Brett Hill has done another great video on using Excel & Access with SharePoint Online:
http://brettblog.com/Home/ctl/ArticleView/mid/408/articleId/393/More-Fun-with-SPO-Using-Excel-and-Access-with-SharePoint-Online.aspx
Even more with SharePoint Online!
Service Requests possible / not-possible with BPOS
Standard Change Requests
A Standard Change Request is one that does not require approval. A Service Request can be submitted and will be acted upon without requiring further approval or escalation.
BPOS (Suite)
Change Windows Live ID Associated with BPOS Subscription
Exchange Online
Enable Exchange Online journaling
Enable external (server-side) mail forwarding
Enable POP connectivity
Reconnect disconnected mailbox
Enable multi-tenant BES service
Add/Remove/Reset Blackberry device
Wipe Blackberry device
Add or modify standard BES policy
Add custom footer or disclaimer to outbound emails
Increase conference room mailbox size
Convert universal distribution list (DG) to universal security group (SG)
Grant “Send-As” Permissions
Hide Specific Distribution Lists and/or Contacts
Customize Active Sync Policy (Enforce PIN)
Disable ActiveSync
Forefront:
Deploy x-header to bypass FOPE/BPOS spam quarantine
Add or modify FOPE policy
Grant limited access to FOSE Admin Center
Microsoft Online Platform
Populate companyname attribute
Increase AD sync object limit
Set password to never expire
SharePoint Online
Recover deleted SharePoint site collection
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Non-Standard Change Requests
A Non-Standard Change Request will require some type of escalation and approval. Generally, approval will be based on:
* 500 seats purchased
* OR a late stage Comphot Case
* OR Siebel Stage 60% or higher
If a customer does not meet these criteria, or if the requested change is not in the Non-Standard Change Request list there will be an escalation process (TBD).
BPOS Technical Product Management (TPM) and Service Management meet twice weekly (currently Tuesday and Thursday) to triage all change requests.
BPOS (Suite)
Manual Domain Verification (Without creating CNAMEs) VERY COSTLY – EASE OF USE IS NOT A JUSTIFICATION
Exchange Online
Add or modify custom BES policy
Disable Outlook Web Access (OWA)
Retention Policies
Enable IMAP connectivity
Forefront:
Request FOPE report
SharePoint Online
Offboard SharePoint Online data
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Change Requests Currently Not Allowed
These requests are frequently asked and currently not allowed..
Grant full access to FOSE Admin Center
Request audit log detail
Using version control in SharePoint Online
Brett Hill contributed a post to the Microsoft Online Services Team blog this week about a key functional of SharePoint Online (and SharePoint in general): version control!
A very simple to follow walk-through about how to use version control and start using SharePoint to it’s fullest:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/msonline/archive/2010/07/26/check-it-out-easily-enable-document-version-control-in-sharepoint-online.aspx
For more useful information like that, click on our Downloads & Help page and look under the Application Help section.
A breakdown of the iPhone 4.0 issue with Exchange Online
Over at the TechNet Forums some discussion has been going on about the inconsistent connectivity for iPhones since OS 4.0 was released – and why it was so important to upgrade to 4.0.1. To quote Daniel Trautman:
“iOS 4.0.0 has a very low timout variable, forget what specifically, but it is available on the Internet. What occurs is that the phone attempts to connect via EAS, but, when the timeout is hit, it starts up a new session without tearing down the previous attempt. This causes what is known as an “open-connection attack” on the servers, which, in basic terms, is that the number of connections per CAS (default of 500) can be taken up by one device. This prevents other devices from connecting as well as ties up server resources waiting for a response on the previous connections. Both the patch available, as well as the 4.0.1 upgrade resolve this issue by increasing the timeout variable (though I haven’t heard whether they’ve improved the connection management, however).
The patch does not change the DeviceUserAgent which Exchange uses to identify the device/OS version, but the upgrade (4.0.1) does. To prevent unpatched devices from connecting we are blocking devices with that OS. Since the DeviceUserAgent is only synced to the CAS (Exchange) upon initial sync, we are applying the block in IIS, which identifies the DeviceUserAgent on EVERY connect, so don’t have to worry about older devices that have upgraded (such as iPhone 3G/3GS).”
Important update for iPhone users
If you are running iOS 4 (ie. that is iPhone OS4) on a 3G, 3GS or 4 – then you need to update your phone to 4.0.1 before July 29 for ActiveSync to keep working as per this blog post from the MS Online Team:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/msonline/archive/2010/07/23/iphone-ios4-devices-required-to-install-ios-4-0-1.aspx
FAQ section launched
We have started compiling a FAQ section based on the learnings from our own implementations, as well as information gleaned while participating in the Microsoft Online Services TechNet forums.
If you have any questions or suggestions – shoot it through and we’ll add it!
The official roadmap for BPOS
Further to our previous posting about what’s comming in BPOS, this posting over at ZDnet reports on the official roadmap of BPOS:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/microsoft-shares-officially-its-future-bpos-plans/6857?tag=mantle_skin;content
July 2010 Service Update – new features
Over at the Microsoft Online Services Team blog they posted what new features and functionality are being released to Microsoft Online Services this month:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/msonline/archive/2010/07/12/service-update-july-2010-release-availability-features-announced.aspx
FYI for partners – I am waiting for confirmation on how partners can utilise the BlackBerry functionality. What I’ve been told so far is that you must have a paid license of BPOS in order to access it, which is a bit concerning given that partners utilise the 250 internal use licenses for free.
FYI for Australian customers who purchase via T-Suite (Telstra) – you can find more specific information about the Hosted Blackberry for Microsoft Online Services here: http://www.telstrabusiness.com/business/portal/online/site/productsservices/hostedblackberry.206007?tc=td_tc-tsuite-tbus-0_hostedblackberry