Even though digital transformation was already prominent, the COVID 19 pandemic forced it ahead considerably faster than expected. This was evident at this year’s Microsoft Ignite Fall event held on November 2nd to the 4th, where Hybrid working was a clear and strong continuing theme, highlighted by announcements such as Microsoft Mesh for Teams.
Powerful, protected content and partnership for hybrid work
Microsoft empowered Microsoft 365 to assist IT professionals and company leaders provide experiences that propel cooperation in hybrid and remote working settings with much higher levels of protection and fulfilment. It also revealed more about the plan to develop people’s efficiency and output within SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, OneDrive and beyond. Also revealed were new security management and admin controls as well as new tools for developers to create and expand the Microsoft 365 platform.
No Trust:
No Trust: Zero Trust continued to be the main focus throughout this year’s Microsoft Ignite. Microsoft stressed that this protection strategy would offer the greatest flexibility with the highest security. Password-less verification will now be commonly accessible for companies to implement at scale, as it presents both a heightened level of protection for your organization as well as making it much simpler for your customers.
As an example, let’s consider Microsoft Teams. If a company allows their employees to work remotely, they wouldn’t be able to just turn this aspect on with the same level of access as they could with their monitored environment. Microsoft Teams allows and encourages users with many associated tools in one place, that work best in the cloud. However, if your company has a hybrid cloud system in place then this becomes a technical challenge due to how things work and configure on-premises, which could mean a breakdown when it comes to the cloud. Also, your company might not want your customers or employee data to be held in the cloud so when you facilitate Teams you must put all controls and policies first, which can’t be done overnight. Businesses are constantly confronted with technology and security controls that are unable to transition from on-premises to cloud with the same safety controls. As soon as a company moves to the cloud, the limitation of protection shifts which may result in unseen risks and possibly unknown gaps.
Employees are already collaborating across your business, so it’s valuable to consider adding an additional layer on top of your current monitoring and auditing tools to identify and discover any suspicious activity on the fly, perhaps Azure Security. Azure has an integral AI algorithm that activates a warning if a user sign-in looks questionable or falls into an unusual development. And again, this solution might not work for those companies who are not ready for the cloud and will therefore require time to employ such controls. organizations.
Microsoft believes that the Great Reshuffle and the Hybrid Paradox will completely change the way we think about work. These trends may seem overwhelming to many companies; however, they provide the opportunity for businesses to create new workplace guidelines that not only pave the way for better business prospects but also provide greater satisfaction for their employees. There is no guide, and no one has all the answers, but in sharing what is being learnt, the hope is that it will, in turn, help those companies who are just starting to understand what hybrid work could mean for them in order to support them in the creation of an environment that allows for a successful hybrid working model.
For more on the latest and upcoming features, Microsoft has developed to help your remote working employees, check out Microsoft Ignite (link) and catch up on all the latest announcements. If you are interested in finding a trusted, reliable, and highly skilled advisor to help push your company forward towards digital transformation or engage your remote working workforce then get in touch with us today to see how we can help revolutionise your business.
