Cloud Conversations: MS-700 Managing Microsoft Teams Exam Guide (Recording)

I had the honor of joining the incredible Peter Rising and Azure McFarlane for a recent episode of Cloud Conversations to discuss, among many things, the recent release of our MS-700 exam guide’s second edition. Successfully passing the MS-700 exam will earn you the Microsoft Teams Administrator Associate certification.

Check out the recording here or embedded below. And be sure to connect with Cloud Conversations socially:

The second edition of our popular MS-700 exam guide is available to buy now:

Hands-On Microsoft Teams by João Ferreira (Review)

Microsoft MVP João Ferreira released the second edition of a new Microsoft Teams guide in late December 2021, making his one of the most up-to-date Teams books currently available. Other books available, such as my MS-700 exam guide, are geared exclusively towards certification and administrator responsibilities. João’s book reaches a broader audience, sharing important information every Teams user should know.

What I feel really adds value in this book is João provides more than just how-to. You’ll find scenarios and examples throughout the book in which João describes how particular features and tools are used in realistic business scenarios. You’ll also find more than theoretical information because of João’s step-by-step guidance through specific tasks, such as how to create a new team from a template.

And while it’s important to know how to create a team and channels, João takes it a further step to make sure readers not only understand the steps involved, but also the implications in the background. For example, when readers create a team they’ll discover the other Microsoft 365 group resources that are built to support that team simultaneously.

Contents of Hands-On Microsoft Teams

João uses the first chapter to walk readers through various versions of Teams (including desktop apps for Windows, Linux, and macOS, mobile apps, and web apps) and introduce basic concepts (what is a team, what is a channel, etc.). Readers are also shown how different plans affect limits and abilities within your organization.

After the first chapter, readers of all skill levels and interests are led more in depth into topics of interest including:

  • Core topics like how chats, meetings, search, and data storage work
  • Chats and conversation abilities and nuances
  • Using meetings, webinars, and live events (including newer features like registration and attendance reports)
  • Channel types (including the newer Shared channel type) and team governance
  • Teams templates (including administrator setup)
  • Microsoft Viva (all four current modules including Connections, Insights, Topics, and Learning)
  • Microsoft Teams use cases including frontline and personal use (arguably one of the most valuable chapters)
  • Extending Microsoft Teams using apps and understanding personal apps
  • Enabling and implementing custom apps, including using Power Automate and Power Apps with Teams

And the final few chapters (11-13) cover more advanced topics to take Teams usage and administration to the next level including:

  • Building apps and bots using the developer portal, QnA maker, and Power Virtual Agents
  • And lastly, using PowerShell to help administer Teams

Conclusion

João has put together a clear and concise reference guide packed with realistic scenarios and ideas you could refer to regularly. This guide will also be a great gift for co-workers, new hires, and even seasoned administrators since there is truly content for all levels in this book. Personally, I really appreciated that João made sure this new release also included newer features, such as Shared channels, ensuring it’s the most up-to-date Teams reference possible.

And be sure to connect with author João Ferreira on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on his community contributions and any future projects.

Disclaimer: I was provided a digital copy of this book in exchange for consideration of providing a review. Also, as an Amazon affiliate, I earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

Get cooking with Microsoft 365: Two M365 “cookbooks” from Packt to add to your shelf

I recently had the privilege to write a Microsoft 365 administration cookbook for Packt intended for M365 administrators. “Cookbooks” take a large topic, like M365 administration, and divide it into major subject areas each with their own set of “recipes” or step-by-step guides to complete popular tasks.

My friends Gaurav Mahajan and Sudeep Ghatak also wrote an M365 cookbook for Packt that is written for the end-user audience. I was honored to be able to write a foreword for their book, and am impressed with the amount of knowledge they’ve captured and shared in their nearly 800-page cookbook.

  • M365 and SharePoint Online Cookbook – Buy Here
  • O365 Administration Cookbook – Buy Here

More information on each can be found below:

Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Online Cookbook

Embrace modern solutions to enhance collaboration, teamwork, robotic process automation, and business intelligence in your organization using powerful Microsoft 365 services (formerly Office 365)

Key Features

  • Gain a complete overview of popular Microsoft 365 services using practical recipes and expert insights
  • Collaborate with your team and external users effectively using SharePoint and Teams
  • Create no-code and low-code solutions, such as bots, forms, dashboards, and workflows, using the Power platform

Book Description

Microsoft 365 in an integrated suite that provides intelligent tools for managing everyday organizational tasks like content management, communication, creating reports, and automating business processes. With this book, you’ll get to grips with popular apps from Microsoft, with a focus on enabling workspace collaboration and productivity using Microsoft SharePoint Online, Teams, and the Power Platform to name a few.

In addition to guiding you through the implementation of Microsoft 365 apps, this practical guide helps you to learn from a Microsoft consultant’s extensive experience of working with the Microsoft business suite. Starting with a quick overview of the M365 ecosystem, the book covers recipes for implementing SharePoint Online for various content management tasks. You’ll learn how to create sites for your organization and enhance collaboration across the business and then see how you can boost productivity with apps such as Microsoft Teams, Power Platform, Planner, Delve, and M365 Groups. Using a step-by-step approach, you’ll also find out how to use the Power Platform efficiently, making the most of Microsoft PowerApps, Power Automate, PowerBI, and Power Virtual Agents. Finally, the book focuses on the SharePoint framework, which helps you to build custom Teams and SharePoint solutions.

By the end of the book, you’ll be equipped with the skills required to set up Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Online and be ready to enhance business productivity using a variety of tools.

What you will learn

  • Get to grips with a wide range of apps and cloud services in Microsoft 365
  • Discover ways to use SharePoint Online to create and manage content
  • Store and share documents using SharePoint Online
  • Improve your search experience with Microsoft Search
  • Leverage the Power Platform to build business solutions with Power Automate, Power Apps, Power BI, and Power Virtual Agents
  • Enhance native capabilities in SharePoint and Teams using the SPFx framework
  • Use Microsoft Teams to meet, chat, and collaborate with colleagues or external users

Who this book is for

This book is for business professionals, IT administrators, enterprise developers and architects, and anyone who wants to get to grips with using M365 for effective implementation of Microsoft apps. Prior experience with Office 365 and SharePoint will assist with understanding the recipes effortlessly.

Table of Contents

  1. Overview of Microsoft 365
  2. Introduction to SharePoint Online
  3. Working with Modern Sites in SharePoint Online
  4. Working with Lists and Libraries in SharePoint Online
  5. Document Management in SharePoint
  6. Term Store and Content Types in SharePoint Online
  7. OneDrive for Business
  8. Search in Microsoft 365
  9. Office Delve
  10. Microsoft 365 Groups
  11. Microsoft Teams
  12. Yammer – The Enterprise Social Network
  13. Power Automate (Microsoft Flow)
  14. PowerApps
  15. Power BI
  16. Power Virtual Agents
  17. Planner
  18. Custom Development – SharePoint Framework
  19. Microsoft 365 on Mobile
  20. Appendix

Microsoft Office 365 Administration Cookbook

Make the most out of your investment in Office 365 apps and services with this Microsoft Office cookbook

Key Features

  • Learn how to manage and secure the entire Office 365 stack in addition to specific services
  • Delve into newer and frequently shifting areas such as Power Platform, Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Search administration
  • Discover carefully selected techniques that cover a range of administrative tasks of varying difficulty levels

Book Description

Organizations across the world have switched to Office 365 to boost workplace productivity. However, to maximize investment in Office 365, you need to know how to efficiently administer Office 365 solutions.

Microsoft Office 365 Administration Cookbook is packed with recipes to guide you through common and not so common administrative tasks throughout Office 365. Whether you’re administering a single app such as SharePoint or organization-wide Security & Compliance across Office 365, this cookbook offers a variety of recipes that you’ll want to have to hand. The book begins by covering essential setup and administration tasks. You’ll learn how to manage permissions for users and user groups along with automating routine admin tasks using PowerShell. You’ll then progress through to managing core Office 365 services such as Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, and Azure Active Directory (AD). This book also features recipes that’ll help you to manage newer services such as Microsoft Search, Power Platform, and Microsoft Teams. In the final chapters, you’ll delve into monitoring, reporting, and securing your Office 365 services.

By the end of this book, you’ll have learned to manage individual Office 365 services along with monitoring, securing, and optimizing your entire Office 365 deployment efficiently.

What you will learn

  • Get to grips with basic Office 365 setup and routine administration tasks
  • Manage Office 365 identities and groups efficiently and securely
  • Harness the capabilities of PowerShell to automate common administrative tasks
  • Configure and manage core Office 365 services such as Exchange Online, SharePoint, and OneDrive
  • Configure and administer fast-evolving services such as Microsoft Search, Power Platform, Microsoft Teams, and Azure AD
  • Get up and running with advanced threat protection features provided by the Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance Center
  • Protect your organization’s sensitive data with Office 365 Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
  • Monitor activities and behaviors across all Office 365 services

Who This Book Is For

This book is for newer Office 365 administrators and IT pros alike, and comes with recipes of varying difficulty levels along with step-by-step guidance. Whether you are new to Office 365 administration or just seeking new ideas, this cookbook contains recipes to enhance your organization’s app and service management and productivity.

My MS-101 Exam Study Guide Book

Earlier this year, in January 2019, I wrote an MS-100 and MS-101 exams study guide blog post linking to resources to help people prep for both exams. MS-101 in particular seemed to have less available for it, and I jumped at the opportunity to change that. I’m pleased today to be able to add my own, new exam prep book to the listing.

My exam prep guide for MS-101: Microsoft 365 Mobility & Security covers every single objective in the exam description and offers mock questions to help check and solidify learning along the way. Passing MS-101 is a step toward becoming an M365 Certified Enterprise Administrator Expert.

You can currently buy my guide on Amazon or directly through my publisher, Packt.

Get up to speed with planning, deploying, and managing Microsoft Office 365 services and gain the skills you need to pass the MS-101 exam

Key Features

  • Explore everything from mobile device management and compliance,through to data governance and auditing
  • Get to grips with using Azure advanced threat protection and Azure information protection
  • Learn effectively through exam-focused practice exercises and mock tests

Book Description

Exam MS-101: Microsoft 365 Mobility and Security is a part of the Microsoft 365 Certified: Enterprise Administrator Expert certification path designed to help users validate their skills in evaluating, planning, migrating, deploying, and managing Microsoft 365 services. This book will help you implement modern device services, apply Microsoft 365 security and threat management, and manage Microsoft 365 governance and compliance. Written in a succinct way, you’ll explore chapter-wise self-assessment questions, exam tips, and mock exams with answers.

You’ll start by implementing mobile device management (MDM) and handling device compliance. You’ll delve into threat detection and management, learning how to manage security reports and configure Microsoft 365 alerts. Later, you’ll discover data loss prevention (DLP) tools to protect data as well as tools for configuring audit logs and policies. The book will also guide you through using Azure Information Protection (AIP) for deploying clients, applying policies, and configuring services and users to enhance data security. Finally, you’ll cover best practices for configuring settings across your tenant to ensure compliance and security.

By the end of this book, you’ll have learned to work with Microsoft 365 services and covered the concepts and techniques you need to know to pass the MS-101 exam.

What you will learn

  • Implement modern device services
  • Discover tools for configuring audit logs and policies
  • Plan, deploy, and manage Microsoft 365 services such as MDM and DLP
  • Get up to speed with configuring eDiscovery settings and features to enhance your organization’s ability to mitigate and respond to issues
  • Implement Microsoft 365 security and threat management
  • Explore best practices for effectively configuring settings

Who this book is for

This book is for IT professionals looking to pass the Microsoft 365 Mobility and Security certification exam. System administrators and network engineers interested in mobility, security, compliance, and supporting technologies will also benefit from this book. Some experience with Microsoft 365, Exchange servers, and PowerShell is necessary.

Table of Contents

  1. Implementing Mobile Device Management (MDM)
  2. Managing Device Compliance
  3. Planning for Devices and Apps
  4. Planning Windows 10 Deployment
  5. Implementing Cloud App Security (CAS)
  6. Implementing Threat Management
  7. Implementing Windows Defender ATP
  8. Managing Security Reports and Alerts
  9. Configuring Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
  10. Implementing Azure Information Protection (AIP)
  11. Managing Data Governance
  12. Managing Auditing
  13. Managing eDiscovery
  14. Mock Exam 1
  15. Mock Exam 2

Sharing my ABCs at the Kansas City Office 365 User Group Jan 14, 2019

If you’re in the Kansas City area, register for the Jan 14th KC O365 User Group meeting. They meet at Water One (10747 Renner Boulevard in Lenexa). I’ll be giving away a signed copy of my book in a drawing, and selling additional copies (also signed) for $10 (cash or card).


Can’t make it in person?  Register for the live webinar!

[gotowebinar-reg key=”2302658119965440781″]

Book: The ABCs of SharePoint: 26 ways SharePoint can enhance your digital workplace

My first book is an expanded, more in-depth version of my 100th blog post and will be a great resource for those new to SharePoint or looking for new ideas. So, in other words, take it to Thanksgiving dinner and pass it around so you don’t have to repeatedly explain SharePoint to your family and friends.

{Insert Name}: “SharePoint? What…is that like PowerPoint?”
{You}: …”Yes.”

 Based on his 100th blog post, Nate Chamberlain presents “The ABCs of SharePoint: 26 ways SharePoint can enhance your digital workplace”. Can you think of something in SharePoint for every letter of the alphabet? This book will help you fill the gaps teach you more about things you could implement in your own existing SharePoint environments. From Automation to Zone Templates, Nate shares 26 features and topics that set SharePoint apart from any other collaborative platform.

Order Paperback                  Order E-Book