The Microsoft 365 roadmap is a busy one, indeed! There are a host of refinements and functionality updates that are planned until the end of 2020, but the major feature roll-outs have been planned for 2021. There are several changes in the pipeline that affect Microsoft 365 fundamentals.
We are summarizing some feature updates that can impact your IT operations and require Microsoft 365 training for your IT team. As always, many changes are under the hood and seemingly incremental – but make managing a large corporate infrastructure more streamlined.
Speak to our IT consulting services team in Oakville to prepare your IT department and decision-makers for Microsoft 365 in 2021.
Changes to Microsoft 365 fundamentals in 2021
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Changes to payment models
From 2021 Microsoft Exchange Server, SharePoint Server will be shifted to a subscription model instead of a perpetual license. On the other hand, Power Apps, which is used to build customized business apps, will soon no longer be included as part of Office 365 and Dynamics 365. Power Apps will have to be licensed separately at an additional cost from 2021 onwards. Finally, the Microsoft Open Licensing Program, which allowed small and mid-sized businesses to purchase Microsoft licenses at volume prices, is set to come to an end (on January 1, 2022).
If you are on board with our IT consulting services, we will get in touch with you if there is any impact for you. However, as a managed IT services provider, we will help dampen the effects of most of these changes for our clients.
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Non-ARM to ARM migration tool for Windows Virtual Desktop
Microsoft will be rolling out a tool to migrate objects that have been created with Window Virtual Desktop. Since these objects are non-ARM based, the tool will allow users to migrate them to ARM Windows Virtual Desktop and make them available for the upcoming shift to mobile computing.
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Roadmap reports for Power BI template in Microsoft Project
In 2021 Roadmap reports can be enabled in the Power BI template for Microsoft Reporting for reporting and dashboards.
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Safe Links for Microsoft Teams and auto-remediation
One of Office 365’s more advanced cybersecurity features, Safe Links, is being introduced to Microsoft Teams. It will protect Teams users from links that are identified as malicious.
Threats will be auto-remediated, and this feature will be integrated more deeply with Azure Active Directory and Microsoft Cloud App Security. Expect further remediation capability for guided threat hunting.
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Group Driven Membership in Office 365
Group Owners will be able to add a Security Group in their Office 365 Group, which will be used to drive Office 365 Group membership. This move makes membership management simpler, particularly when Security Groups are already managing membership.
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Advanced access for eDiscovery delegation in Security and Compliance Center
Advanced eDiscovery will allow external counsel to be added to a specific case. This will let organizations’ selected partners perform the same eDiscovery related work within Microsoft 365 directly.
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Microsoft 365 web apps timeout for idle sessions
Currently, idle timeout settings must be managed in Outlook Web App and SharePoint Online. Instead, the idle session timeout feature will allow IT administrators to set a tenant-wide timeout, determining which users will be signed out automatically after a certain elapsed inactivity on Microsoft 365.
Schedule Microsoft 365 training in 2021
There are a lot of changes for IT admins and decision-makers to introduce into their systems. Schedule Microsoft 365 training for your team today and stay abreast of upcoming changes. Speak to a NUMENTIS representative today. We provide online and onsite sessions for businesses in Oakville, Mississauga, Toronto, and surrounding areas.
