Office 365 Groups

Microsoft is very keen that Office 365 tenants should move away from email distribution groups to embrace the world of Office 365 Groups. There is lots to like about Groups, but I have some doubts about the way Microsoft is cajoling people to move.

Microsoft is convinced that Office 365 tenants should move from old-fashioned email distribution lists to embrace the new world of collaboration enabled by Office 365 Groups. A new conversation method allows OWA users to convert DLs that they own. Is it a winner?

Microsoft has updated the Outlook apps for iOS and Android so they can now access conversations in Office 365 Groups. It’s a good step forward, if only maybe to reduce the number of Office 365 related apps you have to install on a phone.

Microsoft Planner added the ability to assign multiple people to a task. It’s a good step, but it’s the first new feature in nine months. That’s curious when you compare to the development cadence of other Office 365 applications.

The latest version of the PowerShell module for Azure Active Directory contains the cmdlets to recover a deleted Office 365 Group (and a plan or a team). We have been waiting for this feature for two and a half years, but maybe the waiting makes the feature all the sweeter…

Microsoft plans to auto-generate Office 365 Groups for managers to enable them to collaborate better with employees. Sounds good, until you realize that the reporting relationships stored in Azure Active Directory drive the process. And we all know how reliable that information really is.

Backup vendors have been slow to move from an on-premises view of data. Office 365 applications form a software parts bin used to build new apps and backup and restore is more complex. AvePoint now supports backup and restore of Outlook Groups. One step forward…

Since the integration of the modern SharePoint Team Site with Office 365 Groups, there has been a call within the community for more permission controls. These controls are finally here.

Teams and Planner are excellent examples of new functionality that Microsoft can create using the toolkit of parts that exist within Office 365. The two applications have excited and delighted customers since their announcement, but the applications are not yet complete. Some challenges exist that Microsoft really needs to take on to round out functionality and capabilities.

Office 365 Connectors provide a means to connect network data sources such as Twitter, Trello, and RSS feeds to Office 365 Groups and Microsoft Teams. The out-of-the-box connectors work well, but there’s nothing like being able to process your own data, which is exactly what the Incoming Webhook connector allows you to do. In this example, we grab some Office 365 service incident information and post it to a group. All a mere matter of writing some PowerShell code.