Office 365 Distilled

Last podcast of day 2 at ESPC, and we have Kenneth van Surksum with us. Kenneth is a Security MVP, who has been involved with Simeon Cloud for years, using them for his customers and contributing to the platform as well. The boys also have David Nevins back, and they have a nice chat about Simeon Cloud, and the benefits the platform brings to rolling out baseline tenants.

The best thing about live events is running into very cool people. Karuana Gatimu from Microsoft, famous for all the work she did on Microsoft Teams adoption, is now the driving force behind Copilot user adoption. She joins the pod for an honest conversation about Copilot, the effect it had on her job and how to get the best out of it when you are rolling out for your organization.

Day 2 at ESPC, which means it is time for a little round up of all the goodness that was spread on day 1. We have Kevin McDonnell, Manager at Avanade, MVP and good friend of the pod to talk about all the cool stuff he has seen. We talk SharePoint Embedded, the new headless solution for documents, Copilot adoption and rollout and much more.

In this episode, we have Imre Tholen as a guest, together with princess Kas. Imre is the collaboration expert at Mateco IT and talks about his experience with CoreView and why they made the decision to go to 1 tenant, with tenant separation.

Welcome to the second episode, live from #ESPC! We’ve got a couple of new guests joining us today: Kas Nowicka from CoreView and Ragnar Heil from Rencore.In this episode, we’re going to be dipping our toes into the five pillars of cloud governance: Cost management, Security baseline, Resource consistency, Identity baseline, and Deployment acceleration. Sounds like a lot of fun, right?Our host Steve talks about identity, which is great because he’s been struggling with his own identity for years. We’re hoping that by the end of this episode, he’ll finally figure out who he really is.Marijn, on the other hand, is drawing a blank. We’re not sure if it’s because he’s overwhelmed by all the governance talk or if he’s just having a bad day. Either way, we’re here to support him.And then there’s Kas. She’s our hero, our savior, our knight in shining armor. When Marijn drew a blank, Kas stepped up to the plate with her quick wit and humor. She’s the reason we’re all still here today.Unfortunately, we don’t have any whisky yet. But don’t worry, we’re working on it. In the meantime, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show!

The boys are in Amsterdam at ESPC23 and bring the spectacle of M365Distilled, live from the CoreView booth!Picture this: a room buzzing with energy, the smell of fresh Stroopwafels in the air, and a trio of guests so stellar, you'd think the constellations had realigned just for this event. First up, we had the enigmatic Kas Nowicka from CoreView, who could make even the driest technical details sound as riveting as a Dutch detective novel. Then, there was the charming David Nevins from Simeon Cloud, whose insights were so sharp, they could cut through a Gouda wheel at twenty paces. And hold onto your clogs, because the lineup was crowned by none other than Jeff Teper, the president of Microsoft 365 himself! Our hosts kicked things off with the tale of Simeon Cloud's birth and its journey to being scooped up by the eagle-eyed CoreView. It was like a Silicon Valley fairy tale, except the hero's a cloud and the magic beans are lines of code. Kas and David tag-teamed the mic to unravel the problems SimeonCloud solves, and let me tell you, their solutions are smoother than a well-aged Jenever. It was a deep dive into the nitty-gritty of cloud management, so detailed you could almost see the pixels. But folks, the pièce de résistance was Jeff Teper's first-hand commentary on how Copilot has flipped the Microsoft ecosystem on its head. It's like the wheel, sliced bread, and those little plastic things on the ends of shoelaces all rolled into one. Teper waxed lyrical about Copilot's transformative powers, painting a future so bright, we're going to need shades made of SPF 100.

With a Special theme tune for EPSC @ CoreView the boys are joined by Kasia Nowicka, Kas to friends, to launch a series of podcasts directly from ESPC recorded live from the CoreView Stand in the Exhibition Hall

Value is not always easy to find when thinking about all aspects of M365. Applications focus on functionality, and new solutions are set up without considering what is required to maintain the operational production needs.In this podcast by the boys, we look at all the places value is hidden or lost. Check out the meeting of Opportunity Cost, Technical Debt, or Culture Debt.Finally, we get to a Durvelish Spirit that is rare and lucky to have landed in the hands of this podcast duo...

The Podcast will now be formally known as M365Distilled... the name the boys finally landed on after a few amusing alternatives as we introduce Misky365 and Miss Stilled.This is a strange podcast that takes a few statements from Darrell as a Service, which Steve refined into:No Adoption without User GovernanceBecause user Governance Drives AdoptionAdoption plus Governance is managed changeSo, Steve started a conversation, and the boys just talked about it... coming together with a little basic knowledge about Adoption and Governance and proving the above statements are the basis for Adoption and Governance.What comes out of this podcast are several statements that can be used as a basis for defining your governance and adaptive paths.Here they are:Microsoft default Settings are a form of governance.Viral Governance is a tool that works in many organisations.Governance is actually tough to do... even if you have a plan.Adoption and good Governance may or may not drive better change (the jury is still out).Finally, the Golden Nugget from Marijn is... Adoption plus Change drives Sexy Change.It is a sin that Steve and Marijn have never shared with you the annual release of Cairdeas whisky from Laphroaig, so we tasted the 2023 version and atoned for that sin.

The boys review the events visited and the future speaking opportunities for this year. And then recall a conversation over lunch bounced from the CollabDay Belgium presentation. Pieter was looking at MS Team growth with the few years with COVID driving many applications to be thrown over the wall at the users.Value is discussed by comparing the various Project management methods working out, which adds so much value to the business for a limited spend. We then throw in Risk, adoption training and eventually applications and understand the size of the work needed to be successful within each of the delivery management levels.Then, Cloud features are discussed and compared to underwear and socks. It requires regular changes in small iterations... but each of the applications is compared against of the project methods to understand the work associated with the methodology.And Marijn cannot resist moving away from T-Shirt sizes to 3-piece suits and mankinis.Finally, a Whisky is tasted from Vascu’s birthday collection, the Ardbeg Galileo.

Steve is in a mood and Marijn is suffering big time... We are trying to identify all the end-user apps that need governance and adoption and how much work is required. Marijn says all Outlook versions are the same and don’t need re-training, but Steve is being an arse and saying the difference is important.Marijn is slowly getting convinced to listen in and check how Steve bullies him into believing that he is right... yes, feel sorry for him.Steve says “ I do apologise, brother, I gave you a hard time” ... “But it was fun recording this” We decide that there are loads of Apps and nearly impossible an export all of them except Yannick who has a superpower as a member of the M365 Force.The conclusion is that we try and count the total applications and don’t reach a conclusion because the number is huge (in context) and stopped counting at 80+ and started to really panic when we suddenly realised we had not considered Apple, Android and Mobile apps.The boys finish by going Cheap with their whisky bought on the way back from South Coast Summit and on the boat... they found a bargain... White Cask is a Speyside Malt which surprises both of them.

Firstly if you want to Governance at the South Coast Summit (join their workshop at Practical Microsoft 365 Baseline Governance – South Coast Summit ), it is Last chance folks...The Boys from Office365Distilled want to talk about focus, the ability for people to move the company forward through an understanding of goals, or the Viva Goals of the company.At the recent Collabdays in the UK, at the National Computing Museum, an excellent place that everyone should visit if they visit the UK and are in computing in any way forward.Looking at the definition of OKR and how Viva Goals helps organisations fix the vision of their Objectives and Key results... goal setting and reporting as a process managed by a tool.In their Collab days presentation, great demonstrations are described here... and then we talk about GoldCock!!This is the whisky that Marijn tasted in Prague and found at the airport on the way home and just had to buy a bottle... even if it is to keep saying the work and all the jokes on this podcast.There is a new model described that helps understand the value of Viva Goals which is described before Marijn and Steve drink their GoldCock!!But after this, there is a little revelation about adoption of Viva Goals...

Firstly if you want to Collab Days Poland (join their workshop at Practical Microsoft 365 Baseline Governance – ) So Marijn lost for the first round of the battle between the quick and powerful JSON v PowerApps @Helsinki but was magnanimous in his defeat. This is a great session and if you get chance to hear it them don’t miss it.Steve had a conversation this week about a mystery workflow that did not seem to have any documentation, that we could find… it prompted a need to think about how to define a process that ensured documentation had a high enough priority and is a key component in the Definition of Done.Lots of people get a call out in this episode where Marijn and Steve look at what should be included ,typically, in your governance documents.Enjoy but be warned this is an explicit podcast versions as Marijn uses the C-word… and no we are not joking… Finally after another shout out we drink a Chinese Whisky, seriously a Chinese dram that actually impresses enough to seriously put onto the purchase list.

Firstly if you want to Governance at the South Coast Summit (join their workshop at Practical Microsoft 365 Baseline Governance – South Coast Summit ) As always the show is improvised around a few great ideas and this time it’s about Myth busting and Marijn throws in a Sideways thinking at the beginning “Hello Mr Watson” to the end “Shift Left” Check it out.We think about a few things before starting on the main topic, like Cortana, that hot non-AI chick, and if CoPilot is about questions, will voice conversations return.... Hey CortanAI... The Boys decided on a few things that people generally believe are true and bust the myths!!!Today we look at how good Search really is and Steve learns a new bunch of stuff about Search and then we look at Users, Back Up and Malware...So listen in and check out if the following is true, well actually they are all Myths....· Is Search Holy?· All users are the same!· Is Everything Backed Up?· All Content is Scanned for Malware!Check in and work out the reality of the myths.

October13th 2023 @SouthCoastSummit https://www.southcoastsummit.com/workshop/practical-microsoft-365-baseline-governance/ In this final Wee Dram for August, we look at the 11 steps that form part of the Governance Workshop from the South Coast Summit on Friday, 13th of October in Farnborough UK.This is a 10 minutes piece of fun but full of Golden Nuggets if you are looking to try and do governance in your organisation. 11 steps in 10 minutes and if they make sense but the workshop in the diary and join us for a day of Governance fun.

The boys get distracted as always as the Autumn Speaker circuit comes alive. The conclude with Governance at the South Coast Summit (join their workshop at Practical Microsoft 365 Baseline Governance – South Coast Summit ) Recorded live at Marijn’s place, where the boys are constantly distracted by the world walking passed... Steve’s memory is again letting him down as he tries to remember the name of the artist he saw a week ago because the boys have been singing “Changes’ from Mr David Bowie since they suggested today’s subject.So, the subject is change, and specifically, they discuss the implications of Outlook and MS Team having huge updates in the same timeframe.The Podcast looks at current changes creating problems and differences in both clients to identify scope changes. Some will be improved, but this is a new canvas for Outlook and format for MS Teams, so some features may not be available when it goes live and be added later.The Point of this podcast is to look at how to manage this change... we know change is constantly changing when considering Enterprise Apps.The boys develop some great nuggets on how a model might look based on some change metric... Change Points!!! You heard it here first...The Change model is about packages balanced against the change needs based on the change required in the application's upgrade size.Several criteria can create the model. so Steve and Marijn discuss the main ones that should be considered.Steve Changed the name of XLA to ELA’s, but the basis is still the same, value is based on how users perceive and manage the change... the ultimate way to measure the success of change.Whisky eventually hits the menu, and Steve asks one of the speakers from the NY Community event a few weeks ago to find us a bottle we have been looking to taste for some time. Today we taste Metallica’s Blackened whiskey, a blend from Dave Pickerell, one of the last blends he created before he passed away. One of America’s greatest Master Distillers who changed Markers Mark from 175,000 bottles per year organisation to a million bottles per Distiller.This whiskey has been on Steves’s list for some time so here it is, and well there is a difference of opinion... This batch of Whisky has its own playlist that is played to the Whisky during the Maturation process and if you want to listen to the playlist... here is the link. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1w6KeG09G0VWrRRkkLZet0?si=972b68b77ae9468e Check it out.

Getting ahead of themselves, this episode was recorded at the end of July for the August release due to holidays etc. Before looking at Our governance model defined by DRAAP, which isdefine | review | adapt | approve | publish.We are looking for replacement names, all ideas are welcome. So the boys break down each of these stages in the model and cover the value that each section brings to the process of Governance.https://www.southcoastsummit.com/workshop/practical-microsoft-365-baseline-governance/ If you want to come and discuss this as part of our governance workshop, join us at Sout Coast Summit in October.The first important subject is Methodology or a Model, and the decision is not to create a podcast on which is most accurate...Using some real examples, we look at current customers and which state of the DRAAP process they are at and the next stages to be completed. The process does allow you to define at what stage each of the governance documents is at and what the following stage should include. A way to identify the value.Risk and value are included In the conversation, and Steve thinks this is a key attribute to define the protection required verse the effect on the end users. Governance that drives users away from using the product is not the target.Then the boys drink a local Whisky from Mechelen in Belgium. Het ANKER’s Molenberg distillery for their anniversary edition

Continuing their Wee Drams on thei new Governance workshop for South Coast Summit October13th 2023 @SouthCoastSummit https://www.southcoastsummit.com/workshop/practical-microsoft-365-baseline-governance/ The Boays introduce DRAAP which will get a few modules in their course as they talk about how practically you need to get to be succesful in introducing Governance as an active subject into your organisation

The boys get distracted for the first 10 minutes covering Their speaking events, Governance at the South Coast Summit (join their workshop at www.southcoastsummit.com ) and the pricing release of the Co-Pilot and value. They decide to read the Whiteboard and realise they have some subjects to discuss...A list on the whiteboard of Roles is associated with managing and running M365. Which role would you like to do and are the best at? Steve and Marijn run through the list, select their dream role in M365, and say how it works and why it might not... Check out why they both think that CISO would be a great role...We finish with a review of the position of the roles immediately after tasting a very unusual single cask from Deanston. Bourbon barrel about seven years in the barrel and hand filled at nearly 62%vol. It was a brilliant drink; pity I could only get a 20cl bottle...

October13th 2023 @SouthCoastSummit https://www.southcoastsummit.com/workshop/practical-microsoft-365-baseline-governance/ In this special Wee Dram which is primarily notification to join Steve and Marijn on a Governance workshop. Marijn is in the Mic Drop mood... check out his great maximum of 6 words responses on Governance.A quick boost of Marijn and Steve’s humour looking at Why we do Governance, How we do Governance and the problems associated with it.

In this special podcast, we have changed a few things... The Intro does not blow your ears out at the start... You can win a place at our 5th Birthday celebration with a simple HashTag and learn about Governance and Change on New Stream... EP116 is full of great information and a Free Dinner. Finishing with a great idea generated by a 21 Year Old Whisky from our sponsor Secure-Mail-Merge by Alex Duggleby Steve has an idea that looks to combine your Governance plans with ADKAR and Marijn likes the picture, but we disagree with the Model and do not find agreement. So you guys get one Model and 2 plans for implementation... you can choose the Marijn way or the Steve way... Such great Podcast Value!The podcast finished with the knowledge that the 21-year-old Austrian Whisky from the SecureMailMan Alex Duggleby as it created an excellent review of the Governance/Change idea and rounds it off with a new idea. This is Whisky Value Stream in action.

This is a very late podcast because Steve #ScrewedUp and the great interview with Alex Duggleby needed more work than usual. But it is finished, Alex sounds great, nearly as good as his M365 Secure Mail Merge App. Steve and Marijn are drinking Austrian Whisky provided by Alex as a Sponsor for this episode, where we introduce what we think is a great tool to assist in communications and adoption.Alex Duggleby joins the boys to talk about his career in development, the background in his new Mail Merge Application and his thoughts on developing inside the M365 apps and creating secure tools that do not need to take any data outside the M365 ecosystem.Advanced mail merge for Outlook for Windows, Mac and Web. (securemailmerge.com)Steve talks about his direct experience with the tool after using it to manage CVTV (Commsverse TV) interviews and communications for this MS Teams event in the UK.

Wow, what a week, you can tell when Steve and Marijn have had a busy week because you get this very laid-back podcast where they discuss their Trips... and start with a Whisky Chat before moving on to talk about 70% of the project failing and deciding if it is Fake News.In this Podcast, we look at the truth behind the common assumption that 70% of projects fail and analyse if it is accurate and how you can take MS Viva and ensure that it is successful. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/do-70-change-management-projects-really-fail-simon-lewington/Simon does a great review and background on the statement... worth a read.The Forgetting list... CooperKing.... Not CastleKing is the name of the new Distillery Steve visited and the boys tasted their new make spirit which is full of promise. Matt Wade is the producer of the M365 Periodic Table. Steve and Marijn are both simply getting old and forgetful... we did however remember Dylan’s name!!Steve’s Golden Nugget is about Monopoly Money used to set priorities in workshops instead of dots on Post-Its. And then they discuss how impossible it is to roll out Viva in a quantifiable wayIn essence, this Third Sponsored podcast from CloudALLY www.cloudally.com looks at why projects fail and how to create success.I don’t want to ruin a great podcast with spoilers but check out the 7 reasons why projects fail and 5 Golden Nuggets to put your project on the proper foundation for success. XLA is the secret sauce in the process... work to be completed to resolve exactly how you and your organisation will design these.The boys drink the last CloudALLY provided whisky a Tomatin Decades 2 that is comprised of barrels Matured across 5 decades... a genuinely awesome dram.

The second of 3 podcasts sponsored by CloudAlly and provided 3 great whiskies to taste across the following 3 Episodes. Today we are speaking to Murrey Moceri, the Partner Account Director from CloudAlly, a man of the world who hails from Seattle and had flown into London from Sri Lanka and then chose to speak with Marijn and Steve on Office365Distilled.Information from www.cloudally.com Follow up use [email protected] We have anecdotes, horror stories and some background on how CloudAlly have saved people’s business but mostly about the common sense around backup needs and requirements. You get IT stories from people who have been in the industry for some time.Murrey places backup in the context of shared responsibility between you and your cloud supplier to ensure the availability of your services. Back-up is different, and we explain why.Time is spent looking at the simple things in life... and the product which, within a few clicks, can get you to a specific date, a specific file or email and restoration is a click away.Back-up not only can save your ass in your business but correcting user errors is potentially where the value is in the product. Steve and Murray realise they are both audiophiles and have a history of sound, so they start talking about the beautiful feel of sound from tape...Steve as always ruins everyone’s names which raises a smile and a constant reminder of the old man’s memory from the Dynamic duo of Steve and Marijn.Finally, we touch on the interesting facts about backing up messaging in MS teams which for many reasons is a complexity that you will have never heard of.This podcast was simply fun, we tell you about backup, business, IT over the last 20 years and laugh together over stories and then we drink whisky and coconut spirit that Murray decides to join us with. Steve and Marijn hit a delicious 22 year old Benriach finished in Dark Run Barrels, the smoothest, darkest and Deep whisky the boys have tasted. Murrey introduces Arrack, a spirit from Sri Lanka... another whisky the boys have added to the list...

Marijn Confirms that he can read!! OK, I could not resist that, the power of being the Office365Distilled producer and being able to publish the content that we both produce.Never having enough information is bad... but unlike Whisky sometimes too much information can be just as stressful and causes problems of a different kind.... thinking about it, too much Whisky might also cause problems of a different kind. Anyhow...Check out Marijn’s view on Information Overload from the recent Harvard Review paper.

The first of 3 podcasts sponsored by CloudAlly and provided 3 great whiskies to taste on the next 3 Episodes. On Episode 113 we will be speaking to Murrey Moceri, the Partner Account Director from CloudAlly, who will be talking about content protection through their platform.Information from www.cloudally.com Follow up use [email protected] The subject of today is ‘Human in IT’ and we start by considering the workload growth and the average number of change programs that people are involved in has increased by 400%. Cynically Steve of course is wondering if that is true but that companies are now taking more care about change and formalising the programs of change.We can only assume but we do agree that the number of changes is increasing, but not everyone gets phased by application changes as often it is not a core process.We identify that the big 3 are changing, Outlook, MS Teams and SharePoint will all look and feel differently over the coming 3-4 months.Co-Pilot is a new attribute where AI gets integrated into the normal applications within the Office application set. This change will affect everyone as those that use it can gain real value within the company and for themselves. This is a change that is worth and change program as the payback will be worth the effort.The Boys get hot under the collar about the concept of collaboration and communication protocols and whether these are good or bad. The lesson here is that Humans in IT mean that there are many ways of working. Humans are fickle people... but they are inquisitive by nature... So we get involved with defining what normal means but take some extreme examples like is Climbing Mount Everest now Normal?We have to shout out to Dylan Hayes because we wanted to talk about his great runs, but we could not remember his handle...We hit on AI, and the changes it brings and how Humans in IT can benefit from it and get value from one of the most significant IT changes in recent times.We conclude that Change is a Drip-Drip-Drip means that as Humans, we do need to expect change, which of course, can increase stress levels or not.Finally, we remember that tech can make people lazy... so accepting what Co-Pilot gives you may not get tested/assessed/changed before being published.

Taking the first module and outlining how Process, Governance and Policies, when brought together, ensure we present a practical approach to providing a well-governed M365 environment. This podcast looks at some of the first module content from their latest training workshop, 'Practical Microsoft 365 Baseline Governance' First presentation is at...Techorama Belgium on May 15th https://techorama.be/workshops/practical-microsoft-365-baseline-governance/ The podcast explains all this and more,and this might be the funniest start yet...Steve and Marijn wonder if the Double Entendre is evident to the listener, and Steve struggles to say penis because it feels wrong to say it on the podcast. The boys present the open content from their new governance course to be launched at As always, Steve’s brain refuses to bring in names, so we want to say Sigourney Weaver, because he could not remember Dian Fossey, who worked with Gorilla until poachers killed her. And then he forgot the name of the Guy who invented the WWW... whom we will call James from the Internet.Eventually, they get serious and explain how Microsoft, Harvard and Office365Distilled define governance... so GPT is to the rescue.Steve reads through the Office365Distilled definition of Governance and identifies the core model from this definition.Governance Office365Distilled style, covering 4 core areas as a DRDR Defined, Resources, Drivers, Results...Defined by Policies, Procedures and Practices.Resources that are used, Managed and Protected.Drives the behaviour, Administrators, content and compliance.Results are to maximise the benefits whilst minimising the risks.We break down each of these areas and explain how, practically, these decisions and consequential definitions all bring a practical approach to Governance. And if you want to hear more, join us on May 15th in Antwerp, Belgium.

Marijn moves from Inspiration and Design to Empowering your organisation for Digital transformation. Following the Microsoft IDEA framework for digital transformation. E is for Empower and Marijn looks at how you can empower your audience through the development of a model either digital or Paper-based plan for awareness of your new digitally transformed organisation.This very much supports the idea of ensuring your organization sees the value in your business transformation story by viewing visual assets and immersive experiences—promoting buy-in and getting alignment on commitments.

Steve and Marijn are joined today by a Guest who brings many questions about UK financial compliance. In this episode, we wanted Laura Madden to tell us what her customers need from their content management. We investigate solutions for typical problems the UK small business financial industry needs from a cloud service.Marijn dives in immediately, talking about some cool solutions, but soon understands that small business needs their cloud solution to deliver good value... maybe best describe them as cheap... So, we work on solutions for auditing, controlling, and tracking content and information that are all out of the box.We take questions from Laura about distributing and managing compliance contact, mainly completed through emails to external parties for a small business. So, the first question was about maintaining control of the document when it is moving around so many people, many of whom are outside your control.We then consider the ability to maintain the immunity of that content when agreements or decisions are made against the content.Audit soon raises its head and needs to ensure that evidence exists to confirm decisions made with compliance officers and regulators with minimal effort. We touch on feedback loops, why external survey tools might not be the best solution, and where M365 forms could provide a safe way to collect feedback or decide on specific questions. Eventually, we get to taste 2 whiskies from the same distillery with 7 years of difference to understand if the extra time in the barrel adds tasty value when it adds so much cost.Steve announces a new Sponsorship with Cloudally, a company supporting businesses with Cloud backup solutions, more on that in future episodes and Marijn finishes off with a great ending and a request to complete Spotify comments as a Lady’s Understanding or a Gentlemen’s Agreement.

Marijn and Steve lose about 20 minutes of this podcast covering search and how AI might help. We accept that we can’t help ourselves... We eventually started on document library Governance... but it took some time to pull away from the AI conversation.Steve is not sure how AI can add value to documents and other content, but we will wait patiently to find out. The original subject is around document governance and, specifically, content architecture and the value it brings.To get started, we look at the components that make content architecture possible, like content types, metadata and taxonomy and the governance that will ensure it stays contextual.The discussion turns to who can make the decisions around creating libraries, columns etc. We move to cover the security model that makes it all possible. Then Templates come forward, and a deep dive around DLP and Sensitivity Labels.Before drinking a completely new Whisky from Italy, yes, I said Italian we finish off with a quick insight into view formatting and migration...

This is an extraordinary look at Innovation based on criteria around: Creativity, Vision, Risk-taking and Collaboration. But maybe Governance has a place... or half a place in the definition.The Boys are back after the great episode 107, and this time they are talking about innovation with a quote that Innovation is in the Delta between your known limit and the place you push to.As we take some time to break down the pillars of Creativity, Vision, Risk and Collaboration, we identify that governance has a role in the innovation process. Still, we need to agree if this is something that restricts innovations or merely controls the scope of invention. Let us know how YOU feel about it.We conclude by taking a Harvard quadrant with Innovation on the left and best practice on the right. We put High Risk at the top and No risk at the bottom. So Innovative High-risk items are in the top left quadrant... so where you would put OneDrive or MS teams etc. Check out what Steve and Marijn did.The Whisky is very unusual and no. 870 from the first bottlings from the Maradsous Abbey in Belgium is a very interesting dram to taste if you can find a bottle outside of Belgium.We finish by referring to a few Wee Drams around Innovations, and these can be found here to support the content of this podcast:https://www.office365distilled.com/508 Innovate Everywhere

Are SLAs just Secrets, Lies and Assumptions? Do we fudge the KPIs to show we have excellent delivery? It’s possible, but XLA’s are more difficult to fool. The boys are talking about experience and happiness on this podcast that defines and describes XLA’s, eXperience Levels Agreements and how they fit into the picture of SLA and OLA.Valentine’s day caused some delays as it fell on a regular recording night, so Steve and Marijn had to delay swapping Vantine gifts, but we did that on this podcast. But the delay revives some magic, and the Boys dig deep into some great tools to improve the end user experiences for delivering your Cloud and Microsoft 365 services to your users.We know what SLA OLA supports eXperience Level Agreements, and if you don’t, you can learn something from Steve and Marijn as they talk about how this can improve the delivery, the change process and improve the tracking of Ability in the ADKAR process.All this and a Very different WHISKY FROM Finland as we return to the KYRO distillery for this episode’s wee dram, maybe, just maybe, we have found a distillery that is just NOT to the taste of Marijn.This year we take on the road our Governance workshop and the key to that is understanding XLA’s and much of today’s learning you can drill down and catch in our Governance workshops through 2023. https://techorama.be/workshops/practical-microsoft-365-baseline-governance/

2023 is the year of governance with Marijn and Steve. To get started, we asked ChatGPT for 3 paragraphs describing Governance for M365, which we used to dig deep into the practical aspects of setting up Governance in M365.We conclude that there are practical links between getting governance right that drives the success of a Good Adoption and Change program.Here is what GPT told us about M365 GovernanceMicrosoft 365 Governance refers to the management of policies, procedures, and standards for the use of Microsoft 365 services. It involves defining rules and guidelines for access, use, storage, and dissemination of data and information within an organization using Microsoft 365 services. This helps to ensure the security, compliance, and privacy of sensitive data and information, as well as promote collaboration and productivity.Effective M365 Governance also involves the use of tools and features provided by Microsoft 365, such as Azure Active Directory, Microsoft Intune, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Microsoft Teams, and others, to enforce policies, monitor usage, and provide reporting and auditing capabilities. It is critical to have a well-defined M365 Governance plan in place to ensure that all users are aware of their responsibilities and obligations when using Microsoft 365 services and that the data and information within the organization is protected and managed appropriately.Finally, M365 Governance also involves continuous review and updates to policies and procedures to align with changing business requirements, technological advancements, and regulatory compliance requirements. This includes regular risk assessments, security audits, and assessments of user adoption and usage patterns to identify areas of improvement and ensure that the M365 Governance plan is effective in meeting the needs of the organization.

So 2023 in the country of Office365Distilled is the year of Governance. And we start with out invention and golden nugget, Baseline Governance which is about doing just enough to go live quickly and safely. In this podcast, we talk about Marijn’s adventure with VR at his Daughter’s birthday party, how many Elephants fit into a Mini and five golden rules for baseline Governance to get your new application, Team site or SharePoint service up and running with minimum risk. Then a 25-year-old Whisky is tasted, which the boys describe as astonishing.

So we know that M365 is a constant... it constantly changes. We look at M365 considering where the value is in this changing environment and how best to manage the strategy of changes using AGILE techniques that we all know and maybe even 'love' using.

So Happy New Year from Marijn and Steve is the first thing that comes up with a review of the Advents podcasts and a big thanks for getting us close to Marijn downloads target of 15,000 downloads this year.A quick 10-minute review of the people we met, the subjects we covered in December before hitting the subject of the Podcast Lists.... and some examples for useMark Kashman, on his blog did a release just before Christmas showing a personal list he created that he uses to track the people he meets and the socks he needs to give away as he tours and delivers his presentations.Marijn suggests that forms are better, and for the right solution it might be... but if you are tracking something that needs updating Lists are the only way to do this...collecting data then forms are great... manipulating data then lists are the way to go.So you get some great examples, of lists and the management of them as well and feedback and discussions on the best ways forward and lifecycles of your data.The boys taste a Whisky from Denmark that sounds like a character in the Game of Thrones... Danica.

The boys celebrate 24 podcasts this month and a year of work relaxing with the ultimate Christmas gift for the whisky lover. A quick review of the work and travel, but mainly just saying tanks to everyone listening and generally, the boys lay their EGO on the line... what would you expect...

So WhatsApp is prevalent and easy to use, but it does not conform to the business management of corporate content. What’s in it for me is minimal value for the users except that you can have a continuous conversation from your mobile device to your laptop. ADKFAR comes into the mix a little, but this is a change process.

Meetings are working; this is a pretext for Agile methodology and is very true today. Meetings take work, and they also take you away from work. Meeting culture needs to change, and we are back to change and adoption. In this podcast, we identify the reasons why you should NOT be in a meeting. As the organiser, you are responsible for creating a meeting with a real invitation to make everyone welcome and show why they will add value.

Marijn explains Yammer’s Storylines and Stories because he loves them both. He makes a good point; this creates an opportunity for every individual to join the company community, which is essential in today’s working life as we have less chance to connect and communicate across the business.

So, this podcast just goes to show that the tasting notes of a Whisky can be very accurate... In this case, one stating notes says intense whisky with a hint of plastic!! But this was a Whisky to avoid at Christmas unless you are out with the boys doing shots... Hey Vascu, thanks for the tasting but Steve leaves his opinion on his purchase verse yours 😊

Marijn has been using Steve’s ideas again and wants to tell everyone how he is tracking the questions on his SharePoint site about the change ad adoption project he is working on. Steve Does not mind because it is one of his brilliant ideas...

It was an email, but it’s also going to be on MS Teams messages... seriously a great idea from Microsoft about delaying the delivery. You can now delay a message and an email to arrive at the optimum time for the receiver. But... Marijn is unsure because he thinks he is not responsible for the receiver’s timeline. Then the boys come up with some significant variations for the options around defining the timing of the delay based on a trigger of location or some time after they open their emails. This almost feels like an actual podcast... almost!

Meeting Etiquette from a few Microsoft Screenshots identified some great points for improving your meeting habits and accessibility. But Marijn goes into that talking mode where we get unfocused, and storytelling voice kicks in... so Steve takes over. All Microsoft’s Meeting room etiquette in 3 minutes!!!

There’s a sync that Steve washes his dishes in that is not what Marijn wants to discuss. He has terrible news: they want to favour the Add to OneDrive functionality. This podcast says NNnnnoooo... we like the Sync and the fact that you get a list of the libraries under your Tenant name and not included in your OneDrive folders. So guys, if you are listening and reading this... leave well alone... Sync Rocks Baby!!

Tasting of Gold Bar Bourbon, Steve travelled through New York Airport last week and crashed the last bottle of Gold Bar reserved... shaped in black with a copper minted coin in the face of the bottle. So it’s time for a Whisky advent episode with something very different to the normal whisky we get hold of...

We are doing all this work to enable knowledge management and enhance collaboration. But this does create a point where change is required. Our Special guest Caroline Hackney introduces her baby... The Collaboration Clinics at Port Houston have been running to implement this change. This is a podcast with real value if you want to do what Steve and Marijn started with, and Caroline is currently running where the business gets to talk in a clinic about Hybrid working, training, and updates. Especially useful have been Caroline’s STOMP sessions... check out the podcast to hear more... AND if you are British, then you will get the Two Ronnies reference at the very end...

Another episode with Caroline Hackney, who is rapidly learning to take over this podcast and puts Steve and Marijn in their place. The extraordinary lady comes with a question about the need for ambassadors so that we can bring you a bunch of Nuggets and the Value of Ambassadors within your company. So the 23rd-floor trio considers the value of integrating Ambassadors and Personae across the business.

We had a few guests on this episode of Office365Distilled, the awesome Caroline Hackney from Port Houston was an attendee at the workshop presented by Steve and Marijn at the M365 Conference. The focus is on Lego and the personae they represent as M365 is rolled out to the organisation. So Caroline expands on Personae introducing Fiona and Stefan to the podcast... enjoy a view from the 23rd floor.

The problem with short unfocused podcasts is that you can be more confused after the podcast than before. But as the boys touch on Sensitivity labels whilst at M365 in Las Vegas They roll through several points. You will pick up a few golden nuggets but be warned... this episode had no planning whatsoever... however, it is fun.