11Feb2020
24Sep2019
Azure AD Device States, revisited
I have an older article on Azure AD Device States already, but I wanted to quickly return to this topic. I have a few in the audience who are still confused about this. Notice the "Join type" column corresponding to the device state Azure AD Registered - A machine that shows...
03Jul2019
Should I set my password policy to never expire?
I had some people contact me about this after my Azure AD best practices guide for the SMB dropped. Microsoft has been saying to get rid of password expiration. They even award you more Secure Score points if you follow their advice and trash it. In fact, I personally have...
08Apr2019
Managing Hybrid Exchange environments: a Cheat Sheet
Office 365 Exchange Online is pretty simple to manage if you are a "cloud-only" organization. Especially now that many edits can be made easily via the Microsoft 365 admin center, without even going into the Exchange Online admin area, separately. But, for those of us who are still tethered to a...
12Dec2018
Adding Hybrid Exchange in retrospect (post-migration)
Sometimes organizations that have already migrated email to Office 365 using a third party tool or a cutover method would like to "go hybrid" and install Azure AD Connect after the fact. Usually the driving factors here are password sync and Single Sign-On with the local domain. To their disappointment,...
17Sep2018
Enable the Archive Mailbox and modify the default retention policy (for cloud-only and hybrid users)
In any subscription that includes Exchange Online Archiving, such as Office 365 E3 or Microsoft 365 Business (as well as any subscription to which the Archiving add-on is applied), it is possible to enable an unlimited storage container for those hoarders out there, known as an archive mailbox. I'm looking...
09Nov2017
Migrate from Windows Server Essentials with Azure AD integration to Windows Server Standard and Azure AD Connect
I have a love-hate relationship with Windows Server Essentials. It's a great product with a lot of goodness baked in, but there are some real limits to it as well. On the one hand, Remote Web Access, Client PC backup, the Azure Recovery plugins, and so on, add a TON...
12Oct2017
Comparing Single Sign-On Options with Azure AD Connect
Azure AD Connect offers customers a number of ways to enable a "Single Sign-On" (or SSO) experience for users. I think it is important to understand the differences in these options, so that when you deploy Azure AD Connect into customer environments, you can pick the right solution to suit...
15Jun2017
How to migrate from Office 365 Essentials Dashboard Integration to Azure AD Connect
As we've previously discussed on this blog, Windows Server Essentials comes with the ability to integrate with Azure AD & Office 365, using the Essentials Dashboard plugin. It is important to know that this technology is very different from the more widely adopted Azure AD Connect. Â While there is nothing...
08Jun2017