Audience: Live@edu; Office 365 for education Editor’s Note: Please be sure that the contact information for your institution is up to date to be alerted to key Live@edu to Office 365 upgrade information. Sign in to the Service Management Portal (SMP)  and update the critical notification field with all updated contacts for your institution.    Institutions using Live@edu are being upgrade to Office 365 for education. This upgrade builds on existing Live@edu deployments, meaning there’s no need to move mailboxes, calendars, or contacts, and no need to re-provision accounts. Furthermore, users can count on continued email access throughout the upgrade process.    If your institution is using Live@edu, here’s what you can expect: Your institution will be assigned an upgrade date in the next few months, and you can expect an email notification at least 30 days prior to the scheduled upgrade date. Once you receive your date, you have the option to start the upgrade any time before the upgrade date, knowing that this won’t disrupt your users throughout the upgrade process. You may also choose not to take any action, and we’ll take care of the upgrade to Office 365 for you, automatically, on your scheduled date. If you’re ready to start before receiving an upgrade date, you can contact Live@edu support and they will schedule the upgrade for you. After the upgrade, your primary domain (and any accepted domains) will be subscribed to Exchange Online Plan 1 for academic. You will then have the option to subscribe to any of the Office 365 for education plans to get SharePoint Online, Lync Online, and Office Web Apps. Since the upgrade builds on your existing Live@edu deployment, you may be ready to upgrade now. To get started: Make sure your contact information is up to date. Review the resources on the Upgrade Center and complete the before upgrade checklist . Start the upgrade to Office 365 or contact  Live@edu support to initiate the upgrade. We look forward to having your institution on Office 365 so you can extend your Live@edu investment and enable your students, faculty, and staff to communicate and collaborate easier.        

Microsoft is preparing to roll out the new SharePoint Online as a part of Office 365. As a result of this initial phase of the SharePoint Online service update, you may be affected by some of the design changes. Below is a consolidated list of items with pointers to documented fixes and posted workarounds: Install SharePoint Designer 2013 (free download here ). Previous versions of SharePoint Designer are not compatible with the new SharePoint Online. Apply the Hotfix for SharePoint Designer 2013 to work properly with InfoPath 2010 – start here . Apply the Hotfix for SharePoint Workspace 2010 to work properly with the new SharePoint Online – start here. In addition to the above items, there are several known issues previously posted here that Microsoft is working on to resolve in real-time. These issues are not broadly impactful and most have a corresponding knowledge base (KB) article with posted manual solution steps.     Note that you will not yet have access to the new SharePoint features or the new user interface. Rather, during this preparation phase, you will only see the new enhancements to the Office Web Apps as we previous communicated here . In addition, we’d like to reiterate Office 365 no longer supports Internet Explorer 7 (IE7).   Some CRM Online customers are also impacted within this phase of the SharePoint Online service update. Please review the in-depth blog post that articulates the recommended “list component” fix here .   Thank you, The SharePoint Online Team    * The Office 365 ProPlus Preview can run side-by-side with previous versions of Office. Users who have use rights to Office as a subscription will have the use rights to final Office 2013 RTM once available and no longer need the Preview version.

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 .     We are excited to deliver new Office Telemetry features in Office 2013. We built this to make the Office upgrade experience easier by helping IT Professionals identify what documents and solutions are most important in an organization, and pinpoint any issues with those documents and solutions that are currently being experienced by end-users. During this webcast, we will discuss the rationale for this new methodology in the context of streamlining the overall Office upgrade process, as well as discuss how to get the most out of using the new Telemetry features built into Office 2013. Our webcast will be led by David Matsumoto. David is a Program Manager for Microsoft on the Office Solutions Management Team in Tokyo, Japan. This is a unique opportunity to interact and learn from your industry peers and representatives from Microsoft. Remember, to sign up for this webcast please  download and save the attached calendar invite below . We are excited to see you there!  —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Presenter :  David Matsumoto , Program Manager for Microsoft on the Office Solutions Management Team in Tokyo, Japan Date/Time:  Tuesday January 22 nd , at 5:00 PM 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

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

” 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

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  here .   Do you want to learn more about Office 365 ProPlus? Are you looking to launch Office 365 ProPlus into your organization? Our upcoming Ignite Webcast discusses several technical facets of Office 365 ProPlus: Integrating Office 365 ProPlus with the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit, System Center Configuration Manager and Windows Intune Software update management with Office 365 ProPlus This webcast will be led by Jeremy Chapman, Microsoft Senior Product Marketing Manager. 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 Office 365 ProPlus Deployment and to participate in a Q&A session with Jeremy Chapman.   Remember, to sign up for this webcast please  download and save the attached calendar invite below.  We are excited to see you there!    —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Presenter :  Jeremy Chapman , Microsoft Senior Product Marketing Manager Date/Time:  Wednesday January 9 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

To sign up for this webcast please  download and save the attached calendar invite below  where you will find the Webcast Meeting information. We are excited to see you there!  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 here .   Are you looking to deploy Office 365? Are you a seasoned pro at Office 365 deployment, but want to learn more? This Ignite Webcast will fill your deployment needs as Loryan Strant and members of the Microsoft Support team discuss Real World Deployment Scenarios .  From 30 to 30,000 seats, deployment fits many different scenarios. Learn more about this and some of the best tricks of the trade during our Ignite Webcast.     Loryan Strant is Director and Co-Founder at Paradyne and is an Office 365 MVP and vTSP. He leads the Australian marketplace with the most deployments.   During the Ignite Webcasts, you will have the opportunity to interact and learn from your industry peers and representatives from Microsoft. Be sure to attend this session to learn more about Real World Deployment Scenarios and to participate in a Q&A session with Loryan Strant and members of the Microsoft support team.   Remember, to sign up for this webcast please  download and save the attached calendar invite below  where you will find the Webcast Meeting information. We are excited to see you there!    —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Presenter :  Loryan Strant, Director and Co-founder at Paradyne and Office 365 MVP.  Office 365 Grid member , Members of the Microsoft Support team. Date/Time:  Tuesday  January 8 th , at 2:00 PM 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

As an admin for Office 365 for professionals and small businesses, you’ll need to perform a variety of tasks in Office 365 to keep your organization running smoothly.  We’ve created a new training course with four videos that walk you through some of the most common admin tasks.  Refer to this course when you need a reminder about how to: Create a new user and assign admin permissions so that others in your organization can help you with admin tasks. Change user information, delete users, and restore users after they’ve been deleted. Remove a license from a user and assign it to another user. Buy more Office 365 licenses. Change your password and reset forgotten passwords, for yourself and others. You can find a link to this training course on the Office 365 Video Training Courses Wiki page.   If you have suggestions for other Office 365 training courses, send an email  to crsfeed@microsoft.com .

Audience: Office 365 for professionals and small businesses Office 365 for enterprises     To join this Lync and Learn Session  please Download and save the calendar invite at the bottom of the blog post. Join us on  Thursday December 20 th , at 10:00 AM Pacific Time  and  view the Lync online meeting information below.  We are excited to see you there!  Lync and Learn is an online session led by Office 365 Product Managers and Community  Grid members .  Lync and Learn sessions address different Office 365 subjects and scenarios and is beneficial to anyone who wants to learn more and expand their knowledge of the Office 365 suite. View past Lync and Learn sessions  here .        Office 365 provides convenience in the cloud through a great set of productivity and collaboration tools. In this Lync and Learn session, Kelsey Epps will provide some convenience of his own through helping us set up Office 365. We’ll get back to the basics and dive into setting up Office 365. In this Lync and Learn Webcast we will cover the following:  Sign-up for the trial Adding a domain and verifying it DNS records Create Users and Assign licenses Setup Desktop PC for User Accessing Office 365 Services from the Desktop and Internet Purchasing Additional Licenses Open a service request Kelsey Epps is a Senior Systems Engineer with a background in Microsoft Clustering, Exchange Server, Lync Server and Windows Server. Download the calendar invite below and join us on December 20th at 10:00 AM Pacific Time for this great session.   Interested in being our next Lync and Learn presenter?  Learn how to join the Office 365 Grid  and become an Office 365 Lync and Learn presenter. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————— Presenter: Kelsey Epps , Technology Consultant with HP and Concepps Group, and  Office 365 Grid member . Date/Time: Thursday December 20 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  +18883203585          Find a local number   Conference ID: 27579341    Forgot your dial-in PIN?  |    First online meeting?      [

When the SharePoint 2013 updates start getting rolled out to your SharePoint Online sites, you will notice some changes and improvements to the external sharing capabilities in SharePoint Online: The experience for managing external sharing (for example, turning it on or off) has been streamlined and simplified. Site users will also have more options for how they choose to share content. They can: Share sites or documents with external users by requiring them to sign-in to the site. Share documents with anonymous users through the use of guest links Finally, the sign-in experience for external users who receive invitations to access or view content on SharePoint Online sites will be updated to make the experience a bit more straightforward. Managing external sharing in Office 365 Enterprise Plans In Office 365 Enterprise plans, SharePoint Online admins will be able to manage external sharing centrally from the SharePoint Online admin center.  On the Settings page in the SharePoint Online admin center, admins can turn external sharing on or off globally for the entire tenant, or they can choose to allow only specific kinds of external sharing (e.g., allow sharing only with sign-in). One key change coming for Enterprise plans is that admins can also centrally manage external sharing for individual site collections directly from the SharePoint Online admin center. They can choose to turn external sharing on or off for one or more site collections or they can control which level of sharing is allowed for specific site collections.     SharePoint Online admins with Enterprise plans will also have the option of using Windows PowerShell cmdlets in the SharePoint Online Management Shell to perform tasks such viewing a list of all external users or bulk removing external users. For more information about configuring and managing external sharing in Office 365 Enterprise plans, see Manage external sharing for your SharePoint Online environment.     Managing external sharing in Office 365 Small Business plans If you have an Office 365 Small Business plan, the admin experience for managing external sharing is even more streamlined. You have a simple on/off switch in the Office 365 Service Settings for the external sharing feature. You can also use the Remove individual external users link to remove external users so that they no longer have access to sites or content that has been shared with them.   For more information about managing external sharing in Office 365 Small Business plans, see Manage sharing with external users . Sharing content.   Sharing content For site users, the option to share is easy to discover and use. You can use the Share command to quickly invite users to access a site. You can send invitations to any email address. Invitation recipients can sign in using a Microsoft account or a Microsoft Office 365 user ID.   The process for sharing documents with users by requiring sign-in is the same (although you would click the Share command from the document’s menu).     For more information about how to share sites or documents, see Share sites or documents with people outside your organization .    Thanks for reading!   Laura SharePoint IW Content Team