The Practical 365 Podcast

So Long Rich, and Thanks for Avoiding the Phish: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E35 Feb 12, 2025

It's the last Practical 365 podcast starring Rich Dean, as he departs for pastures new in the next chapter of his career, but we aren't ending with a damp squid of an episode - on the show this week, we do a bit of a lessons learnt: We chat about some of the top guests we've had on the show, and what interesting nuggets of information are still relevant today, and in some cases what has changed.

Rich also introduces Steve to our new co-host, Bastiaan Verdonk, and on the show you'll get to know Bastiaan a little better. Thankfully Steve got all manner of Bastiaan Host cybersecurity jokes out of the way prior to recording, so you can look forward to another enjoyable episode free from terrible jokes, and remaining as informative as ever.

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Free Copilot Chat Lands For All, Exchange Audit Logging Changes & More: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E34 Jan 22, 2025

Join Steve Goodman and Paul Robichaux to discuss Microsoft's latest announcements, including the surprise move to make Copilot Chat free for all Microsoft 365 users, significant changes coming to Exchange Online audit logging, and the new Outlook's arrival via Windows Update. Plus, get their takes on Microsoft's major AI reorganization with the new CoreAI division, and what all these changes mean for IT pros as we start 2025.

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Cloud.Microsoft Domain Changes, Viva Goals Retirement & Copilot Updates: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E33 Dec 20, 2024

Join Steve Goodman and Paul Robichaux for the penultimate episode of 2024, where they discuss Microsoft's significant end-of-year announcements, including the retirement of Viva Goals, major infrastructure changes with cloud.microsoft domains, and the future of Outlook. Plus, get their takes on Microsoft's latest AI developments and what these changes mean for IT pros.

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Microsoft Places, Teams Features and Copilot Confusion: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E32 Dec 03, 2024

In this week's show, Paul and Steve discuss the latest Microsoft Places announcements, debate whether Teams tries to be too many things at once, and examine the sometimes confusing world of Copilot integration across Microsoft 365 services. Plus, we share our thoughts on Microsoft Ignite logistics and what we hope for the future of the conference.

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Identity Management Deep Dive with Microsoft's Merill Fernando - The Practical 365 Podcast S4E31 Nov 19, 2024

In this episode of the Practical 365 Podcast, Steve Goodman and Rich Dean are joined by Merill Fernando, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, for a deep dive into identity management and community-driven innovation. As we approach Microsoft Ignite, Merill shares insights on upcoming announcements in security and identity management, including the new Global Secure Access solution. Plus we discuss various tech Meryl contributes to with the community, in particular Maester.dev, an open-source PowerShell based security framework.

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Copilot Wave 2, Exchange's Final Countdown & Teams Updates - The Practical 365 Podcast S4E30 Nov 15, 2024

In our first of two Practical 365 Podcasts before Ignite begins, Steve Goodman and Paul Robichaux dive deep into what was best in Microsoft's Wave 2 release and chat about Copilot Pages - is it a good move from Microsoft?

In other crucial news, we address the approaching end of support for Exchange Server 2016 and 2019, and what organizations need to consider as they plan their migration strategy. Plus, we look at the latest Teams meeting features, including new Copilot controls, meeting recap integrations with Outlook and new device support.

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Microsoft Security Copilot: AI's Role in Revolutionizing Cybersecurity - The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E29 Oct 11, 2024

In the show this week, Steve Goodman and Rich Dean are joined by Rod Trent. Rod discusses his extensive background in content creation and his current role at Microsoft, focusing on the evolution of AI in cybersecurity, particularly through the lens of Copilot for Security. The discussion covers the challenges of AI adoption, the importance of asking the right questions, and the need for trust in data integrity. Trent emphasizes the role of plugins and integration with other tools, the skills gap in cybersecurity, and the future of security operations centers. He also highlights the balance between automation and human oversight, the importance of quick decision-making, and the resources available for learning about Copilot for Security.

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TEC Special: AI, Identity, and the Future of IT with Shinesa Cambric - The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E28 Sep 23, 2024

Cybersecurity expert Shinesa Cambric joing Steve Goodman to discuss the evolving landscape of IT. In this episode, we explore the parallels between AI adoption and the cloud revolution, and get into the changing nature of identity in our digital world. Shinesa shares insights from her 20+ years in IT and gives a sneak peek into her upcoming TEC 2024 keynote.

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TEC Special: Paul Thurrott on Windows future & Copilot taking your job - The Practical 365 Podcast S04 E27 Sep 11, 2024

On the show this week, Steve Goodman is joined by IT industry veteran, Paul Thurrott to talk a variety of subjects he'll be speaking on in his keynote at TEC 2024 - namely Windows and Copilot. As Microsoft have had a turbulent year with both, we get Paul's take on it.

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TEC Special: Microsoft 365's Darkest Corners & PowerShell Scripting with Tony Redmond & Michel de Rooij - The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E26 Sep 02, 2024

Joining Steve Goodman on this week's podcast, is Paul Robichaux - as a guest alongside MVPs Tony Redmond and Michel de Rooij. Tony talks to us about his upcoming TEC session and explores some of the darker secrets of Microsoft 365 and what IT teams need to know as they continue manage it. And managing it doesn't get more fun than when you use PowerShell, which we talk to Michel de Rooij about as he's presenting at TEC and hosting the pre-conference workshop.

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Improving your AD Security with Derek Melber: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E25 Aug 26, 2024

On the show this week, Steve Goodman and Rich Dean are joined by speaker guest, TEC speaker & 20-time Microsoft MVP, Derek Melber. On the show, Derek gives invaluable tips on how to ensure your AD remains secure in a world of cloud and on-premises threats, and we discuss an important but often ignore topic - removing NTLM passwords from use in your organization. And we delve into the aftermath of Crowdstrike, digging a little deeper on the analysis of how some organizations weren't prepared.

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Crowdstrike Fallout, OneDrive Changes and Planner gets Copilot: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E24 Aug 06, 2024

On the show this week, Steve and Paul discuss the Crowdstrike outage and its fallout, and discuss important changes coming to OneDrive for Business that you'll need to pay attention to. In other news, Copilot for Planner is in preview - but there's a big catch!

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Places, Outlook Classic, and Teams Rooms Upgrades: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E23 Jul 17, 2024

Microsoft Places preview, Outlook Classic rebrand, and AI upgrades for Teams Rooms highlight this week's Practical 365 podcast. We discuss the potential impact of Places in the hybrid work landscape, the implications of Outlook's renaming, and how AI-powered speaker recognition is enhancing Teams meetings. Plus, we cover key Microsoft 365 roadmap items, including automatic work location settings in Teams and new Copilot features coming later this year.

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Microsoft's Security Stumble and AD Modernization Insights: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E22 Jun 27, 2024

On the Practical 365 podcast this week, Rich Dean and I tackle a hot topic that's got the tech world buzzing - Microsoft's alleged security misstep that may have paved the way for the SolarWinds hack.
We also chat with Julian Stephan from Quest Software, who shares some valuable insights on Active Directory modernization.

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Copilot in SharePoint, Agents & Recall, plus Karin Skapski talks automation: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E21 Jun 13, 2024

On this week's show, Steve and Paul are joined by Microsoft's Karin Skapski, who'll be presenting "Keeping Current in the Cloud: Automate and Stay Ahead" at TEC 2024, and joins us to discuss automation, Copilot and much more.
Plus, Steve and Paul discuss Windows Recall and whether this is a good move by Microsoft, and in Microsoft 365 we discuss new features coming to SharePoint and Copilot studio.

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Mastering ITDR Response - Insights from Microsoft's Andy Jaw: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E20 May 29, 2024

In this week's episode of the Practical 365 podcast, Steve Goodman and Rich Dean are were joined by Microsoft's Andy Jaw, a senior Microsoft security specialist with a fascinating background spanning the military, law enforcement, and now as a cyber security expert.
Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

13:20 The Importance of a Response Plan

23:02 The Role of Technology in ITDR

28:22 Implementing Security Measures

33:21Microsoft's Security Solutions

35:26 Closing the Gap: Predefined Playbooks and Practice

36:11 The Importance of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

38:48 The Need for a Recovery Plan for Active Directory (AD)

39:43 Testing and Practicing Backup Solutions and Disaster Recovery

50:14 The Role of Security in Organizations

01:02:11 Establishing an Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

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Exchange Server Roadmap, New MS AI model on the way & Entra ID MFA: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E19 May 14, 2024

On this week's episode, Paul and Steve cover several major Microsoft announcements impacting the future of AI, Exchange Server, and identity solutions. We discuss Microsoft's development of a massive in-house AI model called MAI-1 to potentially reduce reliance on OpenAI. And, we break down the newly released roadmap for Exchange Server, including details on the upcoming Subscription Edition launch. Finally we chat about Microsoft's unveiling of external authentication methods for Entra ID, enabling third-party MFA integration.

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Microsoft on Protecting Identity - The Core of Your Digital Ecosystem: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E18 May 01, 2024

On this week's episode of the Practical 365 podcast, Rich Dean, Paul Robichaux and I were joined by Alex Weinert, Director of Identity Security at Microsoft, to discuss the critical topic of identity threat detection and response (ITDR). Alex shared his valuable insights and experiences on safeguarding identity systems from sophisticated cyber attacks and hardening identity infrastructure against emerging threats.

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PowerShell, Teams and Exchange News with special guest MVP Michel De Rooij: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E17 Apr 11, 2024

On the show this week, we're joined by fellow Microsoft MVP and long-term PowerShell, Exchange and Microsoft 365 expert, Michel De Rooij. We discuss PowerShell (naturally), GitHub Copilot, and we talk about the latest news for Exchange Online, Teams and Microsoft 365

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Cloud Security News, AI, Copilots and more: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E16 Mar 31, 2024

On Season 4, Episode 16 of the Practical 365 podcast: Steve Goodman and Rich Dean chat about TEC Europe 2024 and cover some of the most important topics in the world of Microsoft 365, including Entra ID Conditional Access changes to be aware of, Copilot for Security reaching GA, plus lots more.

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Copilot gets more data controls, and MVP Jon Jarvis joins to discuss: should you manage all your devices with Intune?: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E15 Mar 15, 2024

On the show this week, Jon Jarvis, Microsoft MVP and expert in Intune, Microsoft 365 Security & Compliance (and more) joins us to answer our burning questions after his recent blog post on the site. Should you be on-boarding your older machines that pre-date your Intune implementation, or re-building them? And, what's the best way to approach migrating your existing GPOs across to Intune if you are using tooling to move your devices from AD joined to Entra ID only?
And of course, a show wouldn't be complete without some of the most pressing Microsoft 365-related news, so find out about the new Copilot (and Microsoft 365 Search) features that you might find helpful if you've discovered that there's far more openly accessible SharePoint sites than first imagined..

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Exchange Online Changes, Copilot + Viva plus Identity Migration with Becky Cross: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E14 Mar 01, 2024

In Season 4 Episode 14 of the Practical 365 podcast, Steve Goodman and Rich Dean discuss the upcoming Experts Conference (TEC) European Roadshow, the retirement of EWS Application Impersonation in Exchange Online, and the release of Exchange On-Premises Cumulative Updates. They also welcome guest Becky Cross, a Technical Product Manager at Quest Software, to discuss the various paths organizations can take when moving from hybrid or traditional Active Directory setups to Entra ID.

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Teams & Entra ID new features, plus Copilot adoption in the real world: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E13 Feb 09, 2024

On the show this week, Steve and Paul talk through a plethora of new updates arriving in Microsoft Teams, many going straight to the new Teams client; and Entra ID leaps forward towards a zero trust by default stance - we find out how. We discuss how Microsoft are doing well financially, but are they still providing great customer support; and Andy Honeycutt, Microsoft MVP joins us to discuss Copilot adoption in the real world.

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AI Security & Safety - Microsoft gives us their expert view, plus Copilot goes far and wide: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E12 Jan 26, 2024

In this week's episode of the Practical 365 Podcast, posts Steve Goodman and Rich Dean welcome Microsoft CVP, Yonatan Zunger.
A veteran engineer with an impressive resume that spans Twitter, Google, and now Microsoft, Zunger holds the prestigious position of Corporate Vice President of AI Security and Safety.
His team is dedicated to pioneering ways to ensure AI systems are secure, ethical, and safe for use.
Our conversation delves into Zunger's extensive background, his pivotal role at Microsoft, and his valuable perspectives on the complexities and prospects of AI technology.
As usual, we talk through the biggest news this week in the world of Microsoft 365, including how you can get Copilot today.

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Complex Identity Migrations & Microsoft using PowerShell: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E11 Jan 12, 2024

Join us on this exciting episode of the Practical365.com podcast where hosts Steve Goodman and Paul Robichaux sit down with Tim McMichael, a seasoned Support Escalation Engineer at Microsoft. Known for his prowess in tackling complex issues, Tim will delve into the intricacies of identity management, shedding light on the challenges and solutions in the realm of Exchange Server, Exchange Online, and Azure AD.

We’ll explore his innovative contributions to the tech community, including his insightful blog and his groundbreaking GitHub projects. Tim will share the inspiration behind his modules for distribution list migrations, offering a glimpse into how these tools are facilitating seamless transitions to Office 365.But that’s not all! We’ll also discuss the future of identity management, the evolving landscape of cloud technology, and how professionals can equip themselves to navigate these changes. Plus, Tim will share some of his most challenging cases and how he managed to crack them.

Don’t miss this opportunity to gain invaluable insights from one of Microsoft’s leading engineers.

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Why Microsoft are doubling down on Copilots & Why EWS being deprecated: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E10 Dec 15, 2023

What you need to know about EWS deprecation with Luberth Morera from Microsoft
Why Microsoft are focused on Copilots
EU Drafts new AI rules
UK gov examine the partnership between OpenAI & Microsoft
Of note in the Microsoft 365 Roadmap

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Notes from the field on finding use-cases and business value from AI: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E9 Nov 30, 2023

On the show this week, Rich and I are joined by a guest who is leading AI at a multinational enterprise- Mike Wilson, Distinguished Engineer & AI Security Evangelist at Quest Software to talk first - what's new and relevant to Microsoft 365 customers in the world of AI, especially after Microsoft Ignite a few weeks ago.

Don't worry - we're not chatting about boardroom drama from OpenAI - we delve into how technology advances from Microsoft on the hardware side might benefit you; we discuss how Microsoft 365 Copilot works under the hood and dispel a few myths - and we get the real deal on how to run AI hackathons; how to discover problems in the business that AI can solve and how to evaluate which to put your money & time behind.

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Microsoft Ignite 2023: What to expect & Dr Alex Crowther chats nation-state cybersecurity risks Nov 15, 2023

On the show this week, we talk about Microsoft Ignite 2023 - a smaller show, but does that mean quality over quantity; with Microsoft 365 Copilot GA, does this mean you can have it today? We talk about the US Government's new AI rules, and we're joined by advisor to governments, the military and now us - Dr Alex Crowther - who talks about cybersecurity risks you need to be aware of, why they exist and how to protect against them,

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Halloween Special - Beware the Shadows of Active Directory - Cyber Security Horror Stories with Sean Metcalf: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E7 Oct 31, 2023

Join us for a thrilling Halloween special of the Practical365's podcast with special guest Sean Metcalf, CTO of Trimarc. We'll explore the eerie changes in Windows 11 as it seeks to banish NTLM, navigate through common Active Directory misconfigurations, and delve deeper into the practical aspects of managing Active Directory configurations and so much more. Don't miss out on these bone-chilling tales of Active Directory security with our very special guest, Sean Metcalf, the Founder and CTO of Trimarc.

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Cyber Security Roundtable with Microsoft VP Alex Weinert - Protecting identities, behind the scenes on Storm-0558, plus more: The Practical 365 Podcast S4 E6 Oct 22, 2023

On the show this week, Steve, Paul and Rich are joined by Microsoft's VP Director of Identity Security, Alex Weinert, to discuss almost all things related to securing identities. We hear about what happened behind the scenes during Storm-0558, and we discuss essential steps to protect Microsoft 365. What aren't organizations doing that they should be? What types of attacks should we expect in the future, plus more.
And we discuss the latest news in the world of Microsoft 365 - in particular we discuss the new Teams 2.1 client that recently became GA, and for those still running on-premises or Hybrid Exchange Servers, it is time to get patching.

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