This month, we look at some very random notes. Free Office 365 subscriptions, migrations from the yucky G stuff, security, and more. And clearly, I had too much caffeine because I feel very “cheeky” as I write about each topic. With SharePoint Conference being in May, I am certain next month will be jammed pack with news. Speaking of the conference, if you are there be sure to find me and say hello. Be warned, I am a hugger.

O365 Developer Subscriptions can be renewed

STOP! Don’t skip this. I know I used that developer word, but you still need this. Have you ever wanted your own Office 365 tenant so you could test things without fear of IT locking you out or without you destroying something important? Then get yourself an Office 365 Developer subscription for free. Now you can develop and test in Office 365 without destroying things. And the big announcement, is now you can renew the subscriptions. This is cool, and important if you want to continue to be awesome at Office 365.

PowerApps added a ton of little features

It is no secret; I love PowerApps and this month they gave you a whole bunch of reasons to love it more. They updated the Responsive App Properties, a new way to Debug, a semicolon change to cut down on errors to debug, icons got more flexible, and more. Those guys were on a tear of fixing the little nagging things that no one gets excited for. Unless you are me, who build apps seven days a week. Either way, check them out and tell me which is your favorite.

Also, check out all the content Tony covered this month; his deep dives into Office 365 will help you get more out of your subscription.

Migrate off of G Suite

In case you are wondering, I am not a fan of the G Suite, so this announcement makes me super happy. Microsoft has added a tool for migrations to the Exchange admin center and this handy guide to help you use it. The idea is it gives you the ability to do a staged migration as you move your mail over. Hooray. One of my darkest memories of working with start-ups was using G Suite. I am glad it is over.

Security Policy Advisor for O365 goes public preview

Sounds fancy. The idea is the tool is built to give you more insight into all of those security policies you are trying to apply. It will also look at how your users are currently using Office and make suggestions to enhance your security posture. This will be super helpful since polices and the threats they mitigate are moving targets; what worked last week might now work this week. Whether you are a small business owner or a mega IT shop, I am certain we can all use more help trying to keep the bad guys at bay. You can read more here. Just another reason I think your data is far safer in Office 365 than on-prem today.

Slack is starting to embrace Office 365

As our dear friend Brad wrote earlier this month, Slack Hopes to Become Stickier with New Office 365 Integration; the people at Slack must be feeling the pressure from Microsoft Teams. The integration features are not anything amazing but core pieces that help them to start building the bridge to try to give people one less reason to switch. Features include File previews, sending emails with an add-on, and calendar sync. It will be fun to see where this story goes.