The one with Power (Platform) in Microsoft 365

Since this week I will share with you the most important information from Microsoft 365 world. You will find here the most important Microsoft announcements, roadmap events and important information.

Newsletter and other materials available at Email Newsletter

Workflows in Teams 💪

Teams could be already your main collaboration platform. To make usage of Teams even more efficient now you will be able to use workflow templates based on Power Automate.

"The way we work today has fundamentally changed with hybrid work becoming the new norm. In this new world, staying organized and getting time to focus become paramount. Automating routine tasks has now become a more fundamental part of our work and our organizations. We’re providing easy to use workflow automation powered by Power Automate directly within the Teams Store. Creating new automated workflows can all be done with new pre-configured templates in the Workflows section of the store. These workflows help address and manage day to day tasks and make your day run more smoothly."

Are you thinking about Office 365 Consultant job?

Plan your career in the Microsoft 365 technology stack. Learn how to prepare to role of the Office 365 Consultant role when you are starting or retraining to a new career path. Get to know what skills will help you in your career in Office 365 and how to start your journey in the job of the Office 365 Consultant. Disclaimer: In this video, I'm sharing my subjective perspective based on my experience.

Learn how to prepare for the Office 365 Consultant role.

Okta Hacked 👿️

Very popular identity platform Okta has been hacked. If you are not using it on your Microsoft 365 you shouldn't be worried but I recommend reading about it to get more understanding about the risks connected with any cloud-based solutions we can use.

"Okta said in a short statement early Tuesday morning that in late January it had “detected an attempt to compromise the account of a third-party customer support engineer working for one of our subprocessors,” but that “the matter was investigated and contained by the subprocessor.”

In an expanded statement on Tuesday afternoon, Okta's chief security officer, David Bradbury, said categorically, “The Okta service has not been breached.” The details that have emerged, though, including from Bradbury's statement itself, paint a confusing picture, and the conflicting information has made it difficult for Okta customers and others who depend on them to assess their risk and the extent of the damage."

It is time to build your first 🤖 bot

If you are playing with Power Platform, one of the elements you need to know is the creation of bots using Power Virtual Agents. I want to recommend you great handbook that will help you to build your first bot.

"The biggest ask from customers regarding Conversational AI is "How do I get started?"

Well, the awesome PowerCAT team of Matthew, Abhi, and Kent have shared all of their learnings from customers and partners implementing large-scale projects and have written a one-stop-shop guide to getting started."

Important change/clarification about Power Automate licensing

Microsoft clarified the licensing for the Power Automate flows running on service accounts.

HERE you will find a great discussion about the positioning of Azure Logic Apps vs Power Automate.

"You can change the owner to an individual (not a distribution list) or a service account. If the flow uses a service account, it's considered as a department/organization flow and will need a per flow license."

New Azure/Microsoft 365 datacenter in Finland

Map of Azure data centers is growing. Microsoft announced its intent to build the new one in Finland.

"HELSINKI — 17 March, 2022 — Microsoft today announced it intends to build a new datacenter region in Southern Finland. To support customer needs for high availability and resilience, the new datacenter region will feature Azure Availability Zones, unique physical locations equipped with independent power, networking, and cooling for additional tolerance to datacenter failures. It will join Microsoft’s worldwide network of cloud computing infrastructure of more than 60 regions, over 280,000 kilometers of terrestrial and subsea fiber, and over 190 edge sites."

Recording studio in 🎥 PowerPoint

A new cool feature landing in PowerPoint app - Recording studio

"A compelling story. Stellar images. A powerful connection to your audience. Together, they contribute to a memorable and effective PowerPoint presentation. For many people, though, the logistics of recording a presentation can cause as much – or even more – stress than the process of creating it. Making recording less stressful frees you to focus on instructing, inspiring, and entertaining those who watch your presentation. PowerPoint’s new recording studio now gives you an enhanced recording experience and more options when recording your presentation.

Delivering your message to your audience should not depend on you being physically or virtually present. Recording studio in PowerPoint lets you tell your story, in your own words, helping you deliver more impactful and engaging presentations. Click Record in the top right corner in PowerPoint - and you will be taken to a personalized view that you can customize. Once you’re ready to start the recording, click the red “Record” button for a countdown to start speaking. You can also annotate on your slides as you go, using ink and laser pointer."

🎬 Build surveys, questionnaires or online forms in Office 365

Have a great weekend 👍

Szymon