Content Index

Microsoft IT Showcase

Welcome to an insider's view of the Microsoft enterprise IT environment. Here you'll find a complete list of content on Microsoft IT's best practices and lessons learned as we plan for, develop, deploy, and manage Microsoft products in our own global enterprise.


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  • 5 IT Strategies for App Creation and Delivery
    Published: 06/26/2014
    Read how Microsoft IT is embracing the Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud, and other megatrends to create a platform that streamlines the creation and delivery of applications that enhance user experiences; promote anytime, anywhere productivity; and reflect a more agile approach to delivery.
    Article

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  • Achieving a unified view of platform health
    Published: 03/30/2016
    Learn how Microsoft manages platform health today and how the enterprise plans to transition to Operations Management Suite to manage both on-premises and cloud IT assets, through a single point of control.
    Article

  • Achieving Excellence in Designing and Maintaining SQL Server Transactional Replication Environments
    Published: 06/21/2012
    Microsoft IT protects against unplanned Transactional Replication outages and issues by using best practices and proactive monitoring. This results in increased stability, simplified management and improved performance of transactional replication environments.
    Technical White Paper

  • Adopting Azure Resource Manager for efficient cloud infrastructure management
    Published: 09/09/2016
    With Microsoft Azure at the core of our cloud-first, mobile-first culture, Microsoft IT recognized that a transition to Azure Resource Manager from the Azure Service Management platform was key to efficiently deploying and managing the company’s volume of Azure resources in the cloud. Azure Resource Manager provides the framework to manage the next generation of business apps and infrastructure through resource groups, role-based access control, and other policies that promote efficiency.
    Technical Case Study

  • Adopting modern engineering processes and tools at Microsoft IT
    Published: 05/24/2016 Updated: 05/31/2016
    Microsoft IT is adopting agile development methods as part of the move to modern engineering. Learn how we're using Azure and Visual Studio Team Foundation Server, and about our processes for agile development and automated testing.
    Technical Case Study

  • Adopting Windows as a service at Microsoft
    Published: 12/23/2016
    Windows 10 introduced a new way to streamline operating system updates—Windows as a service. Microsoft IT uses in-place upgrades and agile methodology to promote Windows adoption. We’ve streamlined application compatibility testing, established pilot deployments with early adopters, tracked progress through visual workflows, and made data-driven decisions using Upgrade Analytics. As a result, we were able to quickly deploy Windows 10, Windows 10 November update, and Windows 10 Anniversary Update across the company.
    Technical Case Study

  • Advancing cybersecurity strategy at Microsoft
    Published: 11/30/2015
    The rise in sophisticated cyberattacks and corresponding impact drives the need for advanced solutions to help companies discover, respond to, and recover from attacks. More than ever, rigorous execution of vulnerability remediation, configuration, and change management is the most effective preventative measure for an organization. As the technology industry continues to embrace a mobile-first, cloud-first era, Microsoft must continue to advance risk management and security controls, and balance unparalleled security threats with business requirements.
    Article

  • Align Enterprise Social Tools with Business Needs
    Published: 04/06/2015
    In this article, Microsoft IT looks at social tools such as Yammer as an additional tool in the enterprise suite. At Microsoft, social tools improve and optimize business processes while increasing transparency and agility.
    Article

  • Aligning the IT Organization to Deliver Modern Applications
    Published: 07/24/2014
    The recent creation of app stores containing small, focused apps, available across a range of consumer devices, has created challenges for Information Technology (IT) departments in many organizations. In order to address these challenges, Microsoft IT created a centralized app certification process and single app portfolio, both managed from a single point. This provided a mechanism for Microsoft to provide apps developed in an agile software development environment, to distribute these apps to users across a range of devices, and to still maintain control in terms of functionality, security, and regulatory and corporate compliance.
    Business Case Study

  • Analyzing Azure inventory data to optimize resources and reduce risk
    Published: 12/23/2016
    To better manage and secure our Microsoft Azure resources, Microsoft IT created an Azure asset inventory that provides a consolidated view of all the Azure subscriptions and resources at Microsoft. Key data in the inventory helps us analyze Azure resources and configurations to optimize the environment and ensure compliance. Having the ability to analyze the Azure resource inventory for resource and configuration data has helped reduce costs, improve security, reduce risk, and manage resource ownership.
    Technical Case Study

  • Applying data science and machine learning to enhance the user experience
    Published: 06/23/2017
    At Microsoft IT, providing great user experiences for employees is more than just product improvement—it’s about enhancing end-to-end experiences that span products and services. Anisha Gautam, Senior Program Manager in Microsoft IT, discusses broad experiences like finding, meeting, collaborating, supporting, and communicating. She talks about how we’re applying data science—using machine learning and algorithms—to analyze user feedback and data from products and services.
    Video

  • Applying the power of Azure Machine Learning to improve SAP incident management
    Published: 05/31/2018
    One important aspect of digital transformation is embracing modern technologies and processes that can improve the customer experience. Microsoft found a perfect opportunity to do this—we used Azure Machine Learning and AI to automate the triage component of our SAP incident management process. Our solution reduced the mean time to resolve SAP user issues, increased incident routing accuracy to 99 percent, and freed staff to focus on more strategic aspects of their roles.
    Technical Case Study

  • Architecting your network for successful Azure adoption
    Published: 10/07/2015 Updated: 05/12/2016
    Organizations that plan network architecture before moving to the public cloud in Microsoft Azure can address issues of capacity, connectivity, and security and focus on improving traffic management before migration.
    Technical Case Study

  • Ask, find, and act—harnessing the power of Cortana and Power BI
    Published: 05/24/2016 Updated: 05/25/2016
    Microsoft integrated Cortana and Power BI natural language functionality in a powerful and easy-to-use way. Engineers and executives in the Windows Shell team now have easy access to unique business intelligence insights. Team members ask for, and then quickly receive, specifically tailored views of Windows 10 consumption, problem, and business data. You can do it too—just give Cortana access to your Power BI datasets. Then use Q&A in Power BI to ask your questions.
    Article

  • Auditing the cloud
    Published: 03/03/2016
    Are you—and your internal auditors—concerned that cloud-based services and applications could impact critical compliance activities and service certifications? As Microsoft moves to Microsoft Azure, IT and auditors work closely together, on an ongoing basis, to validate that Azure provides a fully auditable computing environment. Learn how Microsoft uses independently validated Azure services and features to simplify, Fazure automate, and operationalize corporate compliance activities.
    Article

  • Automating cloud infrastructure management with Azure Resource Manager
    Published: 10/17/2016
    A range of hosted apps, services, and business processes run on our cloud infrastructure. Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) wanted to automate cloud infrastructure management in ways that would ensure consistent, efficient deployment and configuration operations, and would reduce error-prone manual processes. We used Microsoft Azure Resource Manager to create modular, reusable tools—including templates, scripts, and interfaces to manage infrastructure-as-a-service components and streamline processes.
    Article

  • Automating licensing for Office 365 in a hybrid environment
    Published: 03/24/2016
    To keep our corporate users productive, Microsoft IT must assign and update Office 365 licenses for a constantly changing user base. Find out how the team built an automation service to do this and how it works in a hybrid environment.
    Technical Case Study

  • Automation and update channels help deploy Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus
    Published: 09/09/2016
    Steve Reay, Senior Program Manager, talks about how Microsoft IT approached the upgrade to Office 365 ProPlus 2016 across the company and recommends key considerations to keep in mind when planning a deployment. He addresses using System Center Configuration Manager to automate the upgrade process and discusses how update channels make it easy to deploy ongoing Office updates.
    TechNet Radio Session

  • Azure Data Lake connects supply chain data for advanced analytics
    Published: 12/13/2017
    Our supply chain engineering team at Microsoft used to store and process data in disparate systems, which made data sharing and forecasting harder. To aggregate data and connect our processes, we built a centralized, big data architecture on Azure Data Lake. Now, we’ve improved data quality and visibility into the end-to-end supply chain, and we can use advanced analytics, predictive analytics, and machine learning for deep insights and effective, data-driven decision-making across teams.
    Technical Case Study

  • Azure HDInsight improves performance of big data tax system and cuts costs
    Published: 03/29/2017
    Last year, to handle increasing volumes of complex tax data with quick response, Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) built a big data solution for the Finance group using Microsoft Azure HDInsight, Azure Data Factory, and Azure SQL Database. This year, we made changes for more performance gains—along with cost savings from optimizing our HDInsight clusters. We modified the system architecture and—for faster data loading—used Apache Spark in HDInsight. As a result, the Finance team has quicker insights and more efficient processes.
    Article

  • Azure Logic Apps streamline marketing data integration
    Published: 12/12/2016
    To support marketing efforts, Microsoft IT manages data orchestration for more than 120 data sources, many of which are hosted in Azure. Integrating data from disparate sources into custom data analysis solutions can be costly and inefficient. But with Azure Logic Apps, we have created data access solutions built from modular, reusable, configurable tasks—making it easier to deploy and manage data movement solutions.
    Technical Case Study

  • Azure resource inventory helps manage operational efficiency and compliance
    Published: 12/23//2016
    For Microsoft IT, conventional processes for managing Microsoft Azure resources weren’t providing good visibility into self-provisioned cloud usage. To overcome this challenge, we created and maintain an inventory of the Azure subscriptions and resources across the enterprise. It includes detailed resource and usage records for resource management and auditing. With the inventory, we developed a system for Azure usage management that helps us realize efficiency and value from our Azure resources.
    Technical Case Study

  • Be more productive with Skype for Business
    Published: 08/09/2016
    Skype for Business 2016 combines instant messaging, voice, and video capabilities to use at your desktop computer. To help you get the most from Skype for Business, this guide shows you how to manage contacts, use audio devices, make enterprise voice calls, and manage meetings. You’ll learn how to select an audio device, change audio settings, forward and place calls on hold, listen to voice mail, join a meeting, share content in a meeting, and more.
    Productivity Guide

  • Be productive anywhere with Microsoft Office 365
    Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
    You are busy and need to be productive whether you are at your office, on the road, or at home. By installing Microsoft Office 365 on your Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android device, you can keep up with your email and calendar, and work on documents wherever you are. With your Office 365 account, your documents, preferences, and other settings follow you across the PCs, tablets, smartphones, and even web browsers that you use. So you can pick up right where you left off, anytime and anywhere.
    Productivity Guide

  • Become a Pro in SharePoint Online
    Published: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
    Discover some key SharePoint Online ribbon functions to help you be more productive: add a list, a new view, or an alert to a file to receive notification updates, and sync your SPO document library to your Outlook. This readiness guide brings tips and tricks from Microsoft IT that improve digital productivity and help create an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
    Readiness Guide

  • Beyond CRM: Extending Dynamics 365 to manage contracts
    Published: 06/15/2017
    When managing advertising agreements became complex and error-prone, Microsoft IT turned to Microsoft Dynamics 365 to create a contract life cycle solution. The system streamlined contract creation, approval, and management—and moved Dynamics 365 beyond customer relationship management. It integrates with external systems like SAP and DocuSign to automate, digitize, and simplify contracts and transactions. The system set the standard for hybrid cloud configurations at Microsoft.
    Technical Case Study

  • Bring your research project to life with Microsoft Office 365
    Published: 07/05/2016
    Learn how Office 365 can help you tackle your next research project, from start to finish. Whether you work on a Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android device, you can start with OneNote to record ideas and notes, then prepare to collaborate in a shared workspace with Office 365 Groups. Track your project schedule with Microsoft Planner and document your process and work in Word. Finally, create a PowerPoint presentation and share videos that you create with the Office Mix add-in for PowerPoint.
    Productivity User Guide

  • Bringing digital transformation to the supply chain with Azure IoT Suite
    Published: 10/16/2017
    At Microsoft, we’re using Azure IoT Suite and Power BI to transform our hardware manufacturing and supply chain in three phases. The first brings together data from disparate sources in common reports that provide people with the right data about manufacturing trends. The second phase uses data for predictive insights about our operations. Going forward, we’ll integrate machine learning into our processes, for even more efficiency and cost savings.
    Article

  • Building an agile and trusted SAP environment on Microsoft Azure
    Published: 04/12/2018
    With features for managing HR, finance, and other services, SAP—our enterprise resource planning software—is integral to business performance and processes at Microsoft. We migrated our SAP environment to Azure—the preferred platform for SAP—and found that we cut costs and gained scalability. Integrating SAP on Azure presents opportunities for digital transformation: optimizing the size of our environment to meet demand and empowering employees to achieve more with increased process efficiency.
    Technical Case Study

  • Building cloud apps using the Secure DevOps Kit for Azure
    Published: 06/21/2017
    Microsoft is embracing the cloud and we’re adopting agile methodology—DevOps—for cloud app development. This transition has challenged traditional security methods. To build security into our agile development process and provide a baseline for security in cloud apps, we created the Secure DevOps Kit for Azure. It offers tools and best practices for building security into every stage of cloud app development.
    Business Case Study

  • Building an IT partnership through agile development
    Published: 09/30/2016
    Microsoft IT partnered with Microsoft Real Estate and Facilities to develop a cloud-first, mobile-first, data warehouse and reporting solution. We created a data model to effectively represent their business needs and used agile methods to implement the solution. The result is a business intelligence app that provides a complete view of the business, how it is trending, and where improvements can be made to meet future business needs.
    Business Case Study

  • Building a Modern Role Guide App to Manage Training and Compliance
    Published: 08/25/2014
    Role Guide is an immersive modern app and seamless learning experience for Microsoft employees that helps HR target the right training courses to the right audience.
    Video

  • Building a one-stop shop for business data needs with Power BI
    Published: 04/19/2016 Updated: 05/02/2016
    Managing hundreds of millions of dollars in invoices, purchase orders, and patents a year—and supporting the businesses that create them—is a difficult challenge. Microsoft IT and the Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) team use Office, Power BI, and SQL Server for effective data management to preserve data quality in documents from a wide range of data sources. Learn how Microsoft IT and CELA created a scalable solution for accessing, reporting, and managing their data from anywhere on any device.
    Article

  • Building an online training session in Office Mix for PowerPoint
    Published: 07/05/2016
    Learn how to build an interactive training session with Office Mix, a free add-in for Microsoft PowerPoint in Office 365. Office Mix makes it easy to turn your PowerPoint presentations into interactive online lessons that you can share with students and colleagues in OneNote, on the web, or in your learning management system. You can use Office Mix on Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android devices.
    Productivity User Guide

  • Building Reusable APIs in a Mobile First, Cloud First Business Environment
    Published: 02/23/2015
    Microsoft IT uses hybrid cloud architecture to leverage the benefits of cloud computing and to improve line of business application development by eliminating monolithic applications that require high levels of maintenance and developer involvement. The Middle Tier Services team at Microsoft IT created a comprehensive set of guidelines and implementation methods that is designed to reduce complexity, increase consistency in delivery, and decrease the total cost of ownership for line of business applications.
    Technical Case Study

  • Capture and Share Whiteboard Photos with your Surface with Windows RT
    Published: 02/08/2013
    The portability and long battery life of your Surface with Windows RT device make it easy to carry with you to meetings. Using Microsoft OneNote, Microsoft Outlook 2013 and your tablet's built-in camera, you can easily capture and share pictures of the whiteboard diagrams from your meetings.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Certifying Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book as standard devices at Microsoft
    Published: 12/23/2016
    To provide employees with a choice of work computers, Microsoft IT maintains a list of standard devices that meet our requirements for performance, user authentication, secure connectivity, and information security. Built to support Windows 10, standard configurations of Surface Book and Surface Pro 4 meet our device criteria for deployment. For ease of device management, we use standard tools and utilities that help us manage, configure, and protect Surface devices within the enterprise.
    Technical Case Study

  • Changing our approach to information security at Microsoft
    Published: 12/09/2016
    With collaboration on the rise, Microsoft IT is rethinking information security. Social collaboration, ubiquitous connectivity, and new ways of collecting data and storing content encourage innovation and content sharing—but they also pose potential security risks for organizations. We help protect content through technologies like Microsoft Office Delve, Azure Information Protection, and Microsoft Teams—securing content wherever it exists, and in ways that go beyond traditional IT security.
    Article

  • Client security: shifting paradigms to prepare for a cloud-only future
    Published: 02/07/2018
    At Microsoft, we’re on our way to becoming a cloud-only organization. We envision security in cloud computing where cloud identities and services will streamline how we support our mobile workforce and keep work and customer data secure. As we look toward a future where all devices will be connected to the intelligent cloud, we’re planning initiatives that will help us provide data protection in a device-agnostic, cloud-only environment.
    Article

  • Cloud at Microsoft (SME roundtable January 2017)
    Published: 01/08/2017
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Cloud at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, and monitors cloud solutions at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss migrating enterprise portfolios to the cloud, best practices for migrating to Azure, cloud security, software as a service (SaaS), hybrid cloud solutions, OneDrive for Business, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Office 365, and Azure Stack.
    SME roundtable

  • Cloud at Microsoft (SME roundtable June 2016)
    Published: 08/25/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Cloud at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, monitors, and supports cloud solutions at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss evaluating applications for PaaS or SaaS, monitoring your cloud infrastructure, migrating to Office 365, and using SharePoint Online compliance and records management—and lots more!
    SME Roundtable

  • Cloud at Microsoft (IT Expert roundtable May 2017)
    Published: 05/26/2017
    IT Showcase brought together IT Experts from our Cloud at Microsoft course to answer your questions about how Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, and monitors cloud solutions at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss infrastructure as code, Azure security, strategies for migrating applications, cloud adoption challenges, Azure architecture, data management in Azure, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Cloud at Microsoft (SME roundtable October 2016)
    Published: 11/22/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Cloud at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, and monitors cloud solutions at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss cloud security, choosing between software as a service and platform as a service, Azure, the Internet of Things, and trends in cloud adoption.
    SME Roundtable

  • Cloud-first, mobile-first: Microsoft moves to a fully wireless network
    Published: 08/17/2016
    David Lef explains the planning and processes behind migrating to a wireless networking environment, including primary drivers, planning considerations, and challenges.
    Article

  • The cloud security mindset
    Published: 04/04/2016
    Cloud success balances robust security and rapid innovation. A new mindset is required—one that challenges traditional roles and responsibilities. Microsoft IT reveals its own Azure security evolution and decentralized approach to functions such as configuration management and incident management. At the same time, Microsoft IT maintains strong security hygiene, effective oversight and governance, and supports its DevOps partners with risk management tools and automation technologies.
    Article

  • Collaborating by Using SharePoint Server 2010
    Published: 11/30/2010 Updated: 05/14/2014
    Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 helps people share files and collaborate. It's designed to work effectively with other technologies, including the Microsoft Office applications. Use this guide to learn about the features and capabilities of SharePoint Server 2010.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Collaborative events highlight digital transformation at Microsoft
    Published: 04/28/2017
    Digital transformation isn’t only about how technology changes, it’s also about how corporate culture—our people—adapt to that change. At Microsoft, we’re changing company meetings from static presentations into dynamic conversations, and we’re empowering attendees by giving them a voice. Using Skype Meeting Broadcast, Yammer, and Microsoft Pulse, we engage our employees around the world during corporate events by encouraging interaction, collecting real-time feedback, and promoting collaboration.
    Business Case Study

  • Completing your projects using mini-tasks with deadlines
    Published: 07/13/2017
    Learn a simple project management technique to help you stay focused on your work and avoid distractions: break down projects into mini-tasks and assign a deadline to each. Work through your task list—meeting each deadline—to complete the whole project.
    Productivity Quick Tips

  • Configuration as code: Automating Windows Server 2016 configuration with PowerShell and DSC
    Published: 09/23/2016
    Microsoft IT manages thousands of servers across the company, and the process of reconfiguring servers was tedious and potentially inconsistent. Now, using automated configuration with PowerShell and DSC, we can define configuration logic and make changes programmatically in Windows Server. We have a more flexible, consistent environment, with fewer complex server configuration tasks.
    Article

  • Configuring Power BI mobile apps with Microsoft Intune
    Published 04/06/2016
    Microsoft Intune enables organizations to manage devices and applications. The Power BI mobile applications for Windows 10 Mobile, iOS and Android integrate with Intune to allow you to manage the application on your devices while controlling security. Through configuration policies, you can control items like requiring an access PIN, how data is handled by the application and even encrypting application data when the app is not in use.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Connecting to work on your Windows 10 device with Microsoft Intune
    Published: 08/08/2016
    Planning to use your personal Windows 10 device for work? Enrolling in mobile device management through Microsoft Intune gives you secure access to corporate resources and allows IT admins to manage corporate data and apps on your device. Your personal data—pictures, files, personal apps, and personal email—is separate and untouched, never accessible by your company. This guide walks you through the Intune enrollment process if you’re working remotely or doing work on a personal device.
    Productivity Guide

  • Consolidating customer feedback into data visualizations promotes action
    Published 06/15/2016
    Stefan Kummert explains why it was nearly impossible for Microsoft IT to analyze internal customer satisfaction data about its applications and services to create actionable next steps. He shares how User Experience Services created a solution built on Power BI to capture real-time feedback along with data from User Voice, Yammer, and IoT devices. A scalable backend solution provides business intelligence and enables data visualization, leading to informed decisions about application solutions.
    TechNet Radio

  • Consumerization of IT
    Published: 02/18/2013
    People want to use their personal devices to work, often outside of core business hours, but also want the flexibility to utilize the same technologies and applications at work that they use on their personal time. This blending of consumer and enterprise technologies is the Consumerization of IT, and it has led many organizations to rethink their business models to promote agility and flexibility for their employees.
    Quick Reference Guide

  • Consumerization of IT at Microsoft: Adapting to Change
    Published: 03/13/2014
    Microsoft is an environment of change, with the latest software and hardware advances constantly pushing the boundaries of corporate IT's charter. To effectively manage both users'expectations and the mandates of information security, Microsoft IT needed to develop a programmatic approach to technology adoption—one that would foster innovation without increasing risks by introducing uncontrolled technologies. This is particularly true when considering the impacts of trends in Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scenarios.
    Business Case Study

  • Cortana for Windows 10
    Published: 06/29/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
    Cortana is your personal digital assistant in Windows 10. She gets to know you and helps you get things done, letting you interact with her in a way that's easy and natural. She can search the web, find things on your PC, show you the local news and weather, and provide reminders based on time or location. Just tell Cortana what you want, and she'll be there to help you out.
    Readiness Guide

  • Create secure financial forecasts with Cortana Intelligence Suite
    Published: 03/29/2017
    Financial analysts at Microsoft create forecasts to help inform critical business decisions. Microsoft IT wanted to move financial forecasting processes off local devices and into a cloud solution with better predictive analytics and more security. We worked with the Microsoft finance group and data sciences organizations to design and build a secure automated forecasting solution using Cortana Intelligence Suite. The solution provides accurate and automated forecasts as frequently as needed by the business.
    Technical Case Study

  • Creating the business intelligence ecosystem at Microsoft
    Published: 05/13/2016
    Kirkland Barrett, Director of Business Programs, discusses how Microsoft IT promotes awareness of Power BI to increase adoption of its self-service business intelligence tools. He shares the benefits we've seen and some "gotchas"we faced along the way.
    Webinar

  • Creating consistent and engaging corporate apps with PowerApps
    Published: 08/25/2017
    At Microsoft, employees choose mobile apps from a diverse library to help complete work activities, such as reporting vacation time, finding an available meeting room, or commending a colleague. While apps make it easy to complete tasks, they don’t always have a consistent UI design. Developers and designers use PowerApps to create a consistent user interface for some common activities at Microsoft and unify the experience for employees through a company dashboard.
    Article

  • Creating a culture of modern engineering within Microsoft IT
    Published: 05/24/2016 Updated: 05/31/2016
    Moving to agile development methods and modern engineering practices requires a cultural shift across the organization. Learn how Microsoft IT adopted agile principles, created a new mindset of cooperation, and adjusted our leadership approach.
    Technical Case Study

  • Creating a dashboard to analyze and visualize your data in Excel 2016
    Published: 07/05/2016
    Learn how to plan and create a dashboard with Microsoft Excel 2016 in Office 365. A dashboard can make it easier to collect, analyze, and share your data; giving you valuable insights into your business. You can use queries to connect to external data, choose from a variety of charts to display data, drill down into details with a PivotChart, and apply conditional formatting to visually highlight trends.
    Productivity Guide

  • Creating dynamic presentations with PowerPoint 2016
    Published: 09/24/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
    With PowerPoint 2016 you can create, share, and co-author dynamic presentations on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices like never before. With new features—including modern chart types, screen recordings, and the Microsoft Office Mix add-in with enhanced screen recording functionality—PowerPoint 2016 allows you to bring your presentations, slideshows, and training sessions to a whole new level.
    Productivity Guide

  • Creating a personalized experience in the modern workplace with Windows 10
    Published: 10/4/2016
    The modern workplace features open and flexible workspaces, conference rooms, and multi-use spaces. Microsoft IT is promoting productivity and collaboration in our facilities through smart touchdown spaces and Windows 10 Continuum-enabled workspaces, which provide a monitor and keyboard for Windows 10 devices. In some locations, we have deployed Internet of Things devices to provide even more opportunities for employees to personalize their work experience and collaborate with colleagues.
    Technical Case Study

  • Creating an integrated plug-and-play supply chain with serverless computing
    Published: 11/01/2017
    The device manufacturing supply chain at Microsoft involves many partners around the world. Our supply chain team found that its system lacked scalability and end-to-end visibility, and integrating new partners was slow and expensive. We transformed the supply chain system with serverless computing and microservices in Azure, and created an integrated platform that provides high availability, visibility, scalability, easy onboarding for partners, and cost-effective operations.
    Technical Case Study

  • Creating an immigration workflow management solution with Dynamics 365
    Published: 01/17/2018
    To manage immigration and travel issues for visa-dependent employees, Microsoft created a streamlined solution based on configurable Dynamics 365 features. The solution manages complex immigration workflows, smartly creates and reuses forms and documents, and integrates with 12 partner systems. It helps the immigration team optimize its processes and lets our employees spend more time on their important strategic work.
    Technical Case Study

  • Creating a Portable Windows 10 Environment with Windows To Go
    Published: 07/21/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
    You can use Windows To Go, a feature in Windows 10 Enterprise (and previous versions), to provision a USB drive with a complete and managed Windows 10 system image. You can insert the USB drive (known as a Windows To Go workspace) into a managed or unmanaged Windows 10 host computer to boot and run a managed Windows 10 system. You don't have to install any software on the host computer to use the Windows To Go workspace.
    Readiness Guide

  • Creating a Portable Windows 8 Environment with Windows To Go
    Published: 12/28/2012 Updated: 05/16/2014
    Windows To Go is a new feature in the Windows 8 Enterprise operating system that you can use to provision a USB drive with a complete, managed Windows 8 system image. You can insert the USB drive (known as a Windows To Go workspace) into any Windows 7—based or Windows 8—based host computer to boot and run a managed Windows 8 system without installing any software on the host computer. This guide shows you how to create a Windows To Go workspace.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Creating a sales productivity solution with PowerApps
    Published: 12/12/2017
    Our highly mobile sellers need quick access to sales assets, data, and tools. We used PowerApps to develop a mobile app that gives sellers access to sales documents, training materials, and customer relationship management (CRM) data that gives them real-time visibility into sales opportunities. A collection of software services and app components, PowerApps allowed us to easily develop and merge apps into one experience for sellers on the go.
    Technical Case Study

  • Creating security controls for IoT devices at Microsoft
    Published: 02/07/2018
    The Internet of Things (IoT) is a network of cloud-connected devices that collect and exchange data. At Microsoft, we’re addressing the unique challenges of securely managing IoT devices by performing comprehensive risk assessments and creating mitigation strategies. The number of IoT solutions is going to continue to grow, so it’s imperative that we develop security solutions along with it.
    Business Case Study

  • Creating a Self Service Model for BI@Microsoft
    Published: 08/29/2014
    Hear how IT created their data governance, federation and self-service BI model at Microsoft. With Kirkland Barrett and Brad Sutton.
    TechNet Radio

  • Creating a user-centric mobile hub with Xamarin and Azure App Service
    Published: 03/31/2017
    To help Microsoft employees easily access campus services and amenities, Microsoft IT developed a mobile app for iOS, Android, and Windows 10 mobile devices. We built the Azure platform as a service (PaaS) solution using Microsoft Visual Studio Team Services and Xamarin, which enabled code sharing across the three platforms. For efficient distribution to employees, we used HockeyApp to easily deploy updates and track telemetry and crash reports.
    Technical Case Study

  • Cutting costs and improving service with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
    Published: 10/04/2016
    One Finance, the group responsible for global account processing at Microsoft, migrated our customer support solution from on-premises to Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. We process more than 500,000 support tickets annually, and the database had grown to 2 TB. Before making the move, we archived data, optimized the existing solution to use more out-of-the-box features, and updated code. Since going live, the new solution has cut support costs in half, and the new Service Level Agreement feature has improved customer service.
    Article

  • Cutting costs in the cloud with Skype for Business and Office 365
    Published: July 14, 2017
    Migrating enterprise unified communications to cloud-based Skype for Business services at Microsoft proved to be an ambitious undertaking for Microsoft IT, but we reaped the rewards. As business groups adopted the services, they significantly reduced operating expenses, capital expenses, legacy third-party carrier fees, and travel. Our journey to the cloud has also led to increased productivity—our people can communicate and collaborate from any location on any device.
    Business Case Study

D

  • Data Analytics at Microsoft (SME roundtable)
    Published: 01/08/2017
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts to answer questions about how Microsoft uses data analytics at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss trends in data management, the value of data analytics, data-driven decision making, Power BI adoption, data in the cloud, Azure, SQL Server 2016, Azure Data Lake, Cortana Intelligence Suite, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Data analytics and smart buildings increase comfort and energy efficiency
    Published: 12/19/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts to answer questions about how Microsoft uses data analytics at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss trends in data management, the value of data analytics, data-driven decision making, Power BI adoption, data in the cloud, Azure, SQL Server 2016, Azure Data Lake, Cortana Intelligence Suite, and much more.
    Technical Case Study

  • Data insights help enhance the user experience at Microsoft
    Published: 06/21/2017
    To help keep Microsoft employees productive and efficient, Microsoft IT looks at broad user experiences that go beyond individual products and services—experiences such as finding information and support, and meeting, collaborating, and communicating with colleagues. To drive improvements to the Microsoft employee experience, we get insights from analyzing data and user feedback across products and services.
    Article

  • Datacenter switches amp up network capacity for Gears of War team
    Published: 09/19/2016
    The Coalition, the game studio at Microsoft responsible for Gears of War 4, lacked the network infrastructure to efficiently distribute 120 GB builds during development of the game for Xbox One and Windows 10. Microsoft IT installed high-capacity network switches that dramatically increased bandwidth and performance, enabling the studio to meet its October 2016 launch deadline.
    Technical Case Study

  • Delivering an Extensible CRM Solution Using Agile Development
    Published: 01/04/2013
    Microsoft Information Technology (MSIT) worked with the Microsoft Sales, Marketing and Services Group (SMSG) to rapidly develop and deliver Small and Medium Business for Dynamics CRM (SMB CRM), a new management application for sales leads. The application, which is used internally at Microsoft, collects and manages incoming leads from SMB accounts, and routes the leads to telesales call centers.
    Technical Case Study

  • Deploying and updating Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus
    Published: 06/28/2016
    For an easy deployment, Microsoft used System Center Configuration Manager to automate the upgrade to Office 365 ProPlus 2016. We also used update channels in Office 365 to specify the cadence for Office updates to be delivered to users.
    Technical White Paper

  • Deploying Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring 2.0 at Microsoft
    Updated: 06/27/2013
    Microsoft IT wanted to implement Microsoft BitLocker Administration and Monitoring (MBAM) 2.0 to reduce operational costs and take advantage of the increased functionality for provisioning, monitoring, reporting, and integration tasks. Microsoft IT planned and implemented MBAM 2.0 as an upgrade to their existing MBAM 1.0 infrastructure while maintaining service availability and BitLocker functionality. The MBAM 2.0 environment provides a more manageable and user-friendly BitLocker experience for both end users and Microsoft IT.
    Technical Case Study

  • Deploying Microsoft Teams streamlines collaboration and improves teamwork
    Published: 03/16/2018
    At Microsoft, groups that adopt Microsoft Teams experience streamlined communication and improved productivity in a modern, collaborative workspace. We’re helping people adjust to using Teams with well-defined change management strategies, but we’ve also planned the migration from a technical standpoint. We assessed our network infrastructure and set up a pilot project before widespread Teams rollout—testing important functionality, confirming security and compliance standards, and establishing deployment strategies.
    Technical Case Study

  • Deploying Microsoft Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Using Thin Clients
    Published: 12/29/2014
    To provide cost-effective, reliable desktop services and standardization within a new technical support center, Microsoft IT created a thin client Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI).
    Business Case Study

  • Deploying production workloads with Azure Resource Manager
    Published: 12/16/2016
    Host Lyle Dodge chats with Pete Apple, Principal Service Engineer, and Todd Robertson, Senior Program Manager, about how Microsoft IT is adopting Azure Resource Manager (ARM) for resource management. They discuss how ARM enables new levels of self-service and infrastructure as code through streamlined resource provisioning. Learn how we are using shared repositories to distribute templates in Azure.
    Webinar

  • Deploying Skype for Business in the cloud
    Published: 07/13/2017
    With the hybrid cloud architecture of Office 365 Enterprise E5 as our foundation, Microsoft IT migrated our global workforce to Skype for Business in two stages. First, we gave some people limited cloud-based conferencing, and then we eventually moved whole user groups to complete cloud-based unified communications. With careful planning, we helped teams maintain productivity during deployment and upgraded our network infrastructure to support capacity requirements.
    Technical White Paper

  • Deploying Skype Room Systems and Surface Hub devices in meeting rooms
    Published: 10/13/2016
    Microsoft IT is working with Skype for Business to make it easier for our employees to join, see, hear, and participate in online meetings by upgrading conferencing technology in our meeting rooms worldwide. Technology pilot programs deployed new products—like Microsoft Surface Hub and the next generation of Skype Room Systems—in a variety of meeting spaces. To help ensure a smooth transition across the company, we created capital expense plans, support and operations plans, and change-management strategies.
    Article

  • Deploying Windows 10 at Microsoft as an in-place upgrade
    Published: 12/14/2015
    As the "First and Best" customer of the Windows Devices Group, Microsoft IT recently deployed Windows 10 to 96,000 distributed users at Microsoft. The deployment included both remote users and users on the corporate network and was completed in nine weeks. To improve on past operating system deployments, Microsoft IT deployed Windows 10 as an in-place upgrade that maintained productivity and offered a consistent user experience.
    Technical Case Study

  • Designing a software-defined strategy for securing the Microsoft network
    Published: 4/13/2018
    Security solutions for the modern workplace at Microsoft must meet the challenges of a constantly evolving threat landscape. We’re moving away from traditional perimeter-based network security and implementing software-defined security barriers and network segmentation. These solutions are scalable and flexible, and consistently provide programmatic security through controls on clients, apps, and devices—helping ensure that devices are healthy and that threats are detected and contained swiftly.
    Technical White Paper

  • DevOps practices for cloud security
    Published: 07/07/2016
    DevOps is the future of IT. As Microsoft IT continues to adopt Azure, we also mature our DevOps organization. We’re driving an innovative and fault-tolerant development culture of self-service and automation that maintains strong security hygiene. We directly embed readiness criteria and operational standards into our engineering processes. Our configuration and operational practices help to support an iterative and rapid development culture, where we can "fail fast" and respond effectively.
    Article

  • Digital Crimes Unit uses Microsoft data analytics stack to catch cybercriminals
    Published: 03/25/2015 Updated: 04/20/2016
    The Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit consistently leverages the latest in analytics technology, relying on some of the brightest employees, some of the smartest scientists, and certainly some of the company's best partners in law enforcement, to disrupt and dismantle devious cybercriminals. Learn how Microsoft used some of our best technology to uncover the behavior of one cybercriminal ring, and how the Digital Crimes Unit worked in partnership with Microsoft IT and federal law enforcement, to shut down one of the nation's most prolific cybercrime operations.
    Article

  • Digital transformation at Microsoft: Achieving more with Microsoft Office 365
    Published: 12/16/2016
    In our Finance organization and across Microsoft, Office 365 Enterprise E5 accelerates our own digital transformation—employees feel empowered to achieve more with business intelligence, collaboration, and productivity. We gather data-driven insights with Power BI and collaborate in the cloud with Skype for Business. To help provide security and ensure compliance, we’re using Advanced Security Management, Advanced Threat Protection, and eDiscovery technologies. Our experience moves us forward along a journey of innovation and growth.
    Video

  • Driving cloud adoption in an enterprise IT organization
    Published: 09/22/2015
    Microsoft IT is driving the company's vision of "Microsoft runs in the cloud." To advance that vision, Microsoft IT created processes and teams to migrate over 2100 internal applications from on-premises servers to the cloud. The biggest challenge was not technology but a cultural change within the organization. Using a cohesive strategy and process, Microsoft IT has changed its culture and integrated cloud adoption into the business.
    Business Case Study

  • Driving digital transformation with modern network infrastructure
    Published: 07/31/2017
    To meet the needs of next-generation apps and services at Microsoft, our enterprise network infrastructure must be scalable, resilient, and always on. At Microsoft IT, we’re creating an internet-first, wireless-first network that supports both the cloud and the datacenter. Through modern technologies and automation, we make sure our people and partners can always connect to an agile, dependable network.
    Article

  • Driving effective data governance for improved quality and analytics
    Published: 04/13/2018
    At Microsoft, managing data to reveal deep insights is an increasingly important strategic priority. Our data governance practices help ensure that data is optimized for analytics across organizational and functional boundaries. Data stewards can enforce data quality standards across our information assets and improve data integrity and discoverability. With high-quality data, we can use machine learning, AI, and advanced analytics for deeper insights.
    Article

  • Driving financial insights and agility with BI at Microsoft
    Published: 02/02/2016
    Business Intelligence (BI) and analytics help empower business leaders and decision makers throughout Microsoft. Those who need BI must be able to access it quickly—and in a way that they can both understand and trust the underlying data they use to support their decisions. Microsoft IT has undertaken a multi-year journey to transform how the company works with BI. As part of this initiative, Microsoft IT is developing a solution for Finance that supports mature data reporting, while simultaneously adding agile, self-service capabilities that open up BI analysis to thousands of business users across the company.
    Article

  • Driving Skype for Business adoption through service improvements
    Published: 04/10/2017
    Dwight Jones, Senior IT Service Manager, discusses how Microsoft IT is making the transition to Skype for Business—unified communications in the cloud. He shares how we reconciled Microsoft Lync and other technologies to become Skype for Business, and how we’re listening to our users to drive service improvements, increase call quality, and optimize the user experience.
    Webinar

  • Dynamics 365 automates complex transactions and business processes
    Published: 06/22/2017
    To optimize complex transactions and contracts worldwide, Microsoft designed a new system based on Dynamics 365. It automates business processes and accommodates customized workflow management for our business units. Moving Microsoft contracts and transactions through a structured process helps us coordinate people and cases efficiently.
    Technical Case Study

E - F

  • Empowering your organization to embrace a data culture with Power BI
    Published: 05/04/2017
    Today, enterprises generate data at an exponential rate. Using this business intelligence—to learn from it and make insightful decisions with it—is part of what it means to embrace a data culture. At Microsoft, we’re helping employees embrace data by rolling out Power BI, introducing BI tools, communicating the benefits it can provide, and offering training and resources to help promote adoption.
    Business Case Study

  • Enabling mobile productivity for iOS, OS X, and Android devices at Microsoft
    Published: 07/07/2016
    As the use of personal devices in the workplace grows, Microsoft IT is challenged to apply corporate security policies in a data environment of diverse devices that contain a mix of business and personal data. With Intune for Mac, we can manage and support OS X devices. Microsoft Intune and Azure Active Directory support mobile device management for iOS and Android, and give users secure access to corporate resources—anytime, anywhere.
    Article

  • Enabling remote access with Windows Hello for Business in Windows 10
    Published: 07/06/2016
    During the internal deployment of Windows 10 November update, Microsoft IT implemented a new credential, Windows Hello, for strong authentication. We were able to easily incorporate the new credential for use within our existing VPN infrastructure, creating a streamlined sign-in experience for remote access among Windows 10 users.
    Technical Case Study

  • Enabling the Internet of Things in the enterprise
    Published: 03/28/2016 Updated: 03/31/2016
    Learn how Microsoft is experimenting with cutting-edge Internet of Things (IoT) technology by piloting the use of IoT hardware, data, and even industrial design to enable new productivity experiences for its employees.
    Article

  • Engaging users with a Microsoft Azure-based universal app
    Published: 07/21/2016
    Microsoft IT developed an Azure-based app to encourage user and product feedback from members of the Microsoft Elite early adopter program. The new Elite app gave members a central point of interaction with the program across multiple device platforms. The broad acceptance of this app gave us a more comprehensive view into the early adoption process and helped to improve our product development management.
    Article

  • Engineering the move to cloud-based services
    Published: 08/03/2016
    David Lef explains the major factors that affect migration of IT-supported services and environments to cloud-based services, focusing on network-related practicalities and processes.
    Article

  • Enhancing remote access in Windows 10 with an automatic VPN profile
    Published: 03/31/2017
    Microsoft IT provides secure, remote access for Microsoft employees—helping them stay productive and easily connect to work when needed. With Windows 10 Anniversary Update, we implemented a new VPN connection profile that includes the Always On feature. Employees can use it to automatically connect to the network. This profile streamlines the remote access experience with a seamless connection and enforces strong authentication methods for network security.
    Technical Case Study

  • Enhancing security and reliability with Exchange Online Protection
    Published: 03/17/2017
    Shad Morris, IT Service Engineer for the Discovery and Collaboration team, shares best practices for increasing email security using Exchange Online Protection. He discusses how Microsoft IT uses both proactive configuration and reactive policies to block threats at the connection, content, and user levels, and he answers questions from participants.
    Webinar

  • Enhancing threat detection at Microsoft using Microsoft Cloud App Security
    Published: 11/16/2016
    In our cloud-first, mobile-first environment, the use of cloud apps is on the rise. To help protect corporate data, Microsoft IT uses Microsoft Cloud App Security to discover and identify cloud applications in use on our network, assessing security risks for any app. With the Cloud App Security Portal, we monitor suspicious behavior patterns and unusual activity and detect threats. Cloud App Security provides protection for our network and greater visibility into our environment.
    Technical Case Study

  • Enroll your mobile device in Microsoft Intune for corporate access
    Published: 05/31/2016
    Microsoft Intune makes it convenient to bring your own device to work! You will see how simple it is to enroll personal mobile devices into Intune for secure access to corporate resources and applications. Microsoft IT uses Intune to help ensure that personal devices, such as iOS devices, adhere to corporate security policies without accessing your personal files.
    Video

  • Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft (IT Expert roundtable April 2017)
    Published: 05/24/2017
    IT Showcase brought together IT experts from our Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft course to answer your questions about how Microsoft IT designs, deploys, and supports mobility at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss personal devices on the corporate network, Intune, mobile device management, Azure Active Directory, hybrid environments, Microsoft Teams, securing corporate resources, managing apps for Android and iOS devices, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft (SME roundtable January 2017)
    Published: 02/02/2017
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, deploys, and supports mobility at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Office 365 management, migration to Intune, group policy, device classification, mobile device management with Intune, Azure Active Directory, mobile application management, best practices for engineering teams and mobile application development, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft (SME Roundtable July 2016)
    Published: 08/08/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, deploys, and supports mobility at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss mobile device management, Intune, Azure Active Directory, lost or stolen devices, multi-factor authentication, conditional access, iOS and Android devices, Office 365, mobility trends, and the impact of mobility on IT roles.
    SME Roundtable

  • Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft (SME roundtable October 2016)
    Published: 12/08/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Enterprise Mobility at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, deploys, and supports mobility at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Microsoft Intune, mobile device management, mobile application management, Microsoft PowerApps, rights management services, agentless device management, and more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Enterprise social behavioral styles
    Published: 03/13/2015
    Gain insight into how Microsoft uses and benefits from enterprise social through the eyes of social posters and social lurkers at Microsoft IT.
    Article

  • Exchange Server 2010 Design and Architecture at Microsoft
    Published: 07/09/2010
    By replacing Exchange Server 2007 servers with servers running Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft IT created new opportunities to drive down costs and system complexities while at the same time increasing security and deploying new features not available in previous versions of Exchange Server.
    Technical White Paper

  • Exploring top features of SQL Server 2016 that enable BI solutions and improve data insights
    Published: 12/09/2016
    As an early adopter of SQL Server 2016, Microsoft IT identified four features and enhancements that have the potential to increase productivity for people who design, develop, and maintain critical data storage systems. In this webinar, Anubhuti Varshney, Senior Program Manager, talks about how Microsoft IT evaluated these features and created business intelligence solutions that support advanced analytics within databases for deeper data insights.
    Webinar

  • Exploring Windows 10
    Published: 06/29/2015 Updated: 04/19/2017
    Take a few minutes to get up to speed with Windows 10 if it’s new to you! Designed to be intuitive, its new features are easy to learn and will likely be familiar to you. Cortana, your personal digital assistant, helps you quickly find what you need. The new Edge browser makes it easy to read, discover, and share online content. See how the Windows 10 Start menu organizes your apps and settings. Find out how to use a virtual desktop to organize different types of work or follow up on Windows notifications.
    Productivity Guide

  • Follow the Leader in Enterprise Social
    Published: 08/01/2014
    Learn how Microsoft IT develops the social muscle in employees to adopt social behaviors, participate in social activities, and join communities.
    Article

  • A foundation for modern collaboration: Microsoft 365 bolsters teamwork
    Published: 05/16/2018
    No longer confined to office buildings, the modern workspace allows people to meet, collaborate, and stay connected across organizational boundaries. Microsoft 365—Office 365, Windows 10, and Enterprise Mobility + Security—is a platform that fosters teamwork and collaboration at Microsoft. Services such as Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and Yammer provide one place for conversations, meetings, files, and data, and they empower our people to meet business goals with efficiency and effectiveness.
    Technical Case Study

  • From systems to people: rethinking service management
    Published: 09/12/2017
    Moving to the cloud requires more than just technology—it demands a new approach to managing services. For the Office 365 service management team at Microsoft, the employee experience is our top priority. We’re focusing on end-to-end services and aligning IT skills with strategic roles. We deliver frequent Office 365 updates in shortened release cycles with new governance models to help protect corporate assets while promoting collaboration. It’s paying off—we’re seeing employees adopt the services and enhance productivity.
    Technical Case Study

G - H

  • Get Started: Office 365
    Published: 05/21/2014
    Y The Microsoft Office 365 suite of cloud-based services and productivity tools helps you work and collaborate wherever you are, online or offline.
    Quick Reference Guide

  • Get Started: Office 365
    Published: 05/16/2014
    Read this guide to see how to use your Office 365 account to its fullest potential by checking email through Microsoft Outlook Web App, sharing files, and using Office 365 on mobile devices.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Get Started: Microsoft Excel 2010
    Published: 03/30/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014
    Use this guide to learn about some of the features that are available in Microsoft Excel 2010 spreadsheet software.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Get Started: Microsoft Office 2010 User Interface
    Published: 11/30/2011 Updated: 05/14/2014
    You can use this guide to learn how to use the features of the ribbon and other elements of the Microsoft Office 2010 user interface (UI).
    Work Smart Guide

  • Get Started: Microsoft Outlook 2010
    Published: 11/30/2011 Updated: 05/14/2014
    You can use the Microsoft Outlook 2010 messaging and collaboration client to manage your email messages. This guide describes some of the features in Outlook 2010.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Get Started: Microsoft Word 2010
    Published: 03/30/2012 Updated 05/15/2014
    Use this guide to learn about some of the features that are available in Microsoft Word 2010.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Getting more done with Windows 10 Mobile
    Published: 12/24/2015 Updated: 11/30/2016
    Windows 10 Mobile gives you a consistent experience across Windows 10 devices because your settings and data follow you whether you are using a PC or mobile device. Every Windows 10 Mobile device comes with Microsoft Office Mobile, Microsoft Edge, and Cortana built in. Use your Windows 10 Mobile device like a PC with Continuum for phones—and still make and receive calls. Install Skype for Business and OneDrive for Business to connect and collaborate with your coworkers, partners, and customers.
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting the most out of Microsoft Edge
    Published: 07/21/2015 Updated: 11/08/2017
    With Microsoft Edge in Windows 10, you get a browser built for fast, safe, and productive web experiences. You can search directly from the address bar or take advantage of integration with Cortana to make your search easier. The Hub saves your favorites, a reading list, your browsing history, and downloads. Make a Web Note on a page to save for later or share with others, and enable roaming so that your favorites and settings follow you to any PC or Windows 10 Mobile device.
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting started with Excel 2016
    Published: 11/01/2016 Updated: 01/26/2017
    With new chart types and improvements to PivotTables and business intelligence (BI), Microsoft Excel 2016 makes it easier to work with large amounts of data and give it even more meaning. Unlock insights, and tell the story in your data by organizing it in spreadsheets (workbooks). View your data in context, and use the analytic capabilities of Microsoft Excel to make more informed decisions.
    And it is easier than ever to save and work with your workbooks in the cloud, and to collaborate with others who need to see and edit your data. With Microsoft Office 365, you can get Excel on your PC, iPad, Android tablet, iPhone, or Android or Microsoft Windows phone, letting you stay productive whether you are at work, at home, or on the go.
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting started with Microsoft Outlook on the web
    Published: 03/30/2012 Updated 12/09/0215
    Microsoft Outlook Web App (OWA) is now Microsoft Outlook on the web. Just sign in to your Office 365 account to use it! Take a quick tour of the new app so you can start using all the familiar features right away—access your email, calendar, and contacts from any device with an Internet connection.
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting started with Microsoft Teams
    Published: 02/09/2017 Updated: 03/27/2017
    Get up to speed quickly with Microsoft Teams, a chat-based workspace in Microsoft Office 365. With your dedicated hub, this collaboration tool connects you with colleagues, project documents, and tools—and it helps foster communication within your team. Access Microsoft Teams from any Windows, iOS, or Android device—then easily chat, share files, and organize your project with your group.
    Productivity QRG

  • Getting started with Microsoft Teams – for developers
    Published: 09/05/2017
    Microsoft Teams, a chat-based workspace in Office 365, integrates with apps and services that groups use to work together—including development teams. Hold daily stand-up meetings in Teams with the Wiki tab, discuss code in the Conversations tab with markdown syntax, and integrate tools such as Visual Studio Team Services. Build and connect a bot to your workspace, or use Office 365 Connectors to connect your group to relevant services and tools.
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting started with MyAnalytics
    Published: 01/30/2017
    Microsoft MyAnalytics gives you insights about how you spend your time at work and who you spend it with. To improve your time management skills, use your MyAnalytics dashboard to set goals for time spent in meetings and on email. With the detailed information in your dashboard, you can target ways to gain time so that you can focus on what matters most. The data MyAnalytics provides can also help you stay connected to important people in your network.
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting started with Power BI
    Published 06/13/2016 Updated: 06/15/2016
    Microsoft Power BI helps you stay up to date with the information that matters to you. Learn how to create interactive dashboards and build reports to analyze your business in detail. Connect multiple datasets in Power BI to bring all of your relevant data together in one place. Gain insights, make decisions, and monitor your business wherever you are.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Getting started with the Power BI for Android app
    Published 04/06/2016
    The Android app for Microsoft Power BI brings Power BI to your pocket, with up-to-date, touch-enabled mobile access to your business information. View and interact with your company dashboards from anywhere.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Getting started with the Power BI for iOS app
    Published 04/06/2016
    The iPhone app for Microsoft Power BI for iOS is part of the mobile BI experience for Power BI and Reporting Services. With live, touch-enabled mobile access to your important business information on premises and in the cloud, you can view and interact with your company dashboards easily, from anywhere. Explore the data in dashboards, and share them with your colleagues in email or text messages.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Getting started with the Power BI mobile app for Windows 10
    Published 04/06/2016
    The Windows 10 mobile app for Microsoft Power BI brings Power BI to your tablet or phone, with up-to-date, touch-enabled mobile access to your business information. View and interact with your company dashboards from anywhere —right on your Windows Start screen.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Getting started with Skype Meeting Broadcast
    Published: 11/24/2015
    Skype Meeting Broadcast is a new broadcast solution from Skype for Business, designed to scale to thousands of participants. It delivers a high quality video stream to any device running any operating system, with no need for plugins or downloads. Participants can join from anywhere using any device – an Internet connection is all they need. Skype Meeting Broadcast is ideal for internal meetings and streaming events to external customers. This guide provides detailed instructions on how to get started using Skype Meeting Broadcast.​
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting Started with Skype Meeting Broadcast
    Published: 12/22/2015
    Skype Meeting Broadcast is a new broadcast solution from Skype for Business, designed to scale to thousands of participants. It delivers a high quality video stream to any device running any operating system, with no need for plugins or downloads. Participants can join from anywhere using any device - an Internet connection and link to the meeting is all that's needed. Skype Meeting Broadcast is ideal for internal meetings and streaming events to external customers. This training deck provides detailed instructions on how to schedule and manage a Skype Meeting Broadcast, plus how to publish a recording and create insightful reports. It may be used to help deliver in-class or online readiness training and can be downloaded and adapted for the intended audience.
    Productivity deck

  • Getting started with Windows Ink
    Published: 04/14/2017
    With Windows Ink, you can extend the natural experience of pen and paper to your Windows 10 device. Use sketchpad, Sticky Notes, and screen sketch in your Windows Ink workspace to jot down notes, sketch an idea, or doodle for fun with your digital pen. Windows Ink integrates with other apps, so draw online in a creator app or mark up an Office document with edits or notes. Handwriting is quick, and ink technologies in Windows make your notes come to life for increased productivity.
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting started with Word 2016
    Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
    Microsoft Word 2016 is a modern version of the classic desktop application, built for maximum productivity. Quickly produce professional documents using rich authoring features. Share, present, and work together on projects with built-in collaboration tools. Whether you work on a Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android device, you can access your documents in the cloud whenever and wherever you need them.
    Productivity Guide

  • Getting to know Windows 10
    Published: 09/06/2017
    Even if Windows 10 is new to you, it will still feel familiar! Get started quickly using key Windows 10 features with a few tips and tricks included in this guide. Learn about searching with Cortana, browsing with Microsoft Edge, and personalizing Windows to suit your preferences. Set up your account and use apps like Mail, Calendar, and Microsoft Office 365. Windows 10 helps you stay secure, get organized, and be productive.
    Productivity deck

  • Getting to know Windows 10—for employees
    Published: 11/22/2016 Updated: 06/30/2017
    Quickly get started using Windows 10 features with the tips and tricks included in this guide. Find out how Windows 10 protects your identity and data with advanced security features. Learn about personalizing Windows to suit your preferences. Write and draw with Windows Ink and add 3D effects with Paint 3D. Collaborate with Microsoft Office 365 and OneDrive for Business. Windows 10 helps you stay secure, get organized, work productively, and be creative.
    Productivity Deck

  • Getting your team started with Microsoft Teams
    Published: 02/07/2017 Updated 03/27/2017
    Quickly learn how to set up Microsoft Teams for your group. A chat-based workspace in Microsoft Office 365, this collaboration tool brings your team and project content together within a dedicated hub. Team owners set up the workspace and manage permissions for the group. Owners can add content and connect tools to the workspace—such as a SharePoint document library, OneNote notebook, or Power BI dashboard.
    Productivity QRG

  • Global Marketing Operations at Microsoft uses BI to better understand its customers
    Published: 06/18/2015
    In the past, Microsoft sales professionals had to search through data in 10 or more programs to learn about their customers—which didn't leave them much time to interact with those customers. See how this has changed, thanks to an application called Customer Insights, developed by Microsoft Global Marketing Operations (GMO) in partnership with Microsoft IT.
    Article

  • A global Microsoft team runs an 18-hour virtual rally using Skype and Yammer
    Published: 07/25/2017
    In 2017, the End User Services Engineering team tried a new type of team meeting to better serve 380 employees spanning 45 countries and 11 time zones. Using Skype Meeting Broadcast, Skype for Business, and Yammer, we created a global virtual rally that ran continuously for 18 hours, allowing attendees to join at an appropriate time for them, connect with each other, hear from leadership, ask questions, volunteer together, and strengthen our sense of community as effectively as any in-person meeting.
    Technical Case Study

  • Go Paperless by Using OneNote 2013
    Published: 06/20/2013 Updated: 05/16/2014
    The Microsoft OneNote 2013 note-taking program can help support corporate initiatives to reduce employee dependence on paper and printed documents. This guide gives you a quick primer on OneNote 2013 so you can join the paperless revolution.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Go paperless with OneNote 2016
    Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
    OneNote 2016 makes your paper notebooks, index cards, and sticky notes obsolete, taming the “paper jungle” and making note-taking a paperless activity. It is the perfect solution for creating, organizing, and searching online notes. And if you store your OneNote notebooks in the cloud, you can easily share them with your colleagues or collaborate with your team. Whether you work on a Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android device, you can sign in to Microsoft Office 365 and access your online notebooks from anywhere, at any time.
    Productivity Guide

  • Harnessing the power of agile development
    Published: 03/22/2016
    After a recent acquisition, Microsoft IT needed a unified way to create, manage, and release hardware product data. Using an agile development methodology, we were able to quickly build and release a new consolidated product data management system.
    Business Case Study

  • How cloud-based PBX and PSTN save Microsoft more than $120,000 per day with Skype for Business
    Published: 07/14/2017
    Migrating enterprise unified communications to cloud-based Skype for Business services at Microsoft proved to be an ambitious undertaking, but we reaped the rewards. As business groups adopted the services, they significantly reduced operating expenses, capital expenses, legacy third-party carrier fees, and travel. Our journey to the cloud has also led to increased productivity—our people can communicate and collaborate from any location on any device.
    Business Case Study

  • How IT and Finance Partner to Create Impact at Microsoft
    Published: 10/20/2014
    Like many organizations, separate groups at Microsoft of IT and Finance must have a strong partnership to deliver results. Wilson Garone, Corporate VP and CFO of Microsoft Worldwide Sales Marketing Services Group Finance, and Donna Cheesebrough, VP of Corporate Functions IT discuss how embracing a mobile first, cloud first world helps deliver business impact that increases productivity, enables efficiencies and of course, helps deliver on our financial commitments with their strong partnership.
    Video

  • How Microsoft is securing the supply chain to reduce security threats
    Published: 05/30/2018
    Security experts from Microsoft discuss what our supply chain security program looks like and how we hold suppliers to the same security standards that we use. Our supply chain security program uses a new risk-based framework that helps us achieve depth and breadth across supply chain pillars—and helps reduce security threats. We discuss how we developed our framework and show how to implement a security framework consistently and maximize results.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft IT adapted its network for the cloud
    Published: 01/05/2016
    Microsoft IT is migrating its application portfolio to the public cloud and has taken steps to improve network performance and reliability. In this webinar, Principal Network Architect, David Lef, talks about the network architecture Microsoft IT is using to embrace cloud computing.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft IT Deployed System Center 2012 Configuration Manager
    Published: 04/13/2012
    The deployment of System Center 2012 Configuration Manager by Microsoft IT has provided exciting opportunities to increase system efficiency and realize cost savings through server consolidation while at the same time improving reliability with automatic client health monitoring and empowering end users with greater control over their software installations. Discover the lessons learned from the deployment experience and the benefits that Microsoft IT obtained from having deployed Configuration Manager to more than 280,000 systems across the globe.
    Technical Case Study

  • How Microsoft IT Implements Server Patch Management
    Published: 04/30/2012
    MSIT uses Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager to comprehensively assess and update servers, both physical and virtual, in the enterprise. Assessing and maintaining the integrity of software in a networked environment through a well-defined configuration management program is a key first step toward successful information security.
    Technical White Paper

  • How Microsoft IT Integrated Lync and Helpdesk
    Published: 02/07/2014Understand how Microsoft integrated Lync and IT Helpdesk to reduce employees' time spent on service tickets, giving time back and enabling real-time end-user support.
    Business Case Study

  • How Microsoft IT is securing high-value corporate assets
    Published: 07/20/2015 Updated: 07/31/2015
    Security breaches and incidents have escalated in frequency and sophistication; as a result, security is moving to the top of corporate agendas. Breaches such as at Target, Home Depot, and Sony have shown how a single incident can hurt a company, its shareholders, partners, and customers. There is a profound sense of urgency in the IT industry to protect critical corporate assets—beyond just the network. Learn how Microsoft IT is taking action and making an investment to protect its high-value assets.
    Technical Case Study

  • How Microsoft IT manages and governs the internal SharePoint environment
    Published: 11/16/2015
    SharePoint Online hosts over 200,000 team sites, personal sites, and portals internally at Microsoft—which can be challenging to manage. In this webinar, David Johnson, Senior IT Program Manager, and Carrie Doring, Senior Business Program Manager, walk through how Microsoft IT uses a combination of custom solutions, organizational policy, and user communications to ensure that Microsoft content is protected and relevant to users.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft IT Manages Authentication and Authorization in a Hybrid Cloud World
    Published: 03/27/2015
    In this webinar, Laura Hunter, Principal Enterprise IT Architect, discusses how Microsoft IT strikes a balance among enterprise authentication requirements, security, privacy, and compliance while creating a great user experience for those who want to stay connected and productive anywhere on any device.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft IT manages its move to the cloud
    Published: 05/24/2016
    Learn how Microsoft IT has transitioned from classic, on-premises IT hosting to a hybrid cloud management organization. Senior Program Manager Lyle Dodge discusses the evolution of Microsoft IT from on-premises hosting to a cloud services broker.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft IT reduced third-party software spending using Power BI and System Center
    Published: 11/08/2016
    Patrick Graff, Senior IT Service Manager with the Software Licensing Service, shares how Microsoft IT cut costs by using data analytics and System Center to understand, analyze, and report on third-party software within Microsoft. Learn how Microsoft IT developed the infrastructure, processes, and reporting to effectively manage, control, and use third-party software licenses within the company.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft IT uses Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365
    Published: 05/08/2015
    In this webinar, David Johnson, a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft IT, discusses how Microsoft uses Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Office 365 to support information sharing through portals, team sites, OneDrive for Business, and discovery solutions. David also discusses the Microsoft internal hybrid footprint, moving to the cloud, enhancing security, and creating a great user experience. There will be opportunities for questions throughout the presentation.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft IT uses OneNote to collaborate more effectively
    Published: 07/13/2015
    A technical evangelist explains how he uses OneNote for collaboration with his teammates. OneNote provides a central location where the entire team can reference important information, track meetings and action items, and conduct reporting.
    Video

  • How Microsoft IT uses System Center Configuration Manager for client patch management
    Published: 03/31/2016
    In this webinar, Ashok Gopala Krishnan, Service Manager, explains how we use Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager for patch management of PCs, including the patching process, the user experience, and best practices.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft IT Uses System Center 2012 R2 Configuration Manager in the datacenter
    Published: 03/19/2015
    In this webinar, Jeremy Young, Senior Service Engineer on the Manageability Team, talks about the processes and tools that Microsoft IT uses to manage configuration of data center servers by using System Center Configuration Manager and patch management disciplines.
    Webinar

  • How Microsoft planned and deployed Skype for Business to the Office 365 Enterprise E5 cloud
    Published: 07/13/2017
    With the hybrid cloud architecture of Office 365 Enterprise E5 as our foundation, Microsoft migrated its global workforce to Skype for Business in two stages. First, we gave some people limited cloud-based conferencing, and then we eventually moved whole user groups to complete cloud-based unified communications. With careful planning, we helped teams maintain productivity during deployment and upgraded our network infrastructure to support capacity requirements.
    Technical White Paper

  • How to use Skype Meeting Broadcast
    Published: 11/24/2015 Updated: 01/26/2017
    Skype Meeting Broadcast, a broadcast solution from Skype for Business, delivers a high-quality video stream and scales to thousands of participants. It’s ideal for online corporate meetings and streaming events to external customers. Participants can join the meeting from anywhere, with any device—an Internet connection is all they need. Use this quick reference guide to get started using Skype Meeting Broadcast.
    Quick Reference Guide

  • How to customize a Skype Meeting Broadcast
    Published: 11/27/2015
    This video is the second in a series of four 'How to' videos providing step-by-step guidance on the new video streaming solution Skype Meeting Broadcast. This video focuses on how to customize your broadcast to include built-in tools such as Yammer and Bing Pulse to keep your audience engaged and collaborating.
    Video

  • How to manage a Skype Meeting Broadcast
    Published: 11/27/2015
    This video is the third in a series of four 'How to' videos providing step-by-step guidance on the new video streaming solution Skype Meeting Broadcast. This video focuses on how to start and successfully manage your broadcast for maximum impact.
    Video

  • How to publish a Skype Meeting Broadcast recording and run reports
    Published: 11/27/2015
    This video is final in a series of four 'How to' videos providing step-by-step guidance on the new video streaming solution Skype Meeting Broadcast. This video focuses on post-event activities such as how to download a broadcast to publish online, and pull insightful metrics for reporting to help evaluate and improve future events.
    Video

  • How Windows Information Protection in Windows 10 Creators Update helps you
    Published: 07/11/2017
    Windows Information Protection in Windows 10 helps protect corporate information from being shared in public locations, such as email or social media. It provides data security for your company documents, and helps keep your company information within the bounds of your corporate network. Learn how it distinguishes between personal and work documents, and how you can, if necessary, change a file’s protection.
    Productivity Guide

I - L

  • Implementing a data analytics framework improves data management and reduces costs
    Published: 05/25/2016 Updated: 05/31/2016
    Microsoft IT built a data analytics framework to consolidate data about our global data center infrastructure. Easier access to better data improved collaboration and helped us identify unused or underused servers, saving millions of dollars.
    Article

  • Implementing single sign-on for Microsoft Partners
    Published: 04/04/2016
    Microsoft Azure Active Directory business-to-business (B2B) collaboration brings a new set of capabilities that make it easy for the Microsoft Operations team to enable secure single sign-on for partners accessing Microsoft extranet applications.
    Business Case Study

  • Implementing strong user authentication with Windows Hello for Business
    Published: 06/28/2016 Updated: 11/28/2016
    Microsoft implemented Windows Hello for Business, a new credential in Windows 10, to help increase security when accessing corporate resources. In Windows 10, this feature offers a streamlined user sign-in experience—it replaces passwords with strong two-factor authentication by combining an enrolled device with a PIN or biometric user input for sign in. Windows Hello was easy to implement within our existing identity infrastructure and is compatible for use within our remote access solution.
    Technical Case Study

  • Implementing Windows Hello for Business at Microsoft
    Published: 12/02/2016
    Windows Hello for Business replaces passwords with strong two-factor authentication by combining an enrolled device with a PIN or biometric user input. Dimitris Papitsis, Service Engineer for Microsoft IT, and Mike Stephens, Senior Program Manager, OS Security, share lessons learned when Microsoft IT deployed Windows Hello for Business on 100,000 Windows 10 devices over existing infrastructure, including Intune, System Center Configuration Manager, Public Key Infrastructure, and Azure Active Directory.
    Webinar

  • Improving the commuter experience with Microsoft Azure
    Published: 12/12/2016
    To consolidate information about commuting, corporate shuttle services, and transportation options for staff, Microsoft IT partnered with Microsoft Real Estate and Facilities to create Transportation Hub, a web app hosted in Microsoft Azure. Drawing on data from regional transportation providers, the app helps employees plan their commute and schedule transportation between campuses. It also provides insight into commuter behavior, allowing us to improve services and helping to reduce single-occupancy trips.
    Article

  • Improving the customer experience and app performance with cloud-based tools
    Published: 04/25/2016
    Microsoft IT has undergone a customer-focused transformation of the development process. Using out-of-the-box Microsoft Azure features, we moved partner applications to the cloud for a better user experience and increased developer productivity.
    Business Case Study

  • Improving network security using big data and machine learning
    Published: 08/19/2015
    Microsoft IT is improving network security using big data and machine learning to detect usage patterns that might otherwise escape notice. They are using these tools to address two particularly significant security problems in large organizations: the challenging landscape created by the sheer volume of machines on the network (exacerbated by the "bring your own device" workplace culture), and the ability to overshare sensitive information with collaboration software.
    Article

  • Improving reliability with Windows Analytics Device Health
    Published: 09/22/2017
    To gain insights into the health and performance of more than 300,000 Windows 10 devices, Microsoft began using Device Heath, a new service in Windows Analytics. Available through the Microsoft Operations Management Suite, Device Health analyzes telemetry and provides details about device and driver crashes. This data helps us monitor our environment and quickly resolve issues.
    Technical Case Study

  • Improving service quality in Skype for Business
    Published: 06/24/2016
    When Microsoft IT deployed Skype for Business 2015 to support our highly mobile global user base, our goal was to provide the best user experience in the industry. We learned valuable lessons about hardware requirements, managing our complex network, accommodating diverse and remote clients, and running a unified communications platform in a hybrid cloud environment. We also helped develop a Call Quality Dashboard to help other organizations optimize the user experience.
    Technical White Paper

  • Improving workforce management and technical readiness at Microsoft
    Published: 12/12/2017
    One Profile, an internal tool, helps people at Microsoft advance their careers and connect our best technical consultants with customers. Employees use it to evaluate their technical skills and track training, while planners use it to match consultants or engineers with customer projects based on expertise. Built on Azure PaaS technologies like SQL Database elastic pools, LogicApps, AppInsights, and Azure Data Factory, it easily scales to accommodate multiple tenants, and it provides high availability and reliability.
    Article

  • Improving your focus with a task timer
    Published: 07/13/2017
    To help work through tasks that require focused concentration, use a simple time management technique—set a timer while you work steadily on a single task, and then take a break.
    Productivity Quick Tips

  • Increasing security and privacy at Microsoft retail stores
    Published: 07/06/2016
    The Microsoft IT Retail Information Security and Privacy team protects over 100 Microsoft retail stores worldwide. During the five years that the team has been in existence, our understanding of how to provide retail security has evolved, which is reflected in the way we assess and address risks, set security goals, and perform other aspects of our jobs. Security goals include protecting, detecting, and responding to threats, and supporting the staff in ways that help make the stores more successful.
    Technical Case Study

  • Insights in Upgrade Readiness accelerate Windows 10 upgrades
    Published: 09/24/2017
    With a faster release cadence for Windows 10 upgrades, it’s important that we quickly identify potential deployment blockers and issues. Microsoft uses Windows Analytics Upgrade Readiness to gain a better understanding of the Microsoft environment and insights about our upgrade readiness. Upgrade Readiness provides computer, application, and device driver inventory—along with guided workflows we can use from pilot to deployment and tools to help us make data-driven decisions about our application portfolio.
    Technical Case Study

  • Insights in Windows Upgrade Analytics accelerate Windows 10 upgrades
    Published: 12/20/2016
    With a faster release cadence for Windows 10 upgrades, it’s important that we quickly identify potential deployment blockers and issues. Microsoft IT implemented Windows Upgrade Analytics to help us gain a better understanding of the Microsoft environment and insights about our upgrade readiness. Upgrade Analytics provides computer, application, and device driver inventory—along with guided workflows we can use from pilot to deployment, and tools to help us make data-driven decisions about our application portfolio.
    Technical Case Study

  • Installing System Center Configuration Manager 1602 using in-console updates
    Published: 0/28/2016 Updated: 07/08/2016
    Microsoft IT installed the latest update to System Center Configuration Manager (version 1602) using a new in-console service. The in-console update service automates many tasks, such as checking that prerequisites are met before an update, and helps ensure that we are running the latest version. It delivers updates as they are available, with no service packs or cumulative update versions for us to download and deploy separately. Updates are now much easier to manage.
    Technical Case Study

  • Integrating security into the mobile app development life cycle
    Published: 07/07/2017
    To address mobile app security and privacy during all phases of application development, Microsoft integrated the Microsoft Security Development Lifecycle with the mobile app publishing platform we use for internally developed, line-of-business apps. We introduced automation and an end-to-end process that accommodates an increasingly agile mobile app development lifecycle—and helps ensure that all mobile apps we distribute throughout the enterprise undergo a security review and sign-off before they’re released.
    Technical Case Study

  • Internet of Things: Lighting up modern workspaces
    Published: 10/08/2015 Updated 11/09/2015
    The Internet of Things presents tremendous opportunities for enterprises. These include helping employee productivity, creating new experiences, and learning more about the environment to optimize resources. Microsoft IT is lighting up a Real Estate & Facilities IoT pilot that utilizes low cost sensors, data analytics, and the cloud to improve open floor plan productivity —setting the stage for a future journey into IoT.
    Video

  • Introducing the Windows Azure Pack connector: two clouds, one portal
    Published: 05/31/2016 Updated: 06/04/2016
    Microsoft IT has created a more seamless way to manage hybrid clouds. Now available for download, the Windows Azure Pack connector lets administrators and tenants use one portal to manage infrastructure as a service (IaaS) virtual machines in both private clouds and public Azure subscriptions.
    Article

  • IT Expert Roundtable: Cloud at Microsoft (November 2017)
    Published: 12/26/2017
    Cloud experts from Microsoft discuss modernizing applications, cultural changes that lead to digital transformation, migrating on-premises data centers to the cloud, security in the cloud, shadow IT, planning a move to the cloud, application development accountability, software engineering fundamentals, geo-redundancy, and more. They share candid insights and best practices about how we design, manage, and support cloud solutions at Microsoft.
    SME Roundtable

  • IT Expert Roundtable: How Microsoft secures elevated access with tools and privileged credentials
    Published: 05/22/2018
    Microsoft has been working to establish secure, isolated environments, credential management services and policies, and secure admin workstations to help protect mission-critical systems and services—including those used to manage cloud services, like Azure. Listen in as our experts answer questions about the strategies we use to help secure critical corporate assets and increase protection against emerging pass-the-hash attacks, credential theft, and credential reuse scenarios.
    SME Roundtable

  • IT Expert Roundtable: SharePoint at Microsoft (November 2017)
    Published: 12/14/2017
    SharePoint experts from Microsoft discuss topics ranging from setting up sites—communication sites, hub sites, and site design templates—to regional performance issues, security issues, multi-geo capabilities, and search. You’ll learn about content and apps for sites, PowerApps, moving to the cloud, and more. They share candid insights and best practices about how we manage SharePoint at Microsoft.
    SME Roundtable

  • IT Expert Roundtable: Skype for Business at Microsoft (May 2018)
    Published: 05/31/2018
    Skype for Business experts from Microsoft discuss migrating to the cloud—including challenges we faced, integrating with Microsoft Teams, Skype Room Systems and other audio/visual equipment for conference rooms, network health, and more. They share candid insights and best practices about how we manage and support Skype for Business at Microsoft.
    SME Roundtable

  • IT Expert Roundtable: Skype for Business at Microsoft (October 2017)
    Published: 11/30/2017
    Skype for Business experts from Microsoft discuss client version control, problem management and incident resolution, collaboration with Microsoft Teams, tools for monitoring service availability and quality, network infrastructure issues and call quality, spoofed calls, business continuity and disaster recovery—and more. They share candid insights and best practices about how we manage and support Skype for Business at Microsoft.
    SME Roundtable

  • IT Expert Roundtable: Using Azure Data Lake for advanced analytics
    Published: 03/02/2018
    IT experts talk about how Microsoft built a centralized, big data architecture on Azure Data Lake to connect supply chain data and processes. Bringing data together helped eliminate the tendency to work and make decisions in silos—our teams now use advanced analytics and machine learning for deeper data-based insights and innovation. Listen in as we answer questions from the audience about designing and building the solution, our pilot project, performance issues, and the benefits of Azure Data Lake.
    SME Roundtable

  • IT Expert Roundtable: Using Naïve Bayes and Machine Learning Server to improve data quality
    Published: 04/24/2018
    Our experts discuss how we used Machine Learning Server and the Naïve Bayes classifier algorithm to improve data quality in our sales and marketing leads. They share how we designed and built a solution to find and filter out fake company names with machine learning, and they answer questions about integrating international data, developing training data, and choosing the right algorithm and technology.
    SME Roundtable

  • Joining your Windows 10 computer to a domain
    Published: 10/30/2017
    To connect to your corporate or school network, you may need to join a domain. When you add your computer to the domain, you can sign in to your Windows 10 computer and your network with your credentials. Your computer receives all the security and policy updates required by your IT administrator, ensuring you have secure access to all the resources you need.
    Productivity Guide

  • The journey to a new sales experience with Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
    Published: 06/26/2015
    The processes and tools that the Microsoft sales organization previously used had become overly complex and kept sellers from focusing on their customers. Starting with the principle that Microsoft should use the products that it sells to customers, Microsoft corporate and field groups worked together to simplify sales processes and deliver a new sales platform that has increased seller productivity and satisfaction.
    Business Case Study

  • Just Enough Administration: Windows PowerShell security controls help protect enterprise data
    Published: 05/17/2016
    Microsoft IT deployed Just Enough Administration (JEA)—based on Windows PowerShell—to help protect critical information systems from threats caused by loss, compromise, and misuse of privileged administrator credentials. With JEA, we designate who can perform specific administrative tasks without full administrator rights, which reduces risk and increases data security. JEA also gives us actionable logging and reporting.
    Article

  • Keeping your files secure in the cloud with SharePoint Online
    Published: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
    How to restrict access to your site through permissions setting and applying Information Rights Management to files. These tips and tricks from Microsoft IT will help improve your digital productivity and create an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
    Readiness Guide

  • Listening to customer feedback with Azure Machine Learning
    Published: 05/23/2018
    In today’s world, listening to customers helps create better experiences. Microsoft employees who travel for business have the chance to leave feedback about corporate travel services. To help analyze the data, we implemented Azure Machine Learning to reveal insights about customer sentiment and their experiences. With text analysis, we can analyze customer comments and capture a broad range of feedback from travelers. We’re applying the feedback and business intelligence we gain to better meet the needs of our people.
    Business Case Study

M - N

  • Making the Microsoft Lobby Experience more accessible
    Published: 05/02/2017
    When universal design principles challenged our thinking, Microsoft IT took accessibility to a new level with the design of our updated lobby experience. Not only did we incorporate accessible features into the multitouch technologies throughout our new lobbies, we leveraged personas to build inclusive improvements into our designs from the start. The holistic approach goes beyond typical accessibility scenarios—it provides an improved experience across a broad audience by addressing more subtle, situational impairments.
    Article

  • Managing and optimizing resources for cloud computing at Microsoft
    Published: 03/24/2017
    Host Lyle Dodge chats with Pete Apple, Principal Service Engineer, and Rick Ochs, Senior Service Engineer, to learn how Microsoft IT understands our cloud investment and how we implemented cloud resource management and cost optimization strategies. Listen in as they discuss the tools and processes that we built on our journey to an efficient cloud environment.
    Webinar

  • Managing the data life cycle using Azure Data Factory
    Published: 06/22/2017
    Today, companies generate vast amounts of data—and it’s critical to have a strategy to handle it. To automate common data management tasks, Microsoft created a solution based on Azure Data Factory. The service, Data Lifecycle Management, makes frequently accessed data available and archives or purges other data according to retention policies. Teams across the company use the service to reduce storage costs, improve app performance, and comply with data retention policies.
    Technical Case Study

  • Managing email in Outlook 2016
    Published: 09/12/2017
    Features in Microsoft Outlook 2016 help you keep your inbox neat and tidy. Learn how to manage your email, create rules, and clean up conversations to reduce clutter and stay organized. For smart, effective communication with your colleagues, follow a few email etiquette tips to help avoid productivity traps.
    Productivity Guide

  • Managing the enterprise cloud with Operations Management Suite
    Published: 03/31/2017
    Microsoft is a cloud-first, mobile-first enterprise, and we’re committed to running as much of our business as possible in Azure. To monitor and manage our cloud infrastructure, Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) is using Operations Management Suite (OMS). It gives our enterprise a high-level view of all our cloud operations. With it, business groups have the freedom to manage and monitor their own apps and infrastructure, and to customize their OMS environment to meet their own requirements and standards.
    Article

  • Managing the enterprise with Application Insights and Log Analytics
    Published: 06/29/2017
    Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) uses Application Insights, Log Analytics, and Azure Automation to monitor system health and usage, policy compliance, and security in our Azure and on-premises environments. We’ve created guidance for deploying Azure-based monitoring that gives our internal business groups effective cloud-based, automated monitoring across Azure tenants, subscriptions, and resource groups. It’s a scalable, reliable solution that provides a holistic view of our workspaces and visibility into app functionality and performance.
    Technical Case Study

  • Managing a hybrid data platform with Operations Management Suite
    Published: 07/06/2016
    When Microsoft IT wanted to manage and monitor DataMall, our internal data repository comprising a range of data sources and hosted in a hybrid environment, we chose Operations Management Suite (OMS). With the monitoring and remediation capabilities in OMS, we gained visibility into both the on-premises and Azure components of DataMall.
    Article

  • Managing modern mobile productivity with Enterprise Mobility + Security
    Published: 10/30/2017
    With more people using personal devices for work, the need to protect corporate resources, documents, and data increases. At Microsoft, we manage mobile productivity to give people a consistent experience on both work and personal devices. We use Microsoft Intune and Microsoft Azure Active Directory to manage mobile devices and balance mobility with app security and identity management.
    Technical Case Study

  • Managing Public Key Infrastructure in the Enterprise
    Published: 06/26/2014
    All organizations that exchange information over the Internet are susceptible to attack from malicious users. Electronic credentials that prove identity are a critical part of security measures. Microsoft IT has developed recommendations to help other enterprises design and protect an infrastructure that supports these credentials.
    Article

  • Managing security risk in the cloud
    Published: 03/28/2016 Updated: 04/13/2016
    Lacking criteria or an assessment framework for SaaS applications, the Microsoft Information Security Risk Management team created a workbook to provide needed guidance. See how the team uses this to ensure the consistent evaluation of SaaS deployments.
    Article

  • Managing Skype Room Systems and Surface Hub devices
    Published: 10/04/2016
    As part of our quest for more reliable, productive online meetings, Microsoft IT is working to improve our ability to manage meeting room devices. It’s an evolving, end-to-end service approach, from which our employees have already benefited, whether they are collaborating using Surface Hub or the new Skype Room Systems. We are also enhancing management tools such as Intune and Microsoft Operations Management Suite to monitor meeting room devices, automate processes, and detect and correct technical issues.
    Technical Case Study

  • Managing Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute in a global enterprise
    Published: 12/16/2016
    With migration to Azure, it’s important that Microsoft IT ensure network connectivity between on-premises and virtual resources across our environment. To do so, we’ve been using Azure ExpressRoute circuits as part of our network topology. For management of ExpressRoute, we’ve moved to a shared circuit model—business groups access some networking components, but we provision and manage ExpressRoute networking services in a simplified and centralized way. As a result, we’ve reduced overhead and optimized bandwidth.
    Technical Case Study

  • Managing the Microsoft network (SME Roundtable October 2016)
    Published: 11/07/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, implements, manages, and supports the network at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Microsoft Azure, hybrid environments, network security, multifactor authentication, network traffic, virtual networks, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Managing user identities and secure access at Microsoft
    Published: June 28, 2017
    At Microsoft, our hybrid environment requires a combination of tools and processes to manage identities and network access for all employees, suppliers, and partners. Microsoft IT uses features in the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security suite, Microsoft Azure Active Directory, and on-premises access and identity management solutions such as Windows Server Active Directory. Our people can work securely from any location.
    Technical Case Study

  • Managing your email and calendar on the go with Outlook 2016
    Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
    Use Microsoft Outlook 2016 to keep your world in sync and stay more connected. Outlook helps you manage everything you do, no matter where you are. Get your email, calendar, contacts, tasks, and to-do lists all in one place. Because Outlook is built into Microsoft Office 365, you can sign in from any browser and use it on Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android devices.
    Productivity Guide

  • Measuring the value of mobile apps
    Published: 06/23/2016
    Do you have robust performance and user satisfaction data to evaluate your mobile app portfolio? Microsoft IT used telemetry and user feedback to create a continuous improvement and assessment system for our internal app portfolio. We created a mobile app performance baseline, a data-driven investment decision framework, and an engagement model for our internal users, who provide feedback to product development teams and help inform design decisions.
    Article

  • Meeting the challenges of agile development at enterprise scale
    Published: 03/23/2017
    At Microsoft IT, agile methodology has been successful for small projects—we’ve shortened release cycles and respond quickly to customer requirements. However, when we adopted the agile model for enterprise-scale projects, our teams faced bottlenecks that slowed progress and impacted quality. To address the inefficiencies, we evaluated third-party models and developed an approach that helps us reduce dependencies, balance autonomy and alignment, and deliver incremental business value.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft Azure Key Vault helps protect keys, secrets, and certificates
    Published: 09/21/2016
    Microsoft IT uses Microsoft Azure Key Vault to store and help protect our encryption keys, secrets (like authentication keys and passwords), and certificates. Using the vault improves the security of the infrastructure, apps, and services that we build and operate. It simplifies the protection process for developers, since they can easily locate and manage vault contents across their apps. To promote vault usage, we gave our Azure developers guidance on tasks related to managing Azure Key Vault.
    Article

  • Microsoft creates a new sales experience with Microsoft Dynamics CRM at the core
    Published: 06/12/2015
    Microsoft transformed and simplified its sales processes and platforms into fast, modern, and role-based systems that are holistic, intuitive, and focused on specific customer business needs. New tools, built largely around out-of-the-box Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online and Microsoft Dynamics CRM features and functionalities, deliver streamlined sales processes, standardized and integrated tools, and intuitive collaboration features.
    Article

  • Microsoft Dynamics AX Enables Operational Efficiency at Microsoft
    Published: 04/28/2015
    Review examples of how Dynamics AX supports the Microsoft IT ERP strategy to provide strategic insight and productivity for the business. Microsoft IT discusses how solutions have been implemented using the extensibility and interoperability of Dynamics AX across different business workloads.
    Technical Reference

  • Microsoft Dynamics Provides Retail Solutions for Microsoft Store
    Published: 08/29/2014
    Microsoft Dynamics helps Microsoft Store thrive in the new retail reality by delivering a consistent, compelling customer experience across multiple channels that's designed to build lasting relationships, all while providing agility for the business to easily scale to support growth.
    Article

  • Microsoft Excel: Basics and beyond
    Published: 08/01/2017 Updated: 12/01/2017
    Take your Excel skills to the next level! We show you how to collaborate in Excel and increase your productivity in the cloud. Learn how to create an Excel workbook, save it to OneDrive, use formulas and functions, and visualize your data in charts and graphs. See how to insert PivotTables and learn how to access Excel from your Windows, iOS, or Android device.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft Excel: Getting started with PivotTables
    Published: 01/23/2018
    Learn to create PivotTables in Excel! A pivot table helps you sort and categorize worksheet data so you can analyze details, spot patterns, and make informed decisions. Pivot tables are also a good way to summarize and present data for analysis and review. We show you how to create a PivotTable from scratch in Excel, format your table, build charts, filter your data, and more.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft Excel: Getting started with web data queries
    Published: 01/19/2018
    Learn to run web queries from Excel! Sometimes, you need to get data from an online source. We show you how to query a web site, bring the data into Excel, and merge and append it with data from other sources. Learn to use the Query Editor to modify your query, change data formats, and edit imported data.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft Excel: Tips and Tricks
    Published: 01/19/2018
    Collect a few tips for working efficiently with data in Excel! We show you how to filter and sort data in your spreadsheet, do quick calculations, and troubleshoot formula errors. You’ll learn some useful shortcuts for navigating between tabs and files, counting cells, and more.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Edge Transport and Messaging Protection
    Updated: 01/08/2009
    In deploying the Exchange 2007-based messaging-protection solution, Microsoft IT used all messaging protection features of the Edge Transport server role and Forefront Security for Exchange Server to block, delete, reject, or quarantine unwanted messages.
    Technical White Paper

  • Microsoft Finance Leverages Power BI to Transform Reporting
    Published: 10/22/2014
    The World Wide Enterprise and Partner Group (EPG) Finance team used Power BI for Office 365 to accelerate the process of getting information to decision makers and completely transform how Microsoft Finance does reporting for EPG.
    Article

  • Microsoft focuses on strategic database administration by moving to Azure
    Published: 7/27/2016
    At Microsoft, our Information Security and Risk Management team—which manages our most hyper-sensitive information, in our largest databases—moved its entire database environment to Azure. The migration required careful planning and testing, but the move itself was simple. With automated administration and performance monitoring, our database administrators have time to focus on strategic projects such as data modeling, architecture design, and code reviews.
    Article

  • Microsoft increases productivity and protects assets with OneDrive for Business
    Published: 12/22/2017
    OneDrive for Business is the standard at Microsoft for simple and secure cloud storage and file synchronization. We’ve deployed OneDrive for Business with a communication strategy that encourages people to opt in to the service, and as they do, we’re reducing our storage and infrastructure costs. The OneDrive for Business sync client makes it easy for people to sync files and access them from any device. New authentication and data protection features help to further protect our corporate assets.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft Intune makes it easy to bring your own device with confidence
    Published: 05/31/2016
    Microsoft Intune enables mobile device management for personal devices. We will demonstrate both sides of the Intune experience—watch an employee enroll her personal iOS device into Intune, gaining access to corporate resources and applications. Then see an administrator create a corporate policy from the management console to help ensure the security of corporate data.
    Video

  • Microsoft IT automates a supply chain business process with Microsoft Azure
    Published: 07/07/2015 Updated: 07/30/2015
    The Microsoft online and brick-and-mortar retail stores previously used a product returns process that required manual data entry and multiple systems. A new solution uses Microsoft Azure to enable customer self-service requests for return labels. The new system has improved the customer experience while reducing support time and minimizing errors.
    Article

  • Microsoft IT builds a big data tax solution for Finance with Azure
    Published: 07/06/2016
    Faced with rapidly changing international tax laws and exponential data growth, Microsoft IT transformed the Finance department's traditional data warehouse infrastructure into a centralized, cloud-based management system built on Azure Data Factory and SQL Server. This scalable big data solution allowed the finance team to cut its response time to international audit requests, efficiently process and report on large volumes of business information, and provide better support for growth across the company.
    Article

  • Microsoft IT cloud computing strategies continue to evolve
    Published: 03/30/2016
    Microsoft is on a complex, multi-year journey to adopt cloud computing across the enterprise. Learn how we developed our cloud strategy, made cultural shifts, and changed processes at Microsoft to help make this journey a success.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft IT Deployed and Manages a Hybrid Model of Exchange Online
    Published: 06/21/2012
    A hybrid messaging deployment offers the possibility to have some mailboxes located on-premises while others reside in the cloud. Microsoft IT shares its planning and deployment experiences of a hybrid Microsoft Office 365 hybrid messaging solution.
    Technical White Paper

  • Microsoft IT Deploys and Manages Office 365 ProPlus
    Published: 07/05/2013
    This white paper discusses the considerations and experiences of the Microsoft IT team when deploying and managing the new Office in an enterprise environment. Many of the techniques and best practices described in this paper can be employed by other companies to help them determine how to best approach their own managed Office deployments.
    Technical White Paper

  • Microsoft IT Deploys Work Folders as an Enterprise Client Data Management Solution
    Published: 06/19/2014 Updated: 08/01/2014Learn how Microsoft IT is implementing Work Folders to support People-Centric IT and to improve management of sensitive data.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft IT Designs a Task-based Library Website by Using SharePoint Server 2010
    Published: 05/28/2014
    Learn how Microsoft IT used a task-based design approach and Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 to redesign a website for Microsoft Library. The resulting site enhances the user experience through improved search, navigation, and help, as well as new personalization features.
    Article

  • Microsoft IT enables information discovery with enterprise search and Delve
    Published: 08/31/2016
    Microsoft IT hosts more than 350 million Office 365 documents and other content, serving 200,000 users around the globe. Helping employees find what they need to be effective in their jobs required new approaches to deliver integrated search experiences. Program managers David Johnson, Sam Crewdson, and Rene Sanchez Almaguer share how we used Delve, SharePoint 2016 with hybrid services, and Office 365 Search to deliver rationalized search and discovery experiences.
    Webinar

  • Microsoft IT enhances security and reliability with Exchange Online Protection
    Published: 06/22/2015 Updated: 06/23/2015
    Microsoft IT uses Exchange Online Protection as a service to block and filter spam and other malicious email. In addition, they have developed tools and processes to help manage the service and minimize such threats. This article describes how Microsoft IT uses Exchange Online Protection and other measures to reduce email security vulnerabilities.
    Article

  • Microsoft IT helps users embrace Office 365 ProPlus
    Published: 07/04/2013
    Microsoft IT uses new and innovative channels to help Microsoft users prepare for and embrace the new Office, resulting in a successful deployment with increased user productivity and reduced support costs.
    Article

  • Microsoft IT Improves Operational Efficiency and Reduces Costs with Microsoft System Center
    Published: 02/10/2014
    Microsoft IT discusses its use of the System Center suite of services and the business and operational benefits realized across Application and Infrastructure automation.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft IT Institute Best Practice Experience: Lync at Microsoft
    Published: 08/27/2014
    This session covers "How Microsoft Does IT"and provides insight into how Microsoft deploys and manages Lync and conferencing solutions to support Microsoft's 220,000+ internal users. Participants will learn the best practices Microsoft has created and employed in designing, developing, deploying, and operating Lync, and Enterprise Voice for our global environment.
    Course Description

  • Microsoft IT Institute Best Practice Experience: SharePoint at Microsoft
    Published: 08/27/2014
    This session covers "How Microsoft Does IT"and implements SharePoint globally to support Microsoft's 220,000 internal users. Specifically, this session provides insight into the best practices Microsoft has employed in planning, designing, deploying, and operating SharePoint as a strategic collaboration platform.
    Course Description

  • Microsoft IT Institute Best Practice Experience: The Cloud at Microsoft
    Published: 08/27/2014
    This Best Practice Experience Course covers "How Microsoft Does IT"and provides insight into how Microsoft is moving to the Cloud to support Microsoft's 220,000 internal users. Participants will learn the best practices Microsoft has created and employed in designing, developing, deploying, and operating in the cloud for our global environment.
    Course Description

  • The Microsoft IT journey to transform BI
    Published: 06/17/2015
    Microsoft IT is on a multi-year journey to transform how the company works with BI. This is a major undertaking for any enterprise, requiring changes for people, processes, and technology. Learn about the roadmap we've built and the progress we've made so far. We also share the lessons learned, best practices, and reference architecture you can leverage to help your organization effect its own transformation.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft IT moves a critical database environment to Azure
    Published: 07/06/2016
    Olav Opedal and Dong Yang discuss how Microsoft IT moved one of its most critical database environments to the cloud and describe the benefits the team experienced after migration. As a database administrator, Yang describes why moving to the cloud gave him more control over the entire database and reduced overhead, allowing him to focus on data modeling and architecture design.
    Video

  • Microsoft IT Replaces Siebel with Dynamics CRM
    Published: 05/24/2012
    By retiring Seibel and replacing with the Global Sales Experience (GSX) solution powered by Dynamics CRM, Microsoft IT has been able to introduce simplicity for IT, agility and value for the business. This document provides an overview of how Microsoft IT introduced new governance models to rationalize down and upstream applications, access policy management to provide the right data to the right people and increase the time to market of new sales programs.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft IT Service Management transitions from Exchange On-Premises to Office 365
    Published: 06/22/2015 Updated: 06/23/2015
    Microsoft IT migrated hundreds of thousands of mailboxes from Exchange On-Premises to Office 365 Exchange Online. But for the service management team, the major change was not technology—but changing their focus from servers to service. They are now accountable for ensuring end-to-end service quality and user satisfaction for the email service.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft IT shares insights about moving to the cloud
    Published: 10/15/2015 Updated: 09/15/2016
    Planning to move your business environment to the cloud is a bit like moving to a new house—you must plan and organize as well as consider the process, costs, and benefits. To advance the vision of our "mobile first, cloud first" initiative, Microsoft IT migrated its own data and applications first. We faced some unexpected challenges, developed several best practices, and learned some lessons we can share with other companies that want to move to cloud computing.
    Article

  • Microsoft IT Tests LOB Compatibility with Office 365 ProPlus
    Published: 07/05/2013
    Microsoft IT gains additional efficiencies during the new Office deployment by incorporating changes into their mature application compatibility testing process.
    Article

  • Microsoft IT transforms teleworking culture in Japan
    Published: 04/01/2016 Updated: 05/25/2016
    In Japan, a business culture that values face-to-face interaction has slowed the widespread adoption of teleworking. However, demographic changes and a mandate from the government are making worker mobility a top priority. Microsoft IT in Japan is advancing the cultural and technological transformation to a mobile-first, cloud-first workplace by offering business solutions and demonstrating the benefits of teleworking to employers and workers alike.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft IT transforms with the move to cloud computing
    Published: 04/04/2016 Updated: 05/11/2016
    Network architect David Lef shares how the move to cloud computing has transformed his role and day-to-day responsibilities at Microsoft IT, providing opportunities to experiment with cloud technology and prepare for future technology innovations.
    Video

  • Microsoft IT transitions core business applications to Microsoft Azure PaaS
    Published: 07/30/2015
    Microsoft IT has transitioned many line-of-business applications to Microsoft Azure platform as a service (PaaS). This article describes why they moved four of these applications and how the transition helped Microsoft IT, other Microsoft teams, and customers.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft uses predictive analytics to improve sales processes and forecasting
    Published: 09/01/2017
    Mohit Sharma, Program Manager, talks about how Microsoft has implemented predictive analytics built on Azure Machine Learning for the sales team—making the jobs of sellers, sales managers, and sales executives at Microsoft a bit easier. He discusses how our consolidated tools have reduced manual sales processes and provide business insights through Power BI and Cortana Intelligence Suite, resulting in accelerated pipeline management and more accurate sales forecasting.
    Webinar

  • Microsoft IT uses Power BI to solve digital marketing challenges
    Published: 02/25/2016 Updated: 05/10/2016
    Marketing to 1 billion customers is a tough job. Understanding how to effectively market to those customers is even tougher. Learn how the marketing team partnered with IT and used big data, Microsoft Azure, and Power BI to make smarter business decisions about marketing to their customers.
    Article

  • Microsoft IT Uses System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection for Unified Security and Management
    Published: 05/31/2012
    System Center 2012 Configuration Manager provides key management capabilities around application delivery, desktop virtualization, device management, and security that make it possible to enable productivity amidst device proliferation while also reducing costs. In the 2012 release, Configuration Manager takes a new "user-centric" approach to application delivery. Users can establish policies and relationship rules that allow Configuration Manager to evaluate user identity, application dependencies, device type, and network connection in order to deliver the optimum application experience to users from whatever device or devices they happen to be using.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft migrates 150,000 mailboxes to Exchange Online
    Published: 06/22/2015 Updated: 11/01/2017
    Migrating Exchange email to the cloud in a complex global environment posed many challenges for Microsoft. But we knew that the transition from on-premises Exchange servers to Office 365 and Exchange Online would have many benefits, including remote access to email services, ongoing feature updates, and cost savings. Learn how we evaluated and planned the migration in phases, communicated with teams and stakeholders, and conducted the migration—collecting best practices to share along the way.
    Technical White Paper

  • Microsoft migrates its learning content and certification portal to the cloud
    Published: 12/22/2017
    Microsoft Learning and Readiness manages learning content and the Microsoft certification platform that gives our customers and employees product and technology training. To increase scalability and performance and to reduce storage costs, we moved this content to the cloud. To expedite the data migration, we created a tool to move 1 PB of courses, labs, exams, and videos to Azure Blob Storage faster. We also migrated the databases, web apps, and services that make up the certification platform to PaaS.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft moves IT infrastructure management to the cloud with Azure
    Published: 04/20/2018
    As our IT infrastructure has evolved from traditional datacenters to hybrid cloud infrastructure, so have our tools for managing IT infrastructure. With Azure as the primary platform for infrastructure, we are adopting Azure management tools for monitoring, updating, backup, and security. We envision further decentralized IT and self-service IT management offerings for business groups that give them control over their own business environments and the ability to adapt IT services to suit their needs.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft Office 365 reduces threats, and enhances visibility and compliance
    Published: 01/16/2017
    At Microsoft IT, we use Microsoft Office 365 Enterprise E5 features to complement our security platform services and enhance visibility into our software as a service infrastructure. Policy-based Advanced Security Management discovers anomalies, app usage, and shadow IT. Advanced Threat Protection helps stop zero-day and sophisticated attacks. Finally, in an era of ever-increasing amounts and complexity of data, eDiscovery technologies streamline compliance and discovery requests.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft OneDrive for Business: Basics and beyond
    Published: 11/28/2017
    Move to the cloud with OneDrive for Business! We show you how to get started with OneDrive for Business, including how to store, share, and access documents securely. A cloud-based document library, OneDrive for Business integrates with Office so you can organize all your work in one place. Learn how to sync your devices to your library and access your documents from anywhere, on any device.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft OneNote: Basics and beyond
    Published: 01/08/2017 Updated 12/01/2017
    See Microsoft OneNote in action! We show you how to use OneNote for collaboration and offer best practices for increasing your productivity. Find out how to create a OneNote notebook, manage your task list, and share notes in meetings. See how OneNote integrates with other Office apps, and learn how to access OneNote from your Windows, iOS, or Android device.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft operations evolve with Azure
    Published: 04/28/2017
    In Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT), we’re embracing digital transformation and moving from rigid, process-centered operations to an agile, customer-focused organization that runs in Azure. Now, our operations are based on modern DevOps engineering principles. We’re engaging with our business partners, empowering and training our employees, and reinventing our services.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft Outlook: Basics and beyond
    Published: 12/06/2017
    Make the most of Outlook! We show you best practices for managing your email and calendar efficiently, including switching views in calendar and email, scheduling meetings and conference rooms, and categorizing your appointments with colors. Learn how to assign permissions to a delegate and share your calendar with others. Even Outlook veterans may learn a thing or two in this deep-dive session.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft Power BI and MyAnalytics drive executive effectiveness
    Published: 01/13/2017
    At Microsoft, we want to use data to influence every decision. Our IT executives use business intelligence to help inform decision making and effective communication. Executive Insights dashboards—powered by Power BI—intuitively visualize data, facilitate deeper analysis, and help us make more informed decisions. MyAnalytics quickly analyzes—in aggregate—consumption and actions taken on qualified IT executive group email messages. And MyAnalytics data lets them fine-tune their communication strategies.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft Power BI: Basics and beyond
    Published: 01/19/2018
    Put your data to work with Power BI! A suite of business analytics tools, Power BI helps you create and share actionable, intuitive reports for business insights. We show you the basics of Power BI, data visualization, and dashboards. Learn how to create and modify data visualizations, join data from multiple sources, and build a dashboard to share with colleagues.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft PowerPoint: Beyond the basics
    Published: 05/09/2017 Updated 12/01/2017
    Bring your slideshow to life with PowerPoint! We show you how to use PowerPoint and share presentations in the cloud. Find out how to make a PowerPoint template, create presentations, design interactive content with Office Mix, and save it all to OneDrive. Learn how to access PowerPoint from your Windows, iOS, or Android device.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft reinvents sales processing and financial reporting with Azure
    Published: 07/03/2017
    Moving the company’s revenue reporting platform to Microsoft Azure is giving Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) the opportunity to redesign the platform’s infrastructure and functionality. With the major components in Azure, we’ve already seen how Spark Streaming and Azure Data Factory have made dramatic improvements in the platform’s performance and scalability. As our journey to host this solution in Azure continues, we’re finding new ways to improve it with Azure capabilities.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft saves 20 percent on third-party software spending by using Power BI
    Published: 05/24/2016
    At Microsoft, we consistently look to cut costs and incorporate best-of-breed internally developed solutions. But we do license third-party software for some applications. Learn how Microsoft IT developed the infrastructure and processes necessary to effectively manage, control, and use third-party software licenses within our organization, throughout all stages of a software license lifecycle.
    Video

  • Microsoft simplifies its sales platform and deploys Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
    Published: 07/20/2015
    Microsoft created a direct sales platform that supports seller-specific customer relationship management (CRM), business intelligence (BI), and seller tools. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online forms the backbone of the platform and uses Microsoft Azure-based services for advantages of scale.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft tames the ‘wild west’ of big data with modern data management
    Published: 04/20/2018
    Treating data as a strategic corporate asset at Microsoft means providing a modern data management framework so teams can derive rich analytical insights through AI and machine learning. Our Data Analytics Working Group is developing common standards across business units to help ensure data quality, improve discoverability, and reduce costs. For flexibility and security, we chose Azure Data Lake Store as our data storage platform.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft Teams: Basics and beyond
    Published: 12/19/2017
    Bring your coworkers together with Microsoft Teams! We’ll show you how to connect with your team using channels to chat, call, meet, and store shared files. A chat-based workspace in Office 365, Teams is a hub for collaboration that gives you secure access to all the information your team needs to work together.
    Productivity Video

  • Microsoft Teams increases collaboration in the modern workplace at Microsoft
    Published: 03/15/2018
    At Microsoft, many groups are adopting Microsoft Teams for collaborative work. It serves as a hub for teamwork and brings together apps, communication tools, and shared spaces that groups are already using. Using Teams is an adjustment, though, and requires a change in behavior and work style. To help people adopt Teams, we’re using a communication strategy that sparks interest and creates awareness, raising up champions who engage others, and sharing resources for learning Teams.
    Business Case Study

  • Microsoft thwarts phishing attempts with Office 365
    Published: 09/12/2017
    Cyberattacks, malware, and phishing are becoming more sophisticated, but at Microsoft we won’t let our guard down. We constantly improve our security framework—which includes Office 365 and other Microsoft technologies—to help detect, prevent, and respond to threats. Using powerful antiphishing algorithms, machine learning, and anomaly detection, Office 365 services like Exchange Online Protection and Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection help organizations thwart email-based phishing attacks and boost protection.
    Article

  • Microsoft uses analytics and data science to enhance the user experience
    Published: 06/21/2017
    Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) is enhancing user experiences for Microsoft employees—such as finding information and communicating and collaborating with coworkers. Using Azure Data Factory and Azure Data lake, we built a platform to capture instrumentation—which includes data from products and services like Skype for Business and Office 365. We analyze this data, along with user feedback, using data science, machine learning, and algorithms—key phrase extraction, deep semantic similarity, and sentiment analysis—for insights to help people be productive.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft uses threat intelligence to protect, detect, and respond to threats
    Published: 07/03/2017
    To combat cyber attacks and protect against urgent threats, Microsoft amasses billions of signals for a holistic view of the security ecosystem—giving our company and customers relevant, contextual threat intelligence that’s built into products like Office 365, Windows, and Azure. To more quickly detect, investigate, and respond to email threats, Microsoft uses Threat Explorer in Office 365 Threat Intelligence for broad threat visibility, along with Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection and Exchange Online Protection.
    Technical Case Study

  • Microsoft uses Windows Defender Antivirus to boost malware protection
    Published: 06/23/2016 Updated: 05/09/2018
    Not having a robust antimalware strategy is like leaving the front door of your company open with valuable goods exposed. Windows Defender in Windows 10 helps meet your antimalware, antivirus, and similar security needs. With this built-in infrastructure, Microsoft IT saves time and money that we previously spent on antimalware implementation, hardware, and maintenance. Now we have more time and budget for other security priorities.
    Article

  • Microsoft weeds out fake marketing leads with Naïve Bayes and Machine Learning Server
    Published: 12/14/2017 Updated: 05/01/2018
    To connect with potential customers, our marketers and sellers at Microsoft depend on good-quality leads. But sometimes people fill out online forms with fake names, gibberish, or even profanity. We distinguish fake company names from legitimate names in our data using the programming language R, the Naive Bayes classifier algorithm, Microsoft Machine Learning Server, and a data quality service that we built. This solution helps us weed out fake names and prioritize good leads for our sales and marketing teams.
    Article

  • Migrating business-critical Treasury apps to Microsoft Azure
    Published: 09/16/2016
    Microsoft IT is continually moving company technologies and business processes to the cloud. Recently, we worked with Microsoft Treasury to move its portfolio of finance apps to Azure. Together, Microsoft IT, Microsoft Treasury, and Azure Engineering used infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) functionality in Azure to move applications from on-premises datacenters to the cloud, providing a unified, scalable, and resilient platform.
    Article

  • Migrating a critical high-performance platform to Azure with zero downtime
    Published: 03/29/2017
    Microsoft IT manages a high-performance platform for managing customer data—including privacy preferences for services like Windows Live, Xbox, and Office. We knew it would soon be time to retire the aging on-premises hardware infrastructure and migrate the platform to a high-performance environment in Azure. We evaluated the infrastructure and devised a plan—and completed the migration to a scalable, cost-effective cloud solution that exceeded our performance requirements with zero downtime for our services.
    Technical Case Study

  • Migrating mobile device management to Intune in the Azure portal
    Published: 05/25/2018
    In a cloud-only future, our streamlined infrastructure will support modern management of personal and corporate devices on the Microsoft network. To progress toward this vision, we migrated our hybrid mobile device management (MDM) configuration to Microsoft Intune in the Azure portal because it offers greater scalability and ease of management. Our migration process and tools import data from Configuration Manager, providing an easy, phased transition that has been transparent for employees.
    Technical Case Study

  • Migrating on-premises SharePoint sites to the cloud
    Published: 08/25/2016
    TechNet Radio host Yung Chou welcomes David Johnson, Senior Program Manager, to discuss how Microsoft IT migrated more than 185,000 on-premises internal SharePoint sites and portals to the cloud. Learn how Microsoft IT approached its move to the cloud as David shares best practices, tips and tricks, and lessons learned that you can take to your own IT environment.
    TechNet Radio Session

  • Migrating an open source PaaS solution to Azure
    Published: 06/26/2017
    Microsoft is a technology partner for Modern Muse, a UK-based organization that inspires career development for girls. Recently, Microsoft IT migrated the Modern Muse platform from Amazon Web Services to Azure. We successfully moved the open source codebase and components into a scalable and flexible platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solution with minimal code changes. Integrating Visual Studio Team Services helps manage Modern Muse development with Agile methodology such as continuous integration and continuous deployment.
    Technical Case Study

  • Migrating to a Hybrid Server Environment with Microsoft Azure
    Published: 05/27/2014
    Microsoft IT needed to migrate applications and server workloads from a large number of servers located in traditional data centers. With infrastructure replacement costs close to US$200 million, Microsoft IT wanted to leverage the capabilities and benefits of Microsoft Azure to replace the existing infrastructure. Microsoft IT assessed server workloads, created migration plans, and transferred workloads from their existing server infrastructure to Microsoft Azure virtual machines. The migration process enabled Microsoft IT to capture vital lessons and best practices to use in future migration projects, and the migration provided cost and efficiency benefits for Microsoft IT and the business groups it supports.
    Business Case Study

  • Mobile, collaborative, and secure—Using Windows Information Protection to protect corporate data
    Published: 10/18/2017
    Is your staff handling your corporate data with care? Window Information Protection helps Microsoft know when employees are sending corporate data to non-corporate locations—and it helps people protect sensitive content and corporate assets. Learn how Windows Information Protection works to provide data security in our highly mobile and collaborative business culture, and prepare to deploy, configure, and manage it for data loss prevention in your environment.
    Webinar

  • Mobile device management at Microsoft
    Published: 07/02/2015 Updated: 03/18/2016
    Bring your own device is no longer just a trend—it is arguably the dominant workplace culture. More employees are using personal devices for work, creating a unique set of challenges for IT teams that must balance user convenience and data security. Microsoft uses Enterprise Mobility Suite and other services to manage identity, devices, and applications. Now, simplified and integrated IT solutions enable employees to be productive on any device.
    Technical Case Study

  • Modern deployment options in Windows 10
    Published: 05/25/2016
    The deployment landscape is changing—and fast! In this webinar, learn how the deployment options for Windows 10 have introduced new, streamlined ways to roll out other applications at Microsoft. Microsoft IT Project Managers Amrinder Singh Chadha and Stephon Watson share their hands-on experience.
    Webinar

  • Modernizing HR at Microsoft
    Published: 06/29/2015
    To support major strategic and cultural shifts at Microsoft, the HR Reimagined initiative helped the company deliver a seamless, engaging HR experience for over 100,000 employees worldwide. Microsoft Azure was an easy choice for the platform of such a global effort, enabling HR to take advantage of their existing investments in software, for an industry-best solution.
    Business Case Study

  • Monitoring and protecting sensitive data in Office 365
    Published: 04/20/2016
    Microsoft IT created a solution to manage the risk of sharing sensitive data, while still promoting collaboration in Office 365. Power BI dashboards give insight into how Microsoft corporate users share information. This solution detects sensitive data sharing and helps Microsoft IT proactively manage and respond to information security risks.
    Technical Case Study

  • Moving to modern engineering
    Published: 04/05/2016 Updated: 04/11/2016
    Microsoft IT is evolving the way it develops applications and services for its internal customers. Learn how agile methodology and modern engineering practices are helping the team deliver value to the business faster.
    Technical Case Study

  • Networking for a hybrid application environment
    Published: 08/24/2016
    David Lef identifies the considerations and challenges of supporting a network environment as line of business applications move from an on-premises environment to the cloud using Azure.
    Article

  • New Windows 10 features enhance security and productivity at Microsoft
    Published: 05/02/2016 Updated 07/20/2016
    With the Windows 10 November update, Microsoft IT enabled several enterprise features for its global user base, including Windows Hello for Business, Credential Guard, and Enterprise State Roaming. In addition, implementing Azure Active Directory Join across the enterprise extended cloud capabilities to users with Windows 10 devices. With the update, users saw security enhancements and immediate improvements to productivity.
    Article

O - S

  • Office 365 meets evolving eDiscovery challenges in a cloud-first world
    Published: 12/19/2016
    Microsoft Office 365 gives you eDiscovery in the cloud. Quickly and easily find and retain content to satisfy legal and regulatory requests and internal investigations. And there’s no need to move content to an archive—it stays in place, immutable, secure, and accessible to content owners. Use eDiscovery search tools and Advanced eDiscovery analytics tools to filter content, and to cut review time and costs. Using these tools, our legal department at Microsoft saves about $4.5 million per year.
    Technical White Paper

  • Office for Android
    Published: 09/24/2015
    If you own an Android device, you can now expand your workspace to wherever you are by installing Microsoft Office on your phone or tablet. Office for Android provides the same look and feel as Office on your desktop. It also provides the same ability to store and share data in the cloud through Microsoft OneDrive for Business, allowing you to create, share, and edit data quickly and easily, even when you are on the go. See how you can be more productive with Office.
    Productivity Guide

  • Office for iPhone and iPad
    Published: 09/24/2015
    Own an Apple iPad or iPhone? Be more productive wherever you are by installing Microsoft Office on your tablet or phone. Office for iOS provides the same look and feel as Office on your desktop. It also provides the same ability to store and share data in the cloud through Microsoft OneDrive for Business. With Office for iOS, you can create, share, and edit data quickly and easily, even when you are on the go.
    Productivity Guide

  • Office SharePoint Workspace Get Started
    Published: 11/30/2010
    Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010 is a client application that offers a seamless experience when you work online and offline with document libraries and lists on Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft SharePoint Foundation 2010. Additionally, it conducts real-time, automatic, transparent synchronization of that content when you connect to the SharePoint server.
    Work Smart Guide

  • OneDrive for Business tips and tricks video
    Published: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
    OneDrive for Business is more than just cloud storage. Use the Follow command for important docs, investigate the Shared with Me folder, learn the functionalities within Windows Explorer, and sync files to your Outlook. This readiness guide brings tips and tricks from Microsoft IT that improve digital productivity and help create an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
    Readiness Guide

  • OneDrive sync client unifies client file storage and synchronization
    Published: 07/06/2016
    Microsoft IT is implementing Microsoft OneDrive for Business as a managed file synchronization and storage service on Windows, iOS, and Android operating systems. In the process, we are decommissioning costly on-premises solutions. The cloud-based OneDrive sync client user experience is identical for personal and business content, giving users access to their data from a single interface. With storage in Azure, it provides robust enterprise-grade security and compliance controls.
    Article

  • OneNote for Pros: Smart note-taking tips
    Published: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
    Learn how you can use keyboard shortcuts, insert and use Audio/Video, integrate Excel, and check changes to a doc through the history tab to be more productive in OneNote. Work Smart brings tips and tricks from Microsoft IT that improve digital productivity and help create an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
    Readiness Guide

  • OneNote Overview
    Published: 03/30/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014
    You can use this guide to learn about the features in the Microsoft OneNote 2010 note-taking program, and how to use them.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Optimizing Lync 2010 Enterprise Voice Performance
    Published: 01/30/2013
    As part of practicing continuous service improvement, Microsoft IT initiated an Enterprise Voice quality improvement project to investigate upstream and downstream root causes of Enterprise Voice performance issues, and systematically improve the quality of user experiences for more than 100,000 users.
    Technical White Paper

  • Optimizing network performance for Microsoft Office 365
    Published: 08/28/2015 Updated: 09/19/2016
    As the earliest adopter of Microsoft products, Microsoft IT began deploying Microsoft Office 365 across the company in 2011. To optimize network capacity and performance, we took time to create and implement strategic plans for network-related technologies. We used industry-leading performance and migration approaches and adopted cloud infrastructure services to successfully move our complex global environment to Office 365.
    Technical Case Study

  • Optimizing predictive analytics using Cortana Intelligence Suite on Azure
    Published: 07/25/2016
    With an immense amount of data to manage across business groups, Microsoft IT continually works to develop logical methods to store and retrieve business intelligence data. We developed a solution with Cortana Intelligence Suite on Azure that optimizes predictive analytics for our marketing teams. The tools are customizable and scalable, and they allow us to look at big data with accurate predictive models in an automated workflow, for quicker and deeper insights into our business.
    Technical Case Study

  • Optimizing resource efficiency in Microsoft Azure
    Published: 01/20/2017 Updated: 05/04/2017
    Many businesses have questions about how to optimize Microsoft Azure. Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) is moving the bulk of our computing resources to Azure, and the environment requires constant evaluation and optimization. We’ve set standards to manage resources, identify underutilized and noncompliant workloads, and to retire those that are unused. We employ a few tools—some analytic, and some automated—to implement changes to our environment that help us reduce our costs and our utilization footprint.
    Business Case Study

  • Optimizing SAP for Azure
    Published: 03/23/2017 Updated: 04/12/2018
    Microsoft uses SAP enterprise resource management software to run mission-critical business functions like finance and human resources. In an on-premises model, physical computing resources are costly and may go unused. But by moving our SAP systems to Microsoft Azure, Microsoft avoids maintaining unused resources—we scale our systems up and down for current and short-term needs. We’ve fine-tuned our capacity management processes for lower costs, and more agility, scalability, and flexibility.
    Technical Case Study

  • Optimizing supply chain management with Microsoft SQL Server R Services
    Published: 01/7/2017
    Wayne Applehans, Senior Product Marketing Manager, talks with Dave Langer, Microsoft IT Principal Program Manager, about how Microsoft IT is improving supply chain management with SQL Server R Services, a new feature in Microsoft SQL Server 2016. Along with predictive analytics and machine learning, R-based analytics—such as linear modeling and clustering—help us discover business insights that increase efficiency in our logistics management, inventory strategy, cost optimization, and demand forecasting.
    Video

  • Overview of Skype Meeting Broadcast and how to schedule a Skype Meeting Broadcast
    Published: 11/27/2015
    Skype Meeting Broadcast is a high quality video streaming solution from Skype for Business. Supporting up to 10,000 viewers at any one time, it's completely device agnostic. Participants can join from anywhere on any device, all they need is an internet connection. Viewers can interact via built-in collaborative tools, and have the ability to rewind, pause and restart the broadcast at will.

    This video provides a brief overview of Skype Meeting Broadcast, key features and benefits. It's also the first in a series of four 'How to' videos providing step-by-step guidance on scheduling a broadcast.
    Video

  • Overview: Microsoft OneNote 2010
    Published: 03/30/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014
    You can use this guide to learn about the features in the Microsoft OneNote 2010 note-taking program, and how to use them.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Personas drive usage and accessibility in the Microsoft Lobby Experience
    Published: 02/27/2017
    When universal design principles challenged our thinking, Microsoft IT took accessibility to a new level with the design of our updated lobby experience. Not only did we incorporate accessible features into the multitouch technologies throughout our new lobbies, we leveraged personas to build inclusive improvements into our designs from the start. The holistic approach goes beyond typical accessibility scenarios—it provides an improved experience across a broad audience by addressing more subtle, situational impairments.
    Article

  • Planning and supporting meetings in a complex global enterprise
    Published: 10/04/2016
    Meetings at Microsoft can be complex—crossing time zones, regions, and business groups. Microsoft IT ensures that participants stay productive and focused on the business at hand, without technical difficulties or disruption. A framework that supports Office 365 apps, SharePoint Online, Skype for Business, and Yammer helps to facilitate collaboration for attendees. Proactive preparation and a range of technologies—such as Microsoft Azure for data storage and Microsoft Identity Manager for security—keep meetings on track.
    Article

  • Power BI delivers custom data visualization to business teams
    Published: 05/24/2016 Updated: 06/01/2016
    The Power BI product development group, the Power BI user community, and Microsoft IT partnered to bring the impact of data visualization to business users at Microsoft. Our self-service business intelligence tools include Power BI custom visuals. Power BI developers create and submit visuals to a public gallery built on common standards and open-source libraries. Users can choose from these visuals to present and discover new data insights, or use them as templates to create their own visuals.
    Article

  • Power BI mobile apps—enabling data analytics on the go
    Published: 04/04/2016
    To keep up with the modern pace of business and a workforce that is always on the go, the BI team at Microsoft created mobile apps for Android, iOS, and Windows devices that provide responsive dashboards and reports optimized for smaller screens.
    Article

  • Predictive analytics improves the accuracy of forecasted sales revenue
    Published: 07/07/2016
    Microsoft IT is improving the accuracy of forecasted sales revenue for our sellers, sales managers, and sales executives. We’re consolidating sales tools to provide an easier, more holistic user experience throughout the sales cycle. We’re also using predictive analytics—built on Azure Machine Learning and open-source technologies—to help the sales team gain better insights for pipeline management, forecasting, quota attainment, consumption, and annuity.
    Article

  • Predictive analytics in Azure Machine Learning optimizes credit collections
    Published: 04/10/2017
    When the treasury team at Microsoft wanted to streamline the collection process for revenue transactions, Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) created a solution built on Microsoft Azure Machine Learning to predict late payments. Using a third-party algorithm, XGBoost, we spotted trends in five years of historical payment data. Aligned with our mission of digital transformation, these insights join data, technology, processes, and people in new ways—helping the collections team to optimize operations by focusing on customers who are likely to pay late.
    Article

  • Preparing your organization for a seamless Windows 10 deployment
    Published: 07/18/2016
    Microsoft has learned many lessons from years of deploying major operating system updates to a globally diverse and highly mobile workforce. Among the most important is this: A technically sound base of code isn't enough. Successfully transitioning to a new technology also requires that organizations plan ahead with thoughtful and proactive communications, deploy the upgrade with expertise and speed, and support employees with post-deployment training and materials. The good news is we're here to help.

    Microsoft IT used the materials in this program to support the Windows 10 deployment to all employee devices within the Microsoft global enterprise. Now, you can use them to facilitate employee adoption, promote best practices, and ensure a direct path to productivity with the best Windows ever.
    Article

  • Propelling digital transformation in manufacturing operations with Power BI
    Published: 12/22/2016
    To avoid costly problems in the supply chain and production line, manufacturers must monitor and optimize their operations. For Microsoft, hardware manufacturing for Microsoft Surface, HoloLens, and Xbox is a multibillion-dollar business. But curating production data took time away from proactive decision-making. Microsoft IT and the Microsoft supply chain used Microsoft Power BI and data analytics to transform operations in one factory, which led to higher productivity and faster anomaly detection.
    Technical Case Study

  • Protecting and managing Microsoft data with SharePoint governance
    Published: 06/22/2016
    Microsoft IT manages a complex SharePoint environment that includes hundreds of internal portals, various search experiences, corporate taxonomy, and internal applications—as well as support for sharing and collaboration. Building on Office 365 and SharePoint Online controls, we have created IT governance policies and processes for managing our complex environment and helping to keep our data secure in the cloud.
    Business Case Study

  • Protecting assets and increasing productivity with OneDrive for Business at Microsoft
    Published: 05/16/2018
    Looking for a simple cloud storage and synchronization app that just works? Listen in to learn how we use OneDrive for Business and Windows 10 information protection at Microsoft to share and help safeguard data. People can easily access content from any location, sync data, and collaborate in real time while still keeping corporate assets safe. We share our strategies for migration and show how increased adoption has helped us to reduce our storage and infrastructure costs.
    Webinar

  • Protecting Azure resources with Recovery Services vault
    Published: 03/23/2017 Updated 05/16/2018
    Microsoft Core Services Engineering manages the backup and recovery of nearly 9 PB of on-premises data. Having migrated most of our IT infrastructure to Azure, we knew we needed to adapt our backup and recovery processes for our growing Azure virtual machine infrastructure. With Azure Recovery Services vault, we provide data protection for Azure resources. It’s a flexible, adaptable solution for our employees to access—and it gives them control over their own backup and disaster recovery needs.
    Technical Case Study

  • Protecting data with Windows 7 BitLocker
    Published: 06/08/2016
    Microsoft BitLocker Drive Encryption technology uses the strongest publicly available encryption to protect your computer's data, and prevents others from accessing your disk drives without authorization. Additionally, the BitLocker To Go feature prevents unauthorized data access on your portable storage devices, including Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drives, also known as "thumb drives."
    Productivity Guide

  • Protecting files in the cloud with Azure Information Protection
    Published: 06/26/2017
    Microsoft migrated from Active Directory Rights Management Services to Azure Rights Management, the protection technology used by Azure Information Protection. Azure Information Protection uses encryption, identity, and authorization policies in Azure Rights Management to help secure files and email in the cloud. It enables protected sharing in Office 365 on a variety of platforms including Windows, Mac OS, iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
    Technical Case Study

  • Protecting high-risk environments with secure admin workstations
    Published: 05/23/2018
    As malicious threats evolve, companies add multilayer security and take a defense-in-depth approach as they strive to protect their enterprises. One element in our network security strategy at Microsoft is the secure admin workstation (SAW). These limited-use client computers—built on Windows 10—help protect high-risk environments from security risks such as malware, phishing, and pass-the-hash attacks, and they provide secure access to restricted environments.
    Article

  • Protecting highly confidential sales data with Azure SQL Database
    Published: 02/21/2018
    One team’s move to the cloud came with added complexities—protecting sensitive data. The security tools in Microsoft Azure SQL Database help with authentication and authorization, database encryption, data access policies, and database monitoring. We migrated an important internal sales tool to Azure SQL Database on a PaaS cloud platform and met strict security policy requirements to protect highly confidential sales data.
    Technical White Paper

  • Protecting network passwords with Windows 10 Credential Guard
    Published: 12/07/2016
    To help protect against credential theft, such as pass-the-hash attacks, Microsoft IT enabled Credential Guard across our network on all Windows 10 devices. Credential Guard isolates derived domain credentials—and the process for managing them—in a secure container, using Hyper-V and virtualization-based security. It’s one more way we reduce our risk profile and secure our network against cyber security threats.
    Video

  • Protecting your data with Windows 10 BitLocker
    Published: 06/30/2016
    BitLocker Drive Encryption technology in Windows 10 uses the strongest publicly available encryption to help protect your computer's data by preventing others from accessing your disk drives without authorization. Additionally, BitLocker To Go helps prevent unauthorized access on your portable storage devices, including USB flash drives. Learn how to enable and suspend BitLocker, retrieve a BitLocker recovery key, or encrypt portable drives with BitLocker To Go.
    Productivity Guide

  • Quantifying personal productivity inspires change across Microsoft
    Published: 04/18/2017
    “Work smarter, not harder” sometimes falls flat when it comes to productivity at work. Like others, Microsoft is challenged by measuring and managing personal productivity. We’re using a new tool—MyAnalytics—that brings powerful new insights through objective, specific, and quantitative productivity data. Personalized dashboards bring focus and empower employees to improve communication, collaboration, and engagement, which in turn drives greater productivity across the organization and accelerates our digital transformation.
    Technical Case Study

  • A quick video tour of the OneNote app
    Published: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
    Microsoft's Jason Draime takes you on a quick tour of the OneNote modern app where you can use the radial wheel to create lists and format on the fly, use a stylus to transcribe your handwriting, and take a quick picture to upload to your Notebook. This readiness guide brought to you by Microsoft IT aims to help you be more productive and inspire an all-digital culture within Microsoft.
    Readiness Guide

  • Reading and Reviewing using OneNote on Your Surface with Windows RT
    Published: 02/08/2013
    The portability and long battery life of your Windows RT device make it easy to carry with you. Use Microsoft OneNote throughout the day on your work PC to organize your reading, then sync your OneNote with your Windows RT-compatible device and take your reading with you on the airplane, at the doctor's office, or wherever you find yourself with a little free time.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Rearchitecting the Microsoft licensing platform for Azure
    Published: 01/19/2016
    The Microsoft Enterprise Commerce team is rearchitecting Microsoft volume licensing to support a "cloud first, mobile first"business model. Microsoft chose Microsoft Azure as the new platform for volume licensing because it provides the scalability and agility that Microsoft needs now and in the future. From the new system, Microsoft expects to gain increased agility, developer efficiency, user enhancements, worldwide scale, support for further growth, and reduced application maintenance costs.
    Article

  • Redesigning business applications at Microsoft using PowerApps
    Published: 07/24/2017
    For a consistent look and feel across web and mobile apps on the company dashboard, Microsoft IT uses PowerApps. With PowerApps, our engineers and our business analysts can contribute to app development and they can easily configure and manage apps from a single point. This gives apps on the company dashboard a unified and consistent user interface, making it easy for employees to do common tasks quickly on any iOS, Windows, or Android device.
    Technical Case Study

  • Redesign for the cloud: Building a cloud-first network at Microsoft
    Published: 09/12/2017
    Transitioning to the cloud? Adopting cloud technology requires that you support legacy applications as well as new application models for cloud computing—like platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and software as a service (SaaS). Listen in as our experts talk about how we evaluated our network and redesigned our infrastructure to support the cloud-first, mobile-first culture at Microsoft.
    Webinar

  • Redesigning network topology for modern app architecture
    Published: 02/27/2017
    For Microsoft IT, the transition to the cloud requires fundamental changes to legacy network design. Modern, cloud-based apps and services need reliable Internet connectivity to provide top-notch user experiences and high levels of productivity. We evaluated our network’s needs and set about to re-architect the infrastructure to support the cloud-first, mobile-first culture at Microsoft—creating a proactive network model that takes advantage of consistent taxonomy, standard configuration, and automation.
    Technical Case Study

  • Redesigning our revenue reporting system for cloud architecture
    Published: 03/31/2017
    At Microsoft, MS Sales is our standard revenue reporting system—it’s critical to data analysis, strategic management, and financial decisions. Microsoft IT plans to migrate its on-premises infrastructure to Azure to meet challenges of scale, agility, and complexity. With that, we’re evaluating the system’s design and function for success in the cloud. Our migration strategy involves a variety of approaches—including the application of virtual machines, microservice components, and big data processing.
    Technical Case Study

  • Reducing downtime with Windows Server 2016 rolling cluster upgrades
    Published: 09/23/2016
    Hyper-V cluster nodes running Windows Server make up a significant part of the private cloud at Microsoft, hosting thousands of apps and services. Upgrading these cluster nodes was a tedious process for Microsoft IT, and meant taking entire clusters offline. But now, with Windows Server 2016, we can do rolling cluster OS upgrades without stopping the services or going offline. The process is simpler and more efficient, and no one loses productivity due to down time.
    Article

  • Reducing IT costs with Azure and Windows 10
    Published: 11/14/2016
    Common computer issues can directly impact employee productivity. Over time, they can also significantly degrade the user experience and negatively impact an organization's bottom line. To address these issues, Microsoft IT created a solution to automate troubleshooting and technical repair issues. Based on Microsoft Azure, the Windows 10 app has been extended to iOS and Android devices—helping to reduce the cost of Helpdesk and other IT resources.
    Technical Case Study

  • Reinforcing agile development practices with structured app portfolio reviews
    Published: 01/24/2017
    Microsoft IT uses a structured review process to monitor the Sales and Marketing organization’s app portfolio. Using modern, agile methodologies, our process facilitates efficient collaboration among key stakeholders, incorporates data analytics to resolve service incidents, and focuses on improving the end-to-end service offering. Along with efficiency in tracking and resolving service issues and effective conversations among stakeholders, we’ve seen our organization gain accountability and engineering efficiencies.
    Article

  • Reinventing the modern business ecosystem
    Published: 02/29/2016 Updated: 03/02/2016
    At Microsoft IT, we understand that innovation is rarely the product of solitary thinkers. Our integrated platforms and services create a global modern business ecosystem that allows our employees to collaborate and innovate in a secure, agile way.
    Article

  • Responsive Web Design for Enterprises
    Published: 12/29/2014
    Creating a modern approach to web design aimed at crafting websites that provide an optimal user experience for all, regardless of their browser or device. Offering some quick tips to help your enterprise embrace RWD.
    Article

  • Restructuring the global Inside Sales platform for Microsoft
    Published: 08/21/2015
    Microsoft is transforming and simplifying its global Inside Sales business using a central, standardized solution to increase efficiency, improve customer engagement, and maximize performance. The new solution uses out-of-the-box Microsoft Dynamics CRM features and functions. It includes a new application called Unified Service Desk that integrates Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Skype for Business, the corporate telephony solution used in Microsoft contact centers.
    Business Case Study

  • Reusable enterprise app code library powers digital transformation
    Published: 06/22/2017
    Sometimes, IT and business leaders must decide whether to build a new app or modify an existing one. Valuable development time can be wasted if a solution is already available. To make it easy to find useful apps, Microsoft created AppSource, which contains more than 500 apps, content packs, add-ins, and extensions that enhance and extend proven Microsoft solutions. AppSource apps work with Dynamics 365, Power BI, Office 365, and Azure. It’s a cost-effective, turnkey solution that’s helping us—and our customers—accelerate digital transformation.
    Article

  • Rolling out Microsoft Office in one of the most demanding environments—Microsoft (SME Roundtable July 2016)
    Published: 08/31/2016
    Gain insight into best practices Microsoft IT has used to plan, deploy, and manage Office 365 ProPlus 2016, as well as how System Center Configuration Manager streamlined the upgrade process.
    SME Roundtable

  • Rotating DevOps role improves engineering service quality
    Published: 03/06/2017
    To enhance our adoption of agile methodologies, Microsoft IT added the role of Directly Responsible Individual (DRI) to our teams. With a focus on incident management, service availability, and service health, the rotating role helps our agile teams proactively discover and fix issues before they affect the customer. With fewer support tickets to resolve, team members have more time to deliver business value. As a result, we’re delivering better services with greater speed and efficiency.
    Article

  • Run Effective Meetings with OneNote
    Published: 12/26/2014
    Another meeting! If you are overbooked, and want your meetings to be more productive and effective, consider inviting Microsoft OneNote. Let Work Smart show how you can plan and run efficient, effective meetings, ensure that attendees can access meeting information, and keep everyone on the same page. This guide is part of a series, which introduces the many benefits that OneNote offers with respect to successful collaboration.
    Quick Reference Guide

  • Run Successful Events with OneNote
    Published: 12/26/2014
    You are planning an event, dreading having to print reams of information that you will then have to stuff into event packets. Let Work Smart show how you can plan and manage event minutia digitally, and ensure that your attendees can access all event information from their mobile devices. This guide is part of a series, which introduces the many benefits that OneNote offers with respect to successful collaboration.
    Quick Reference Guide

  • Save and share files in the Cloud with OneDrive for Business in Windows 10
    Published: 08/27/2015
    Microsoft OneDrive for Business is your professional document library—the business version of the OneDrive consumer service. OneDrive for Business uses Microsoft Office 365 hosted productivity software (Microsoft SharePoint Online) to store and organize your work files in the cloud.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Save time with Excel 2016 keyboard shortcuts
    Published: 06/27/2017
    Keyboard shortcuts in Excel 2016 help you to quickly perform common tasks in spreadsheets, including formatting and navigation.
    Productivity Guide

  • Save time with OneNote 2016 keyboard shortcuts
    Published: 01/20/2017
    Keyboard shortcuts in OneNote 2016 help you to quickly perform common formatting and authoring tasks.
    Productivity QRG

  • Securing Active Directory: An Overview of Best Practices
    Published: 05/01/2013 Updated: 04/01/2016
    The threat of compromise to IT infrastructures from external attack is rapidly growing and evolving. The Active Directory environment is often the target for these attacks. This article details steps that your organization can take to protect its Active Directory environment.
    Article

  • Securing the enterprise—safeguarding our customers and our data
    Published: 09/26/2017
    Robert Ford, Senior Director in IT Showcase, talks with Bret Arsenault, Corporate Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, about how Microsoft approaches enterprise security and information protection—building it directly into products and protecting our company through risk management processes that incorporate device health, identity management, and data telemetry.
    Video

  • Securing the modern enterprise with Windows Defender and Windows Defender ATP
    Published: 04/21/2017
    Learn how Microsoft IT helps protect and secure our enterprise network against malware and advanced attacks. Brian Hooper, Senior Security Engineer in Microsoft IT, and Daryl Pecelj, Senior Security Architect in Microsoft IT, discuss Windows Defender and how we use Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) to monitor the network for anomalous behavior that may indicate possible malicious attacks or breaches. They answer questions from participants about best practices.
    Webinar

  • Securing the supply chain with risk-based assessments
    Published: 12/14/2017
    At Microsoft, supply chain security means holding our suppliers to the same security standards we apply to ourselves. We created a supply chain assurance program that helps us assess security in third-party software, goods, and services during procurement. Our framework consists of a supplier risk profile and assessments that produce risk indicators and recommend actions. Assessing our suppliers helps us reduce risk in our supply chain and make risk-based decisions.
    Business Case Study

  • Securing Your Windows Phone Get Started
    Published: 03/30/2012
    Windows Phones are powerful tools that enable you to work remotely by synchronizing to your corporate email and the corporate network. More and more employees work remotely and use Windows Phones and other mobile devices. However, protecting them is a challenge, because they are small and easily lost or stolen. This guide provides information on securing your Windows Phone.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Security expert roundtable: advanced threat protection at Microsoft (October 2017)
    Published: 11/15/2017
    Security experts from Microsoft discuss phishing, malware protection, threat intelligence, and more. They share candid insights and best practices about using Advanced Threat Protection in Azure, Windows 10, and Office 365 to combat sophisticated cyberattacks from advanced adversaries and to protect company data.
    SME Roundtable

  • Security Patch Management Evolution for Data-Center Servers at Microsoft
    Published: 08/30/2013
    Assessing and maintaining the integrity of software in a networked environment through a well-defined patch management program is a key first step toward successful information security. By focusing on policies, technologies, and processes, Microsoft Information Technology (MSIT) was able to reduce risk, improve performance, and improve availability of software resources at Microsoft.
    Technical Case Study

  • Self-service BitLocker recovery key tools enhance security and reduce costs
    Published: 10/11/2016
    To get a BitLocker recovery key, Microsoft employees were spending up to an hour with Helpdesk. Microsoft IT created a self-service portal that reduced Helpdesk calls—but remote staff couldn’t access it without a corporate network connection. To help our remote employees, we created a companion web app using Azure Active Directory Application Proxy. It extends the portal to any Internet-enabled phone or device. Now all employees can retrieve a single-use BitLocker recovery key in just a few minutes.
    Article

  • Separating business and personal settings with Enterprise State Roaming
    Published: 06/08/2016
    Microsoft IT quickly and cost effectively piloted Enterprise State Roaming before its public release, with minimal user disruption. Enterprise State Roaming makes it easy to set up and configure new corporate or personal Windows 10 devices; settings are automatically applied. It helps protect privacy with separate business and personal settings for bring-your-own-device scenarios, and reduces our administrative overhead. Plus, via the Azure portal, we can easily monitor sync status of devices.
    Article

  • SharePoint at Microsoft
    Published: 04/05/2016 Updated: 05/03/2016
    Go behind the scenes at Microsoft and explore its best practices for planning, designing, deploying, and operating SharePoint as a strategic collaboration platform. In this in-depth course, Microsoft IT subject matter experts (SMEs) share case studies, presentations, and demonstrations of the SharePoint implementation at Microsoft, both on premises and in the cloud. This course helps prepare you to implement and maintain a SharePoint installation as part of your organization's environment.
    Article

  • SharePoint at Microsoft (SME roundtable December 2016)
    Published: 01/23/2017
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our SharePoint at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, governs, upgrades, and supports SharePoint at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss modern team sites, governance, compliance, user adoption and training, Microsoft PowerApps, Microsoft Flow, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • SharePoint at Microsoft (SME roundtable March 2017)
    Published: 04/03/2017
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our SharePoint at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, governs, upgrades, and supports SharePoint at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Microsoft Teams, MyAnalytics, search technologies, custom user data, the Office 365 app launcher, third-party tools, taxonomy, access from iOS and Android devices, governance, multifactor authentication, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • SharePoint at Microsoft (SME Roundtable May 2016)
    Published: 06/28/2016
    Do you have robust performance and user satisfaction data to evaluate your mobile app portfolio? Microsoft IT used telemetry and user feedback to create a continuous improvement and assessment system for our internal app portfolio. We created a mobile app performance baseline, a data-driven investment decision framework, and an engagement model for our internal users, who provide feedback to product development teams and help inform design decisions.
    SME Roundtable

  • SharePoint at Microsoft (SME Roundtable September 2016)
    Published: 11/07/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our SharePoint at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT designs, develops, implements, governs, upgrades, and supports SharePoint at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Microsoft Azure, SharePoint governance, permissions, site archival and auditing, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • SharePoint Online 101
    Published: 06/24/2013 Updated 05/16/2014
    This guide describes how to create and customize a team site by using Microsoft SharePoint Online. You can also use the content in this guide to customize other types of sites that you create by using SharePoint Online.
    Work Smart Guide

  • SharePoint to the cloud: Learn how Microsoft ran its own migration
    Published: 03/15/2016 Updated: 03/23/2016
    Microsoft employees use SharePoint every day, so the company had to be careful when it came time to move its own 185,000 sites and portals to the cloud. See what Microsoft IT learned when it migrated the company to SharePoint Online on Office 365.
    Technical Case Study

  • Sharing content securely: managing and governing SharePoint and Office 365 at Microsoft
    Published: 07/17/2017
    In business, employee collaboration with colleagues inside and outside of the company is the name of the game. Finding a balance between readily sharing files and protecting corporate assets is crucial. At Microsoft IT, we get it. With over 400,000 SharePoint team sites, intranet portals, and OneDrive for Business sites, we have a lot to manage. Learn how we use custom solutions, organizational policy, Office 365, and Azure Active Directory to help manage, govern, and protect our data in a highly collaborative environment.
    Webinar

  • Shifting responsibilities in Exchange service management after migrating to Exchange Online
    Published: 11/08/2016
    With the transition to Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft IT migrated mailboxes from on-premises Exchange servers to Exchange Online. This shift changed responsibilities for the Exchange service management team, releasing the team from server maintenance tasks such as applying patches or defining server policies. Andrew Kim, IT Service Manager for the Exchange email and calendaring service, shares how the team refocused roles to improve the end-to-end service experience across client devices and applications.
    Webinar

  • Shortcut keys for Windows 10
    Published: 08/24/2015 Updated: 09/22/2015
    This guide lists shortcut keys that you can use from the desktop in Windows 10.
    Productivity Guide

  • Showcasing interactive technology with the Microsoft Lobby Experience
    Published: 03/20/2017 Updated 05/16/2017
    In partnership with the Real Estate and Facilities group, Microsoft IT turned a lackluster waiting room into an inspiring, engaging experience for our guests at Microsoft. Our guests arrive, stay, and depart from our lobbies—and experience the latest Windows and multitouch technologies in the process. Using agile development methods, we focused on incorporating accessibility, scalability, and resilience into designs that can be used anywhere in the world.
    Technical Case Study

  • Six Sigma in the datacenter drives a zero-defects culture
    Published: 02/17/2016
    Microsoft constantly strives to improve reliability and availability in its worldwide datacenter network. Microsoft IT developed an innovative defect reduction program that applies ITIL Problem Management and Six Sigma methodologies to datacenter operations and assets for the first time. Internal hosting consumers now use a greatly standardized and simplified environment. Supported by a robust data-driven framework, Microsoft IT professionals strive to eradicate defects in the datacenter and systematically reduce IT infrastructure failures.
    Technical Case Study

  • Skype for Business accelerates modern collaboration at Microsoft
    Published: 01/05/2017
    At Microsoft, Skype for Business is revolutionizing the way we do business. Employees connect anywhere, anytime, on any device. No longer tethered to desktops, we use Skype for Business as a unified communications solution that supports Bring Your Own Device, mobile, and remote scenarios—with increased productivity. Skype Cloud PBX, PSTN calling, and PSTN conferencing create a complete enterprise telephony experience. As a cloud-based call management system, it frees us from costly outsourced PBX, telephony, and conferencing systems.
    Business Case Study

  • Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable April 2016)
    Published: 05/19/2016 Updated: 06/17/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT implements, monitors, maintains, and supports Skype for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Lync Room System, hybrid servers, wireless infrastructure, redundancy, normalization rules, call flow monitoring, quality analysis, and much more.
    SME roundtable

  • Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable December 2016)
    Published: 01/23/2017
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT implements, maintains, and supports Skype for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss transition and migration strategies, integration with Microsoft Teams, SIP carriers, security, user training, and more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable March 2017)
    Published: 05/10/2017
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT implements, maintains, and supports Skype for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss Skype Meeting Broadcast, Skype fax service, new features, hardware requirements, security considerations, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Skype for Business at Microsoft (IT Expert Roundtable May 2017)
    Published: 07/27/2017
    IT Showcase brought together IT experts from our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT implements, maintains, and supports Skype for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss new features of Skype for Business, factors that affect call quality and reliability, client version control, tenant dial plans, normalization rules, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Skype for Business at Microsoft (SME roundtable September 2016)
    Published: 10/25/2016
    IT Showcase brought together subject matter experts from our Skype for Business at Microsoft course to answer questions about how Microsoft IT implements, maintains, and supports Skype for Business at Microsoft. In this session, they discuss hybrid deployment, user sentiment, video features, connection issues, user provisioning, and much more.
    SME Roundtable

  • Skype for Business: Building a Modern Contact Center and User Entry Portal
    Published: 05/05/0215
    Learn how Microsoft uses the Skype for Business platform for Enterprise support. See how they integrated a User Entry Portal and Enterprise Contact Center platform into a single solution and how Microsoft IT views the future of support in a world of Universal Communications. Skype for Business gives time back to employees and customers!
    Video

  • Skype for Business for Android
    Published: 11/18/2015
    Skype for Business for Android is a productivity app that brings Skype Meetings, instant messaging, voice, and video capabilities to your Android mobile device. It has a new look and feel, at-a-glance view of your upcoming meetings and conversation history, simplified call controls, and many other improvements.
    Productivity Guide

  • Skype for Business for iOS
    Published: 09/18/2015
    Skype for Business for iOS is a productivity app that brings Skype Meetings, presence, instant messaging (IM), voice, and video capabilities to your iOS mobile device. It has a new look and feel, at-a-glance view of your upcoming meetings and conversation history, simplified call controls, and other improvements.
    Productivity Guide

  • Skype for Business for Windows Phone
    Published: 04/13/2016 Updated: 04/14/2016
    Skype for Business for Windows Phone is an app that brings Skype for Business meetings, presence, instant messaging (IM), voice, and video capabilities to your mobile device. This guide provides detailed instructions on how to get started using Skype for Business for Windows Phone.
    Productivity Guide

  • Skype Meeting Broadcast: Reach thousands globally with just one click
    Published: 11/24/2015 Updated: 12/07/2015
    Have you ever planned or presented large online meetings at your organization? If so, you've probably experienced these challenges: expensive media delivery equipment, multicast infrastructure that does not provide the flexibility you need for mobile devices, unreliable video streaming, or simply too many viewers for your old broadcasting solution to handle. Microsoft is meeting these challenges by migrating to Skype Meeting Broadcast technology specifically designed for large online meetings and events.
    Article

  • Solution Developers Discuss How Microsoft IT Delivered a Global Expense Solution Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
    Published: 06/11/2012
    Microsoft needed to replace its diverse expense-reporting systems with a single, centrally managed solution that was easier to use and yielded more consistent, detailed information. Using Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 and integrating with the SAP system, Microsoft IT was able to create a two-tier ERP "innovation layer".
    Technical Case Study

  • SQL Server 2016 improves performance of Microsoft revenue system
    Published: 04/03/2017
    The revenue reporting platform at Microsoft must be fast, accurate, and reliable, yet handle increasingly complex transaction data. To improve performance while keeping costs flat, Microsoft IT worked with the Azure Customer Advisory Team and upgraded the platform to SQL Server 2016—a step toward moving to Microsoft Azure. We saw immediate performance improvements for critical processes and reporting queries. These gains enable high availability of services and seamless connection to data for faster decisions.
    Technical Case Study

  • Standardized certification for internal apps improves security, privacy, and productivity
    Published: 06/24/2015
    New trends, including "bring your own device"and the demand for small, task-focused apps, have made it harder for companies to apply security, privacy, branding, and distribution standards to internal apps. To meet these needs, Microsoft IT developed an internal app certification process that all developers must follow. By providing tools to help developers and enforcing standards through certification, IT can manage its growing app portfolio. The solution also enables developers to be more agile and creative in the apps they create in response to ever-changing business needs.
    Technical Case Study

  • Standardizing performance with Storage QoS in Windows Server 2016
    Published: 09/23/2016
    Microsoft IT maintains a private cloud that includes dedicated storage and thousands of virtual machines. With Windows Server 2016, we use Storage Quality of Service (QoS) to manage storage usage and monitor performance. Policies in Storage QoS prevent one virtual machine from dominating storage I/O within a cluster, standardize storage I/O, and give us insight into storage I/O across the environment.
    Article

  • Stop by and see us at Build 2018
    Published: 05/01/2018
    IT Showcase will be at Build 2018 in Seattle from May 7-9 sharing how we build and innovate on Azure within Microsoft. Stop by our sessions to hear from our experts who will provide technical deep dives on such topics as Azure serverless, cloud security, and cloud operations at scale. You’ll have access to the very experts who work on these solutions every day and who can share an inside view of Microsoft.
    Article

  • Strategies for migrating SAP systems to Microsoft Azure
    Published: 03/23/2017 Updated: 04/12/2018
    With the right approach, you can migrate mission-critical SAP systems to Azure for maximum cost savings, and gain agility and uptime. Microsoft—partnering with the Azure Customer Advisory Team—evaluated our SAP systems with two strategies. First, we started by moving environments with the least user and business impact—like our sandbox. This experience helped us define best practices on Azure for our second strategy, to move entire system stacks (from sandbox to production), starting with lowest-risk systems.
    Technical Case Study

  • Streamline Onboarding with OneNote
    Published: 12/26/2014
    You have a new project, new employee, new process, and you need to provide vast amounts of paper, files, and other data as part of onboarding. Let Work Smart show how you can streamline the ramp-up period for people, making it more efficient and effective for them, and much less time-consuming for you. This guide is part of a series, brought to you by Work Smart, which introduces the many benefits that OneNote offers with respect to successful collaboration.
    Quick Reference Guide

  • Streamlining application compatibility testing at Microsoft
    Published: 12/24/2016
    Microsoft relies on Microsoft IT to maintain stable, consistent performance for line-of-business applications. As platforms move from product to service, more frequent product updates require a shift in our application compatibility testing methodology. We centralized processes, rationalized our application portfolio, and leveraged virtualization and automation to rapidly deploy products and updates. Streamlining our processes increased our testing efficacy—reducing the time, cost, and effort of each test cycle.
    Business Case Study

  • Streamlining business processes with SAP connectors and Azure services
    Published: 05/23/2018
    Moving to the cloud is a foundation for digital transformation—especially when taking advantage of the cloud’s PaaS and SaaS capabilities. At Microsoft, we had already migrated our SAP infrastructure to Azure; our next challenge was to promote native connectivity between SAP and Azure. To do so, we designed the SAP Web Services Platform and the SAP ABAP SDK for Azure to provide an unprecedented level of functionality and insight into our business processes.
    Technical Case Study

  • Streamlining the development process with feature flighting and Azure cloud services
    Published: 06/18/2015 Updated 06/19/2015Cross-discipline teams at Microsoft IT engaged in a joint effort to overcome many challenges of traditional software development models. A large organization within Microsoft IT successfully streamlined its development processes, reduced overall risk, and improved the customer experience by using feature flighting and Microsoft Azure Cloud Services to deliver smaller changes more frequently.
    Technical Case Study

  • Streamlining mobile app publishing using Azure Logic Apps
    Published: 06/12/2017
    To transform the process of certifying mobile apps and publishing them to the Company Portal, Microsoft IT built Enterprise Mobile App Publishing (EMAP). EMAP uses automated workflows created in Azure Logic Apps and gives us the ability to submit apps to publishing through HockeyApp. This streamlined and automated publishing process better supports Agile development at Microsoft.
    Technical Case Study

  • Successful Meetings with Lync 2013
    Published: 01/03/2013 Updated: 08/06/2014
    Traditional meetings can be a challenge when people are dispersed across worldwide locations. Communications technology can overcome this physical boundary by allowing people to attend meetings from any location by using Internet or phone access. In addition, by understanding the best practices for conducting meetings and productively using Microsoft Lync 2013 communications software, you can make your meetings more efficient and effective.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Successful Meetings with Lync 2010
    Published: 03/30/2012 Updated 05/14/2014
    Traditional meetings, large and small, can be a challenge when people are spread out over long distances and include internal and external participants. Communication technology can overcome physical boundaries by allowing people to attend from any location by using Internet or phone access. By understanding best practices and using Microsoft Lync 2010 communications software, you're on your way to conducting or participating in successful meetings.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Successful meetings with Skype for Business
    Published: 05/18/2015 Updated: 05/13/2016
    Traditional meetings can be a challenge when people are spread out over long distances. Communication technology can overcome this physical boundary by allowing people to attend from any location with Internet or phone access. In addition, by understanding the best practices for conducting meetings and productively using Skype for Business, you can make your meetings more efficient and effective.
    Readiness Guide

  • Supporting network architecture that enables modern work styles
    Published: 08/02/2016
    David Lef explains the key factors and strategies involved with implementing and supporting a network infrastructure that enables modern work styles such as constant connectivity and mobile productivity.
    Article

  • System Center 2012 Configuration Manager Get Started
    Published: 04/13/2012
    System Center 2012 Configuration Manager puts the management of your computer in your hands. You can use Configuration Manager to quickly and easily identify and install applications that are relevant to you based on your role, language, and location. You can also use Configuration Manager to manage the timing of installations and upgrades to avoid disruptions to your work.
    Work Smart Guide

T - Z

  • Take Quick Notes with a Stylus and Your Surface with Windows RT
    Published: 02/08/2013
    The portability and long battery life of your Microsoft Surface with Windows RT device make it easy to carry with you. Add a capacitive stylus, the Microsoft OneNote Windows Store app, and the excellent support for handwriting recognition included and you'll have a quick, natural way to take notes on the go.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Top five things to avoid when deploying BI at Microsoft
    Published: 08/21/2015
    Microsoft IT has the enormous job of rolling out business intelligence (BI) solutions to more than 200,000 people within the company. Learn the top five things not to do when rolling out BI within a large organization, and potentially save time, money—and embarrassment.
    Article

  • Top 10 ways SQL Server R Services helps to optimize supply chain operations
    Published: 01/26/2017
    Microsoft SQL Server R Services, a new R-based analytics feature in SQL Server 2016, helps Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) manage our supply chain with insights that drive more efficient manufacturing operations and better customer service. We’ve compiled a few top scenarios for R Services in supply chain management—including linear programming to predict best outcomes, text analysis of customer feedback, machine learning to create predictive maintenance models, and association rule mining to refine shipping processes.
    Article

  • Transforming business applications using the Windows 10 Universal app platform
    Published: 01/21/2016 Updated: 01/23/2016
    As the "First and Best" customer of Microsoft enterprise products, Microsoft IT partnered with the Windows development team to transform core line of business applications into Windows 10 universal hosted web applications. They used the Universal Windows Platform, which frees developers from platform-specific work, to rearchitect MSApprovals, a critical line of business application responsible for approving 100,000 Microsoft internal transactions per month. Three codebases are now a single codebase, and maintenance has been reduced by 40 percent. The result is the Windows 10 Universal App, MSApprovals, which runs on any device and gives users a seamless experience on their desktop, tablet, or phone.
    Technical Case Study

  • Transforming IT for modern engineering
    Published: 11/23/2016
    Prabhu Jayaraman, Principal Software Engineering Lead, talks about how modern engineering, agile methods, and cloud computing have contributed to digital transformation in IT roles—enabling teams to release product updates quickly and intensify their focus on meeting customer needs. He shares how his team made a cultural shift from working in traditional six-month waterfall development cycles to short sprints with fast release cycles—helping the team realize value more quickly and increasing customer satisfaction.
    Video

  • Transforming IT infrastructure services with Azure at Microsoft
    Published: 6/12/2018
    At Microsoft, adopting cloud services in Azure helped us embrace digital transformation that includes both technology and culture change. Our experts discuss the technical and cultural journey of the Core Services Engineering and Operations organization (formerly known as Microsoft IT) as it transformed from a rigid, process-centric operating model to an agile, scalable model with native cloud solutions in Azure. They answer questions from the audience, share our roadmap for change, and discuss the team’s focus on ensuring reliable, secure, and optimized services.
    Webinar

  • Transforming IT into an Innovation Engine
    Published: 09/25/2014
    Learn how building an incubation center in your IT organization can help transform it into an innovation engine. Find out how you can establish the same for your organization as Microsoft IT reveals its innovation blueprint.
    Article

  • Transforming a Legacy LOB Application into a Microsoft IT Modern App
    Published: 04/18/2014
    Learn what it takes to develop a modern app and the fundamental changes required in project management methodologies, design and engineering approaches, and deployment strategies. By embracing a user-centric IT strategy, Microsoft IT was able to redesign and transform its leading global Learning and Readiness Application, Role Guide, into a sleek modern app built on the Windows 8 ecosystem.
    Technical Case Study

  • Transforming the Microsoft boardroom with Windows 10 and Office 365
    Published: 03/28/2017
    Microsoft products make board meetings at Microsoft successful. Between Outlook scheduling, OneNote collaboration tools, and secure storage for agenda content in SharePoint Online, the Office of the Corporate Secretary efficiently organizes meetings. Quality and feature updates in Windows 10 make it easy for Executive Support Services to keep executives’ devices up to date. Surface Hub with Windows 10, apps like Whiteboard and Skype for Business, and integrated AV technologies make a flexible, easy-to-manage collaboration workspace.
    Technical Case Study

  • Transforming sales: Microsoft removes obstacles and gives back time with Dynamics 365
    Published: 06/27/2017
    At Microsoft, digital transformation touches all parts of our business, including sales. We designed our sales solution as an evolving and streamlined toolset for customer relationship management and business intelligence. Built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure Cloud Services, it has significantly simplified our processes. What was a regimented and inconsistent system has become an individualized experience that puts customers first, and prioritizes selling time, simplicity, and coaching.
    Technical Case Study

  • Transforming our digital workplace with Office 365 Enterprise E5
    Published: 01/17/2017
    At Microsoft, we’re redefining how and where we work, and how we stay secure. We manage staggering amounts of data and embrace self-service tools. We’re more mobile and productive than ever. Our global Finance team is at the forefront, driving insights with Power BI analytics, adopting Skype for Business unified communications, using Office 365 Enterprise E5 advanced security and threat protections, and managing data discovery and compliance—for an intelligent, collaborative, and more secure work experience.
    Business Case Study

  • Understanding file sharing and collaboration options
    Published: 10/03/2016
    Microsoft IT has deployed team collaboration tools to suit the varied needs of employees, while enabling us to manage data, enforce business policies, and manage document lifecycle. We challenge employees to change old habits and try to help them understand the cloud solutions available to them, including Microsoft OneDrive and SharePoint Online for saving and sharing files, and Outlook 2016 and Yammer for communicating. Our goal is to help people choose the best tool for their collaboration needs.
    Article

  • Understanding our business with app telemetry
    Published: 09/20/2016
    Microsoft IT supports a variety of apps for Global Sales, Marketing, and Operations (GSMO). To make the organization’s app portfolio more efficient, we worked with GSMO to create a telemetry-based solution in Microsoft Azure that helps them understand the end-to-end sales process. The solution uses Application Insights, Azure Data Factory, and Azure Data Lake to collect data across the app portfolio, centralize and analyze it, and give new insights into the sales business.
    Technical Case Study

  • Updates in Windows 10 improve security and provide better data protection
    Published: 07/11/2017
    Microsoft is taking advantage of updated security features in Windows 10 to help protect employees and company data. Additional layers of protection in Windows 10 help us do a better job of protecting data and detecting risky behaviors and sophisticated attacks. With each release of Windows 10, new features and tools help us quickly detect malware and respond to threats or cyberattacks—continually enhancing data security in our environment.
    Article

  • Use Reset to restore your Windows 10 PC
    Published: 11/20/2015
    In Windows 10, you can use Reset to restore the operating system on your PC by reinstalling Windows. This lets you restore Windows without using a separate recovery image (usually on a DVD or USB thumb drive) that contains a backup copy of all system files. Reset restores the PC by reinstalling the original system configuration and then applying Windows updates to get it to the last major update state. Use the Keep my files option to preserve user accounts, data, pre-installed Windows apps and applications, and customized settings. The Remove everything option restores the PC in the same manner, but without preserving any user accounts, data, or customized settings.
    Productivity Guide

  • Using agile development to improve BI at Microsoft
    Published: 08/21/2015
    Microsoft IT uses business intelligence (BI) tools that are simple enough for business analysts to use, self-service style, rather than relying on developers with advanced database skills. Moreover, Microsoft IT is combining this new self-service BI approach with highly iterative and results-driven agile development processes adapted from other sectors of the software industry. The result is BI delivered to analysts and decision makers in time to act on it.
    Article

  • Using AutoVPN to connect remotely
    Published: 11/07/2016
    AutoVPN, a new feature in Windows 10 Anniversary Update, allows you to connect simply and securely to work resources when you are away from the office. Managed devices automatically have a VPN profile that contains information about your corporate authentication method and server. Learn how to use AutoVPN for corporate access when working remotely.
    Productivity Guide

  • Using Azure AD Privileged Identity Management for elevated access
    Published: 03/28/2017
    Microsoft uses Azure Active Directory (AD) Privileged Identity Management (PIM) to manage elevated access for users who have privileged roles for Azure services. We manage privileged identities for on premises and Azure services—we process requests for elevated access and help mitigate risks that elevated access can introduce. With Azure AD PIM, we can implement just-in-time access for privileged roles in Azure and view audit logs. Before Azure AD PIM, privileged roles in Azure were always elevated.
    Technical Case Study

  • Using Azure and Visual Studio Team Services for open source development
    Published: 06/27/2017
    In partnering with Modern Muse, a platform for women in business, Microsoft IT migrated the Modern Muse app from Amazon Web Services to Azure. We’re using Azure App Service with Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS) to provide modern engineering practices such as user stories, continuous integration, continuous deployment, and gated check-ins with the open source Modern Muse code. VSTS allows us to simplify and standardize the Modern Muse development process while retaining the open source codebase and development tools.
    Technical Case Study

  • Using Azure Information Protection to classify and label corporate data
    Published: 04/04/2018
    A mobile workforce means that company information is no longer secured within a corporate network or on corporate devices. At Microsoft, we’re using Azure Information Protection to classify and label data—part of our strategy to protect information in our modern workplace. We’re teaching people to correctly label data with an intuitive classification framework, so persistent protection travels with it, wherever it is stored, sent, or shared.
    Business Case Study

  • Using Azure Machine Learning and Power BI to turn customer feedback into action
    Published: 05/24/2016
    Anusha Munjuluri explains why Microsoft IT needed to consolidate and analyze customer feedback about internal business applications. The User Experience Services team created a solution built on Power BI to capture real-time feedback along with data from User Voice, Yammer, and IoT devices. Access to internal business intelligence enabled Microsoft IT to efficiently update internal applications in response to feedback, improving customer satisfaction.
    Video

  • Using Azure Multi-Factor Authentication at Microsoft to enhance security
    Published: 06/15/2016
    To improve security and better support the productivity of our mobile workforce, Microsoft IT enabled Azure Multi-Factor Authentication as an additional verification method for secure sign-in. Now, users can sign in from any device with a single user identity that is verified with a phone call or mobile app notification. We integrated enhanced security into our existing infrastructure, focusing on the user experience, reducing helpdesk calls, and improving the performance of the service.
    Article

  • Using cloud technologies to improve disaster recovery
    Published: 05/24/2016
    Microsoft IT helps ensure that business applications are always available and safeguards data in case of disaster. To take advantage of new cloud technologies, we used a business-oriented strategy to identify critical business processes to evolve the existing business continuity and disaster recovery plan. We also took advantage of new Azure technologies such as System Center Data Protection Manager and SQL Data Sync to improve application resilience and performance in the cloud.
    Technical Case Study

  • Using the Cortana Intelligence Suite for sales and marketing predictive analytics
    Published: 07/08/2016
    As the business value of data science grows at Microsoft, so does the need for a central platform to manage data assets, data models, and analytics publishing. To avoid redundant and disconnected efforts in data analysis, Microsoft IT used Azure and the Cortana Intelligence Suite to create a scalable, cloud-based platform that generates and manages predictive models for the sales and marketing organization.
    Article

  • Using equations in Office 2016
    Published: 05/10/2017
    In Office 2016, you can add built-in or custom equations to Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote documents. Use ink-to-math to write equations with a stylus, your finger, or a mouse, and then reformat or correct your equations with ease.
    Productivity QRG

  • Using IoT devices and data analytics to create a safe workplace at Microsoft
    Published: 12/19/2016
    For workplace safety in more than 800 buildings and 190 countries/regions, Microsoft Global Security and Microsoft IT take advantage of the Internet of Things and monitor the health of 25,000 smart devices—like security cameras, panic buttons, alarms, access control systems, and sensors. If any device fails, physical security, productivity, and company assets are at risk. With data analytics on performance and likelihood of failure, we proactively manage risk, do predictive maintenance, and boost device uptime.
    Technical Case Study

  • Using Lync-Skype Connectivity
    Published: 05/16/2014
    Microsoft Lync Server 2013 supports connectivity with Microsoft Skype software. From the living room to boardroom, Lync-Skype connectivity helps improve communication and productivity. With Lync-Skype connectivity, Skype users and Lync users can add each other as contacts, exchange instant messages (IMs), and make audio calls.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Using Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync to Actively Manage Consumerization of IT Devices
    Published: 07/27/2012
    Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 has functionality that enables users to access their corporate email, calendar, global address list, and tasks with their personal portable devices. Using Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync within Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft IT (MSIT) delivers significant improvements in employee productivity and satisfaction by enabling employee access to this business-critical information in more than 170,000 user mailboxes.
    Technical Case Study

  • Using Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager Get Started
    Published: 06/23/2010
    Microsoft Forefront Identity Manager (FIM) 2010 provides an integrated and comprehensive self-service group management and password reset solution. FIM 2010 simplifies the identity management landscape and enables group management through a Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 portal and a Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 add-in.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Using Microsoft Intune to enable security compliance policies for mobile devices
    Published: 05/31/2016
    Microsoft Intune simplifies BYOD and mobile device management! Intune manages personal devices in a corporate environment, giving employees access to corporate resources on their own mobile devices, all while helping ensure corporate data security. We show how an IT administrator can create a corporate security compliance policy from the management console and apply it to enrolled devices.
    Video

  • Using Microsoft SharePoint 2013 as an advanced content management system
    Published: 06/12/2015
    Microsoft IT retired an outdated content management system (CMS) and used Microsoft SharePoint 2013 to create a consolidated support and training portal for Microsoft Dynamics. The new portal helps customers and partners easily find product support information, license products, and get product updates. The portal also makes it easy for content creators to author, tag, publish, and localize content quickly without mastering complex web publishing technologies.
    Article

  • Using Microsoft SharePoint 2013 to build a robust support and training portal
    Published: 06/12/2015
    The Microsoft IT team that is responsible for hosting customer and partner content for Microsoft Dynamics needed to replace an outdated and cumbersome content management system (CMS) with a solution that would better support a complex range of content and customer needs. Using Microsoft SharePoint 2013 as a new CMS, the team created a support and training portal that helps customers and partners easily find product support information, license products, and get product updates. The portal also makes it easy for content creators to author, tag, publish, and localize content quickly without mastering complex web publishing technologies.
    Technical Case Study

  • Using Modern Apps to Streamline and Standardize Business Processes
    Published: 06/19/2014
    Read about MSApprovals, a new cloud hosted service and modern app that Microsoft IT developed to standardize and streamline the approval process for a number of business processes.
    Business Case Study

  • Using Power BI to visualize data insights from Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
    Published: 10/20/2016
    When it comes to data analysis and decision making, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online has been an invaluable business intelligence tool for the Microsoft Operations Global Business Process Outsourcing team. However, not all stakeholders have access to CRM Online, so Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) helped connect Power BI to the team’s data in CRM Online. Now it’s easy to share data views in a Power BI dashboard, export CRM Online data to Power BI for analysis, and view CRM Online data through the Power BI app.
    Article

  • Using predictive analytics in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online to improve sales
    Published: 05/12/2016
    Microsoft IT created an opportunity scoring indicator in Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. This feature uses opportunity data to provide near real-time win/loss predictions with sophisticated machine learning algorithms.
    Article

  • Using predictive analytics to improve financial forecasting
    Published: 07/08/2016
    Azure Machine Learning and Cortana Intelligence Suite enable analysts at Microsoft to make financial forecasts faster. New predictive analytics tools allow us to analyze larger data sets and do more sophisticated calculations, which frees financial analysts to do more interesting, profitable, and creative work.
    Article

  • Using predictive analytics to improve sales processes and forecasting
    Published: 12/20/2016
    Meeting company sales targets and accurately forecasting sales revenue are critical to the success of Microsoft and our customers. To help sales teams make informed decisions and accelerate opportunities, Microsoft uses predictive analytics models, Azure Machine Learning, and algorithms like latent semantic analysis and regression analysis. These models don’t replace human judgment—they augment it with seller feedback and ongoing model retraining, which result in analytics-based insights.
    Technical Case Study

  • Using shielded virtual machines to help protect high-value assets
    Published: 03/31/2017
    To protect our most critical corporate assets, Microsoft IT creates secure, isolated environments for business groups that manage highly confidential, regulated, or restricted data. We’re taking advantage of services in Windows Server 2016—including shielded virtual machines and Host Guardian Services—to isolate host, storage, computing, and network services, and to separate component administration within each environment.
    Technical Case Study

  • Using Windows 10 Client Hyper-V
    Published: 07/21/2015 Updated: 09/08/2015
    Client Hyper-V is the virtualization technology built into Windows 10 and Windows 8.x. It is the same virtualization technology previously available only in Windows Server. Client Hyper-V enables you to run more than one 32-bit or 64-bit x86 operating system at the same time on the same host computer. But instead of working directly with the computer's hardware, the operating systems run inside a virtual machine (VM). Hyper-V enables developers and IT professionals to easily maintain multiple test environments. It also provides a simple mechanism to quickly switch between these environments quickly.
    Readiness Guide

  • Using Windows 8 Client Hyper-V
    Updated: 03/19/2013
    Client Hyper-V is the virtualization technology built into Windows 8. Client Hyper-V is the same virtualization technology previously available only in Windows Server. A similar functionality in Windows 7 is called Windows XP Mode. Client Hyper-V enables you to run more than one 32-bit or 64-bit x86 operating system at the same time on the same host computer. But instead of working directly with the computer's hardware, the operating systems run inside a virtual machine (VM). Hyper-V enables developers and IT professionals to easily maintain multiple test environments and provides a simple mechanism to quickly switch between these environments.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Using Windows Defender telemetry to help mitigate malware attacks
    Published: 08/08/2016
    Proactively understanding security vulnerabilities and mitigating malware attacks is critical to providing a trusted computing environment. Microsoft IT uses telemetry collected from Windows Defender and System Center 2012 Endpoint Protection to help us respond to attacks with a data-driven, prioritized approach. Telemetry helps us spot trends in malware behavior and identify the top types of malware and triggers so that we can respond to infections, invest in appropriate protection, and monitor patterns.
    Article

  • Using Windows Hello to access work resources
    Published: 12/22/2015 Updated 08/16/2016
    The Windows Hello feature for Windows 10 will help you to securely log on to your device and enjoy simplified sign on to on-premises and cloud resources without using a password. Using Windows Hello, you can sign in to your Windows 10 devices using a secure PIN. Or, if your device is equipped with compatible hardware, sign in with just a look or a touch.
    Productivity Guide

  • Visual Studio Team Services: DevOps and agile methods in practice
    Published: 12/12/2016
    Using modern engineering practices, Core Services Engineering (formerly Microsoft IT) responds quickly and efficiently to meet the business needs of our customers and partners. Our development platform, Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS), offers built-in tools that support engineering fundamentals and application lifecycle management, providing our teams the opportunity to embrace agile methodology. By using VSTS, we work toward continuous integration and continuous delivery of incremental updates, and maintain a customer-focused development process.
    Technical Case Study

  • Watch one seller’s take on transforming sales at Microsoft with Dynamics 365
    Published: 06/26/2017
    Mark Schaefer, director of technical sales in the Microsoft Pacific Northwest Region, talks about how his team has experienced digital transformation—how an integrated toolset built on Dynamics 365 and Azure Cloud Services replaced multiple tools, complex processes, and time-consuming administration. This new set of tools boosted team morale and dramatically increased productivity—transforming the team into efficient, motivated sellers who think about strategy, long-term vision, and customer satisfaction.
    Video

  • What's New in Access 2013
    Published: 01/03/2013 Updated: 05/15/2014
    With Microsoft Access 2013 database software, you don't have to be a developer to quickly create custom browser-based apps. Access apps reliably solve business or departmental needs like contact management, customer billing, and order tracking. Access makes sure that end users can find features and commands, so you can focus on simple changes to fit your business needs.
    You can control your Access apps by using a Microsoft SharePoint site in a browser, through Microsoft Office 365 hosted productivity software. Data is stored in Windows Azure SQL Database or Microsoft SQL Server software to help keep your data secure and scalable.
    Work Smart Guide

  • What's New in Excel 2013
    Published: 12/28/2012 Updated 05/15/2014
    The first thing that you see when you open Microsoft Excel 2013 spreadsheet software is a new look. It's cleaner, but it's also designed to help you get professional-looking results quickly. You'll find many new features that help you draw more persuasive pictures of your data, guiding you to better, more informed decisions.
    Work Smart Guide

  • What's New in Lync 2013
    Published: 12/27/2012 Updated 05/15/2014
    Microsoft Lync 2013 communications software offers a clean look to help you communicate quickly and easily. In Lync 2013, it's easier than ever to start an instant message (IM) or a call. You can start a video call by using just one click and even see a preview of your own video in the invitation. You can also quickly upgrade from one type of call to another.
    Lync 2013 adapts to your own personal workflow, whether you're in the office, at home, or on the go. Lync 2013 also provides new and useful ways to organize your contacts so that you can quickly find the right people to help you accomplish your work.
    Work Smart Guide

  • What's new in Microsoft Office 2016
    Published: 09/23/2015 Updated: 11/01/2016
    Office 2016 helps you do your best work—anywhere, anytime, and with anyone. Modern versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access are built for maximum productivity. Create professional documents with rich authoring features and use intuitive tools to make the most of your data. Store documents in the cloud, and then share, present, and work as a team with built-in collaboration tools across the suite. And don’t forget: Office 2016 is available whether you use Windows, Mac, iOS, or Android devices.
    Productivity Guide

  • What's New in Office Professional Plus 2013
    Published: 01/02/2013 Updated: 05/15/2014
    Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2013 transforms how you work. Each application offers a start experience that gets you going quickly. You can open an existing document in a flash or use a template to jump-start the creation of a new file. It's also much easier to share and collaborate. You can use new features like Microsoft OneDrive for Business to save and share your files right from your Office applications.
    The Office 2013 applications are also more closely aligned with each other, so you have a consistent experience from one application to another.
    Work Smart Guide

  • What's New in OneNote 2013
    Published: 01/03/2013 Updated: 05/15/2014
    The Microsoft OneNote 2013 note-taking program is a digital notebook for capturing, storing, and sharing all kinds of information—notes, pictures, webpages, and media. You can access your OneNote information wherever you go, on your favorite devices. Create notes, sketch a diagram, record a lecture, and connect them to related presentation files, photos, videos, web links, charts, and more, right in your notes.
    The first thing you'll see when you open OneNote 2013 is a fresh, clean look that helps you focus on your thoughts and ideas instead of the interface. Full integration with the cloud through Microsoft OneDrive for Business means that you can free your files from your computer's hard drive. Access your notes on OneDrive for Business from your tablet or Windows Phone, or from virtually any browser.
    Work Smart Guide

  • What's New in Outlook 2013
    Published: 12/28/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014
    The first thing that you see when you open the Microsoft Outlook 2013 messaging and collaboration client is a new look. It's cleaner, but it's also designed to help you focus on what's important by providing a clear view of email, calendars, and contacts.
    Work Smart Guide

  • What's New in PowerPoint 2013
    Published: 12/28/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014
    The Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 presentation graphics program has a new look. It's cleaner and primed for use on tablets, so you can swipe and tap your way through presentations. Presenter View automatically adjusts your projection setup, and you can even use it on a single monitor. Themes come with variations, which makes it easy to find the look that you want. And when you're working with other people, you can reply to comments and have meaningful conversations where they matter most.
    Work Smart Guide

  • What's New in Word 2013
    Published: 12/28/2012 Updated: 05/15/2014
    In Microsoft Word 2013, you can do more with your docs: add an online video, open a PDF file in Word and reuse the content, and align pictures and diagrams with minimal fuss. The Reading View is clean and distraction-free—and it works great on tablets. Teaming up is better too, with connections to Microsoft OneDrive for Business and streamlined review features like Simple Markup view and reply comments.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Windows 10 deployment: tips and tricks from Microsoft IT
    Published: 08/21/2017
    At Microsoft today, we think of Windows as a service. Cloud-powered Windows Analytics have streamlined the upgrade to Windows 10 Creators Update for our employees around the world. Our experts share lessons learned and best practices for application compatibility testing, upgrading, readiness, and adopting Windows Hello and Always-On VPN connection.
    Webinar

  • Windows Defender ATP helps analysts investigate and respond to threats
    Published: 07/03/2017
    Microsoft looked to the capabilities of the cloud to help address the challenges of monitoring and protecting our corporate network from advanced adversaries and threats. Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) combines built-in behavioral sensors, machine learning, and security analytics that quickly adapt to changing threats. With this threat intelligence, Windows Defender ATP helps us investigate and respond to advanced threats faster and more precisely than ever before.
    Technical Case Study

  • Windows Defender ATP helps detect sophisticated threats
    Published: 12/29/2016
    To respond to the increasing sophistication of cyberattacks, Microsoft implemented a new cloud-based service, Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP). Focusing on the small number of attacks that originate from advanced adversaries, Windows Defender ATP draws on machine learning, big data, and security analytics to help us detect, investigate, and respond to advanced, targeted attacks on our network, without building costly, on-premises solutions.
    Technical Case Study

  • Windows Information Protection helps enforce data policy at Microsoft
    Published: 05/09/2017
    Microsoft manages a highly mobile workforce and sets policies for a wide variety of both personal and company devices. Although we champion mobility, it’s also important that we protect our company data. Windows Information Protection, introduced in Windows 10, differentiates between personal and business information—encrypting company data and helping to prevent inadvertent data sharing. We can protect our data and allow our employees to store work or personal information on any device.
    Business Case Study

  • Work Smart: Protecting Data with Windows 8 BitLocker
    Published: 08/21/2012
    This guide discusses how to use Microsoft BitLocker Drive Encryption technology to protect your computer's data, and prevents others from accessing your disk drives without authorization.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Work Smart: Using Windows Internet Explorer 10
    Published: 08/21/2012
    Internet Explorer 10, included in Windows 8, offers two browser experiences, a touch-optimized, modern-style experience and a classic desktop, web-browsing experience. This guide provides detailed instructions for using the Internet Explorer 10 modern experience, provides useful tips for working across both experiences, and discusses security and privacy.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Work Smart: Windows 8 Shortcut Keys
    Published: 08/21/2012
    This guide provides a quick reference to the shortcut keys in the Windows 8 Start screen.
    Work Smart Guide

  • Working like a network with Yammer
    Published: 10/02/2015
    Yammer is a file sharing, knowledge exchange, and team efficiency tool that is designed specifically for company collaboration, with transparency and inclusiveness in mind. It lets you and your organization's employees harness the business power of social networking through an easy-to-use product with a familiar interface. Use this productivity guide to get started with Yammer today.
    Productivity Guide