The Microsoft Inside Track

The Microsoft Inside Track

Introduction When implementing IT solutions which are complex and require proper in-depth planning, it is crucial to perform technical assessments and creating an inventory of the “as-is” situation as well as assess the organization’s operational and business requirements alongside the technical requirements. Implementing an IT solution, especially when this involves some sort of migration, requires … Read more

Microsoft 365 pre-migration checklist

Microsoft 365

Introduction When planning to migrate an organization with existing on-premises infrastructure to the Microsoft 365 Cloud, you need to create a thorough plan before the migration. This article discusses a Microsoft 365 pre-migration checklist which is provided as a template by Microsoft. Microsoft 365 pre-migration checklist Carry out the following tasks to prepare for migrating … Read more

New Azure region in China

Azure region overview

New Azure region in China On March 1st, 2022, a new Azure region in North China was established by Microsoft. This new data center adds the fifth Azure region to the China market and doubles the capacity of Microsoft’s intelligent cloud portfolio in China. Announced in 2012, and officially launched in March 2014 with two … Read more

Azure AD Graph retirement date

Microsoft Graph API

Microsoft had announced that on 30 June 2022, they would retire Azure AD Graph. The Azure AD Graph retirement date has now changed. On April 7th 2022, Microsoft published the following update about Azure AD Graph retirement date: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/updates/update-your-apps-to-use-microsoft-graph-before-30-june-2022/. Before that date, you’ll need to update your apps that use it to instead use Microsoft … Read more

PCI DSS 4.0 has been released

PCI DSS 4.0

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is a global standard that provides a baseline of technical and operational requirements designed to protect account data. It is a multi-layered set of specifications which target at acceptable security and privacy levels for all organizations which process any type of payment cards in their transactions … Read more

Cloud skills training programs

cloud education

Introduction One of the most common facts in IT organizations worldwide is the lack of cloud skills of both IT administrators and end users. An increasing number of enterprises are starting to realize the importance of investing in Cloud Computing skills training for their employees. Besides the available third party training solutions and educational organizations, … Read more

World Backup Day

world backup day

World Backup Day – 31st March World Backup Day is a day for people to learn about the increasing role of data in our lives and the importance of regular backups. This independent initiative to raise awareness about backups and data preservation started out on reddit by a couple of concerned users. The World Backup … Read more

OCSP SHA-1 support ending 30 May 2022

security and privacy

OCSP SHA-1 support ending 30 May 2022 Microsoft has announced the sunset for SHA-1 Online Certificate Standard Protocol signing. Microsoft is updating the Online Certificate Standard Protocol (OCSP) service to comply with a recent change to the Certificate Authority / Browser Forum (CA/B Forum) Baseline Requirements. This change requires that all publicly-trusted Public Key Infrastructures … Read more