Windows 10: Microsoft 365 Insider test program is open for business

Brink · Dec 7, 2018

Microsoft has a Windows Insider test program. It has an Office Insider test program. Though it hasn't promoted it much (yet), the company also has a Microsoft 365 Insider program.

I saw a link to a Microsoft 365 Insider program sign-up/sign-in page thanks to The Walking Cat (@h0x0d) on Twitter.

From that page:
"As a Windows Insider or an Office Insider, you likely have already gotten your hands on everything we’re showing you at Microsoft Ignite. Across both programs, we’ve received amazing feedback and designed some great features together, and we’re not done yet.

We know that all of you who work in IT want to help us create what’s next and so, we are announcing a new initiative for tech heroes like you. If you’re all in on Windows and Office and are looking to speed up your digital transformation even more, we invite you to join our new Microsoft 365 Insider Program.

By signing up for this program, you will be getting all your enterprise news, events and community in one place as well as a clear path into what’s next for collaboration, productivity and security.

In the coming months, we’ll be looking to your help to create this program to make you even more successful in your career and help make your business more competitive.

Use this Microsoft 365 Insider program as part of your deployment to make sure you’re ready for the future of Microsoft."
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Read more: The Microsoft 365 Insider test program is open for business | ZDNet

:)

Brink · Dec 7, 2018

WIP4Biz: Microsoft announces Windows Insider Program for Business

At the company's Ignite Australia conference, Microsoft's Bill Karagounis announced the new Windows Insider Program for Business (also known as 'WIP4Biz').

Bill said that a major goal of WIP4Biz is to "make Insider systems and capabilities more friendly and easier to fit into your business environments". He said that Microsoft wants there to be a deeper, and ongoing, focus for Windows 10 development "on things that are critical in corporate and business environments", to understand those customers' needs and improve its overall development process.

He also outlined the key goals of WIP4Biz:
Bring Commercial Insiders into the community

Build a community of like-minded individuals to share information

Create experiences to build excitement and engagement with WIP

Advocate for the needs of the community with product changes including software updates and the supporting communication

Get feedback on commercial features/functionalities

Provide a scalable feedback mechanism for Insiders at all levels

Listen to businesses' and Insiders' needs and requirements

Test our new commercial features, migrate business workflows to pre-release software where appropriate and provide feedback

Support Windows Commercial deployment

Deliver information about new features in Windows and the benefits to the Insider's organization while supporting end user adoption

Offer a channel to have a real-time dialogue with WIP and Microsoft

Share success stories, provide role models and connections

Following today's announcement, the Windows Insider Program for Business will be gradually introduced "in the coming months". Microsoft says that business Insiders "may need to take additional action to access new features when they are made available." Those who are interested in registering their organizations for WIP4Biz can register now, by filling in a short survey on Microsoft's website...
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Read more: WIP4Biz: Microsoft announces Windows Insider Program for Business

Brink · Dec 7, 2018

New security features for Microsoft 365 Business

Many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are concerned about their ability to protect their business from cyberattacks and keep their data safe—but lack basic protection against the most common threats. Recently, we conducted a survey of SMBs and found that 71 percent feel vulnerable to a cyberattack, jumping to 87 percent for businesses that have already experienced a breach.

Despite these concerns, only 41 percent of SMBs say they have the ability to remotely remove data from a lost or stolen device, and only half said they use email encryption—two capabilities considered essential by larger enterprises. SMBs say they lack the expertise to implement sophisticated IT solutions, which many of them see as unaffordable and too complex. You can explore the survey data further in our interactive infographic below.

Microsoft 365 Business—built for SMBs

To further protect SMBs from cyberthreats and safeguard sensitive information, today we’re announcing the addition of advanced security features in Microsoft 365 Business, which gives businesses with up to 300 employees an affordable, comprehensive solution for empowering employees and safeguarding business data. Microsoft 365 Business includes Office 365 for productivity and collaboration, plus device management and security capabilities to protect company information across the devices people use for work. Now we’re adding new ways to protect against phishing and ransomware and prevent unintentional leaks of business data.

SMB security survey—interactive infographic

Protect your employees from phishing and ransomware

Cyber criminals use phishing and ransomware attacks to get people to download viruses and malware or unwittingly give out sensitive information. These attacks can cause significant issues for a business, ranging from loss of customer trust to financial woes.

To help bolster your defenses against phishing, malware, and viruses, Microsoft 365 Business now includes advanced protection from cyberthreats, including:

Sophisticated scanning of attachments and AI-powered analysis to detect and discard dangerous messages.

Automatic checks of links in email to assess if they are part of a phishing scheme and prevent users from accessing unsafe websites.

Device protection to prevent devices from interacting with ransomware and other malicious web locations.

Prevent unintentional leaks of business data

Most SMBs handle sensitive information, with over half collecting and storing social security numbers, and 29 percent handling bank account details. Preventing unintentional leaks of these types of sensitive information can be a challenge, despite the best efforts and good intentions of employees.

To help you protect your sensitive business data, we’re adding the following capabilities to Microsoft 365 Business:

Data loss prevention policies to identify, monitor, and protect sensitive information such as social security and credit card numbers.

Information protection in Outlook to let you and your employees manage access to sensitive data in emails. For example, you can set encryption rules to prevent an email from being forwarded, copied, or pasted into other programs.

Email archiving and preservation policies to help ensure data is properly retained with continuous data backup and compliance.

The ability to enforce BitLocker device encryption on all Windows devices to help protect against data theft or exposure if a protected device is lost or stolen.

Microsoft 365 Business also offers industry-leading privacy protections. You remain the sole owner of your data, with controls over who in your business can access which data.

Comprehensive protection in a single subscription

CEO of Solace IT Solutions, Chris Oakman, works with SMBs to help them get up and running with the right technology. He says it doesn’t have to be complicated and expensive to keep your team productive and your business data secure.

“I work with a lot of small businesses that have historically had to pay for individual security services like spam filtering and anti-phishing,” said Oakman. “For these businesses, Microsoft 365 Business could save them up to $3,000 per year while including these and many other data protection capabilities in a more integrated way.”

With the addition of these new capabilities, Microsoft 365 Business offers your business a complete solution for productivity, security, and device management. Watch this video to learn how iSalon Software, a U.K.–based developer of software solutions for hair salons, uses Microsoft 365 Business to be more productive and secure:

Video: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/vide.../embed/RE1ZnXy

Learn more

The threat protection, archiving, and information protection features are available to new Microsoft 365 Business customers and will roll out to existing customers over the next few weeks. Data loss prevention and support for features dependent on the Office desktop applications will roll out in the coming months. Read our support article for Microsoft 365 Business to learn more about how to enable the security enhancements.

Microsoft is committed to helping empower and safeguard SMBs across the globe. To learn more about how Microsoft 365 Business can help your business, take a guided tour. You can also contact your Microsoft Partner, or visit a Microsoft Store to sign up for a Microsoft 365 Business: Safe and Secure or Cybersecurity for Small Business free in-store workshop.
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Source: Safeguard your business with new security features for Microsoft 365 Business - Microsoft 365 Blog

Brink · Dec 7, 2018

Announcing General Availability of Microsoft 365 Business apps

Today we’re announcing general availability of new solutions purpose-built for small and medium-sized businesses with up to 300 employees. Available worldwide today, Microsoft 365 Business includes the Office 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools, as well as device management and security tools to safeguard company information across Windows 10 PCs, mobile devices, and apps. It is an integrated solution designed to simplify IT for small and medium-sized businesses.

We’re also announcing general availability of three new business apps—Microsoft Connections, Microsoft Listings, and Microsoft Invoicing—which join Microsoft Bookings, Outlook Customer Manager, and MileIQ to create a suite of capabilities to help small businesses grow and thrive. These new apps are now available in Microsoft 365 Business and Office 365 Business Premium for customers in the U.S., U.K., and Canada.

In addition, Microsoft StaffHub, an app to help Firstline Workers manage their workday, is now included in Microsoft 365 Business and Office 365 Business Premium subscriptions.

Become a modern workplace

Today’s modern, global workplace is changing, which brings tremendous opportunities and challenges for businesses of all sizes. Businesses must meet the needs of a five-generation workforce, contend with an increasingly complex cyberthreat landscape, and innovate quickly to meet evolving customer expectations.

At the same time, small and medium-sized customers tell us they want solutions that are easy to manage and maintain. Often small business owners find technology options to be complex and costly, leading many to make do with a patchwork of services or defer investments altogether. Such approaches compromise business productivity and introduce security vulnerabilities, which may be one reason why 43 percent of all cyber-attacks last year targeted companies with fewer than 100 employees.

Safeguard your business

Microsoft 365 Business is built to deliver the productivity tools and security services businesses need in a single, simple-to-manage product. It safeguards company information, extending security across users, apps, and devices. It helps ensure PCs are up to date and secure, helping prevent security vulnerabilities that cyber-thieves often exploit. It also provides protection for company information across devices, with the ability to remove company data from lost or stolen devices.

Empower your people

Microsoft 365 Business delivers the productivity and collaboration tools businesses need to help their people be their most productive. It includes the suite of Office 365 productivity and collaboration apps, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as Outlook for email; SharePoint and OneDrive for sharing files with customers, co-workers, and suppliers; and Microsoft Teams for chat-based teamwork.

Simplify your IT management

Microsoft 365 Business is designed to reduce the complexity and costs of managing technology for businesses and their IT partners. It offers simple setup and management, so business owners and their teams can put more of their time and energy toward building their businesses. From a single console, you can quickly set up new employees, configure device security policies, and manage user identity and access, as well as ensure all your people are on the most up-to-date versions of Windows 10 and Office. And the single per-user, per-month subscription streamlines costs and simplifies management.

Microsoft is committed to helping empower and safeguard small and medium-sized businesses across the globe. To learn more about Microsoft 365 Business, contact your Microsoft Partner or visit a Microsoft Store.

Acquire customers and nurture business growth with three new apps

Today, we are also making available three new apps to help small businesses acquire new customers, increase revenue, and accelerate billing and receivables.

Microsoft Connections lets businesses send professional-looking marketing emails that showcase their brand and drive sales.

Microsoft Listings helps businesses acquire new customers and build their brand by getting their business listed on Facebook, Google, Bing, and Yelp.

Microsoft Invoicing provides estimate and invoicing tools that help accelerate payment and manage cash flow.

These new business apps can be managed centrally from the Business center. They build upon three business apps from Office 365 already available:

Bookings simplifies the process of scheduling and managing customer appointments.

Outlook Customer Manager provides simple customer management for small businesses, right within Outlook.

MileIQ offers a smarter way to track mileage, with automatic mileage logging, easy classification as business or personal, and comprehensive reporting.

Together, these apps form a toolkit for small business owners to run and grow their businesses. You can learn more about these apps in today’s business apps from Office 365 announcement.

Give Firstline Workers the tools they need to do their best work with StaffHub

Firstline Workers make up much of the global workforce and are the heart of many small and medium-sized businesses. StaffHub is a purpose-built app to help Firstline Workers manage their workday, allowing business owners and employees to easily create and manage schedules, assign and complete tasks, and communicate with each other.
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Source: Empower your team and safeguard your business with Microsoft 365 Business Office Blogs

See also: Introducing Office 365 business apps Office - Windows 10 Forums

Windows 10: Microsoft 365 Insider test program is open for business

Microsoft 365 Insider test program is open for business

Microsoft 365 Insider test program is open for business

Microsoft 365 Insider test program is open for business

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