Month: November 2023

Microsoft Loop is described as a co-creation experience that brings together teams, content, and tasks across your tools and devices. It is essentially a virtual workspace where teams can collaborate on projects, share documents and ideas, and keep track of tasks and deadlines.

It’s made up of three key parts which are Loop components, Loop pages, and Loop workspaces.

Loop components are portable pieces of content that stay in sync across all of the places they have been shared regardless of where they are being updated. So, you can think of Loop components as being building blocks of content, so things like tables, lists, and paragraphs. When you create a Loop component such as a table, you can share that in Microsoft Teams, Outlook, or Word, and regardless of which application your colleagues update that table in it is going to remain in sync across all places. The idea with Loop components is that Loop is not another tool you have to learn but rather is providing a platform for people to use whichever Microsoft collaboration tool they prefer to work with, without sacrificing productivity that is impacted by having to switch between multiple applications or dealing with content that is out of sync.

Loop pages are flexible canvases where you can organise the components and pull in information such as links, files, or data.

Loop workspaces group together the Loop pages so you can have all relevant content to a particular project or purpose in a central workspace.

The Loop app is now available in public preview and is where you can access all these three parts of Microsoft Loop. The Loop app is going to help you organise everything that’s needed for particular projects into a single workspace. Before the Microsoft Loop app was available, Loop components would all be stored in your OneDrive but in different folders depending on the application that was used to create the Loop component. With the Loop app, this is now going to be centrally available in one place. It also helps you find content that’s relevant to the project you’re creating the workspace for. When you create a new workspace in Loop and give it a title, you can add keywords and based on those keywords it’s going to suggest content and documents that could be relevant for you to include in the workspace.

Collaboration

You can collaborate with others by either sharing an entire workspace (which will include all the Loop pages and Loop components), or you can choose to share individual pages or Loop components. For example, you might be working on a Loop page with just a few people but you might want input or feedback from a wider group on a particular table in the Loop page. In this scenario, you can just share a component, so you can just share the table or the task list they can update it will sync to your Loop page if you make changes in the Loop app it’s going to sync to the table that they have in their Teams, Outlook, or Word so you can collaborate on that specific piece of content without needing to share your entire page or your workspace.

There is a presence indicator in Loop, much like in the other M365 apps, so you can see if your colleagues are also actively working on a Loop page or component.

Versioning is also available in Loops, so if somebody messes up your content or makes changes you don’t like, you can easily revert to previous versions.

Templates

Currently, there are 10 templates that you can use when you create a new Loop page which include project planning templates, meeting notes, issue trackers, product wikis, etc with pre-designed layouts and components to get you started.

If you’re starting with a blank page and you can type a forward slash which will bring up a list of all the components you can add to your page such as a table, a bullet point list, an image, etc.

Copilot in Loop

Copilot will be coming to Microsoft Loop, so we are then starting with a blank page you can use Copilot to spark inspiration to get you started. There will be four options, Create, Brainstorm, Blueprint, and Describe, and Copilot will generate content based on what you ask it to create. One of the cool features of this is that you can continue to work with Copilot on the content even after it’s generated the initial text, so for example, you could use Copilot to generate a paragraph, and if your colleague who you are collaborating with has ideas for improvements, such as making the content more concise, then could ask Copilot to make the changes and continue to work with it.

Multi-Geo

Multi-Geo enables customers to expand their Microsoft 365 presence to multiple regions or countries within an existing Microsoft 365 tenant while meeting data residency requirements. The SKU allows a customer to relocate a user’s data to a specific regional datacenter (known as a satellite geography location). Per General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements, the user’s data isn’t copied in the original geo the user was in. The relocated user data is limited to a user’s mailbox, OneDrive, and Teams chat data.

• M365 Multi-Geo add-on SKU for CSP will be available June 1st, 2023
• 1 year commit, 3 year commit, and 1 month trial available
• These are user-level add-on licenses. Partners will need a subscription license for each user to be hosted in a customer’s Satellite Geography location in their Microsoft 365 tenant
• Customers must purchase enough add-on licenses to cover at least 5% of the customers total number of eligible seats
  • A: 200x M365 E3 seats – must purchase at least 10 multi-geo seats
  • B: 1000x M365 E3 seats – must purchase at least 50 multi-geo seats. Alt. if they only wanted 25 multi-geo seats they could set up a separate tenant for the e3 subscription with <500 users to meet the 5% requirement.

Price Alignment

Microsoft is implementing a defined cadence to its existing process of aligning Microsoft Cloud pricing globally to US dollar levels and OnPrem pricing across regions. This is to ensure customers across different geographies and currencies will have consistent pricing. Price alignment will happen at semi-annual intervals, every September and February starting September 1^st, 2023.

• Microsoft will adjust pricing resulting from local currency fluctuations to align with global US dollar pricing.
• Pricing may be raised or lowered to align with global USD pricing.
• Not all local currencies will be impacted in each semi-annual cycle.
• Local currency fluctuations will be observed between adjustment periods.
• Impacted currencies will be announced up to 60 days ahead of the price change effective date.
• Notification to partners and customers of price list changes will follow our typical process and timeline with 30 day price list preview where required.
• Percentage changes will be announced on Partner Center up to 60 days ahead of the new price effective date.
• Azure subscribers will receive a price change e-mail notification approximately 30 days ahead of the price change.

If you would like any more information on Microsoft Loop please do not hesitate to contact us here.

Employee effectiveness is key to business success. When your people can do the right things well, you’ll see improved results. That leads to the question: How can businesses improve employee effectiveness? A managed service provider (MSP) can help your employees meet their goals effectively and efficiently.

Supporting employee effectiveness

To perform effectively, your employees first need a couple of things from you. It’s up to your business to provide the tools your people need to get their jobs done right, and that’s where an MSP can help.

The MSP’s role in employee effectiveness

Set your employees up for greater effectiveness from day one. This starts with provisioning your staff with the right technology to do their work. Whether your teams are on-site, remote, or in a hybrid of both, you’ll typically need to provide IT devices.

An MSP can track your IT inventory to know what’s needed. They can also meet with new hires to set them up online (on- or off-premises). Their experts can walk employees through the remote-working tools to support effective communication and collaboration from day one. The MSP may also provide remote monitoring services, which can secure personal devices your employees use for their work.

Many businesses today have moved to the cloud. This can be a change for some people. With an MSP, you can offer the flexibility of cloud computing as a low-friction experience for your users. The MSP’s experts can secure your cloud environment, plus, they can manage vendors and track licensing. They can also take charge of software and hardware updates, keeping you secure while scheduling patches and upgrades to maximize uptime.

Having ready access to the MSP’s IT expertise can also simplify troubleshooting. Free up your own technology experts to focus on more value-add business initiatives. Meanwhile, the MSP’s people can provide support for employee tech issues at any time of the day. Reducing tech disruptions not only enhances effectiveness but also boosts employee satisfaction, especially when the employee can count on a single point of contact for their IT concerns. Enjoy working with someone who already knows your business systems and processes.

Finally, the MSP can work to protect your business from unexpected downtime. If the worst does happen, you know you already have someone on your team to get you back up and running sooner. MSPs can also help you create a disaster recovery plan and ensure you have data backups in place.

Make an MSP your IT Partner

The right technology can improve employee effectiveness. The best business tools also boost employee satisfaction, which can counter costly turnover.

Don’t risk the inefficiency that comes with unhappy and unmotivated team members. Empower your employees for success by partnering with our IT experts today. Contact us here

The advent of modern data has offered many advantages, yet all that data also presents a formidable challenge: data sprawl. When you lose control of your data, you risk compromising productivity, security, and compliance. This article shares strategies to help you address the thorny issue of data sprawl.

What does data sprawl look like?

You’re probably dealing with data sprawl if any of the following sound familiar:

• Your business loses track of crucial files.
• You don’t know who has access to what information.
• Employees use both personal and business tech to do work.
• People repeat work that’s already done.
• You can’t keep track of file revisions or who still needs to comment or edit.
• Employees leave necessary files at home on days when they work in the office.
• People send themselves emails with important files to ensure remote access.
• Various departments use different applications, which siloes data.

These examples capture what it’s like to try and work amidst data sprawl. These issues drain productivity and waste resources. Data sprawl can also leave you open to cybersecurity vulnerabilities and compliance concerns. After all, you can’t back up or recover data you don’t know exists in the first place.

Instilling a sense of order in your data

Regain visibility to control support, streamline processes, enhance security, and improve efficiency. The following strategies can help.

#1 Audit your data

Start tackling your data sprawl situation by mapping out your existing data landscape. Thoroughly assess your data sources, storage locations, and data repositories. Once you have an idea of where your data is:

• Categorize it by importance, frequency of use, and/or sensitivity.
• Identify and clean up redundant or obsolete data.
• Create a data catalog to improve visibility.
• Install access controls and permissions.
• Encrypt sensitive data.
• Establish clear data-governance policies.
• Train employees on data management best practices.

#2 Use cloud storage

Employees now work on-site, at home, and in other remote locations, or perhaps all three, which often causes data sprawl. A staffer might use their desktop computer in your office but their personal laptop at home. Even if everyone works in the same place, they might use desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.

Migrating to the cloud provides access to centralized storage. Avoid version-control concerns with everyone accessing the same data, no matter where they are. You can also ensure data is securely backed up, no matter the user’s device.

#3 Install cloud applications

Another way to keep employees on the same page is to give everyone access to the same business tools. For instance, Microsoft Office or Google Workspace can simplify communication and collaboration, especially in a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) workplace. Cloud-based tools can create cohesion, as everyone logs into the same software to get their jobs done.

#4 Prioritize data control

In a data sprawl situation, it’s easy to lose track of where data lives and who has access to it. Then, when you move on to that next project, you might leave that old data unattended. If it’s breached, you might not even know.

Instead, track and log data to understand what’s where and who can get at it. When a project is over, have a policy in place for properly archiving or deleting data that is no longer needed.

Create a more structured and organized data environment

Is data overwhelming your business? Our IT experts can help. Contact us here to support your data management strategies. We’ll get to know your systems and provide strategies to effectively combat data sprawl.