Yammer – Keith Tuomi – Office 365 & SharePoint Consultant

Office 365 Internet Zone Settings

Written by Keith Tuomi on August 1, 2017. Posted in Delve, Flow, Groups, Lync, Office 365, OneDrive for Business, Outlook, Performance, Planner, Power Apps, Power BI, SharePoint, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business, TechNet, Video, Yammer, Yammer. Leave a Comment

This is a follow-up to my 2015 post about the recommended IE Internet Security Zone settings for maximum user authentication happiness.

On the post https://tuomi.ca/2014/06/23/overcoming-sticky-logouts-office-365-azure-windows-intune-web-browser/, I tried to rationalize IE security settings relating to Office 365.

Here’s a good explanation of why we should care, as quoted from the more recent MSFT post:
“Starting with Windows Vista , Internet Explorer has a new security zone protection feature, called protected mode, and that is set up by default for Internet, Intranet and Restricted Security zones.

Understanding and Working in Protected Mode Internet Explorer

The effect of the protected mode is that the sites in these zones will not have access to the folders available to other application (i.e. data available in other zones). This means the cookies available for one session for a site in a Protected mode zone will not be accessible to a site that resides in a separate zone (and the other way around), which will trigger behind the scene repeated authentication attempts.”

Net result: persistent login prompts, hair pulling, annoyances. The fix? Either manually or through group policy, apply the following settings to your Windows workstations:

Trusted Sites Zone:
https://*.microsoftonline.com
https://*.sharepoint.com
https://*.sharepointonline.com
https://*.outlook.com
https://*.lync.com
https://*.office365.com
https://*.office.com
https://*.microsoftstream.com
https://*.sway.com
https://*.powerapps.com
https://*.yammer.com

Intranet Zone:
*.microsoftonline.com
*.sharepoint.com
*.sharepointonline.com
*.outlook.com
*.lync.com
*.office365.com
*.office.com
*.microsoftstream.com
*.sway.com
*.powerapps.com

References:
https://blogs.technet.microsoft.com/victorbutuza/2016/06/20/o365-internet-explorer-protected-mode-and-security-zones/ – Latest new URL’s added e.g. PowerApps.com
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2507767/problems-when-signing-out-of-office-365–azure–or-intune-in-a-web-bro – Original official reference.

Microsoft Ignite Conference: Day 3 Round-Up

Written by Keith Tuomi on May 14, 2015. Posted in Administrator, Authentication, Best Practices, Cloud, Conferences, Delve, Development, Groups, Ignite, MS Ignite Conference 2015, Office 365, OneDrive for Business, OneNote 2013, Search, SharePoint Online, Visio 2013, Yammer, Yammer. Leave a Comment

I’ll kick off Day 3’s post with another imprint of pure experience. Scale- On-premise, Cloud, Global, Local. The rush/distraction/tunnel vision of being one of 23,000+ people moving through the Microsoft Ignite conference, contrasted with simple but essential logistics like bio-breaks and food, are a big parallel for me to the distinct juncture we are at in technology: empower everyone at a mass scale, but make sure the human details are taken care of, and that everyone has a voice.

The entrance hall may resemble a slightly above average shopping mall scene for most, but in context, on the ground, it was more like the entrance to a spaceship waiting to take off:

Existential experiences aside, I waited a full 5 minutes for cell phone guy to abandon his hostile takeover of Microsoft (pleading eye contact included), and finally realized that was 5 minutes I would never get back, so I snapped my obligatory “largest Expo Hall ever” pic:

Really, words don’t help much with describing the scale of this event. 23,000 of the world’s finest Microsoft-oriented IT professionals in not one, but two Conference centers daisy-chained together. Being from Canada, the SCALE of business in America is always impressive- this time it was the hammer of Thor (axe of Abe Lincoln?). There were numerous, well-attended core educational/interactive groups with all the best of the Microsoft team providing direct interaction with attendees. These were no tradeshow stunt doubles, but really the actual program leads and people who make things move at Microsoft. Super high quality interactions all over the floor.

TechNet is my bible, which would make Joanne & KC here (Senior Content Writers for Microsoft), pretty high up in the toga-wearing department:

Aside from the separate, colossal pool of core Microsoft and Partner & Vendor talent present in the Expo Hall, here’s the top sessions from day 3, on the SharePoint/Office 365 tip (with some guest appearances from OneNote & Visio, as I love both):

Whats New for IT Professionals in SharePoint Server 2016

“Engineering paths directly influenced by SP Uservoice” See: https://sharepoint.uservoice.com/forums/282887-customer-feedback-for-sharepoint-server
“Durable Links- permalinks based on resource ID. Move Docs freely, URL stays the same”
“No downtime CU patching”
“OneDrive integration big priority for Engineering team”

This article describes initial investments made in installation and deployment of SharePoint Server 2016: http://blogs.technet.com/b/wbaer/archive/2015/05/12/what-s-new-in-sharepoint-server-2016-installation-and-deployment.aspx

MinRole for the win!!

Embrace the BYOD Revolution: Effectively Manage a Multi-Device, Multi-Generational Workforce

A major business transformation is brewing in the enterprise today. Mobile technologies, business velocity, geographically dispersed and multi-generational workforce are converging to deliver the promise of responsive organizations. Organizations that miss this paradigm shift will face dire consequences. How can you effectively manage this shift, ensure that it will be sustainable and reap the benefits of being a responsive organization? In this session, learn how to apply practical steps and effective techniques to manage your multi-device and multi-generational workforce.

MVP Panel: Sample Apps and Intelligent Solutions Showcasing Office Graph and Delve Extensibility

Preparing for a meeting, but not sure what documents are relevant? Writing a proposal and looking for similar documents to help you out? Interested in what your colleagues are working on to stay updated? With the new Office Graph, answers to those questions are within your reach. In this demo-packed session, we show you how the Office Graph works and how it can be used when building custom apps and enriching existing solutions and portals. All scenarios are backed up by real-life solutions that you could use in your organization.

Microsoft Ignite Conference: Day 2 Round-Up

Written by Keith Tuomi on May 14, 2015. Posted in Administrator, Best Practices, Cloud, Delve, Groups, Ignite, Office 365, Taxonomy, Training, Tuesday May 5, Uncategorized, Yammer. Leave a Comment

Day 2 started off with a walk to the shuttle bus under the looming John Hancock building. Infrastructure into the Cloud, this pic worked out well as a deep ol’ metaphor 🙂 :

Here’s some of the most awesome SharePoint/Office 365 sessions from Day 2:

There are over 150 Day 2 sessions available for immediate viewing.

Source: Microsoft Ignite Day 2 Sessions On-Demand

Here’s my takeaways from the sessions I had scheduled:

Microsoft Office 365 Groups Overview and Roadmap

“It’s not an email, it’s a conversation.”
Dynamics CRM and Group’s integration.

Office 365 Groups helps you collaborate by easily bringing together your colleagues and the applications you need to get work done. Office 365 Groups leverages a standard definition for team membership and permissions across Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and later Skype for Business, Yammer and the rest of Office 365, managed through Microsoft Azure Active Directory. This session provides an overview of Office 365 Groups, demonstrates its capabilities today, and provides a roadmap for future investments.

Designing and Applying Information Architecture for Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365

Provide Clear Guidance
Make it Easy
Keep it Simple, Stupid
Define > Design > Implement > Govern

This session demonstrates a proven process for defining, designing, implementing, and governing your information architecture (IA). IA is more than just columns and metadata. Learn how the different components available in SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365 can be leveraged to their fullest potential and your users’ ultimate benefit to content organization and discovery.

Managing Change in an Office 365 Rapid Release World

Selective First Release! Roll out first release changes to selected users only. ’nuff said.

Before moving to Microsoft Office 365, your team planned each and every change or update before your users saw anything new or different. Now in a services-first world, changes are introduced at a rapid pace, sometimes before you or your help desk may be prepared. Office 365 provides communications to help you manage change, stay informed, and inform your users. Learn how to best use the Office 365 Message Center, Roadmap.office.com, and Success.office.com to get ahead of updates and help your business take advantage of the latest and greatest Office 365 has to offer.

Microsoft Office 365 Groups Deep Dive
Office 365 Groups helps you collaborate by easily bringing together your colleagues and the applications you need to get work done. Office 365 Groups leverages a standard definition for team membership and permissions across Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint, and later Skype for Business, Yammer, and the rest of Office 365, managed through Microsoft Azure Active Directory. This session follows the introduction session “Microsoft Office 365 Groups Overview and Roadmap,” and covers the following topics: architecture, administration, security and compliance, and extensibility.

All in all a great day- I was also lucky enough to be able to work at the Microsoft MVP Booth (in the “Microsoft on Microsoft” section of the Expo Hall). Very rewarding to answer questions about the MVP program and connect with people from around the world.

Enabling Yammer Access from Office 365 App Launcher

Written by Keith Tuomi on April 14, 2015. Posted in Office 365, Yammer. Leave a Comment

From the Microsoft Enterprise Social Service Updates group on Yammer :

We’ve always held the view that Yammer is the future of team collaboration in Office 365, and to that end we’ve been hard at work to make it easier than ever to get started with Yammer from Office 365. Over the past months, we’ve made it possible for users to use their Office 365 credentials to sign in to Yammer, manage access to Yammer via Azure Active Directory, and — for organizations that choose Yammer as their default social experience in SharePoint Online — access Yammer from the Office 365 navigation bar.

Today we are simplifying the process to enable Yammer access from Office 365. As of April 19, 2015, the Yammer tile will show up in the Office 365 app launcher when your organization activates Yammer Enterprise. This is similar to how the Sites tile shows up in the app launcher for users with access to SharePoint.

Read on to find out if your organization needs to take additional steps in advance of this change:

If your organization has already activated Yammer Enterprise through the Office 365 admin portal as described here, there is no action required. Soon eligible users who are licensed for Yammer will start seeing the Yammer tile in their Office 365 app launcher.

If your organization selected Yammer as the default social experience through the SharePoint Online admin portal, the Yammer tile already shows up in the Office 365 app launcher for eligible users. However, your Office 365 admin will need to take the additional step of activating Yammer Enterprise through the Office 365 admin portal if they have not already done so. Without this additional step, the Yammer tile will no longer appear in the Office 365 app launcher for eligible users. Please see these step by step instructions to activate Yammer Enterprise through the Office 365 admin portal.

To understand more about the SharePoint social collaboration settings, click here.

If your organization wants Yammer as the Enterprise social collaboration experience, activate Yammer Enterprise through the Office 365 admin portal as described here.

Today’s update is an improvement on the existing process, aligned with our goal to make Yammer on by default for all eligible Office 365 customers in the future.