Office 365 ProPlus Administrator Series: Configuring Office 365 ProPlus Applications and Experiences

Author: Jeremy_MSFT Originally published to the Office 365 Preview blog. Office 365 ProPlus was designed to enable administrators to control the configuration, installation and updating experience using familiar processes and tools. Because Office 365 ProPlus is rooted in application virtualization, a number of new tools have been developed to enable configuration management using enterprise software distribution and script-based processes. Some organizations may allow users to log in to office365.com and install their own Office programs directly from the Internet, however, this requires that users are comfortable performing this task and they have the rights to install applications on their computer. In most cases, this will be a normal case for Office 365 users who install on their personal devices or home PCs, but may not meet the requirement of a locked-down and managed environment where users are provisioned as Standard Users in Windows. In cases where users do not or cannot self-install, Office 365 ProPlus has been built to allow IT administrators to install Office on behalf of their users. This applies both to Windows image-based installations as well as standalone installs from the network, software distribution, local media or the Office 365 service. By default Office 365 ProPlus receives automatic updates, but IT can elect to disable automatic updating of Office programs and deploy only tested and approved Office builds. The Click-to-Run installation technology and toolset provides flexibility and control to manage how Office 365 ProPlus is installed and updated as well as where installation media is stored. Click-to-Run Components and Tools for the Administrator As I mentioned above, if you come from a systems management background, the first question many will ask is, “where are the bits?” The design of Office 365 ProPlus is to store installation files online via a publicly-accessible service. This allows people to perform self-installation and managed deployments to point to online installation source for initial installs and ongoing software updates. The installation files are also accessible to be downloaded and imported into enterprise software distribution tools or operating system deployment tools. The  Office Deployment Tool enables automated deployment of Office 365 ProPlus. There are three primary components needed to enable managed or “push” deployments of Office 365 ProPlus: Office 365 ProPlus installation files setup.exe bootstrapper to initiate the installation process configuration XML file to govern how and from where Office is downloaded and installed   Contents of the Office Deployment Tool The Setup and configuration XML tools are packaged together as the Office Deployment Tool and available on the Microsoft Download Center . Setup.exe in this case performs two primary tasks – it downloads Office 365 ProPlus, Visio and Project programs to a local file location using the /download command and it controls how Office programs are installed using the /configure command. Both commands point to a configuration file to govern what is downloaded and how Office is configured. The configuration XML file governs both what is downloaded and how Office Click-to-Run is applied to the target computer. The controls relevant to downloading installation source from the https://officecdn.microsoft.com/ site are the following. Note: all controls are CaSe SeNsItIvE. Option Description Sample Syntax Add Parent control to determine source, architecture, product and languages to download. From CDN:               From local network:                Product The targeted products to download within the command. Multiple products may be nested under the control and multiple languages may be nested under the control. Office 365 ProPlus      SourcePath Location where the Office is downloaded to. If unspecified, the downloaded content will be saved to the folder where the setup.exe is located. OfficeClientEdition Determines the architecture of the product to download, 32 or 64 bit. Note: 32-bit is still the recommended architecture for new Office versions. Cross-architecture installations are not permitted; if a 32-bit Office version is already installed on a system, the 64-bit Click-to-Run package will not install and vice versa.   Or: OfficeClientEdition=”32″ OfficeClientEdition=”64″ Language Language determines the language DAT files to be downloaded with the Click-to-Run package. Version Version is used as part of the control and specifies the version to be downloaded. If version is not specified, setup.exe will download the latest build. Available version numbers will be posted to KB article in the future.     Downloading Click-to-Run Installation Source Click-to-Run builds are available for download from the Office 365 service. Administrators can use the configuration XML file to determine the architecture (x86 or x64), language and version number to download. The following screenshots show the process to download Office 365 ProPlus installation files from the service.   Setup tool and command line usage You can create XML files with commands specific to downloading, installing or uninstalling Office. Here is a sample of an XML I called download.xml to download the latest Click-to-Run builds of Office 365 ProPlus Preview and Visio Pro Preview.                               Progress after executing ‘setup.exe /download download.xml’ command   Office folder is downloaded and applied to the Office Deployment Tool folder   Office 365 ProPlus build is stored as DAT and CAB files in the ..dataversionnumber folder within the directory of setup.exe or SourcePath location In a managed IT environment, the IT administrator can execute an automated scheduled task every two weeks or so to download the most recent Office 365 ProPlus builds. The great thing is that new builds always contain the latest software updates and you don’t need to add them to the updates folder as with the MSI package, they are already slipstreamed into the build and installation times for the first release build will be comparable to future builds. It is good news if you build lots of PCs with task sequence-based setup or just wish that installs when the product is in the middle of the release cycle were as fast as they were with RTM builds. As someone with a Windows imaging background, I wish I had this sooner and that other components I install in my task sequences were updated similarly, because once you start layering in a service pack and more than ten additional software updates, MSI-based installs start to get very slow. Alternatively, the administrator can manually download the exact build desired by specifying the build number in the configuration XML file. If left unspecified, the download command will download the newest available x86 build of Office 365 ProPlus. Using Active Directory Group Policy to Deploy and Enforce Configuration Templates Let’s take a small detour from setup for a minute and discuss post-installation configuration. Ideally, Group Policy configuration is decided and implemented prior to rolling out any version of Office and in the case with Click-to-Run, we need Group Policy if we want to make configuration changes to how Office is set up. Office 365 ProPlus is designed to work with Active Directory Group Policy configuration management. Aside from the handful of controls available in the configuration XML file to govern Office 365 ProPlus setup, Group Policy is required for fine-tuned configuration management of Click-to-Run installation and run time. Group Policy adds unique settings for the Office 365 ProPlus service to manage how roaming settings are accessed, control software update behavior and determine which online services are allowed for storing files among thousands of other settings.   Local Group Policy Editor in Windows Group Policy is also used to configure security settings and how new telemetry features in Office 365 ProPlus and Office Professional Plus 2013 capture and report data for client performance. New telemetry
features also utilize Group Policy to block or enable Office Add-ins from running.  The Office 2013 Preview Administrative Template (ADMX/ADML) files can be downloaded now from the Microsoft Download Center and these apply to both the Office Professional Plus 2013 and Office 365 ProPlus packages.

Project Server 2013: Managing Resources in Project Professional 2013

A couple of cross blog references here on resource management topics – and both affect Project Online as well as the on premise installations.  Firstly an issue where you cannot open more than a certain number of resources from your Resource Center in Project Professional 2013 – blogged over on the Project Support blog at https://blogs.technet.com/b/projectsupport/archive/2013/03/11/project-server-2013-why-can-t-i-open-all-my-resources-from-the-resource-center.aspx .  The numbers aren’t exact – but will be around 120 for IE9, then 520 or so for IE10, Chrome and Firefox. The second one is from our very good friend Gary Chefetz over at MSProjectExperts and unlocks the key to the Windows Logon Account field if you wish to add resources via Project Professional 2013 – https://www.projectserverhelp.com/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?ID=205 .   Also note Gary’s comment on needing to select at least one resource from the existing resource center to open Pro up.

Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer (MCA) 1.0 and Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer (RCA) 2.1 Release Announcement. We’ve been busy…

Back in November 2012, we announced our Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer Tool (MCA) Beta client.  We have been very busy working to improve the testing options that are available from the MCA client.  Here’s what we’ve built for the 1.0 release. Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer Tool 1.0 We are excited to announce the 1.0 release of the Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer .  This tool is a companion to the Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer web site.  The MCA tool provides administrators and end users with the ability to run connectivity diagnostics for five common connectivity symptoms directly from their local computer.  Users can test their own connectivity, and save results in an HTML format that administrators will recognize from viewing results on the RCA website.   Click here to install the MCA 1.0 tool (Please visit the site to view this video) Microsoft Connectivity Analyzer The MCA tool offers five test symptoms I can’t log on with Office Outlook – This test is equivalent to the Exchange RCA test for “Outlook Anywhere (RPC over HTTP)”. There is an option to run the SSO test provided on the parameters page. I can’t send or receive email on my mobile device    – This test is equivalent to the Exchange RCA test for Exchange ActiveSync. ***New*** I can’t log on to Lync on my mobile device or the Lync Windows Store App – This test checks for the Domain Name Server (DNS) records for your on-premise domain to ensure they are configured correctly for supporting Mobile Lync clients. Also it connects to the Autodiscover web service and makes sure that the authentication, certificate, web service for Mobility is correctly set up. ***New*** I can’t send or receive email from Outlook (Office 365 only) – This test checks Inbound/Outbound SMTP mail flow and also includes Domain Name Server validation checks for O365 customers. ***New*** I can’t view free/busy information of another user – This test verifies that an Office 365 mailbox can access the free/busy information of an on-premises mailbox, and vice versa (one direction per test run). Microsoft Lync Connectivity Analyzer Tool You will also notice the Lync Connectivity Analyzer Tool on the client page.  We are working on combining MCA with MLCA in the near future but wanted to make both these great tools available to customers now to improve our client diagnostics options. Feedback Send all feedback to  MCA Feedback . Please let us know what you think of the tool and whether this will be helpful in troubleshooting connectivity scenarios.  Also feel free to provide feedback on additional tests you would like to see added in the future. Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer 2.1 We are excited to announce the 2.1 release of the Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer web site.  The tool provides administrators and end users with the ability to run connectivity diagnostics for our servers to test common issues with Exchange, Lync and Office 365.  We have added new Office 365 Domain Name Server tests, enhanced existing tests, and improved the overall site experience. Be sure to check out the updates to the Remote Connectivity Analyzer website .    

The new Office Garage Series: Who Moved My MSI?

In the latest Garage Series for IT Pros post, our adventurous desktop specialist hosts Yoni Kirsh and Jeremy Chapman explain the differences between Windows Installer Package (MSI) and Click-to-Run package types, how to download Click-to-Run builds for use with software distribution tools, when it’s necessary to provision user accounts in Office 365 and Yoni tests whether Office 365 ProPlus can be installed before our skydiver, Fully Sik, hits the ground. Tune in at https://www.microsoft.com/garage .   To view previous episodes, check out the Garage Series for IT Pros Archive .

Office 365 ProPlus Administrator Series: Client Deployment Options

Author: Jeremy_MSFT Originally published to the Office 365 Preview blog. Office 365 ProPlus offers flexible software delivery options to suit organizations of all sizes and desktop service architectures. From small businesses where users often install their own software, to large enterprises where hundreds of applications are centrally delivered by the IT department to every user, Office 365 ProPlus installation adapts to your processes and workflows. Install Office 365 ProPlus from the Internet Self-installation of Office 365 ProPlus allows users to install Office on their personal PCs directly from www.office365.com . After the administrator has created the user account, the user can log in to the Office 365 service and install Office 365 ProPlus. Users will need to be local administrators on their PCs when self-installing and the installation will always be the most up-to-date Office build and be enabled to receive automatic updates. When the user initiates the installation, a small setup file (roughly 400 KB) is downloaded and run from the local PC the filename (for example: Setup.X86.en-us_ProPlusRetail_56f7d927-5bf8-435e-a240-9eaeef2f53c5_.exe) contains the installation parameters and what is loaded from the content delivery network site ( https://officecdn.microsoft.com/ ) where Office installation files are stored. Software installation page in Office 365 Self-installation may be appropriate in certain organizations where users have administrative privileges and are expected to install their own software. Self-installation rights may also be provided in well-managed organizations where users by definition cannot install software on managed computers, but are given access to Office 365 ProPlus installation on home or personal PCs. Administrators may also centrally disable the right for user self-installation, but this is a global control within the Office 365 Admin Portal and will apply to all users in the tenant. Process for managed self-installation or home and personal device installation in a managed environment In the process flow above, the IT administrator may optionally define Office configurations using local configuration management tools like Group Policy prior to publishing self-installation steps to end users. End users will be responsible for installing any required add-ins, dependent applications or standardized Office templates if needed and in the self-installation scenario, users are by default configured to receive automatic monthly updates from the Office 365 service. Automated Deployments using Software Distribution Infrastructure Most large organizations use enterprise software distribution or image-based deployment automation to install software on behalf of their users. Office 365 ProPlus enables these tools and processes to install Office either from the network or with support from the Office 365 online service. As with the download process the Office Deployment Tool uses setup.exe to install and configure Office 365 ProPlus. These tools are designed with flexibility in mind so an administrator can point the setup engine at local, network or Web-based file sources. The configuration XML file governs the installation process to determine what products, architectures, languages, and versions are installed and from which sources. It also allows the administrator to suppress installation and first run experiences, accept licensing agreements on behalf of the user, determine where installation logs are stored, enable or disable automatic software updates and configure where Office looks for updates. Process for on-premises software delivery of Office 365 ProPlus With these tools you can follow classic enterprise software distribution approaches where software installation files are installed via local cache or directly from the management or distribution point. New to Office 365 ProPlus is the ability to distribute just the setup.exe file and instruct that Office Click-to-Run packages are installed from the Office 365 online service ( https://officecdn.microsoft.com/ ). This is a great scenario in off-LAN situations when VPN connectivity to a management point is slower than the target machine’s connection to the Internet. Because installations are usually much faster than with previous MSI-based packages, deploying Office pre-installed in a custom Windows image will not save as much time as with previous Office releases and it allows you to pre-cache Office Click-to-Run builds with multiple language support within a captured Windows image (WIM) file, then use scripting automation or your favorite task sequencing engine to install Office directly from the local file source within the WIM file. It is also recommended to install Office native to the language of the operating system as opposed to using language packs atop the EN-US installation of Office, but both options are still possible with Office 365 ProPlus and Click-to-Run. The configuration XML file governs both what is downloaded and how Office Click-to-Run is applied to the target computer. The controls relevant to using setup.exe /configure are the following. Option Description Sample Syntax Add Parent control to determine source, architecture, product and languages to download. From local folder:               From local network:               Remove Used to uninstall Office products.                                 Product Multiple products may be nested under the control and multiple languages may be nested under the control. Office 365 ProPlus      SourcePath Location where the Office is installed from. If SourcePath is unspecified, setup will first look for installation source in the local folder and if not present it will look to the CDN source. OfficeClientEdition Determines the architecture of the product to download, 32 or 64 bit. Note: 32-bit is still the recommended architecture for new Office versions. Cross-architecture installations are not permitted; if a 32-bit Office version is already installed on a system, the 64-bit Click-to-Run package will not install and vice versa.   Or: OfficeClientEdition=”32″ OfficeClientEdition=”64″ Language Language determines the language DAT files to be downloaded with the Click-to-Run package. Updates Configures automatic updating behavior. Updates may be either from the public Office 365 service, local location, local file share or private https:// site. To use a local file share: To use the CDN:   

Office 365 ProPlus Administrator Series: Office 365 ProPlus Security Considerations

Author: Jeremy_MSFT Originally published to the Office 365 Preview blog. Office 365 ProPlus changes the security and data management story from securing end points and activities on the end point to decisions for securely accessing data. In order to enable users to switch from one device to another and resume working with their content, it means that either they log into a remotely hosted environment or that endpoints have access to remotely-stored documents. Office 365 ProPlus optimizes for the best experiences on devices while also providing rich browser-based experiences with Office Web Apps. In either constellation, Office 365 ProPlus does not use a Remote Desktop Protocol-based architecture where the user logs into a remote system and views that from the endpoint. Files and content will move to the consuming device whether viewed through a browser or with rich clients, so securing access to files is a key consideration. If your organization is not quite ready to move email or file storage workloads to Office 365 Enterprise services – with Exchange and SharePoint functionality available – then Office 365 ProPlus may be the best fit because your email services and files will be stored on your premises. The only data Office 365 ProPlus will need to store in the cloud are User Principle Names and related minimum user attributes for handling activation and roaming settings information (primarily HTTP links to files and custom dictionary entries).  Everything else in that case remains in your infrastructure using traditional data management and access models. Securing the Service Some of the primary vectors for Office 365 security have been discussed in this series as they relate to authentication and authorization to Office 365 services and which services are permitted as save-to or open-from locations. For the latter configuration, Office 365 ProPlus and Office Professional Plus 2013 may be managed by new Group Policy settings to optionally restrict storage to SkyDrive or third party cloud storage locations. You may also limit sign-in credentials to Organizational IDs and disable sign-in to personal IDs or disable sign-in altogether. Disabling sign-in completely applies best to Office Professional Plus 2013 installs of Office, where activation is performed via Key Management Service (KMS) or Multiple Activation Key (MAK). Access to files and services may be augmented by Rights Management Services and/or multifactor authentication used in conjunction with Active Directory Federation Services to provide secure authentication and authorization to your organization’s files. Securing Clients Office 365 ProPlus includes enterprise-class security controls and fully-supports Group Policy configuration management. Additional features carried over from Office 2010 include Protected View, Data Execution Prevention (DEP) support, trust locations and documents, Office file validation and file block and ActiveX Kill Bit. For many organizations, the default security settings for Office 365 ProPlus are suitable and for those of you with highly locked-down environments, Group Policy enables thousands of settings via ADMX administration templates to fine-tune Office settings to fit your needs. Securing Office on Demand and Web Apps Office on Demand is a new delivery model allowing users to stream complete Office applications from a SkyDrive Pro location. It enables users to get quick access to Office applications and their files on essentially any Windows 7 or newer PC with an Internet connection – and without ActiveX controls disabled by the admin. But what does this mean for the files accessed via these unmanaged or non-owned PCs? Because the user in this case has access to SkyDrive Pro from the unmanaged PC, Office on Demand works to provide an excellent viewing and editing experience. If that user elects to download a copy and view it in Notepad or a browser, the file has already made it to the local hard drive of the computer. While Office on Demand does enable a more compelling user experience in this case, it doesn’t diminish security if those files were already accessible from that unmanaged computer. Much more to come This post only scratches the surface of security considerations scoped to the client and essentially was written to answer a few very frequently-asked questions I get when presenting Office 365 ProPlus to large organizations. Check out the  Security overview for Office 2013 Preview on TechNet for further information on product and service security as it relates to Office Professional Plus 2013 and Office 365 ProPlus. Also be sure to download the Office 2013 Preview Administrative Template files (ADMX/ADML) for Group Policy management.

Requuirements and security considerations for SkyDrive Pro

Here’s some basic information you’ll want to have if you want to support SkyDrive Pro libraries and Sync services in your organization. If you just want to get your bearings around SkyDrive Pro, you can start here: https://office.microsoft.com/en-us/sharepoint-server-help/what-is-skydrive-pro-HA102822076.aspx   Regarding SkyDrive Pro prerequisite software and services: To support SkyDrive Pro libraries in your organization, the latest SharePoint or Office 365 personal sites (also known as My Sites) need to be deployed in your organization, and the user profile service needs to be running. This is because social features, such as sharing documents, depend on personal sites and user profiles. To support Sync in SkyDrive Pro (the ability to synchronize SkyDrive Pro documents with local desktops), make sure that either Office 2013 (Standard or Professional) or an Office 365 subscription that includes the Office 2013 applications is running on Windows 7 or Windows 8 client devices.  Regarding security concerns: SkyDrive Pro client exchanges with SharePoint sites rely on synchronization protocol and external mechanisms for security, such as those provided by VPNs or Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology. SkyDrive Pro data is not encrypted over the network when the SkyDrive Pro client talks to SharePoint (which is required to support SkyDrive Pro), unless the transport protocol is being used for server communication is through https (which uses SSL or Transport Layer Security – TLS). Server administrators can configure SSL encryption for data sent over the network between the SkyDrive Pro and the SharePoint servers. On-disk data can be encrypted using the Windows BitLocker Drive Encryption. For more information see ‘BitLocker Drive Encryption’ at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkId=163122 . Note: SSL is recommended for SharePoint connections from outside a corporate domain. If you’re using Active Directory, you can configure the following Group Policy setting: Sync Only On Domain Network: Requires a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) connection for SkyDrive Pro clients trying connect to SharePoint Server 2013 (or SharePoint 2010) from outside the organization’s intranet. In addition, you can secure the SharePoint site from unauthorized access by setting access control lists appropriately. For guidance about how to set access control for users to synchronize with SharePoint libraries and lists, see ‘Overview of site permissions in SharePoint 2013’ at  https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj219771.aspx .

Learn More about Office 365 Deployment, Click-to-Run

We are excited to announce our next Ignite Webcast featuring more information on one of the most exciting Office 365 Deployment features called Click-to-Run. You can view the original blog post on the Ignite site here . To sign up for this webcast please download and save the attached calendar invite below where you will find the Webcast Meeting information.   Ignite Webcasts are online sessions led by Microsoft Office 365 Product Managers, Engineers and support staff. The Ignite webcast series addresses different Office 365 technical subjects and scenarios and is beneficial to anyone who wants to increase their knowledge of the Office 365 suite. View the Ignite Site for more information about Ignite programs and webcasts. You can view past Ignite Webcast sessions and materials here .     In this session, we will be providing an overview of the new Office 365 ProPlus delivery technology, Click-to-Run. Come hear about how Click-to-Run works, how it enables “Side by Side” use of Office, and how it makes upgrading Office a lot easier, faster and cheaper. You will have a great opportunity to ask questions and discuss with our presenter. Bring your questions! Our webcast will be led by Curtis Sawin. Curtis Sawin is a Senior Consultant, specializing in Office Compatibility and Office Deployment issues. Further, he dabbles in Windows Installer and SQL Server Reporting Services development. Sawin has spoken at several industry conferences, including MMS (Microsoft Management Summit), TechEd, SPC (Microsoft SharePoint Conference), and TechReady. Sawin has been with Microsoft since 2007.   Remember, to sign up for this webcast please  download and save the attached calendar invite below . We are excited to see you there!    —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Presenter :  Curtis Sawin , Senior Consultant specializing in Office Compatibility and Office Deployment Issues Date/Time:  Tuesday January 29 th , at 10:00 AM Pacific Time . (1 Hour presentation) Live Meeting Information: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Join online meeting https://join.microsoft.com/meet/v-joshto/F00T8BQY Join by Phone  +14257063500        +18883203585          Find a local number   Conference ID: 27579341    Forgot your dial-in PIN?  |    First online meeting?      [1033])!]   Audience: Office 365 for professionals and small businesses Office 365 for enterprises

Ignite Webcast – What’s New in Exchange 2013?

To sign up for this webcast please download and save the attached calendar invite below where you will find the Webcast Meeting information.  Ignite Webcasts are online sessions led by Microsoft Office 365 Product Managers, Engineers and support staff. The Ignite webcast series addresses different Office 365 technical subjects and scenarios and is beneficial to anyone who wants to increase their knowledge of the Office 365 suite. View the Ignite Site for more information about Ignite programs and webcasts. You can view past Ignite Webcast sessions and materials here .     Microsoft Exchange Server 2013 brings a new rich set of technologies, features, and services to the Exchange Server product line. Its goal is to support people and organizations as their work habits evolve from a communication focus to a collaboration focus. At the same time, Exchange Server 2013 helps lower the total cost of ownership whether you deploy Exchange 2013 on-premises or provision your mailboxes in the cloud . In this Webcast, Scott Schnoll discusses the new architecture for Exchange Server 2013 and the new features and functionality in Exchange 2013 that enable organizations to support a multigenerational workforce, provide an engaging experience for users, integrate Exchange 2013 with SharePoint and Lync, meet evolving compliance needs and provide a more resilient messaging solution. This webcast will be led by Scott Schnoll, a Principal Technical Writer on the Exchange User Education team at Microsoft where he authors content on a variety of content related to Exchange Server, including high-availability, site resilience, virtualization, and more. He is a frequent speaker at major industry conferences, such as Microsoft TechEd, Microsoft TechDays, Microsoft WinDays, The Experts Conference and more. Prior to joining Microsoft, Scott authored Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 Distilled (Addison-Wesley, 2004) and he was the lead author of Exchange 2000 Server: The Complete Reference (Osborne McGraw-Hill, 2000). Scott is a former long-time Microsoft MVP for Exchange Server, Windows and Rights Management Services. Follow Scott on Twitter @ schnoll and check out his personal blog at https://blogs.technet.com/scottschnoll . This is a unique opportunity to interact and learn from your industry peers and representatives from Microsoft. Be sure to attend this session to learn more about what’s coming in Exchange 2013 and to participate in a Q&A session with Scott Schnoll.   Remember, to sign up for this webcast please  download and save the attached calendar invite below . We are excited to see you there!    —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Presenter :  Scott Schnoll , Microsoft Principal Technical Writer on the Exchange User Education team Date/Time:  Thursday January 17 th , at 10:00 AM Pacific Time . (1 Hour presentation) Live Meeting Information: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Join online meeting https://join.microsoft.com/meet/v-joshto/F00T8BQY Join by Phone  +14257063500        +18883203585          Find a local number   Conference ID: 27579341    Forgot your dial-in PIN?  |    First online meeting?      [1033])!] Audience: Office 365 for professionals and small businesses Office 365 for enterprises

Ignite Plus: Office Partner Launch and Readiness

” The new, modern Office will deliver unparalleled productivity and flexibility for both consumers and business customers. It is a cloud service and will fully light-up when paired with Windows 8. ” ~Steve Ballmer, CEO Are you customer ready for the  NEW  Office 2013 & Office 365 cloud service s ? Jump start your readiness by attending this exclusive premier partner pre-launch event. Register now as space is limited! The event will be held at the Microsoft Corporate campus, in Redmond, WA, USA. Come discuss both the new technical capabilities of this release as well as partner business opportunities. The event will feature presentations, demonstrations, and ample time for discussion with experts from the Microsoft Office Division and the Microsoft Partner Network. Technical and sales readiness topics on the agenda will include: IGNITE – Get Ready for the next Office 365 Overviews PLUS – Grow your business with the new Office PLUS – Understand the new Office Office 365 for I.T. Pros Partnering with Microsoft The New Office Identity and Access Management Understand the  Microsoft Office 365 Sales Process The New Office Web Apps Exchange Online Winning in a competitive services market place Project Online Migrating to Office 365 The Customer Immersion Experience, a selling tool Visio Exchange Online Protection Understand and optimize for the Microsoft Sales Organization Office Telemetry and application compatibility Lync Online Solution Selling, how Microsoft does it Office 365 Pro Plus Data Loss Prevention How to run an O365 Proof of Concept The new opportunities for developers and custom apps Business Intelligence Helping customers with their regulatory compliance (invitation only)   SharePoint Online How we joint sell with partners to our large customers   Yammer Understand the advantage of becoming a Cloud Deployment Partner   Archiving & E-Discovery Learn about the dedicate partner investments for you   We invite Technical and Sales professions from your organization to join us to celebrate this exciting release and prepare for a great 2013! Register now! Register Important Registration Details Dates: January 22 – 24, 2013 Location: Microsoft Campus, Redmond, Washington Suggested Attendees: Sales professionals and Technical consultants Registration Site: https://partnerignite.dynamiceventsreg.com Registration Process:     Accommodations:       Cost:  All registrations are subject to Microsoft approval and availability. You will receive a confirmation email within 48 hours of receipt of your approval by Microsoft, indicating your registration status. Please note that accommodations for this event are not included, however we will send hotel suggestions in your registration confirmation.  We recommend that you book your travel after your registration is approved.  There is no charge for this exclusive event, however we will impose a no-show fee of $600 if you register for the event, but do not cancel your registration by 5:00pm (Pacific Time) January 15, 2013.   Space is limited .   RSVP today! Register Here If you have any questions or require additional assistance with your registration, please contact our registration team via email at  ignitepl@microsoft.com  or the following phone numbers +1 (800) 528-1668 or +1 (360) 253-2971 during the hours of 8:00am – 5:00pm (Pacific Time), Monday through Friday. We look forward to seeing you soon! Office Partner Launch Registration Team