Microsoft Ignite 2022: Top Security Announcements

This article from CRN highlights the most recent security announcements from Ignite 2022. Read on for the biggest updates, as well as perspectives from customers and partners who are doing more with less, and “going all-in on Microsoft.”

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Equitable Bank Thwarts Red Team with Comprehensive Microsoft Security Solutions

Equitable Bank (EQB), seeks to drive change in Canadian banking to enrich people’s lives, and this mission comes down to one thing: trust.

When a Mandiant Red Team cybersecurity test revealed weaknesses in its security defenses, EQB took action. It replaced two security and event management solutions with Microsoft Sentinel and deployed Microsoft 365 Defender solutions to cover endpoints, identities, and cloud apps.

After experiencing startlingly improved results in a follow-up test a year later, EQB knows it’s on the right track. Its Microsoft deployments—and its innovative spirit—continue.

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Keep Up With the Latest News

Get more productivity, better security, and cost savings when you maximize the value of your technology investments with Microsoft 365.

No matter how you run your business or your team, Microsoft 365 is the cloud-first platform that enables all the ways people work today – wherever, whenever, and however.

Sign up for our mailing list to learn why Microsoft 365 is a better way to work for your small business. We can help you do more with less. Let’s stay connected!

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Improve Security and Reduce Your Bottom Line

Microsoft 365 provides a holistic approach to security, helping you protect identities, data, apps, and devices across on-premises, cloud, and mobile environments. This approach addresses the four foundations of computer system security: Identity and access management, threat protection, information protection, and security management.

See how your business can build a culture of security, all while saving money with Microsoft 365.

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Microsoft CEO: 'Software is ultimately the biggest deflationary force' for businesses

Today’s macro-economic environment affects businesses of all sizes and is forcing change globally.

In this Yahoo Finance article, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shares his perspectives on the economy, how the right technology is the ultimate productivity tool, and how Microsoft is adjusting.

“All of the macroeconomic headwinds that all of us face — none of us are immune — the tailwind we at least as a company have is our ability to deliver these solutions. Software is ultimately the biggest deflationary force businesses can use,” Nadella says.

Read more.

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Floral retailer uses Microsoft Teams to make business bloom

House of Lilac, a premium flower company based in Miami, delivers bouquets and arrangements across the city and ships gifts nationwide. 

House of Lilac’s digital transformation was the pivotal factor that helped them adapt during the COVID-19 pandemic. From the outset, the company invested in its digital presence as a flower retailer, and the payoff shows.

House of Lilac uses Microsoft 365 to consolidate everything under one application. It helped owner Melanie Fernandez organize the company, reduce costs, and increase efficiency and productivity—resulting in a business that’s blooming.

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Keep Up With the Latest News

Get more productivity, better security, and cost savings when you maximize the value of your technology investments with Microsoft 365.

No matter how you run your business or your team, Microsoft 365 is the cloud-first platform that enables all the ways people work today – wherever, whenever, and however.

Sign up for our mailing list to learn why Microsoft 365 is a better way to work for your small business. We can help you do more with less. Let’s stay connected!

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Microsoft 365 Empowers You To Do More With Less

Microsoft 365 helps you work smarter and faster, with tools to build and manage your business, stay connected with customers, and safeguard your data. It simplifies IT management while reducing costs—saving you more than 60% compared to a patchwork of point solutions.

Simply put, Microsoft 365 is a better way to work.

Discover how Microsoft 365 can help you meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world, and help you do more with less.

Learn more.

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CLA amplifies family culture and client support with Microsoft 365 tools

CliftonLarsonAllen (CLA) is a professional services firm with 120 locations across the United States. Their mission to elevate members as they help build careers inspired them to select Microsoft 365 to jump-start their organization’s digital transformation. After COVID-19 restrictions sent everyone home to work remotely, members immediately started using Teams to continue engaging with learning solutions and driving the organization’s competitive advantage through a close-knit culture. Using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint also helped them protect the organization. And, they're expanding their use of Dynamics 365 to map their clients’ journeys, using data to generate insights.

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Enabling teams to do their best work ​with cloud technology

Every customer is in a different place in their hybrid work journey. Whatever unique hybrid work pain points have been identified, Microsoft Modern Work solutions can help. With an end-to-end, integrated portfolio of cloud solutions across Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Azure, Modern Work solutions are built on a foundation of security and privacy to help every organization in every industry build resilience and improve the bottom line. To thrive in this new hybrid world, people and organizations need solutions that are fluid, dynamic, and cloud-powered. With 73% of employees saying they want flexible remote work options to stay, leaders need to pay attention. Sign up and stay connected. We can help secure your journey ​to the cloud.

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How To Transition In An Increasingly Populated Cloud

When the entire economy was disrupted by COVID and operations migrated online, one of the primary elements that kept enterprises viable was cloud migration. It's no surprise that businesses are fast adjusting to this multibillion-dollar market, especially in the aftermath of the epidemic. Because of the enhanced capabilities and benefits provided by the cloud, businesses are increasingly reconsidering every operation in favor of it. Virtually any company of any size can quickly transition to the cloud with the right provider, enhancing productivity, availability, and saving money on operations. Read the Forbes article to learn what leaders are doing to join the craze that has been dubbed the new normal.

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Transition to Cloud with Microsoft 365

Be more productive from anywhere, secure your business with technology you can trust, and get one cost-effective solution for secure collaboration. Microsoft 365 is uniquely positioned to help you build more resilience, streamline IT operations, consolidate vendors, and enable higher employee productivity. Check out an infographic illustrating how to empower users with devices designed to meet the ways you work. Learn about cost savings and benefits of Microsoft 365 +Surface. Examples are: -Flexible, premium devices designed to maximize productivity and collaborative experiences -Zero-touch deployment and unified management drive down costs and complexity for a distributed workforce -Security from chip-to-cloud with a zero-trust security model Sign up to stay connected. We’ll help you become a leader in digital transformation and the future of hybrid work.

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Using Microsoft Teams and Power Platform Integration to create collaborative apps

In today’s hybrid world of work, people have a multitude of collaboration tools and apps that they can use to get work done. There’s an opportunity for organizations to create purposeful collaborative platforms that can integrate various apps and provide people with a new way to work without switching between applications and processes. In this Microsoft-produced e-book, learn about how Microsoft Power Platform’s set of low-code tools for building and deploying complex business solutions also function for analyzing and visualizing data, automating business processes, and interacting with virtual agents. Learn about how Teams and Power Platform integrate various capabilities for developers, as well as how it simplifies and increases developer productivity. Sign up to stay connected. We’ll help you to improve your business efficiency and gain the competitive edge you need.

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Korean biopharma company enters into the next phase with big tech

Microsoft’s ‘modern workplace’ is a hybrid business model that makes use of cloud-based Microsoft 365 tools and services to create an agile system that can help any company evolve. IT leaders are embracing modern by doing the following: migrating company data and tools to the cloud; moving from classic to modern SharePoint; flattening site architecture and getting rid of subsites; and connecting modern team sites to Microsoft 365 groups and teams. Learn about the top reasons why teams using modern workplace strategies have increased collaboration, contentment, and learning.

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Transition to Cloud with Microsoft Teams

Cloud transformation has become a top priority for industries. A recent survey showed 80% of customers intend to accelerate their digital transformation and 60% indicate security and compliance budgets have gone up to better defend customer’s infrastructures in these remote or hybrid work scenarios. Microsoft Teams is the hub for teamwork that helps drive more effective and secure meetings—and since participants can dial in from anywhere, it extends itself in becoming an inclusive part of the new workspace. This infographic illustrates how Teams enables collaboration with capabilities for chatting, meetings, and files access from any device, from anywhere. Get a link to a 2021 Gartner report and learn how Microsoft was recognized as a leader for meeting solutions. Sign up to stay connected. Microsoft 365 is uniquely positioned to help your organization build more resilience through cloud solutions.

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Be productive from anywhere with industry-leading apps

Companies are under pressure to stay relevant and efficient in the digital business era. Microsoft 365 is uniquely positioned to help organizations of all sizes build resiliency through cloud solutions that enable higher employee productivity and satisfaction—and improve their bottom line by streamlining IT operations and vendor consolidations. Learn about how to keep customers safe through state-of-the art security solutions and the newest applications that make it all possible. Sign up and stay connected. We’ll help you increase your company's momentum by gaining secure access to applications, products, and services from anywhere in the world at any time.

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4 reasons remote teams should go all in on Microsoft’s modern workplace

Microsoft’s ‘modern workplace’ is a hybrid business model that makes use of cloud-based Microsoft 365 tools and services to create an agile system that can help any company evolve. IT leaders are embracing modern by doing the following: migrating company data and tools to the cloud; moving from classic to modern SharePoint; flattening site architecture and getting rid of subsites; and connecting modern team sites to Microsoft 365 groups and teams. Learn about the top reasons why teams using modern workplace strategies have increased collaboration, contentment, and learning.

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Major mineral water producer boosts productivity and saves costs by creating reports in the cloud

"IDS Borjomi Ukraine is a leader in the natural mineral water market in Ukraine. As the company is constantly expanding its services, it needed to scale up its server performance. To generate daily reports, the team wanted modern digital tools that would enable faster data processing and scaling on demand. The shift to Azure Synapse Analytics made all that possible. In addition, Power BI integrated data about sales teams’ activities, stock-keeping units, product orders and much more. The cloud solution not only saved time but cost as well. The company has saved more than 30 percent of the budget compared to expanding its on-premises resources and can scale it up whenever needed. "

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Microsoft Services & Fast Track for Microsoft 365

"Transition to Cloud means moving from on-premises to a cloud or hybrid environment. It also means helping employees be more productive from anywhere and delivering cost-effective solutions for secure collaboration. In this infographic, get tips on how to begin your modern transformation, such as: - Evaluate where you are right now versus where you want to be - Use an iterative approach centered around employee experiences - Focus on key workplace transformation areas like remote work, frontline empowerment, and security Learn about the 4-step Microsoft approach and process to empower organizations to put innovation into practice. Find out more about how to move confidently to the cloud and accelerate adoption with Microsoft FastTrack services. Sign up and stay connected. We’ll help you innovate with Microsoft 365 to deliver modern cloud experiences. "

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C.H. Robinson keeps its supply chain experts connected with Microsoft 365

"In today’s global business market, the ability to provide on-demand, real-time visibility for customers has become more important than ever, and C.H. Robinson has been at the forefront of the digital transformation in the supply chain industry. The company accelerated its modern workplace plan after implementing a remote work environment in response to COVID-19, including quickly deploying Microsoft 365 and its integrated portfolio of solutions. What’s more, by implementing Microsoft Teams, they enabled virtual collaboration spaces where teams can have open conversations and are able to interact while working on their new produce brand, Robinson Fresh®."

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Transition to Cloud: Secure your business with technology you can trust

Today’s complicated virtual business reality makes it difficult to secure fragmented IT or cloud point solutions. As we’ve seen, natural disasters and political tensions require always-on from anywhere tech solutions. We know that Microsoft 365 helps businesses stay agile in these uncertain economic times with cost savings and cloud advances. Need proof? This infographic illustrates how organizations further along in their transition from on-prem to the cloud are more likely to report positive experiences among employees and end users about securing data and personal privacy.

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Cloud Sector Boom Accelerated By Digital Transformation

Cloud migration and digital transformation are no longer IT industry buzzwords. The cloud transition is growing and changing the way businesses operate as they overcome initial concerns about security, regulation, and cost to embrace cloud computing and data storage. Cloud migration allows for digital transformation and the adoption of digitally enabled business models across all industries. Companies are moving away from owning and managing their own servers and infrastructure on-premises and third-party data centers toward private virtualized and public clouds. Learn more about how cloud transition is shaping the way companies function and what leaders in all industries are saying.

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Transition to Cloud: A journey to Modern Work with Microsoft 365

The digital transformation of the business world has pushed businesses to address new challenges: remote work, cloud migration, and device security is the new normal. Today’s decision makers need to create people connections, address burnout, and work toward consolidating apps. With Microsoft 365, you get a platform boosted with industry-leading apps, intelligent cloud services, and world-class security. You can download and sync devices, detect threats before issues occur, simplify through vendor consolidation, and so much more. This infographic explains the 6 ways Microsoft 365 apps and services can ease your organization’s journey to modern work.

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Transition to Cloud Deployment checklist

Businesses rely on cloud transformation for the stability and agility it offers to their operations. Microsoft 365 enables this transformation by realizing modern work environments where users are productive and secure while working from anywhere. Review the infographic and get started today with this 5-step deployment checklist. Learn how you can rapidly deploy Teams, secure access, provide employees with adequate support, and more.

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Security and privacy with an integrated portfolio of cloud services

Businesses rely on cloud transformation for the stability and agility it offers to their operations. Microsoft 365 enables this transformation by realizing modern work environments where users are productive and secure while working from anywhere. Secure your business with technology you can trust, ensure only the right users have access without affecting productivity, and protect your data through security best practices and easy-to-use policies that prevent accidental data leaks. Sign up to say connected—we’ll help you learn more about making the transition to the cloud and into a more secure environment.

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Goodyear drives more remote collaboration to keep plants running with Microsoft Teams

As a company dedicated to keeping people moving, Goodyear tire company wasn’t about to slow down because of global travel restrictions due to COVID-19. When engineers could no longer travel to factories for equipment installation or troubleshooting, Goodyear turned to Microsoft Teams running on RealWear voice controlled, assisted-reality wearable computers to bring the engineering experts into the plants virtually—enabling instantaneous collaboration from remote locations, and saving money on travel costs.

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How to Properly Balance Your Components Gaming PC

 Ensuring that your hardware is properly balanced can prevent a PC performance bottleneck and result in an all-around better user experience.

Building a quality gaming PC isn’t as simple as buying the most expensive CPU or GPU. A holistic and balanced hardware setup is critical for an ideal user experience.

A “balanced” PC is one in which the hardware is equipped for the workloads the machine will be handling, such as gaming, and should be designed to avoid “bottlenecks.” With a properly balanced PC, your components will achieve the level of performance they were designed for, without any one component (or set of components) being disproportionately over or under-utilized. This means a better gaming experience and a better user experience overall.

All PCs should be properly balanced, but we’re mostly going to focus on the hardware of a system designed for gaming. Many of the recommendations will apply to other systems as well.

What is a PC Bottleneck?

In the context of a PC, a bottleneck refers to a component that limits the potential of other hardware due to differences in the maximum capabilities of the two components.

A bottleneck isn’t necessarily caused by the quality or age of components, but rather their performance. Bottlenecks aren’t unique to high-end systems either; balance is equally important in systems with more entry-level hardware.

Finding a Compatible CPU and GPU

Bottlenecks are not exclusive to the CPU and GPU, but the interplay between these two components illustrates how a bottleneck can impact a system.

The central processing unit (CPU) is responsible for calculating operations like physics, audio, netcode, positional data, and countless other systems in modern PC games. It also sends rendering instructions to the graphics processing unit (GPU).

These instructions from the CPU contain everything the GPU needs in order to know what to render, including shaders, textures, and other visual data. They are then executed by the GPU, resulting in the image you see onscreen. If the GPU is rendering these instructions faster than the CPU can provide them, the GPU will remain idle until the next set of instructions is ready.

This means the GPU is not operating at peak performance, and this can result in fewer frames per second being rendered. This is a bottleneck in that the performance level of the GPU is being restrained by the limitations of the CPU.

The same can happen in the opposite direction. If a powerful CPU is sending instructions to the GPU faster than the GPU can render, the capabilities of the CPU are being limited by the slower speeds of the GPU. The system would perform better with a CPU and GPU that are more closely matched in performance capability.

Again, almost any hardware can contribute to a bottleneck, not only the CPU and GPU. Ideally, system hardware will work as close to maximum performance as possible, and one link in the hardware chain will not detrimentally impact the others.

Building a Balanced Gaming PC

When planning a new build, consider not only the type of games you play and their hardware requirements, but also how each piece of hardware can potentially impact the others.

CPU

Though games are optimized differently, and some are more CPU-dependent than others, a high-performance processor is still critical to an ideal gaming experience and is a great place to start when planning a new build. The hardware needs of someone playing a CPU intensive title while live streaming will be different from someone who occasionally plays less hardware intensive games. Think about which more closely aligns with how you use your PC.

After choosing the right CPU for your system, next consider the GPU you are planning to pair it with in order to achieve a balanced build.

GPU

As with the CPU, choosing the right GPU will depend on the games you play and how you plan to use the system.

Most PC games provide extensive graphics options that allow you to customize your experience. This often means you can experience newer games with an older or more entry-level GPU, though there may be some performance concessions, as well as an impact on the overall look and feel of the experience.

If higher resolutions are a priority, a high-end GPU is probably going to be the best fit. If 1080p gaming is sufficient, your options open up considerably.

In order to ensure a balanced build, your CPU and GPU should be more than just compatible — they should be complementary. The latest Intel® Core™ i5 processor is an excellent entry-level CPU, but your system will not be properly balanced if it’s paired with a GeForce* RTX 3090 GPU. Likewise, the latest Intel® Core™ i9 gaming processor is a great choice for a powerful gaming CPU, but when paired with an entry-level GPU, the CPU’s full potential will be unnecessarily limited.

The CPU and GPU work together closely in a gaming PC, and as such, it’s best not to prioritize one to the detriment of the other. Both should enable the other to operate at the highest possible level of performance.

RAM

RAM isn’t usually a bottleneck when gaming, unless you don’t have enough. For most modern games, 8GB of RAM is a good baseline, though 16GB is quickly becoming the standard. It also depends on how you use your computer; if you’re only playing a game, you’ll need less RAM than if you’re also chatting on Discord or streaming video while playing.

Generally speaking, when it comes to gaming, speed is less important than quantity. Again, the idea is balance, so 16GB of very slow RAM is not ideal. But as long as you’re purchasing modern memory, 16GB of DDR4 RAM is usually preferable to 8GB of DDR4 with a slightly higher speed.

SSD/HDD

Storage can bottleneck gaming performance as well as the overall system user experience. It won’t necessarily impact your graphics settings, but if you’re using an older hard disk drive (HDD), for example, you may encounter longer load times or stuttering as the game loads.

e simplest solution is to upgrade to a solid state drive (SSD), 

which allows for significantly faster access to data than a traditional HDD. 

Intel® Optane™ memory can also increase HDD access speeds by caching

 

your system’s commonly used files for faster access, which can 

improve performance even if you’re not ready to replace your HDD.

Display

Your display can also act as a bottleneck. You won’t be getting the most out of the latest gaming hardware if you’re using a 60Hz, 1080p display.

If you’re aiming for higher frame rates or resolutions, you’ll want to make sure you invest in a display that can properly showcase these features, along with a balanced CPU and GPU combination capable of rendering them.

Other Hardware

Though CPU, GPU, RAM, storage, and display have the most substantial impact on gaming performance, other components also need to be considered for a balanced build.

The power supply might not directly impact frame rates, but a mismatched PSU can still pose a risk to the longevity of your system.

A motherboard probably won’t affect gameplay, but it can limit your hardware options, make future upgrades more difficult, and impact some quality of life features like network connectivity and sound.

Every piece of hardware should be considered in the context of how it will work with everything else in the system and help to cultivate a more balanced experience.

How to Balance Your Build

One of the advantages of pre-built PCs is that they are usually designed to be balanced. If you are building or upgrading your own system, however, you want to buy hardware that isn’t just compatible but complementary from a performance perspective.

Consider the best way to disperse your budget. You want the highest quality components, but you also want to prioritize for your needs. For example: If you want a higher resolution experience, allocating your budget to accommodate a higher resolution display and high-end graphics card is ideal. If you play fast-paced shooters like Call of Duty: Warzone or VALORANT, prioritizing a high frame rate with the right gaming CPU and a higher refresh rate display makes sense.

Examples of Balanced Builds

What follows are a few examples of balanced systems, which might be a useful point of reference when considering a pre-built or custom PC.

Gaming System

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i5 10600K
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060
• RAM: 8GB
• Storage: 32GB Intel Optane Memory/1TB HDD
• Display: 1920x1080/144Hz refresh rate

High-End Gaming System

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i7 10700K
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB Intel SSD/1TB HDD
• Display: 2560x1440/144Hz refresh rate, or 1920x1080/240Hz refresh rate

Cutting-Edge Gaming System

• CPU: Intel® Core™ i9 10900K
• GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
• RAM: 32GB
• Storage: 1TB Intel SSD/2TB HDD
• Display: 3840x2160/120Hz refresh rate, 2560x1440/240Hz refresh rate, or 1920x1080/ 360Hz refresh rate

hat you’re looking for from a gaming PC may vary, but whatever hardware you select, ensuring that it’s properly balanced will result in a better experience. When putting together your PC, keep in mind that you can always upgrade later. It’s preferable to have a balanced build you can upgrade rather than one very powerful component in a system that otherwise lags behind.

A balanced build goes beyond ensuring a better gaming experience. It’s about putting together a system that will perform at its best regardless of how you use it. Whether you’re gaming or creating, prioritizing balanced hardware will result in a better all-around experience.

Why Businesses Must Invest in Cloud Adoption to Thrive in the Post-Pandemic World?

Digital transformation is not a new requirement for business leaders, but the pandemic has boosted the urgency as companies rush to improve agility, speed, and data-driven decision-making. Whether through modern application adoption, streamlining IT operations and/or consolidating vendor relationships, today’s businesses seek to increase end-user productivity, satisfaction, and bottom-line improvements—all of which can be accomplished through modern cloud solutions. As businesses adopt new technologies, investing in a strong cloud infrastructure will become critical in helping organizations grow and thrive in the post-pandemic world. According to data and research, in the coming years, there will be two types of businesses: those that rely primarily or entirely on the cloud, and those that go out of business. Learn what experts are saying about how to be the former.

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Building a Resilient Organization through Integrated Cloud-based IT

The results of a double-blind, online survey of 500 IT decision makers responsible for device, productivity, collaboration, and endpoint management tools, showed an increase efficiency and drove business growth by harnessing organizational knowledge to provide rich insights. Learn about the three general stages of Microsoft 365 adoption regarding your business’s IT device management approach in this case study. Subscribe to stay connected. We’ll help you take an active role in shaping your organization’s resiliency.

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Fluid, dynamic, and cloud-powered solutions

Microsoft is uniquely positioned for partnership with any organization’s modern digital transition journey. Solutions like Microsoft 365 and Dynamics 365 provide an end-to-end, integrated portfolio of cloud solutions. Built on a foundation of security and privacy, the Azure platform helps businesses in every industry build resilience and improve the bottom line. Communication is seamless, dynamic, and collaborative. Sign up to say connected—we’ll help you learn more about making the transition to the cloud.

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Why Hybrid Cloud Data Management Makes Good Business Sense

Cloud adoption has become a path many companies take toward transitioning to an agile structure. Most are eager to reap the benefits of reorganizing their business plans and implementing a hybrid cloud—a computing environment that combines an on-premises datacenter with a public cloud, allowing data and applications to be shared between them. A hybrid cloud strategy encourages competitiveness and enables flexibility of a company's IT infrastructure. The appeal of a hybrid cloud computing strategy points to low costs, dynamic software implementation, and high IT security. Learn more about the advantages of hybrid cloud data management and read what global business decision makers are saying.

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Special Olympics leaders use Microsoft Teams to build community and shape the future

When Grace, a Special Olympics athlete and global youth leader from New Zealand, heard that a friend of hers had to miss a long-awaited competition due to transportation issues, her response was to help build an app that ensured other athletes wouldn’t run into similar problems. She teamed up with fellow global youth leader Jack, and the pair worked on a project designed to connect Special Olympics athletes with transportation. When COVID-19 threatened to stall the project’s momentum, the duo quickly turned to Microsoft Teams to collaborate and continue developing their app, making sure their inclusive initiative didn’t miss a beat. Teams enabled them to communicate across continents and stay on track with their plans.

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How to prevent malware

 

Protect yourself from malware

We'd like to believe that the Internet is a safe and honest place for everyone, but there's no denying that online criminals and hackers are lurking out there, trying to cause trouble. One way that they cause trouble is by spreading malware. You can protect yourself by learning what malware is, how it spreads and how to prevent it.

What's malware?

"Malware" is any kind of software that's designed to harm a computer. Malware can steal sensitive information from your computer, gradually slow down your computer or even send fake emails from your email account without your knowledge. Here are some common types of malware that you might have heard about:

• Virus: A harmful computer programme that can copy itself and infect a computer.
• Worm: A malicious computer programme that sends copies of itself to other computers via a network.
• Spyware: Malware that collects information from people without their knowledge.
• Adware: Software that automatically plays, displays or downloads advertisements on a computer.
• Trojan horse: A destructive program that pretends to be a useful application, but harms your computer or steals your information after it's installed.

How malware spreads

Malware can get onto your computer in a number of different ways. Here are some common examples:

• Downloading free software from the Internet that secretly contains malware
• Downloading legitimate software that's secretly bundled with malware
• Visiting a website that's infected with malware
• Clicking a fake error message or pop-up window that starts a malware download
• Opening an email attachment that contains malware

There are a lot of different ways that malware can spread, but that doesn't mean that you're powerless to stop it. Now that you know what malware is and what it can do, let's go over some practical steps that you can take to protect yourself.

How to prevent malware

1. Keep your computer and software updated
2. Use a non-administrator account whenever possible
3. Think twice before clicking links or downloading anything
4. Be careful about opening email attachments or images
5. Don't trust pop-up windows that ask you to download software
6. Limit your file-sharing
7. Use antivirus software

Keep Up With the Latest News

Get more productivity, better security, and cost savings when you maximize the value of your technology investments with Microsoft 365.

No matter how you run your business or your team, Microsoft 365 is the cloud-first platform that enables all the ways people work today – wherever, whenever, and however.

Sign up for our mailing list to learn why Microsoft 365 is a better way to work for your small business. We can help you do more with less. Let’s stay connected!

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Microsoft 365 for Small Business

It’s hard to overstate the impact of having secure and reliable productivity and collaboration tools. It’s these tools that enable the communication, flexibility, and innovation that keep businesses thriving in this new era of hybrid work.

Small- and medium-sized (SMB) businesses are no exception, but they need tools tailored to their unique needs and challenges. Microsoft 365 for Business can help your business do more with less.

See how.

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5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Migrating to the Cloud

Digital transformation and cloud migration can be a complex process. It takes comprehensive planning, successful execution, and ongoing maintenance after everything goes live.

In this article from the San Francisco Business Times, read about the advantages of moving to the cloud, and five pitfalls to avoid as your business builds its plan for digital transformation.

Read more.

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Elite Construction + Development Builds Success and a Connected Workplace with Microsoft Teams

Elite Construction + Development, a small Washington company, owes much of its success to unfettered collaboration and a communication-first approach, which is now at the center of the company’s enthusiastic adoption of Microsoft Teams.

When Elite became overwhelmed with a dozen or more overlapping technology platforms, it decided to consolidate to Microsoft 365, retaining only one third-party solution—its specialized accounting software. Elite uses Microsoft 365 apps for every other function in the company—creating content, managing projects, scheduling, collaboration, and even telephony.

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Keep Up With the Latest News

Get more productivity, better security, and cost savings when you maximize the value of your technology investments with Microsoft 365.

No matter how you run your business or your team, Microsoft 365 is the cloud-first platform that enables all the ways people work today – wherever, whenever, and however.

Sign up for our mailing list to learn why Microsoft 365 is a better way to work for your small business. We can help you do more with less. Let’s stay connected!

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Enable Hybrid Work With Windows 365

As workplaces and world events continue to evolve, so do the needs of your employees and business. Windows just keeps getting better for businesses, with new experiences designed for hybrid work.

Windows 365 creates a new hybrid personal computing category called Cloud PC, which combines the power of the cloud with the device’s capabilities to provide a full, personalized Windows experience.

See how the new Windows 365 can help your business do more with less.

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3 Business Efficiencies to Keep Your Company Recession-Resistant

Remote work, managed services, and technology solutions that help your business do more with less – according to Entrepreneur.com, these are just a few of the ways you can incorporate efficiencies into your business to help keep it recession-proof.

Read more to learn strategies that can help you increase efficiency, decrease overhead, and bolster your business to weather a recession.

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Singaporean cloud communications provider makes security a team sport with Microsoft Defender

As a leading communications provider in the Asia-Pacific region, Toku helps companies streamline their workflows and optimize customer experiences by moving their business communications to the cloud.

They needed a cost-efficient endpoint security solution that would help them implement a zero-trust strategy company-wide. They turned to Microsoft 365 Defender to eliminate cyber threats.

Today, Toku enjoys enterprise-grade protection against cyberattacks and boasts high scores on IT security and compliance, cementing trust among its customers as a result.

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The Total Economic Impact™ Of Microsoft 365 For Business

Small and medium-size businesses (SMBs) must successfully manage many of the same collaboration challenges that face larger enterprises—but with lower budgets.

Microsoft commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study and examine the potential return on investment (ROI) SMBs can realize by deploying Microsoft 365 for business.

This eBook covers nine customers’ investments in Microsoft 365 for business, and the resulting organization-wide improvements to productivity and reductions to travel and technology expenses.

Read more.

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Consolidate So You Can Do More With Less

There's no shortage of technology to answer virtually every work-related need, but this disjointed landscape of apps from different vendors can add up financially. Simply consolidating to a single all-in-one platform eliminates the possibility that you're paying for redundant capabilities or overlapping services.

Microsoft 365 can help meet every work-related technology need. You can also save by consolidating point solutions and replacing third-party security and identity applications. Microsoft 365 is your one solution to do more with less.

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Add Life To Your Laptop - Increase Laptop Life

 

                     Increase Laptop Life

1. Keep it clean: Dust and dirt can build up in the vents and fans, causing your laptop to overheat. Use compressed air to blow out any debris from the keyboard, ports, and fans.

2. Keep it cool: Avoid using your laptop on soft surfaces, such as your bed or couch, as this can block the airflow and cause it to overheat. Use a cooling pad or stand to help keep it cool.

    

3. Protect it: Use a protective case to help prevent scratches and other damage. Also, avoid eating or drinking near your laptop to prevent spills.

    

4. Update software regularly: Keep your operating system and software up-to-date to ensure that your laptop runs smoothly and securely.

    

5. Use a surge protector: A power surge can damage your laptop's components, so use a surge protector to protect it from power surges.

    

6. Avoid overcharging: Don't leave your laptop plugged in all the time, as this can shorten the battery life. Charge it when it needs to be charged, and unplug it when it's fully charged.

    

7. Shut it down properly: Shut down your laptop properly instead of just closing the lid or pressing the power button, as this can cause damage to the hard drive.

By following these tips, you can help increase the lifespan of your laptop and keep it running smoothly for years to come.

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