Russell Smith

Cayosoft started life as a license management solution for Microsoft 365 and it gradually evolved into a comprehensive backup, protection, and administration product for Active Directory (AD) and Microsoft Entra ID. In this episode of Petri Dish, Petri’s Editorial Director, Russell Smith, talks to Cayosoft CEO and founder Bob Bobel about managing complexity in Identity…

If you’re a Power BI user, when your contract is next due for renewal, you’re going to be in for a surprise. Power BI Pro licenses are increasing from $10 to $14 per user per month and Power BI Premium is going up from $20 to $24 per user per month, that’s a 40% and…

Old habits die hard and Microsoft’s efforts to get users and organizations to adopt passwordless authentication has been a slow burn. At last week’s Secure 2025 event, Microsoft announced that it’s hoping to encourage more users to choose passwordless authentication by improving the Microsoft Account login experience. Here’s what we found out. Microsoft and other…

This Week in IT, Windows 11 QMR finally reaches Windows Insiders, Microsoft Accounts are getting a new login experience, and Power BI prices get a big hike. Links and resources Episode overview This Week in IT, Russell discusses recent updates and changes in Microsoft’s products and services, particularly focusing on Windows 11, Microsoft accounts, and…

This Week in IT, Microsoft has started working on the next version of Windows 11, Microsoft Office apps are getting a performance boost, and AI capabilities are coming to Entra ID. Links and resources Episode overview This Week in IT, Russell covers recent developments in Microsoft’s ecosystem, particularly focusing on Windows 11 and its associated…

Have you ever felt overwhelmed by the complexity of Microsoft’s licensing agreements? If so, you’re not alone. Licensing is probably the least favorite subject of Petri’s readers, but somebody’s got to manage it. Licensing can get complex, and Microsoft is starting to sell its cloud services directly and bypassing parts of the channel, so there…

This Week in IT, AMD says AI PCs will be a no brainer for businesses but exactly what benefit will they provide? Plus, Teams gets a new live chat feature, and Microsoft updates the Windows Admin Center with new security tools for Windows Server. Links and resources Episode overview This week in IT, AMD advocates…

This Week in IT, Microsoft is set to discontinue the Remote Desktop App, a new AI startup aims to help organizations with Microsoft licensing, and workers are spending 9 hours a week searching for information. Links and resources Episode overview Microsoft is discontinuing its Remote Desktop app on May 27, 2025, recommending users to migrate…

This Week in IT, 60% of UK workers report tech overload, Microsoft is retiring Skype in May, and Teams gets some new features. Links and resources Episode overview In this week’s IT news, 60% of UK workers report tech overload, and Microsoft is retiring Skype in May, with new features added to Teams.

This Week in IT, as Microsoft completes it EU data boundary project, Bert Hubert tells the Register that M365 is a geopolitical risk under Trump 2.0, admins get new Copilot feedback controls, and Microsoft introduces new Tenant Outbound Email Limits in Exchange Online. Links and resources Episode overview This Week in IT, Russell discusses concerns…

This Week in IT, Microsoft makes a significant breakthrough in the race to build commercially useful quantum computers, File Explorer gets cleaned up, and Russian hackers are targeting 2FA codes again. Links and resources Episode overview This Week in IT, Russell covers Microsoft’s quantum computing breakthrough, File Explorer updates, and Russian hacker attacks on multi-factor…

This Week in IT, Microsoft Teams is bringing a Facebook-style storyline to users, the February CU for Windows 11 brings several new features and updates to File Explorer and the Taskbar, and government users in Australia think Microsoft Copilot isn’t quite as good as they’d hoped. Links and resources Episode overview This week’s IT news…