Chapter 7: Understanding Collaboration and Mobility with Microsoft 365

In Chapter 3, Core Microsoft 365 Components, and Chapter 4, Comparing Core Services in Microsoft 365, we discussed the core technologies that make up Microsoft 365: Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams, Windows 10, and the Enterprise Mobility + Security suite. Chapter 6, Deploying Microsoft 365 Apps, covered the basics of deploying the Microsoft 365 Apps software platform.

In this chapter, we will bring all those technologies together to highlight effective collaboration with Microsoft 365. We will be focusing on enterprise mobility, device management, and application management within an organization. This chapter will be split into two sections: the first will concentrate on effective collaboration with different parts of Microsoft 365, while the second will cover the benefits of enterprise mobility and device and application management.

These two sections will bring all the Microsoft 365 technologies...

Discussing effective collaboration with Microsoft 365

In Chapter 3, Core Microsoft 365 Components, we discussed the different platforms that can provide collaboration between coworkers:

• Exchange Online provides email communication, a calendar, contacts, and tabs.
• SharePoint Online provides a single repository of sorts in which members can store, share, and edit files, data, and news.
• Teams provides a hub for people to chat and video conference while incorporating SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, and other apps within a single interface.

These core technologies provide a basis for collaboration and productivity. We've mentioned these foundational services of Microsoft 365 several times.

These apps and services may either work on top of the core Microsoft 365 technologies, such as SharePoint Online or Teams, or complement collaboration by providing different functions. In this section, we will cover the other collaboration products that also come...

Understanding enterprise mobility and device and application management

Smartphones are essentially pocket-sized portable personal computers. Workers use their phones to check their emails, join meetings, make calls, view and share documents, and more. More than ever, workers need flexible work hours and the ability to work remotely. Workers in the field can have more flexible and powerful options at their disposal.

Organizations need to find a way to balance performing such activities and enabling productivity without increasing risks such as accidental data leakage. Additionally, work responsibilities might require users to be able to access their work data or applications from a remote location using potentially insecure or non-managed devices. Administrators need to manage the assets of the organization and allow collaboration and productivity in the most secure way possible.

For some, the immediate response to some of these scenarios might be to block users from accessing...

Summary

In this chapter, we identified some of the other collaboration tools that come with the Microsoft 365 platform, such as Forms, Planner, Yammer, and Power Platform. These services can drive additional productivity gains inside an organization.

We also explored what enterprise mobility means in terms of organizational productivity, as well as some scenarios where Microsoft Intune can help secure mobile device experiences. Emphasizing the security features and capabilities will be important as organizations look toward moving more workloads to cloud services.

In the next chapter, we will discuss Microsoft 365 Analytics and how it can give users valuable insights into their daily habits.

Questions

Answer the following questions to test your knowledge of this chapter. You can find the answers in Chapter 18, Assessments:

1. Enterprise mobility is _____________.
   1. Only for Windows and Mac computers.
   2. A business approach that allows users to accomplish their jobs from anywhere.
   3. Insecure and should be avoided at all costs.
   4. A legacy mindset does not apply to the Microsoft 365 platform.
2. You need to enable your users to create and manage projects using the Microsoft 365 suite. Which application is best suited to accomplish this task?
   1. Microsoft Outlook
   2. SharePoint Online
   3. Planner
   4. Stream
3. You are the administrator of your organization. The marketing team needs to create a survey that they can send to external respondents. Which Microsoft 365 application is best suited to accomplish this task?
   1. Planner
   2. To Do
   3. Forms
   4. Surveys
4. You are hosting a live event. After the live event, users who were unable to attend wanted to view the recording. Which application is best suited to accomplish...