Boston Office 365 Group Launch

May 1, 2014 Leave a comment

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Are you curious about Office 365? What it is, how it can save you time and help you be more productive? Are you getting the full benefits of all that Office 365 has to offer?

One of the ways for people to get the most out of this new and constantly evolving suite of products is to have people to turn to; a place to go to explore new features and functionality or just learn more, share experiences and ask questions. Formal training is great (we strongly encourage ongoing training for users of the Office 365 suite of products), but there are times when you just want to interact with others or ask a simple question.

Help has arrived. Jornata is pleased to be a founding organizer of the Boston Office 365 User Group. Our co-organizers include Microsoft, Wellington Street Consulting, Slalom Consulting and Cognizant Technology Solutions. The group will met monthly, beginning on Thursday, May 22nd, and on the third Thursday of every month thereafter. The event will take place at Microsoft’s New England Research and Development Center (NERD) at One Memorial Drive in Cambridge. Attendance is free and food and beverages will be provided. You can learn more and register for the meeting or join the mailing list.

Fittingly, for the initial event, Microsoft’s Chris Bortlik will present an overview of Office 365. His discussion will include an overview of current Office 365 functionality, including Yammer, Lync Online, mobile applications and Office 365 Pro Plus. He’ll also explore administration and update issues. Chris is an Office 365 technology architect at Microsoft.

There are plenty of ways to keep the conversation going. We have a web site, Linked In group and Yammer group, or you can follow us on Twitter @Bos365.

We want this to be your group. Feedback, ideas, and suggestions are welcome. What topics would you like to see the group address? Are there other elements that you feel should be added to the program? We’ll provide a place to air your grievances and perhaps learn how others have dealt with the issues you’ve encountered.

We’re also looking for event sponsors to provide food, beverages and raffle prizes for the events or pick up the tab for the Office 365 Happy Hour that will follow each meeting at a local bar or restaurant. If you’re interested, or know anyone who might be, please contact us.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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Filed under BOS365, Events, Exchange Online, Jornata, Lync Online, Office 365, Office ProPlus, SharePoint Online, User Groups, Yammer Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , ,

Enabling Office on Demand in SharePoint Online

April 24, 2014 Leave a comment

Office on Demand is a new feature in SharePoint Online on Office 365. Straight from the link, from the horses’ mouth so to speak:

Office on Demand is a feature that provides online access to full rich Office desktop applications, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, when you’re using a PC that doesn’t have the latest version of Office installed locally. Office on Demand is available to anyone who has an Office 365 subscription that includes the Office application suite. Office 365 subscriptions that include the Office applications let you install on up to five devices for use both online and offline. Office on Demand is a helpful option if you want to use your Office applications on an additional device or on a device that you don’t own, such as when you’re logged in as a guest using someone else’s computer.

This also works in environments where thin clients are used such as a Citrix or kiosk based setup where users cannot install software, and license management can become quite the hassle if multiple users are using the same server to do their work each day.

To enable or disable Office on Demand

Go into your SharePoint Online Admin Center

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and select Settings from the left-side navigation

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And then scroll down to the Office on Demand header to enable or disable the functionality.

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Filed under Microsoft Office, Office 365, Office on Demand, Office ProPlus, SharePoint, SharePoint Online Tagged with , , , , , ,

How Do I Upgrade My Trial Office 365 Subscription to a Subscription Plan?

April 18, 2014 Leave a comment

It is very cool, you get a 90 day trial for Office 365 to really test out the system and see what works, what doesn’t, and plan for your move to the service. 90 days, and you can even ask for extensions to make sure that this is the right solution for you. Not many services offer that even by a long shot. Microsoft wants you to make the right decision.

So, now that you’ve decided to go with Office 365, how can you keep all of your work and get properly licensed? It’s quite simple. Go to the Office 365 Admin Center

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Select Purchase Services from the left-side navigation

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You will see your current plan, listed as Currently in trial

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Click the handy Buy now link…

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And complete the process from there.

HOWEVER….. make sure you have your licensing trued up first. If you have licensed all 250 trial users you can have, and you only need 30… that first bill is going to be awfully painful.

Filed under Exchange Online, Lync Online, Office 365, Office ProPlus, SharePoint Online Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

Boston Office 365 Users Group coming in May!

March 24, 2014 Leave a comment

With Microsoft’s focus on Office 365, and it being the largest product in history for them (surpassing SharePoint on-premises licensing), a few great minds here in the Boston area started talking a few months ago, about creating an Office 365 users group (not just covering SharePoint Online, but Lync, Exchange, Yammer, and whatever else gets tossed out onto the buffet line that is Office 365!).

Well, we have done just that, and are having our inaugural meeting on Thursday, May 22nd, at the Microsoft New England Research and Development Center (N.E.R.D.) from 6pm to 8pm. We will have Chris Bortlik, a Microsoft Office 365 Technology Specialist, kicking us off with his session “Introduction to Office 365”. See below for an abstract and bio for the session.

We will be having regular monthly meetings on the third Thursday of each month, so stay tuned for more as we build out our schedule of great speakers and topics going forward!

Our website is up (work in progress), but please sign up for our mailing list to be notified about future meetings and information about the group! http://www.bostono365usergroup.com/

Abstract

Office 365 is the fastest growing product in Microsoft’s history. Come to this session to learn what Office 365 is and how your organization can get started leveraging it today. During this talk we will cover the following topics:

  • Office 365 functional overview, focusing on Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Yammer, Lync Online, Office Online, mobile applications, and Office 365 ProPlus
  • Office 365 architecture fundamentals, including identity management, authentication options, browser, and device requirements
  • Office 365 admin center
  • Office 365 service descriptions
  • Staying up to date with Office 365 service announcements and updates
  • Office 365 FastTrack deployment model
  • Key Office 365 training links and resources

Bio

Chris Bortlik works at Microsoft as an Office 365 technology architect. He works with Enterprise customers and partners in the Northeast in a technical role focused on SharePoint, Office, Exchange, Lync, Yammer, and other parts of Office 365. Chris is an “Insider” within Microsoft and works closely with the Office 365 product team. He holds the SharePoint MCITP and MCTS certifications. Chris speaks frequently at Microsoft events (including the SharePoint Conference); is a contributing author of the "Essential SharePoint 2010" book; and a coauthor of the “Essential SharePoint 2013” book. Chris also blogs regularly on TechNet: http://blogs.technet.com/cbortlik  Prior to joining Microsoft in 2008, Chris was a customer for 14 years working in technical IT architect, development, and management roles – primarily leading .NET and SharePoint related projects. You can follow Chris on Twitter @cbortlik

Filed under BOS365, Events, Exchange Online, General, Lync Online, Office 365, SharePoint, SharePoint Online, SharePoint User Groups, User Groups, Yammer Tagged with , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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