18May2020
15Apr2020
We need “MDATP Lite,” not full MDATP, in order to complete Defender’s value proposition in the SMB–and this is what it looks like
TL;DR: Just give me the device risk level with a description of "why" so I can follow up with potentially at-risk users. You can keep Advanced Hunting, etc. So many people I talk to in the SMB community think that they want MDATP. Well, it is available now as an independent...
24Mar2020
Limiting privilege is a process, not an event
In some past blogs I have highlighted the importance of devices in your security, management and compliance journey. Why do I harp on that? Because it is the starting point. The mantra takes various forms, but basically you cannot protect what you cannot see. This applies to devices of course, but...
19Mar2020
Microsoft 365 Business resources & community
Obviously the Microsoft 365 Business product gets quite a lot of attention on this blog, since it covers such a vast range of customer scenarios in the SMB space (defined as under 300 seats per the licensing framework). But in the interest of building out the community network a bit, and...
09Mar2020
Azure AD Premium P1 comes to Microsoft 365 Business; get ready…
I am calling it now--the Microsoft 365 Business SKU is going to be the most widely deployed 365 subscription someday (and perhaps soon). Maybe not by total number of seats, since the Enterprise has so many people in it, but certainly by number of customers/tenants (because there are MANY more...
09Mar2020
New Updates to the Office 365 Security Checklist and Guide, including Free eBook
With more years comes more wisdom (and more reader feedback helps)! As such, it was time to polish up the guide that kicked off this whole journey. This is a big update, and in a much more consumable format, I think. I am even renaming it to "The NEW Office...
04Mar2020
Migration paths to Microsoft 365: Devices before data??
I have literally written the book on this topic, but one question I did not directly address is the order in which you might migrate the various workloads from traditional infrastructure to Microsoft 365. First, just know that you can tackle your migration in whatever order works best for you, but...
26Feb2020
Reader Question: Differences between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Business
Hi Alex, I’m working on getting some of my clients over to M365 Business from O365 Business Premium. I’ve searched the web and I can’t seem to find a good explanation on the difference between Windows 10 Pro and Windows 10 Business. Is there a difference between Windows Defender in...
11Feb2020
Boost your security with Hybrid Azure AD Join: From Zero to Conditional Access in one afternoon
"Alex, I work at a non-profit and I would love to take advantage of the better security in Microsoft 365 Business (we have Business Premium now), but it sounds like it is for "cloud-only" customers? Is that right?? We are using Office 365 for Exchange, but we can't go cloud-only...
04Feb2020