One of our clients asked us about the Service Level Agreement Microsoft offers on its Microsoft Online BPOS environment. To be honest they were the first to ask. A common question is the uptime guaranteed by Microsoft but nobody asks for the actual SLA.
Because of their question I decided to look up the SLA's. They are available through the links below:
The Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Team Blog posted an article about the integration between CRM Online and BPOS which I stumbled upon. It's a great article which gives a high level overview of all the possibilities for integrating the different BPOS products like SharePoint Online and Exchange Online with CRM Online. It's an high level overview which shows some off the capabilities off combining the two products stacks.
Last week Microsoft announced a new Service Release for BPOS. Below you'll find the mail they send out:
We are pleased to introduce the October Service Update for Microsoft Online Services, which includes several new features and enhancements designed to improve the service experience for both administrators and users. The Service Update is currently being deployed into production data centers.
Many of these service enhancements are the result of customer and partner feedback. We are pleased to deliver this Service Update in our effort to continually improve your experience with Microsoft Online Services.
Upgrades and Enhancements
The following features and capabilities are included in the October Service Update:
Bulk Activation of Users
PowerShell commandlets will be added to streamline the activation process, enabling administrators to easily automate the activation of a set of users. Most commonly, these commandlets will be used to activate a set of users that have been migrated from an Active Directory forest to Microsoft Online Services via the Directory Synchronization Tool. Previously, administrators were required to activate users one-by-one with the User Administration tools in the Microsoft Online Services Administration Center.
Commandlets added in this Service Update are:
A new version of the Microsoft Online Services Transporter Tool supporting these commandlets will be available for download at the Microsoft Download Center upon completion of the deployment of the October Service Update into production data centers for all regions.
POP Mail Clients
Supported e-mail clients for Exchange Online are being expanded to include POP-based clients. Previously, Exchange Online supported only Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and 2007.
To enable POP e-mail client support for your organization, have your administrator contact Microsoft Online Services Technical Support to open a Service Request.
Please note: Service Requests for POP enablement will be accepted upon completion of the deployment of the October Service Update into production data centers for all regions. Please reference the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog for deployment updates.
Support for 30,000 Users
The Microsoft Online Services Administration Center will support as many as 30,000 users, improving management and administration for larger organizations. Previously, Microsoft Online Services supported up to 10,000 users.
Please note that SharePoint Online will retain previously established limits (e.g., 20 sites per site collection, 50 gigabytes (GB) per site, and 1 terabyte (TB) per company).
Enhanced Support for Mac OS
The October Service Update includes several enhancements that will provide a more efficient communication and collaboration experience for organizations with Mac users.
A new Sign-In Client for the Mac OS provides a single sign-in experience and auto-configuration of Office for Mac applications and the Safari browser for use with Microsoft Online Services.
Other Mac features in this Service Update include:
The Sign-In Client for Mac will be available for download at the Microsoft Download Center upon completion of the deployment of the October Service Update into production data centers for all regions. Please reference the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog for updates on the availability of the Sign-In Client for Mac.
Timeline
Deployment of the October Service Update into production data centers has started, with deployment to all regions anticipated to be complete by mid-October.
The deployment schedule is subject to change. Updates to the deployment schedule will be announced via the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog as well as the RSS Feed from the Microsoft Online Services Administration Center.
Additional Information
All service upgrades in the October Service Update will be performed on your behalf. These changes are a mandatory upgrade for all users, so it is important that you are aware of them and understand how they may impact you.
If you have additional questions, there are several resources at your disposal. Click here for information about how to contact Microsoft Online Services Support. You can also read the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog for the latest news about the October Service Update, or participate in technical discussions on the Microsoft Online Services TechNet Forums.
Thank you!
Thank you for choosing Microsoft Online Services to host your business productivity applications. We look forward to delivering additional enhancements and capabilities that improve your service experience and help you focus on your core business initiatives.
Sincerely,
Microsoft Online Services
Today one of our clients started using Office Communications Online. We helped them get their subscription. After logging in to their Company Portal (https://home.emea.microsoftonline.com/Home/Home.aspx) they received the following error message:
You have not been assigned any services that you can use from My Company Portal. Your assigned services can be used only from your desktop. If you have questions about your services, contact your service administrator
Normally the company portal shows several services like a link to all SharePoint Online sites, Outlook Web Access and Live Meeting. Because they don't have any of these services assigned their homepage for their Company Portal is empty.
In order to get them going we helped them with downloading the Microsoft Online Services Sign In Application and installing Office Communications Server. Both can be downloaded via the Downloads page on the Microsoft Online Services / My Company Portal:
After they installed both these applications they still couldn't sign in to the environment. After talking to them they pointed out the Sign In Application showed an error message:
This application was not configured successfully
Via the Options Tab under Advanced Options a link is available called Reconfigure my desktop applications. Clicking that link solved all problems:
The list below represents my big lists of BPOS wishes. Changes we feel that need to be made to BPOS.
Do you have any items you feel the Microsoft Online team should create? Mail me or place a comment.
Updated: aug 1st 2009 / aug 4th 2009 / aug 12th 2009 / jan 21st 2010
|
Prio |
Item |
Description |
|
1 |
Maximum Size Limit Upload |
The current maximum size of up loadable documents is 50MB's. This is too small. The maximum size has been upgraded to 250 MB's |
|
1 |
PDF icon |
Currently the icon used for PDF documents is not the standard PDF icon. This should be changed. |
|
1 |
Domain mapping / Custom Domains |
The current domain name structure is very long and not customizable. Because the domain structure is not easy to understand users should be able to change this. |
| 2 |
Excel Webservices |
Excel Webservices allow users to upload and view Excel sheets online. |
| 2 |
Business Data Catalogue |
With the Business Data Catalogue it is possible to integrate other data sources. |
| 1 |
Custom Webparts |
The usage of custom webparts should be supported. Currently it is not possible to add your own webparts (or webparts created by third parties). |
| 1 |
Maximum Site Collection Size |
Currently the maximum Site Collection Size is 50GB. This should be increased. |
| 2 | Installation of the Fab 20 application templates. | You can install the 20 normal Site Templates of the Fab 40 yourselve. However the the 20 application templates cannot be installed. |
| 2 | Other SharePoint Templates | More templates to customise the sharePoint look and feel and some standard intelligent forms for HR things like Expenses, holidays etc that will get quick user buy in has to be top of my list. Submitted by Rod Reed. |
| 1 | Increased storage space |
Each user is know provisioned with 250 MB of data. This should be enlarged (Submitted by Tom Rovers) |
|
Prio |
Item |
Description |
| 2 |
Voicemail integration |
Integration with OCS Voice and the possibility to receive voicemails. (of course OCS needs to support voice for this option) |
| 2 |
Exchange 5.5 migration |
The possibility to migrate older Exchange 5.5 environments to the cloud. |
| 2 |
Notes/Domino migration |
A tool should be provided which eases Notes/Domino migration to Exchange Online. |
| 2 |
Public folders |
Exchange Online doesn't support Public Folders. The workaround is using SharePoint for this option. |
| 1 |
Outlook 2003 support |
Many of our clients still use Outlook 2003. Currently Exchange Online only supports Outlook 2007. Update: in the june update Outlook 2003 support has been added, however with some limited functionallity. |
| 1 | Forwarding of mail |
You cannot forward e-mails to external users using Outlook / Server Side rules. This should be an option. Update: Greg Rudakov pointed out that mail forwarding is an option |
| 1 | Allow Free-Busy/Calendar data between on-premises/BPOS | In a coexistence scenario Free-Busy lookup is not supported. Submitted by Greg Rudakov. |
| 2 | Catch All |
A Catch All mailaddress allows an organization to specify a mailaddress in which all mail is captured send to a specific domein (ie *@wortell.nl). |
| 3 |
Customizing OWA Login Page |
OWA has the possibility to customize the login page. This is being done in situations where OWA needs to be explained etc. Because Exchange Online is a multi tenacy environment this probably cannot be done. |
| 2 | Transport Rules | The ability to create transport rules in order to specify rules for message routing and content restriction (Submitted by Bruce Berls) |
| 2 | Managed Folders | Managed Folders are used by end users to direct mails to another environment (like SharePoint) by draggings mails to that folder (Submitted by Bruce Berls) |
| 1 | IMAP Access | (Submitted by Bruce Berls) |
| 1 | POP Access | (Submitted by Bruce Berls) |
| 1 | SMTP Relay | Creating an SMTP relay so other applications can send via Exchange (Submitted by Bruce Berls). Update: This feature has been implemented in the August Update. |
| 2 | "Send As" for Shared Mailboxes | (Submitted by Bruce Berls) |
| 2 | Journaling to On Premise Archive | The ability to journal Exchange data to an On Premise Environment (Submitted by Bruce Berls). Update: Journaling to external sources has been implemented in the August 2009 update. |
| 1 | Footers and Disclaimers | The ability to specify company wide footers and disclaimers(Submitted by Bruce Berls) |
|
Prio |
Item |
Description |
|
2 |
OCS Voice |
Integration with third party Vioce providers in order to supply a true OCS Voice environment. |
|
1 |
Federation |
Integration with other parties using OCS. |
|
1 |
Public IM connectivity |
Being able to communicate with people using Public IM systems like Windows Live. |
| 1 |
IM and presence via webclient |
Allowing IM and presence information through the webclient. |
| 2 |
Mobile client |
Support for the Windows Mobile client |
| 1 |
Content Archiving |
Ability to archive IM conversations. |
| 1 |
External video and audio |
Possibility to have audio and video conversations with other OCS users outside the local LAN. |
| 1 | Support for MAC |
(Submitted by Tom Rovers) |
|
Prio |
Item |
Description |
|
1 |
Number of contacts to be invited |
The number of contacts which can be invited within a Live Meeting session is 15. In Live Meeting Professional this number is 1250. BPOS uses Live Meeting Standard. This number should be increased. The numer of contacts has been upgrade to 150. Update (Paul Englis/Microsoft Online): The numer of contacts has been upgrade to 150. |
| 1 | Support for MAC |
(Submitted by Tom Rovers) |
|
Prio |
Item |
Description |
|
1 |
Alternative E-mail |
The admin currently has a mail address within Exchange Online (if this service is activated) and Windows Live ID. However sometimes an alternative E-mail address would be very handy (in cases in which the Windows Live ID is not the same e-mail address normally used and the admin is for instance an external admin). There is no option to specify this. |
| 1 | Service Accounts | Ability to generate Service Accounts for usage of ie Webservices of AD integration. |
| 1 | Administration on behalve |
Ability for partners to login to their clients environments. Update: This feature has been anounced at the Worldwide Partner Conference and is scheduled for the FY10 Q2 release. |
| 1 | Richer (and faster) management interface | More options. Submitted by Greg Rudakov |
| 1 | Offline (non webbased) management interface | Possibility to manage the environment via a locally installed management interfac. Submitted by Greg Rudakov |
| 1 | SSI Tool, company portal |
Direct links for SharePoint sites in the Single Sign In tool under My Company Portal. (Submitted by Michel Goulmy) |
| 1 | SSI Client Support for MAC |
Currently the SSI client only supports Windows (Submitted by Tom Rovers) |
Office Communications Online (or OCS Online) is great but has some limitations compared to an On Premise OCS implementation.
First of all there is no coexist scenario (like Exchange Online). Therefor it is not possible to use both Office Communications Online and OCS On Premise and exchange IM's between the two.
Audio and Video is limited to computers which are on the same corporate network. There cannot be any firewalls or other network traffic control devices between them. Of course this is not the case for IM's (IM's are routed through the server, Video and Voice call are set up between to clients).
Federation with other networks (like Windows Live) is not active.
OCS Voice is not supported.
However if you only need OCS IM and presence info you will be able to use OCS Online. If you only use Office Communications Online from the BPOS suite, you can integrate with an On Premise Exchange Server. So in a scenario in which an On Premise Exchange Server is active you will be able to display presence updates and Out-of-Office information from the on-premises Exchange server. This is done through the On Premise external Exchange Web Service (EWS) URLs.
At one of our clients (Elde College) we have migrated the entire network to the Microsoft platform. During the next schoolseason they will also cross borders.
Togheter with a school in Brazil and a school in Canada a musical will be performed. Performing a musical is not that strange. However..
Preparring the entire musical and performing a musical via Live Meeting and OCS is.
This truly is "Anywhere, anytime and anyplace learning"!!
