Microsoft Online Services Team Blog

Webinar: Getting Your Directory and Mail Content Into Microsoft Online Services: An Overview

2009-11-20T23:34:43Z

Thank you for participating in the webinar yesterday and for providing your feedback . We heard from you that the content was great and we look forward to bringing more content for topics that you have asked for.

Those who registered but could not make the Webinar- we missed having you and answering your questions. Nevertheless we are making the recording of the webinar available to you on demand. You can click here to get to the recorded version of the Webinar.

We look forward to having you join us again on Dec 3rd to listen from Arcovis about how to customize SharePoint Online. Same time , same place 11:00 AM PST – stay tuned for the registration info.

Thanks and have a great weekend!!

Dharmesh

Have Something to share or tell ? We want to hear :

Leave a comment, mail us at bposcom@microsoft.com or reach us on www.twitter.com/msonline

Getting Started with Collaboration

2009-11-18T01:08:04Z

For folks dealing with email overload , the BPOS offering from Microsoft offers a great solution that helps.Communication and collaboration through technology adds value to a work force by enabling people to work together more effectively. A more collaborative business is critical to greater success. Technology does not replace people, but rather adds value to what people are already achieving and helps extend their capabilities at work.

The BPOS offering from Microsoft provides the education, tools, and ecosystem to help small-to-midsized businesses throughout the world achieve this reality. In fact organizations like Coca –Cola are using this service today and no you can leverage the same tools too. The integration and incremental value-add delivered by each component of the Microsoft communication and collaboration platform, businesses can adopt all or part of the platform depending on cost and available resources.

Next week we will look at other collaboration tools that make the BPOS suite.Want to know more about SharePoint Online ? Click here. Meanwhile we encourage you to look at what else is coming with SharePoint 2010 to enhance the collaboration capabilities of your org.

Also, please mark your calendar- on Dec 3rd 11 AM PST we will be inviting Arcovis, a SharePoint Partner for a webinar here who will walk us through on how we can customize SharePoint Online for those power users who would like to use this powerful platform for more than what comes out of the box.

Have a great day!!

Dharmesh

Have Something to share or tell ? We want to hear :

Leave a comment, mail us at bposcom@microsoft or reach us on www.twitter.com/msonline

Announcing the Migration Webinar series

2009-11-13T17:58:00Z

Join us on Thursday, 11/19/2009, at 11:00 AM Pacific time, when Jenna Lyday will present the first in a series of webinars about migrating your directory and e-mail information from your current environment to the standard edition of Microsoft Online Services.

Jenna is a Program Manager with Microsoft Online Services, specializing in Exchange and e-mail migration scenarios. In Thursday’s webinar, she will introduce migration concepts and strategies, identify the different migration scenarios, and the tools available. In future webinars, she will dig into the details of the various migration scenarios.

Leave a comment below to suggest other webinar topics you’d like to see.

The Microsoft Online Services Team

Mac Sign-In Application Released, Available for Download

2009-11-12T14:42:00Z

The Mac Sign-In application has been released and is now available for download from the Microsoft Download Center.

The Sign-In Application provides a convenient way for users with computers using the Apple Macintosh operating system to access their e-mail and data on the Microsoft Online Services platform. The Mac Sign-In application was announced with the October Service Update as part of the expanded Mac support for the Business Productivity Online Suite, and the application was made available as part of a preview program for early adoption and testing.

More information about the expanded support for Mac can be found in the Microsoft Online Services Macintosh Support Service Description, which also can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center.

Mac Single Sign-On Application Usability - Different Default Browsers

2009-11-10T00:18:00Z

The Mac Sign-In Application provides Mac users with the same capabilities as that of their Windows counterparts. The Mac Sign-In Application, in addition to being a launch pad for the Business Productivity Online Suite, provides the ability to collect and submit user credentidals signing in to Microsoft Online Services, such as:

Exchange Online e-mail

Entourage 2004/2008/2008 EWS
Outlook Web Access (Browser Based Email)

Live Meeting
My Company Portal

The My Company Portal link in the application has a requirement to use Safari 4.0 or higher in order to successfully log the user into an organization's SharePoint Online site collections without prompting for credentials.

If the user's machyine is configured to use FireFox as their default browser and they click the My Company Portal link, they will be taken to the Login.aspx page. They can click the Go Directly to the Company Portal button, however they must enter their Microsoft Online Services credentials when prompted:

If the user instead has Safari 4.0 or higher configured as the default browser, the user will be automatically directed to the MyCompany Portal with the user's credentials silently passed under the covers when requested, and the user is automatically signed into the MyCompany Portal without being prompted for credentials:

Microsoft Online Services at TechEd Europe

2009-11-06T20:48:00Z

TechEd Europe kicks off Monday, Nov. 9 at the Messe Berlin Convention Center in Berlin, Germany. More than 5,600 IT Pros and Developers are expected to attend, and the event is sold out.

The Microsoft Online Services team is partnering with the Windows Azure group to deliver conference sessions in the Cloud Computing and Online Services virtual track.

Following are the planned sessions for Microsoft Online Services technologies:

Monday, Nov. 9
Timeslot	Code	Room	Session Title	Speaker	Session Type
09:00-10:15	UNC203	New York 1 – Hall 71a	Implementing and Administering Microsoft Online Services	Cyril Sultan	Breakout Session
Tuesday, Nov. 9
17:00-18:15	OFS209	Europa 2 - Hall 7-3b	Microsoft SharePoint Online Overview: Today's World	Kimmo Forss	Breakout Session
Wednesday, Nov. 11
10:45-12:00	SIA08-IS	Interactive Theatre 6	Security Services in the Cloud	Mike Chan	Interactive Theatre
17:00-18:45	UNC205	Berlin 2 – Hall 7-3a	Tips and Tricks for Planning, Deploying and Troubleshooting the Microsoft Office Live Meeting Service	Cyril Sultan	Breakout Session
Thursday Nov. 12
13:30-14:45	UNC310	London 3- Hall 7-1b	Migrating Data, Co-Existence, and Directory Synchronization with Microsoft Online Services	David Anderson	Breakout Session
17:00-18:15	ITS213	Europa 1 - Hall 7-3b	Critical Infrastructure and Operations for Delivering Secure, Enterprise-Class Software Services	Gail Warren	Breakout Session

Visit Microsoft Online Services in the TLC

The Technical Learning Centers provide the heartbeat of TechEd events, where attendees have one-on-one interaction with speakers and subject matter experts and get personal product demonstrations.

If you’re attending TechEd Europe, make sure you visit the Microsoft Online Services pavilion. The Windows Azure and Microsoft Online Services teams will be providing product demonstrations. Plus, attendees can sign up for 30-day trial accounts of the Business Productivity Online Suite.

Follow us on Twitter

Those not attending TechEd Europe can follow activities at the conference via the Microsoft Online Services account on Twitter. The @msonline account will have regular updates from Berlin.

Service Update: November 2009 Release Availability, Features Announced

2009-11-05T23:08:00Z

The Microsoft Online Services Service Update for November 2009 is currently being deployed into production data centers and is scheduled to be available to all customers in early December. Updates to the deployment status will be posted to the comments section of this blog post.

Upgrades and Enhancements
The following features and capabilities are included in this Service Update:

Mailbox Access Permissions

PowerShell commandlets will be added to provide a range of mailbox permission setting, including granting Full Mailbox Access permissions plus Delegate Send As and Send on Behalf permissions. These mailbox permissions provide administrators a range of capabilities, such as setting up shared mailboxes, granting “send as” permissions for administrative assistants, and enabling full mailbox access for third party applications, such as archiving applications and fax servers.

Previously, granting these permissions required opening a ticket with Microsoft Online Services Technical Support.

Mailbox permission commandlets added in this Service Update are:

· Add-MSOnlineMailPermission

· Remove-MSOnlineMailPermission

The mailbox permission commandlets require an update to the Microsoft Online Services Transporter Tools (aka Microsoft Online Services Migration Tools), which will be made will be available for download at the Microsoft Download Center upon completion of the deployment of this Service Update into production data centers for all regions. Please watch this Team Blog for the availability of the updated Transporter Tools.

Bulk User Management

Adding and removing users is streamlined with the addition of another set of PowerShell commandlets. The bulk user management commandlets give administrators a new option for adding groups of users. Together with the bulk activation commandlets provided in the previous Service Update, administrators have a rich set of tools for automating user management.

Bulk user management commandlets added in this Service Update are:

· Add-MSOnlineUser

· Set-MSOnlineUser

· Remove-MSOnlineUser

· Get-MSOnlineUser

The bulk user management commandlets require an update to the Microsoft Online Services Transporter Tools, which will be made will be available for download at the Microsoft Download Center upon completion of the deployment of this Service Update into production data centers for all regions. Please watch this Team Blog for the availability of the updated Transporter Tools.

SharePoint Auditing

The SharePoint Auditing feature is being enabled for SharePoint Online. This feature gives administrators the ability to view data and report about activities occurring within a site collection, such as items added to a shared documents list, changes to permissions, and documents that have been viewed and read.

Partner Name on Microsoft Online Services Invoice

Customers that have a relationship with a Microsoft Online Services Partner and have designated that partner as their “partner of record” will now see the name of their partner on their subscription invoice. Partners are technical and business professionals who specialize in Microsoft products, and they are an important part of Microsoft’s delivery of your software services.

New countries for trials and commercial availability

As was announced earlier this week, customers in the following 14 countries can sign up for Microsoft Online Services trial accounts: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Taiwan.

In addition, customers Singapore can purchase Microsoft Online Services subscriptions.

Use Your Mac with Microsoft Online Services

2009-11-04T09:43:00Z

Because many of you have asked to use your Macs with Microsoft Online Services, we’ve been developing a Mac Sign-In application to provide Mac users with the same “single-sign-in” functionality provided to our PC users.

After installing and signing-in to this application, you can send and receive Exchange Online e-mail and access SharePoint Online sites from your Mac without having to sign-in multiple times. This application will also configure Entourage to connect to your Exchange Online mailbox.

Preview the Mac Sign-In Application

To get an early look at the Mac Sign-In application, register via the Microsoft Connect site using this Invitation ID: MAC-Y689-6QBR. After downloading the application and the documentation, you’re ready to get started.

If you have any issues connecting to the site, downloading or using the sign-in application, send e-mail to the BPOS Mac Preview Program team.

The Microsoft Online Services Team

Follow Microsoft Online Services on:

Microsoft Online Services Expands Globally, Adds New Customers, Reduces Pricing

2009-11-02T23:20:00Z

Today, Microsoft announced the availability of the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite for trial in 14 additional countries and the commercial availability of the suite in Singapore coming later this week.

In addition to the geographic expansion of Microsoft Online Services, today’s announcement highlighted key customers adopting and transitioning to the services, expansion in the Microsoft Online Services partner eco-system, and new reduced pricing for the Business Productivity Online Suite and its components.

Starting Nov. 7, organizations in the following countries and regions will be able to set up trial accounts: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Taiwan. In addition, Singapore, which has been offering BPOS trials for months, will launch the service commercially.

Today’s news was highlighted by the announcement of the following new Microsoft Online Services customers as well as this video Q&A with Tony DeGregorio, CIO of Tyco Flow Control:

Organizations including Aon Corporation, Aviva PLC, Hofstra University, Lions Gate Entertainment, McDonald’s Corporation, Rexel Group, SkyTeam Alliance, Swedish Red Cross, Tyco Flow Control, the University System of Ohio and hundreds of others have chosen the Business Productivity Online Suite in recent months.

Reduced pricing for the Business Productivity Online Suite is now US$10 per user per month, with a five seat minimum purchase. In addition to new pricing for the Suite, pricing for Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Office Communications Online is also reduced when purchased individually. Details of the new pricing can be found here.

Read the full announcement, view a recording of Stephen Elop's call with media, and find related materials on Microsoft Press Pass. Also, check out these customer case studies:

· Credit Immobilier de France

· GlaxoSmithKline

· REEDS Jewelers

Should you be using SharePoint Designer?

2009-10-30T23:21:00Z

You probably already know that you can use Microsoft SharePoint Online to store, share, and manage files as well as build collaboration solutions for your organization. Have you ever wished that you could:

Customize the content and layout of SharePoint Online pages to look exactly the way you want?
Create views and forms that use the data view Web part to integrate with external data sources?
Use custom workflows to automate your business processes without writing code?

Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer can help you with these and many other tasks, and the SharePoint Online Developer Guide is a good resource for instruction and tips for using the Designer to customize your SharePoint Online collections.

SharePoint Designer 2007 provides the powerful tools you need to deliver compelling and attractive sites, workflow-enabled applications, and reporting tools on the SharePoint Online platform. SharePoint Designer 2007 is available as a free download from the Microsoft Download Center.

For more information about SharePoint Designer 2007, see:

Executive Video Series on Channel 9: Dave Thompson

2009-10-29T22:29:00Z

Dave Thompson, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Online Services, kicks off the Microsoft Online Services Executive Video Series on Microsoft Channel 9. Dave began building the Microsoft Online Services team about three years ago and delivered the first version of the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) in November of 2008.

Watch the interview to hear Dave's thoughts on building and running software services. He talks about the challenges encountered while building BPOS v1, and what’s on the top of his mind while working with his team to provide the best possible customer and partner experience in future versions of Microsoft Online Services.

Post your comments to the video or to this blog post and Dave will respond in a future video.

Updated Tools for Bulk User Activation Now Available

2009-10-26T23:49:00Z

The updated Microsoft Online Services Transporter Tools (aka Microsoft Online Services Migration Tools), announced in the October Service Update, is now available via the Microsoft Download Center.

The updated Transporter Tool supports PowerShell commandlets for bulk activation of users for Microsoft Online Services. The new supported commandlets include:

· Enable-MSOnlineUser

· Get-MSOnlineSubscription

· Set-MSOnlineUserPassword

Send and Receive POP E-Mail with Exchange Online

2009-10-20T18:41:00Z

Exchange Online now supports POP e-mail, so you can send and receive Exchange Online e-mail using any POP e-mail client. For information about other recently announced features, see Service Update: October 2009 Release Availability, Features Announced.

NOTE: POP e-mail does not provide Free/Busy, presence, calendar, tasks, and other rich features normally associated with Exchange Online e-mail. Additionally, POP e-mail access cannot be enabled for Deskless Worker accounts.

Prerequisites

· If you are a Microsoft Online Services administrator, you can contact Microsoft Online Services Technical Support to request POP service, and provide them with the list of e-mail addresses to POP enable. You can specify a list of individual mailboxes or every mailbox in your organization. You can track the status of your service request on the Support tab of the Microsoft Online Services Administration Center.

· Any POP e-mail client.

· Microsoft Online Services user account with a Standard (not Deskless) Exchange Online license.

· Port 995 in through your company’s firewall.

Configuration

When Support notifies you that POP e-mail has been enabled, follow your POP e-mail client instructions to configure your e-mail client. You’ll need to provide the following information:

· Port number: 995

· Security protocol: SSL

· User account: For example, jim@example.com

· User account password

· POP Server: select from POP Servers by Location table below.

NOTE: If you want Exchange Online to keep a backup of your e-mail, select the configuration option that allows you to keep your e-mail messages on the server.

POP Servers by Location

Asia Pacific (APAC)

pop.mail.apac.microsoftonline.com

Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)

pop.mail.emea.microsoftonline.com

North America

pop.mail.microsoftonline.com

Microsoft Online Services at SharePoint Conference

2009-10-19T01:58:00Z

More than 7,500 attendees descend upon Las Vegas this week for the Microsoft SharePoint Conference 2009. The conference, Oct 19-22 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, will feature numerous opportunities to learn about Microsoft Online Services, including these SharePoint Online breakout sessions:

· SPC 200: Overview of SharePoint 2010 Online

David Gorbet and Charles Ofori

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 10:30 AM; Room Islander G

· SPC 201: SharePoint 2010 Online Standard, Everything you Need to Know!

Jason Cahill and Troy Hopwood

Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2:45 PM; Room Mandalay Bay J

· The Sky’s the Limit, the Journey to the Cloud

Brett Kirkland, Collaboration Architect, Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE)

Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2:45 PM; Room Breakers E

· SPC 202: SharePoint 2010 Online Dedicated, Why Get Dedicated!

Scott St. Jean and Charles Ofori

Thursday, Oct. 22, 9:00 AM; Room Mandalay Bay J

In addition to SharePoint Online content in the conference curriculum, attendees can visit the SharePoint Online booth at the conference exhibit hall. The team will be providing demos of the current SharePoint Online service as well as the SharePoint Online Community Technical Preview (CTP), based on SharePoint Server 2010 code.

The SharePoint Conference Ask the Experts Night, 5:45 to 7:00 PM, Wednesday, Oct. 21, will include a SharePoint Online table, where attendees can interact one-on-one with the SharePoint Online team.

Service Update: October 2009 Release Availability, Features Announced

2009-10-14T17:36:00Z

The Microsoft Online Services Service Update for October 2009 is currently being deployed into production data centers and is scheduled to be available to all customers before the end of October. Updates to the deployment status will be posted to the comments section of this blog post.

Upgrades and Enhancements
The following features and capabilities are included in this Service Update:

Bulk Activation of Users
PowerShell commandlets will be added to streamline the activation process, enabling administrators to easily automate the activation of a set of users. Most commonly, these commandlets will be used to activate a set of users that have been migrated from an Active Directory forest to Microsoft Online Services via the Directory Synchronization Tool. Previously, administrators were required to activate users one-by-one with the User Administration tools in the Microsoft Online Services Administration Center.

Commandlets added in this Service Update are:

· Enable-MSOnlineUser

· Get-MSOnlineSubscription

· Set-MSOnlineUserPassword

A new version of the Microsoft Online Services Transporter Tool supporting these commandlets will be available for download at the Microsoft Download Center upon completion of the deployment of the October Service Update into production data centers for all regions. Please watch this Team Blog for the availability of the updated Transporter Tool.

POP Mail Clients
Supported e-mail clients for Exchange Online are being expanded to include POP-based clients. Previously, Exchange Online supported only Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and 2007.

To enable POP e-mail client support for your organization, administrators should contact Microsoft Online Services Technical Support to open a Service Request.

Please note: Service Requests for POP enablement will be accepted upon completion of the deployment of the October Service Update into production data centers for all regions. Please watch this for deployment updates. Additionally, POP e-mail access cannot be enabled for Deskless Worker accounts.

Support for 30,000 Users

The Microsoft Online Services Administration Center will support as many as 30,000 users, improving management and administration for larger organizations. Previously, Microsoft Online Services supported up to 10,000 users.

Please note that SharePoint Online will retain previously established limits (e.g., 20 site collections per company, 50 gigabytes (GB) per site, and 1 terabyte (TB) per company).

Enhanced Support for Mac OS
The Service Update includes several enhancements that will provide a more efficient communication and collaboration experience for organizations with Mac users.

A new Sign-In Client for the Mac OS provides a single sign-in experience and auto-configuration of Office for Mac applications and the Safari browser for use with Microsoft Online Services.

Other Mac features in this Service Update include:

· Support for Entourage 2008 Exchange Web Services (EWS), including Global Address List (GAL), Calendar Free/Busy Lookup, and Out-of-Office notifications

· Global Address List support for Entourage 2004 and 2008 when using the Sign-In Client for Mac

· SharePoint Online support for Document Connection for Mac to improve the collaboration experience for users

· Improved Firefox and Safari support for My Company Portal

The Sign-In Client for Mac will be available for download at the Microsoft Download Center in early November. Please watch this Team Blog for the availability of the Sign-In Client for Mac.

Timeline
Deployment of the October Service Update into production data centers has started, with deployment to all regions anticipated to be complete before the end of October.

The deployment schedule is subject to change. Updates to the deployment schedule will be announced via the comments section of this blog post.

Asia Pacific (APAC)	pop.mail.apac.microsoftonline.com
Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA)	pop.mail.emea.microsoftonline.com
North America	pop.mail.microsoftonline.com