Speaker 1: Welcome back to the deep dive. Today we are tackling
Speaker 1: something huge, a really foundational look at Microsoft three sixty
Speaker 1: five and look, if you still think M three sixty
Speaker 1: five is just Word and Excel while you're missing some
Speaker 1: massive shifts and how businesses compute today.
Speaker 2: That's exactly right. M three sixty five isn't just a
Speaker 2: software bundle. It's really how cloud computing works in the
Speaker 2: enterprise world. Our goal today is to break down the
Speaker 2: key ideas cloud structure, flexibility, and crucially modern security, so
Speaker 2: you get the practical knowledge behind the whole platform.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's start at the beginning, the big economic change.
Speaker 1: So cloud computing, we usually define it as getting to
Speaker 1: your resources, storing your data all over the internet. It's
Speaker 1: delivered on demand, pay as you go pricing, and the
Speaker 1: key thing here it flips it spending from capex buying
Speaker 1: big servers to opex operational expenditure. Right.
Speaker 2: And what's really interesting is that the money side is
Speaker 2: also the strategy side. You're shifting it away from, you know,
Speaker 2: making big bets on hardware you hope.
Speaker 1: Last five years, yeah before a huge.
Speaker 2: Upgrade cost exactly two, a more dynamic subscription approach. It
Speaker 2: gets rid of those huge initial costs. No building data centers,
Speaker 2: buying racks of servers, worrying about power and cooling two
Speaker 2: and a four debit. You just pay for what you
Speaker 2: actually use and you get flexibility instantly.
Speaker 1: And that flexibility it depends on what three core engineering ideas.
Speaker 1: We should probably clarify those quickly because they really are
Speaker 1: the foundation for M three sixty five working reliably.
Speaker 2: Yeah, good idea. So first is high availability or HA. Basically,
Speaker 2: if one server goes down, another one just takes over immediately,
Speaker 2: no downtime for the user.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: Then there's elasticity. That's the system's ability to automatically add
Speaker 2: or remove resources like processing, power or storage to perfectly
Speaker 2: match what's needed. Right. Then, say you acquire a company
Speaker 2: and suddenly need ten thousand more teams users.
Speaker 1: You get them straight away, You get it instantly.
Speaker 2: And third is agility, right, agility, which is just the
Speaker 2: ability to adapt quickly, deploy new apps or services fast.
Speaker 2: Need a new test environment, you can spin it up
Speaker 2: in minutes, not week for months like the old days.
Speaker 2: These three things are one. M three sixty five can
Speaker 2: operate on a massive global scale.
Speaker 1: So once we get the scale and the flexibility of
Speaker 1: the cloud. Where does M three sixty five actually fit in?
Speaker 1: The sources talk about a cloud service stack kind of
Speaker 1: like layers, right, four main categories exactly.
Speaker 2: It's helpful to think of it as layers built on
Speaker 2: top of each other. It's all about who manages what,
Speaker 2: the provider or you, the customer. At the very bottom,
Speaker 2: you've got infrastructure as a service IAS. This is the
Speaker 2: basic building blocks virtual machines, networks, storage. The provider secures
Speaker 2: the physical stuff, but you manage the OS, the apps,
Speaker 2: the data.
Speaker 1: Okay. Then moving up a level, platform is.
Speaker 2: A service boss. This gives developers an environment to build
Speaker 2: and test applications without worrying about the underlying servers or
Speaker 2: operating systems. The cloud provider takes care of all that
Speaker 2: infrastructure management underneath.
Speaker 1: And then at the top where M three sixty five
Speaker 1: mostly operates, software is a service.
Speaker 2: Sauce sauce yep. This is where the provider hosts and
Speaker 2: maintains well pretty much everything, the app implication itself, the
Speaker 2: infrastructure it runs on, all the updates, the security patches.
Speaker 2: You the user, just access the software over the internet.
Speaker 2: That's the main model for M three sixty five.
Speaker 1: So If Sauce is the main delivery model, how does
Speaker 1: Microsoft actually bundle all this capability up so businesses can
Speaker 1: buy it and use it.
Speaker 2: Well, that's basically what Microsoft three sixty five is. It's
Speaker 2: a unified cloud subscription service. It bundles together the office
Speaker 2: apps we know, but also newer things like Teams, includes Windows,
Speaker 2: the operating system, and a whole sophisticated security layer. It's
Speaker 2: all designed to boost productivity, make collaboration easier, and keep
Speaker 2: things secure across all sorts of devices for any size
Speaker 2: of organization.
Speaker 1: And they have different subscription types for those different sizes.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, they slice the market pretty logically. You got M
Speaker 2: three sixty five Home for individuals and families, M three
Speaker 2: sixty five Education for schools, M three sixty five for business,
Speaker 2: which usually aims at smaller companies saved to three hundred people,
Speaker 2: and then M three sixty five Enterprise. That's for the
Speaker 2: big players who need the really robust security, compliance features,
Speaker 2: advance threat prevention, that kind of thing.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's shift focus to the user experience, productivity, collaboration,
Speaker 1: managing work. It's not just about opening word anymore, is it.
Speaker 1: It feels much more connected, almost AI driven totally.
Speaker 2: The classic tools Word, Excel, PowerPoint. They're now packed with
Speaker 2: AI features to help creativity. Think about Microsoft Editor checking
Speaker 2: your grammar as you type, or presenter coach in PowerPoint
Speaker 2: giving you feedback on your rehearsal. These aren't just static tools.
Speaker 2: They have intelligence built in to help you work faster
Speaker 2: and smarter.
Speaker 1: Now, one thing that often comes up is organizing work.
Speaker 1: Microsoft has several tools Project Planner to do even bookings.
Speaker 1: Why so many? How do you know which one to use?
Speaker 2: That's a really common and important question. It really is
Speaker 2: about using the right tool for the right job. So
Speaker 2: Microsoft Project that's your heavy hitter for complex projects, things
Speaker 2: with dependencies, critical path scheduling, think big construction projects or
Speaker 2: major product launches.
Speaker 1: Okay, the really complex stuff.
Speaker 2: That's right then Microsoft Planner. That's much more visual, collaborative,
Speaker 2: think simple boards, dragging tasks around. It's great for smaller
Speaker 2: team projects where you just need to see who's doing what.
Speaker 1: And for just yourself keeping track of your own tasks.
Speaker 2: That's Microsoft to do. It's your personal smart task list
Speaker 2: and the nice thing is it syncs up with Outlook,
Speaker 2: emails and tasks assigned to you in Planner. And lastly,
Speaker 2: Microsoft Bookings is purely for scheduling appointments with people outside
Speaker 2: your organization. It checks staff availability, integrates with Outlook calendars
Speaker 2: to avoid clashes.
Speaker 1: Makes sense, And the place where all this collaboration tends
Speaker 1: to happen now is, of course, Microsoft Teams.
Speaker 2: Teams is definitely the central hub. It pulls together chat, meetings, calls,
Speaker 2: and file sharing and a key point. Those files you
Speaker 2: share in Teams channels, they're actually stored securely in SharePoint
Speaker 2: on the back end, so you get all the robust
Speaker 2: version history and management capabilities of SharePoint behind the scenes
Speaker 2: and looking.
Speaker 1: At broader workplace challenges things like burnout, too many meetings information.
Speaker 1: Microsoft has introduced this thing called the Employee Experience Platform VIVA.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Viva is Microsoft kind of acknowledging that just being
Speaker 2: productive isn't enough. You need to empower people. It's built
Speaker 2: as modules inside Teams. Viva Connections is like your company's
Speaker 2: front door in team's personalized news resources company branding. Viva
Speaker 2: Topics uses AI to automatically surface knowledge and find experts.
Speaker 2: So if you see an unfamiliar acronym or project name,
Speaker 2: Topics might pop up a little card explaining it right there.
Speaker 2: In your workflow.
Speaker 1: I think Viva Insights is probably the one getting the
Speaker 1: most attention right now, maybe the most needed.
Speaker 2: I'd agree. Insights gives you data driven but privacy protected recommendations.
Speaker 2: It can help you see if you're constantly working late,
Speaker 2: or if your calendar is just jammed with back to
Speaker 2: back meetings. It's about using data to improve well being
Speaker 2: and spot potential burnout. Definitely not about spying on people.
Speaker 2: And finally, Viva Learning brings together all your company's training
Speaker 2: resources and external libraries into one place in teams.
Speaker 1: Okay, that naturally leads us into security. If productivity is
Speaker 1: the engine, security has got to be the chassis, the
Speaker 1: frame holding it all together. Let's start with the basic
Speaker 1: goals the CIA triad.
Speaker 2: Right, confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Confidentiality is about keeping secret
Speaker 2: secret preventing unauthorized access to data. Integrity means making sure
Speaker 2: the data is accurate and hasn't been messed with, and
Speaker 2: availability is simply ensuring that people can access the data
Speaker 2: when they need to. Almost every cyber attack is trying
Speaker 2: to undermine one or more of those.
Speaker 1: Now, when you move to M three sixty five, probably
Speaker 1: the single most critical concept people need to get is
Speaker 1: shared responsibility. Microsoft doesn't just take over all your security worries.
Speaker 2: Absolutely vital remember that service deck because mfree sixty five
Speaker 2: is mostly SaaS Microsoft handles the security of the cloud,
Speaker 2: the physical buildings, the hardware, the network controls, but the customer,
Speaker 2: you are still responsible for security in the cloud. That
Speaker 2: means your data, your endpoints, laptop's phones, and critically managing
Speaker 2: who has exis identity and access management.
Speaker 1: And to protect the parts you're responsible for. M three
Speaker 1: sixty five uses a couple of key architectural ideas. First
Speaker 1: one is defense in depth.
Speaker 2: Yeah, think of it like layers of an onion or
Speaker 2: a castle. You've got multiple layers of security controls physical
Speaker 2: security at the data center, then network firewalls, then controls
Speaker 2: on the servers, then application security, then finally protecting the
Speaker 2: data itself. The idea is if one layer fails, the
Speaker 2: next one might catch the threat.
Speaker 1: And what's really shifted is the perimeter. With people working
Speaker 1: from home using their own devices, bid the old idea
Speaker 1: of a secure network boundary the firewall, it's just not
Speaker 1: the main thing.
Speaker 2: Anymore, exactly right. The perimeter is moved today. The primary
Speaker 2: security perimeter is the identity of the user. Can you
Speaker 2: reliably prove who the user is, what device they're using,
Speaker 2: where they are. If you can verify those things, you
Speaker 2: have a basis for granting access no matter if they're
Speaker 2: inside or outside the old office network.
Speaker 1: Which leads us straight to the core security philosophy underpinning
Speaker 1: M three sixty five zero row trust. What's the main
Speaker 1: idea there?
Speaker 2: The mantra is simple, never trust, Always verify, or maybe
Speaker 2: trust no one. Verify everything. Even if someone is already
Speaker 2: logged into the network. You don't automatically trust them, you
Speaker 2: constantly verify. Zero trust is built on three main principles.
Speaker 1: Okay, let's quickly touch on those.
Speaker 2: First, verify explicitly, always authenticate and authorize based on all
Speaker 2: available data points user identity, location, device, health, the service
Speaker 2: they're trying to reach, data classification, and so on. Second, Second,
Speaker 2: use least privileged access. Get people only the minimum permissions
Speaker 2: they need to do their job and only for the
Speaker 2: time they need it. Think just in time JIT access
Speaker 2: or just enough administration JEA. And Third, third, assume breach.
Speaker 2: Don't assume your network is secure. Design your security assuming
Speaker 2: attackers are already inside or will get inside. This means
Speaker 2: segmenting networks, encrypting data, using analytics to spot anomalies quickly,
Speaker 2: and being ready to respond.
Speaker 1: But doesn't all that verification slow things down? How do
Speaker 1: you make it or trust practical without frustrating users?
Speaker 2: Ah, that's where automation is key, specifically through something called
Speaker 2: conditional access policies. These were essentially if then rules. If
Speaker 2: a user meets certain conditions like known device, secure location,
Speaker 2: then grant access, but if they try to access sensitive
Speaker 2: data from say an unknown network on an unmanaged device,
Speaker 2: then block access or require multi factor authentication. It automates
Speaker 2: the verification, making it seamless when things are normal, but
Speaker 2: stepping in when risk increases.
Speaker 1: Got it, And to actually implement all this protection, Microsoft
Speaker 1: has an integrated suite called Microsoft three sixty five Defender.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Defender isn't just one product, It's a suite design
Speaker 2: to work together, coordinating how threats are detected, prevented, investigated
Speaker 2: and responded to across your whole environment. You've got Defender
Speaker 2: Forry Identity, which looks at your active directory signals for
Speaker 2: signs of compromised accounts or insider threats. Okay, Defender for
Speaker 2: Office three sixty five protects against threats coming through email
Speaker 2: like phishing or malicious links shared in teams or shared point.
Speaker 2: Defender for endpoint lives on your device's laptops servers, providing antivirus,
Speaker 2: threat detection and automated investigation.
Speaker 1: Right there, and it goes beyond just the Microsoft stuff,
Speaker 1: doesn't it?
Speaker 2: Yes? Critically. Defender for cloud apps is what's known as
Speaker 2: a CASB, a cloud access security broker. It gives you
Speaker 2: visibility and control over all the cloud apps your organization uses,
Speaker 2: whether they're from Microsoft or other providers like Salesforce or Box.
Speaker 2: It helps manage risk across your entire sauce landscape.
Speaker 1: And just quickly, let's define the two core identity terms,
Speaker 1: authentication and authorization.
Speaker 2: Sure authentication author is proving who you are, usually user
Speaker 2: name and password, but ideally more authorization auth Z is
Speaker 2: figuring out what you're allowed to do. Once you've proven
Speaker 2: who you are, what files you can see, what actions
Speaker 2: you can take. And for strong authentication, multi factor authentication
Speaker 2: MFA is essential. Something you know password, something you have
Speaker 2: phone apps, security key, or something you are fingerprint face
Speaker 2: scam okay.
Speaker 1: Final section management operations compliance managing all the devices connecting
Speaker 1: to m through sixty five, Windows, Macios, Android, personal devices.
Speaker 1: That sounds like a headache.
Speaker 2: It definitely can be without the right tools. That's where
Speaker 2: Microsoft Endpoint Manager or MEM comes in. It's a unified
Speaker 2: platform to manage all these different endpoints within MEM for
Speaker 2: managing mobile devices, specifically MDM, you generally have two main
Speaker 2: options built into M three sixty five. There's Basic Mobility
Speaker 2: and Security, which offers.
Speaker 1: Core controls and more powerful option.
Speaker 2: And then there's Microsoft in Tune that's really the gold standard.
Speaker 2: It gives you much more granular control over both the
Speaker 2: devices MDM and the applications on them, which is called
Speaker 2: Mobile Application Management or MDM.
Speaker 1: And these management policies they tie back into zero trust
Speaker 1: and conditional access right checking if a device is compliant exactly.
Speaker 2: Organizations set up policies through in tune, things like requiring
Speaker 2: device encryption, setting password rules, making sure the OS is
Speaker 2: up to date. Then conditional access policies can check that
Speaker 2: device compliance status before granting access. If your phone doesn't
Speaker 2: meet the security requirements, it might not be allowed to
Speaker 2: access company email for example.
Speaker 1: Okay, and what about keeping everything up to date? We
Speaker 1: hear about Windows as a Service wass.
Speaker 2: WES basically means Windows isn't a product you buy once
Speaker 2: and used for years. It's a service that's continually updated.
Speaker 2: You get big feature updates, usually twice a year, that
Speaker 2: add new capabilities, and then you get smaller, monthly quality
Speaker 2: updates that are mostly about security patches and reliability fixes.
Speaker 2: The Microsoft three sixty five apps, Word, Excel, et cetera
Speaker 2: are also updated frequently, often monthly, using a technology called
Speaker 2: click to run that makes updates pretty seamless. It's an
Speaker 2: evergreen approach.
Speaker 1: So constant change. And for the IT admins managing all this,
Speaker 1: their main control panel is the Microsoft three sixty five
Speaker 1: Admin Center.
Speaker 2: That's the central place yes for managing user accounts, licenses, subscriptions, billing.
Speaker 2: It's also where they can access various reports, including things
Speaker 2: like activity reports showing how people are using the tools,
Speaker 2: or linking out to things like Viva Insights for those
Speaker 2: deeper productivity and well being metrics.
Speaker 1: Last piece, compliance and trust. How does Microsoft help organizations
Speaker 1: with their own due diligence, proving they meet regulations managing privacy.
Speaker 2: Well, The first place to look is the Service Trust
Speaker 2: Portal or STP. That's Microsoft's public site where they share
Speaker 2: all their own compliance certifications, audit reports, and detailed information
Speaker 2: about their security and privacy practices. It helps you understand
Speaker 2: Microsoft side of the shared responsibility model.
Speaker 1: And for the customer side of compliance, things like where
Speaker 1: data is stored.
Speaker 2: Key issues there are data sovereignty and data residency, knowing
Speaker 2: physically where your data is stored because different countries have
Speaker 2: different laws governing data privacy and access. M three sixty
Speaker 2: five offers options control data residency for core services in
Speaker 2: specific regions.
Speaker 1: And dealing with individual privacy requests like under GDPR. That
Speaker 1: must be a big task.
Speaker 2: Now it is, and that's where Microsoft Priva fits in.
Speaker 2: It's a newer set of tools designed to help organizations
Speaker 2: manage privacy risks more automatically. You could help discover where
Speaker 2: personal data resides, manage consent, and automate fulfilling data subject
Speaker 2: requests like request for access or deletion, which could be
Speaker 2: a huge manual effort.
Speaker 1: Otherwise, Okay, let's try and wrap this huge deep dive
Speaker 1: up Microsoft three sixty five. Yea clearly way more than
Speaker 1: just apps. It's this massive integrated platform changing how companies
Speaker 1: budget for it, that CAPEX to OPEC shift and fundamentally
Speaker 1: changing how they need to think about security absolutely.
Speaker 2: If there are two big takeaways for you, the listener,
Speaker 2: it's probably these. First, identity is the new control plane,
Speaker 2: the new perimeter, so embracing a zero trust mindset isn't
Speaker 2: really optional anymore. And second, you absolutely have to understand
Speaker 2: and own your part of the shared responsibility model. Microsoft
Speaker 2: provides powerful tools, but if you don't configure them correctly,
Speaker 2: manage identities, properly, apply the right policies, the security responsibility
Speaker 2: and the potential fallout lands squarely on you.
Speaker 1: All right, So here's the final thought we want to
Speaker 1: leave you with. M three sixty five is described as
Speaker 1: an evergreen product. It's constantly changing, always improving, rolling out
Speaker 1: new features, sometimes in private preview, then public preview, then
Speaker 1: finally general availability. So, given this constant stream of updates
Speaker 1: and new tools, what's the single most important organizational process
Speaker 1: you should focus on getting right? First? Think about what
Speaker 1: you need to make sure your teams can actually use
Speaker 1: these new features safely and effectively without just getting overwhelmed
Speaker 1: by the pace of change.
Speaker 2: It's a good question to ponder because if your people
Speaker 2: can't learn about and adopt the new capabilities securely, well,
Speaker 2: then you're not really getting the full value out of
Speaker 2: the platform, are you. It points towards needing a solid
Speaker 2: process for continuous learning and change management.
Speaker 1: Definitely something to think about. We'll catch you next time
Speaker 1: on the Deep Dive