A few changes within Microsoft 365 have been made to help remote workers work much more securely. Using tools like Teams has made sharing, collaborating and keeping connected with our remote coworkers a breeze. A recent update and addition of new tools aim to improve security, increase productivity, and simplify troubleshooting. Let’s take a look at what some of the updates are all about. 

Multi-factor Authentication makes it easier for administrators to secure their Microsoft environment. Users will continue to use their single sign-on. They will be prompted to go through one more step in order to login, most users can use a code that is sent to your mobile device or email. The MFA security add-on is required however at no extra cost. This addition makes accessing your tools from anywhere on any device of your choosing possible.  

Microsoft is putting the focus on improving remote work productivity with the newly introduced Productivity Score. This new tool measures key pieces of data based on the tenant or user. Key metrics like Content collaboration, Mobility (efficiency on different devices) and Communications (Outlook, Teams chat) help paint the picture for each end user.  

The Network Connectivity analytics category provides insight into where your users may be working and the connectivity challenges they may be facing. Poor network connectivity can inhibit access to applications such as Teams, SharePoint, Exchange and sometimes Outlook.  

Endpoint Analytics which can help measure how efficiently your users are working or can be working. Microsoft refers to it as time to productivity. This measures lag time, time to get up and running or hardware issues that could be slowing down your users. These metrics will give administrators the insight they need to help improve the end user’s experience and ability to work remotely.  

If you’d like to put the Endpoint Manager experience or any other of these powerful tools to work for your Microsoft environment, you will need one of the following;  An Intune license, an EMS license (Enterprise Mobility & Security), and/or a 365 E3 license or higher.  

A few other additions to make note of –  

Managing user devices and multiple endpoints remotely has improved as well, thanks largely in part to an upgraded Admin Manager portal in Azure. Unified App Delivery simply put; from the Admin/Manager portals, selected Applications can be pushed out to each endpoint selected with ease.  

Investing in and taking advantage of these new updates/changes to the Microsoft 365 environment should help maintain, aid and boost productivity amongst your workforce now or in the future.  

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