Here is the 3rd Quarter 2021 – Office 365 Update (click on the link below)

O365 Qtr3 2021 Bulletin

Here is the 2nd Quarter 2021 – Office 365 Update (click on the link below) – Are you using Microsoft Teams?  Check out upcoming Microsoft Live Events, and learn how to establish a Teams Workspace and use Teams Channels.

O365 Q2 2021 Bulletin

Here is the 1st Quarter 2021 – Office 365 Update (click on link below) – Learn about the three forms of written communications available, check out upcoming Microsoft Live Events, and the bulletin even offers a couple of tips for you to try out when using the Teams app.

Office 365 Q1 2021 Bulletin

Review the 4th Quarter 2020 – Office 365 Update (click on link below) – Review the current project rollout status, learn about new tools that are now available and see what webinar training sessions are coming.

4th Quarter Office 365 news for you

Review the 3rd Quarter 2020 – Office 365 Update:

• Moving Forward with Office O365 Phase II
• O365 MFA changes to ID.Delaware.gov
• Live Webinars Hosted Weekly by Microsoft
• O365 Resources and Learning Links

Select the image below to open and read the Q3 2020 Office 365 Update:

Review the 2nd Quarter 2020 – Office 365 Update:

• Phase II – Collaboration Tools
• Phase I – Agency Migrations On-Hold
• Training References
• CoE Governance Committee
• License True-up
• SharePoint Server 2010 to SharePoint Online (SPO)
• What’s Next

Click on the image below to open the communication:

Review the 1st Quarter 2020 – Office 365 Update:

• Phase One – Agency Migration Progress
• DTI Pilots OneDrive for Business
• Bookmark Microsoft Training Resources
• SharePoint Online Update
• Power BI Update
• What’s Next

Click on the image to open the communication:

O365 – AGENCY Migration progress

Office 365 Phase One encompasses staff enrollment to Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), migration to Exchange Online (EXO), deployment of Office 365 ProPlus (OPP – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc), and voicemail transfer for employees that use Cisco Voicemail. The deployment timeframe for each Agency, once started, depends on the number of employees at an agency and any blackout dates they may establish. A complete deployment can range from 8 weeks to 4 months. To-date, 17 agencies have completed their migration and 9 agencies have migration tasks scheduled. Remaining agencies are in the process of being scheduled for migration tasks or kick-off meetings.

What’s Next…

The O365 project team continues to work on the Phase 1 roll-out schedule and tasks. O365 Phase 1 began back in February 2019 and we are working towards having this phase completed by May 2020.

OneDrive for Business is Coming

Check out this Video link… What is One Drive for Business and why do you need it? Simply put, OneDrive is a secure storage area for your files in the cloud. It is a simple way to store, sync, share, and collaborate on files with others. At this early stage, access to OneDrive will be limited to State users within the confines of the State of Delaware network. Instead of sending a file via email or egress; OneDrive allows you to quickly share your file by creating a secure link that provides access to the file. To learn more about OneDrive, review the OneDrive downloadable guide.

 Why is this happening sooner than anticipated? OneDrive for Business was initially slated for release later in the project but now will become available for migrated O365 agency users in early Q4 2019. The project received the green light to enable SharePoint Online (SPO) ahead of schedule. OneDrive is one of the Office 365 applications that has a dependency on SharePoint Online; since SPO was being enabled, an earlier rollout of OneDrive became possible. At this early stage, access to OneDrive will be limited to State users within the confines of the State of Delaware network.

SharePoint 2010 is going away.  Microsoft will end support of SharePoint 2010 in October 2020. As a potential path forward for agencies, the project needed to enable the use of SharePoint Online as an option for migration from SP2010. Again, as with OneDrive, initially SharePoint Online will be accessible only from within the State’s own network.

REMINDER: Early Adopter Group Gets Office 365 Pro Plus Updates in September. Delaware Early Adopter Group (EAG) members receive new feature updates in March and September. So, what happens when Microsoft pushes out an update? The first time you launch the application, after an update, Microsoft notifies you, usually via a pop-up message of the new feature. You can visit Microsoft’s Release notes for Semi-Annual Channel Targeted releases in 2019 webpage to learn more.

The Project Office 365 Team is always available if you have questions not already addressed in the website FAQ. Simple email Project_O365@delaware.gov.

Office 365 ProPlus – All About Updates

Office 365 ProPlus (OPP) is a subscription-based Microsoft Office product. All OPP subscribers regularly receive new feature updates, as well as security- and non-security-related updates.  Microsoft releases new feature updates to State of Delaware OPP users who are subscribed to one of two semi-annual update channels. Microsoft releases security patches and non-security updates (hotfixes) monthly for both update channels.

Delaware Early Adopter Group (EAG) members are subscribed to the Semi-Annual Channel (Targeted) and receive new feature updates in March and September. EAG members spend about four months using the new features, providing feedback to the Project O365 team (via the email below) before the rest of Delaware employees receive the updated software. The rest of the State of Delaware OPP subscribers receive new feature updates via the Semi-Annual Channel in January and July. So, for a few months of the year, EAG members have newer OPP applications than the rest of Delaware employees.

So, what happens when Microsoft pushes out an OPP update? Microsoft notifies you of some of the new features the first time you launch an OPP application after it is updated. Here’s an example: If you have already migrated to OPP, you may have opened Outlook this week and gotten a simple pop-up message, informing you of a few new features and inviting you to view more information. These include the ability to use “Read Aloud” to listen to your email and “Dictate” to have Outlook type your email for you, as well as the ability to prevent attendees from forwarding your meeting to others, and more. You can visit Microsoft’s Release Notes for Semi-Annual Channel Releases in 2019 to learn more.

Outlook on the Web – New Features Coming

You should also know that Outlook on the Web (aka OWA) will roll out many new features to Early Adopters, starting in late July. Broad deployment will finish by the end of September 2019. Outlook on the Web does not follow the same update cadence as OPP does. However, the Project Office 365 team will communicate new feature updates as they are introduced into the product roadmap. You can read more on the newest Outlook on the Web features here: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Outlook-Blog/Faster-with-a-modern-design-and-new-features-the-new-Outlook-on/ba-p/735222

The Project Office 365 Team is always available if you have questions not already addressed in the website FAQ. Simply email Project_O365@delaware.gov.