards in compliance, (4) Protect your users and their accounts, and (5) Support your organization with enhanced privacy and compliance to meet the General Data Protection Regulation. Each session is limited to 12 participants, reserve your seat now.
10 time saving tips and tricks with Outlook mobile
When: Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 8am PT | Outlook mobile brings together your email, calendar, contacts, documents and more in one fast, fluid experience so you can accomplish the most important tasks in just a few seconds. All backed by enterprise-grade security you can trust. Join the Outlook mobile team for a webinar that will highlight cool tips and tricks that save you time and spark joy. You also get to ask any questions and share feedback with the team directly. In this webinar, you will learn: (1) Why Outlook mobile is the right choice for you, (2) Best practices for getting started, (3) Cool tips and tricks that spark joy and let you accomplish the most important tasks in just a few seconds, and (4) Ask questions or share your feedback directly with the Outlook team.
Customer Immersion Experience: Hands-on with security in a cloud-first, mobile-first world
When: Thursday, March 28, 2019 at 9am PT and 12pm PT | This 2-hour hands-on session will give you the opportunity to try Microsoft technology that secures your digital transformation with a comprehensive platform, unique intelligence, and partnerships. A trained facilitator will guide you as you apply these tools to your own business scenarios and see how they work for you. During this interactive session, you will: (1) Detect and protect against external threats by monitoring, reporting and analyzing activity to react promptly to provide organization security, (2) Protect your information and reduce the risk of data loss, (3) Provide peace of mind with controls and visibility for industry-verified conformity with global standards in compliance, (4) Protect your users and their accounts, and (5) Support your organization with enhanced privacy and compliance to meet the General Data Protection Regulation. Each session is limited to 12 participants, reserve your seat now.
BLOG ROUNDUP
New resource center page to help plan for governance to transform teamwork with Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is designed to be a universal toolkit for teamwork – to give you the right tools for the right task, along with common services to help you seamlessly work across applications. And with good governance, you can transform teamwork inside your organization with confidence – without compromise. To learn more and act, we invite you to visit and share the NEW Plan for governance to transform teamwork with Microsoft 365 resource center page. This new resource center page contains: (1) An overview for business and IT, (2) Customer highlights, (3) Helpful 'how to' guidance, and (4) recent and relevant blogs and videos. This aggregated set of materials are a starting point to help you learn about teamwork-level governance when using Office 365 and how you can begin to take advantage of it.
Microsoft To-Do February lookback—multiple account support on Windows, and more
It's time for the February lookback, where we finessed a few of our favorite new features! First is multiple account support on Windows, so now you can be certain that you'll never accidentally add a home task to that shared list with your boss. Second is the ability to search for attached files on Windows and Android. And if your lists aren't looking as colorful as you'd like, then you can now emojify them. Also, additional languages are now supported on iOS.
Yammer & Microsoft Teams: Ideas for using the Yammer tab in Teams
Microsoft Teams users can now add a Yammer tab to their Teams channel that loads a specified group or topic feed from Yammer. This new feature will allow members follow and share conversations in Yammer without having to leave Teams. Your team members can participate in the Yammer conversation, right from Teams, or discuss a Yammer conversation in Teams before posting a reply to the wider Yammer group. When a Teams member goes to the Yammer tab, they are authenticated again by Yammer, so that they only see Yammer content that they have access to. Yammer and Microsoft Teams together help get employees the right information at the right time. Using the two efficiently together, employees have a place for their questions and answers in Yammer, while the core team gets alignment on their responses in Teams. Four use cases are also outlined in the post.| Related: Microsoft Mechanics: Microsoft Teams updates for Firstline Workers
Top 5 tips to boost your OneDrive into overdrive
Having a tool that works for you and keeps working for you is the best kind of tool. That's how OneDrive is built, and it delivers a consistent experience to you for all your files in Office 365 – across all your devices. OneDrive is the files app for Microsoft 365 enabling people to access all their shared content across Microsoft 365, inclusive of SharePoint and Microsoft Teams, in addition to their personal files. You can easily share files inside and outside your organization and work together on them at the same time. Intelligent search and recommendations help you find files quickly, so you can spend more time getting things done rather than recreating work. OneDrive also integrates with Microsoft Flow to help with review cycles, PDF conversions and more. As part of Microsoft 365, your files are protected from accidental loss and malicious attacks. Let's boost your OneDrive into overdrive. Let's dive into the top five tips!
Exchange Online Mailbox Auditing Enabled By Default
Exchange Mailbox Auditing has now been enabled by default and rolled out worldwide, with the rollout to Unified Audit Log in Security and Compliance Center still in progress. If you are an Office 365 Customer, you should be able to search and retrieve your audit data with Search-MailboxAuditLog. In case you want to ensure record availability in both Exchange Mailbox and Unified Audit Log, you can do that by manually setting AuditEnabled flag to true, which will ensure that audit data from default enable is pushed to Unified Audit Log. As part of this change, we are also introducing the DefaultAuditSet parameter which would help you get back to the default set of verbs. DefaultAuditSet can be used to set the different action sets (Owner, Admin, Delegate) back to the service default audit events on a per-mailbox basis.
NOTEWORTHY
Protect your sensitive information – wherever it lives or travels
Across Microsoft Information Protection solutions, our goal is to provide a comprehensive set of capabilities to help you protect your sensitive data throughout its entire lifecycle – across devices, apps, cloud services and on-premises. With the exponential growth of data and increasing data mobility, it's critical to implement an information protection strategy that not only enables you to meet your internal security objectives, but also address new and emerging compliance and privacy requirements. We've recently released several new capabilities to help you discover, classify & label, protect and monitor your sensitive information – here's a quick roundup of the latest news…
February 2019 updates for Microsoft PowerApps
The PowerApps team has been busy the last month shipping new features and fixes for you. Features of note in February 2019 include: (1) Compose and reuse rich components and controls in canvas apps, (2) Better support for many-to-many relationships in canvas apps, (3) Tree view has an "App" item to make app building easier, and (4) Quickly edit the filters for views. There are also several fixes and improvements. Check the release table, by region, to find out when these features and fixes will be available.
Skype for Business desktop app on Mac to replace Skype Meetings App (web)
In October 2018, we announced a plan to offer the Skype for Business desktop app on Mac as our web-downloadable meetings client instead of Skype Meetings App, starting in December. Due to feedback from customers, we decided to postpone the change. Everything is now in place, and we will make the transition on April 5! Starting in April, the joining web pages will only offer Skype for Business desktop app for download. The desktop app brings many advantages over SMA: Screen sharing, audio, and video are significantly more reliable. We are also making two changes to the desktop app in companion with this change: (1) reducing the size of the desktop app installer, and (2) adding support in the desktop app for uploading and downloading attachments in meetings, a feature that is available in SMA. Note: The desktop app does not support whiteboard, polls, and Q&A.
Microsoft Teams in Microsoft 365 Government GCC now includes Planner Integration
Managing your government work just got easier. We're happy to announce that Microsoft Planner's popular integration with Microsoft Teams is now available for all Microsoft 365 Government GCC plans. This integration will be coming to GCC High and G4 plans in the coming months as well. There's nothing to install or enable to start using Planner in Teams: simply open your Teams app, add a plan, and begin managing your work more efficiently. With this integration, you can add a Planner tab to your Teams channel and manage the resulting plan across all Teams apps: desktop, online, and mobile. Planner in Teams for GCC comes with the latest Planner features, except email notifications, which are coming soon, along with the added collaboration benefits of Teams.
This week at RSA - event summary and key takeaways
RSA Conference 2019 was held in San Francisco on March 4 - 8, 2019. It was a great week for the Microsoft Security and Identity teams. This post has some major takeaways from the event, including: (1) Zero Trust is top-of-mind for security professionals, (2) Customers want to overcome the challenge of having multiple disconnected security solutions, and (3) Customers have an eye out for the next BIG thing in Identity, such as password-less login and decentralized identity. | Related: Securing Your Digital Transformation | Making security integration simpler, faster, better | Unified SecOps Investigation for Hybrid Environments | Microsoft Cloud App Security @RSAC 2019