Ben is the owner and chief cloud consultant and architect at Intelligink, where he focuses on the Microsoft Cloud β Microsoft 365 and Azure. He is a Microsoft MVP and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and brings with him 20+ years of experience with SharePoint and 10+ years of experience with Microsoft 365. He is a Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Cybersecurity Architect Expert, and Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert.
Microsoft 365 Tips and Tricks: Are you prepared?
Hello Reader,I worked for 20 hours straight yesterday. From 8 am - 4 am! This isn't to brag, in fact, I hope I never have to do it again. I also hope you never have to do it (although being in IT, I'm sure many of you are). In this particular case, it was due to multiple server failures that a client had within their on-premises infrastructure, and we spent 20 hours getting critical components back up, some of which we had to build from scratch. However, it could have just as easily been due to a hacker & ransomware, a disgruntled employee deleting files, or even a rouge automation or PowerShell script. Needless to say, I'm tired, but it also got me thinking about preparation and are you prepared if one of these would happen to you? π‘A Microsoft 365 Management Tip: Don't get caught in the illusion that just because you use Microsoft 365 (or Azure) Microsoft has you covered.I've seen this debate and argument quite ofter, my email is in Exchange Online so I'm safe. My files are in SharePoint and Microsoft has redundancies in place. My data is in the cloud and Microsoft has backups. And to be honest, all of that is true...but only to a certain extent. This is focused on Microsoft 365 but applies to Azure as well. When you talk about Microsoft 365, you have a shared responsibility model with Microsoft. In a nutshell, this means you can't be 100% dependent on Microsoft for your data security and safety. For instance... Are you prepared: if someone deletes a SharePoint site, or a bunch of files and then empties all the recycle bins? Are you prepared: if an employee deletes all their email, empties the trash, and then clears out their recoverable items folder? Are you prepared: if an admin removes a license from a departed user and 45 days later you realize you never saved their email, or their OneDrive files and it had important data in it. Are you prepared: if a rogue script or hacker renames or deletes a bunch of Microsoft 365 Groups (thus Teams, SharePoint, etc.) and then deletes the deleted items? Microsoft is prepared for a potential loss of a Microsoft 365 data center, or a hardware or software failure within their data center. They'll have backups for that, but they are responsible for data that may be lost due to something you or one of your employees did. There are multiple scenarios that can result in data loss that could have varying degrees of impact on your business. The cloud doesn't mean you don't need to take some level or responsibility for protecting the data in your Microsoft 365 tenant and you should do everything you can to make sure you are prepared when something does happen you can recovery from it quickly and effectively. Would you like to become the irreplaceable Microsoft 365 resource for your organization? Let me know!βSo back to Intelligink updates, whatβs ahead in 2024β¦
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β Thank you all, and have a great day! Ben Stegink Helping you become a Microsoft 365 Expert! β |
Microsoft 365 Management Tips and Tricks
Ben is the owner and chief cloud consultant and architect at Intelligink, where he focuses on the Microsoft Cloud β Microsoft 365 and Azure. He is a Microsoft MVP and Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) and brings with him 20+ years of experience with SharePoint and 10+ years of experience with Microsoft 365. He is a Certified Azure Solutions Architect Expert, Cybersecurity Architect Expert, and Microsoft 365 Certified: Administrator Expert.
Hello Reader, Wow, I can't believe it's almost March! 2025 has started a bit hectic, and my newsletter consistency has suffered. Welcome those of you who have signed up over the last few months and haven't received an email. Thanks for your patience. Hopefully, you won't have to wait too long for the next one. It was a busy end of the year at Intelligink with some projects, but we are also trying to ramp up our contractors and partnerships to serve our customers better and expand our...
Hello Reader, Wow, it's been way to long since I've sent a Microsoft 365 tip to you Reader. I went on vacation for a few weeks in June and have been catching up since. My family and I had a great time, nice and relaxing, and I have some new things coming soon, so keep an eye out for that! But, enough about me, onto the Microsoft 365 management tip for the month! π‘A Microsoft 365 Management Tip: Use Conditional Access for MFA! I know, this may seem like an, "Of Course!" to some of you, some of...
Hello Reader, Day 1 of the Microsoft 365 Community Conference in Orlando just wrapped up, and I'm hanging out in my hotel room writing this email. It was a great day of discussing Microsoft 365 with various people in the Ask the Expert room, a couple of keynotes, and just hanging out with old friends and meeting new ones. If you're down here too, and I haven't seen you, let me know! I would love to meet up! π‘A Microsoft 365 Management Tip: π News from the Microsoft 365 Community Conference in...