Transcription
Jonathan, we have a catastrophe.
Charles, what's happened now?
I've just received an email from Microsoft saying I'm getting more features at no extra cost.
Right. And oh, come on, Jonathan. Nothing from Microsoft is ever free. Nothing. This is clearly some kind of scam. I've alerted the fraud department.
Charles. No, no, it's real. Microsoft have added more features to Microsoft 365 E3 and E5.
So, Microsoft have started giving things away. Gosh, what next? Hotel mini bars becoming affordable.
Charles, I tell you what, let me explain exactly what's happened because I think this is a pretty big deal. Okay, here is what's happened. Microsoft have just bundled several more features into Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 and now they're included at no extra cost. But before anyone gets too excited, most of our clients won't notice these changes because this update, as I've said, is for Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 and most of our customers are using Business Premium, which it's not changed. So these changes are really aimed at enterprise organization, but it's still a very important update for you to understand. So here's the video.
So what exactly have Microsoft added to these enterprise suites? Well, if your organization uses Microsoft 365 E3, you now automatically get three features which were previously add-ons. First up for A3 is remote help. Now imagine this. One of your employees is having a problem with the laptop. Maybe teams won't open. Maybe their printer has vanished. But they need help and fast. Normally what happens? Well, they call it and it will try to talk them through it on the phone. Click that. No, not that. That. What can you see now? It's slow and it's frustrating. And of course, most of the time the issue is impossible to fix without it actually seeing the screen. So remote help can fix all that instantly. It lets your IT team securely connect to the employees device. They can see exactly what's happening and take control of the device to fix the issue all in a way that's fully audited and integrated with Microsoft 365. So instead of long phone calls or support tickets bouncing back and forth, it can just jump in, fix the problem, and your employees can get back to work.
Next up for E3 is something called advanced analytics. Now, think how often your employees say things like this. My laptop, it's really slow today. Oh, I've got this application. It keeps crashing. Something's just not working right today. Now, these problems are real, but they're also a bit vague. It usually have to guess what's going on, which can take time, and it's not always accurate. Advanced analytics changes that completely. It gives your IT team clear, realtime insights into how your company's devices are performing. So, instead of waiting for users to complain, it can actually see things. things like devices running slowly, applications crashing, hardware starting to fail, or laptops that haven't been rebooted in months. That didn't happen in your business, does it? So, they can spot problems really early, understand the root cause, and fix them before they disrupt your staff.
Now, I just want to take a quick break from today's content to thank today's video sponsor, who is Action One, the cloudnative platform built for one thing and one thing only, and that is flawless patching. Because, well, let's be honest, no one ever says, "I cannot wait to spend my day patching." It's the job everyone avoids. Yet, it's one of the most important jobs in IT security. And that is where Action One stands apart from those all-in-one jackof alltrade tools that try to do everything and end up just doing patching just kind of okay. But Action One is different. It's purpose-built. It unifies OS and third party patching across Windows, Mac OS, and Linux into just a single workflow. There's no duct tape tools, no relying on winget, no surprises. It has integrated vulnerability management, real time CV detection and automated remediation, all under one roof. You also get peer-to-peer patch distribution, so updates don't crush your bandwidth, plus cloudnative automation that actually works without VPNs, servers, or scripts. But the best part, your first 200 endpoints are completely free. That's full features forever.
Now, let's get back to the content. And the third thing that has been added to E3 is Intune Plan 2. Now this it sounds very technical but the concept is very simple. Every business today has a mix of devices. You got laptops, mobiles, tablets, but maybe even specialist equipment like meeting room devices or maybe scanners. And not all of these devices fit neatly into the normal company device model. Intune Plan 2 gives you extra tools to manage these devices that don't fit the standard mold. For example, you might have staff using their personal phones to access work apps. You might have meeting room equipment that needs updating. You might have industrial devices, VR headsets, or shared tablets in retail or warehouses. Normally, those devices, they're hard to secure because you can't fully enroll them into traditional device management. Intune Plan 2 to the rescue because it solves all this by giving you extra ways to secure and manage these more specialized devices. So all of these things are now included in E3 at no extra cost.
So now let's move on to the changes with E5. Now of course you get everything that I've just mentioned but you get more advanced features. Firstly endpoint privilege management. So imagine you're an employee sitting in front of your PC and you need to do something that requires admin access, maybe installing a tool, updating software, or just changing a setting. Now, normally what happens? Well, you might call it, you log a ticket, and then you wait and wait. And sometimes it gets fixed the same day, but sometimes it doesn't. Very frustrating. With endpoint privilege management, the whole process can become instant. Instead of giving people full admin rights, which let's face it, is a huge security risk. EPM lets the user request elevated access just for that specific action and just for a few moments. So instead of logging a ticket or call an IT, they click a button, they get approval automatically or from it. They complete the task they need to complete and then the admin rights disappear again. It means that your employees stay productive and your organization it stays secure. No waiting around and no one having permanent admin rights they just don't need.
And also in E5 you now get something called cloud PKI. PKI. What's that? Well, it sounds technical, but it's simple when you break it down. Often, businesses use things like secure Wi-Fi, maybe VPNs, or certificate-based authentication. Now, behind the scenes, those things rely on something called certificates. Those are little kind of digital passports that prove a device is allowed to connect. Now, in the past, companies had to run their own onremise servers to manage all of this. They had to issue certificates, renew them, replace them, and if that server went down, you might have a few problems. It was all very expensive and painful. Now, cloud PKI moves all of that into Microsoft cloud. So, no servers or infrastructures to manage. Nice and simple.
And finally, in E5, we have something called enterprise app management. Now, think about all the software your business uses. Perhaps you use Zoom, Adobe Reader, Chrome, SevenZip, maybe even Slack. And all these need updating constantly. Now, normally your IT team has to find the latest installer. It has to package it up. It has to test it. Has to deploy it. And then it has to do the whole thing again when a new version of the software gets released. It sounds very tiring. It's all very time consuming. And if your updates fall behind, your business ends up with security risks. But don't worry because enterprise app management can fix all of that for you. Now Microsoft maintains a large library of popular business applications always up to date and in tune can automatically deploy and update them all for you. No more manual packaging, no more chasing installers and no more why is this machine still on an old version.
So there's all the features. Now I wonder why Microsoft have been so generous. Is it because it's Christmas? Firstly, licensing had become too complicated. Too many add-ons, too many SKUs. So this move does simplify things a little bit. Secondly, Microsoft wants stronger security across all organizations. So by bundling better tools, hopefully organizations can secure themselves better. And thirdly, of course, Microsoft want you fully inside the Microsoft ecosystem. So if these tools come bundled, you're more likely to use them. So let's not complain too much. This is a rare moment where Microsoft has genuinely made things simple, more secure, and more cost effective without increasing any of the prices. If you want me to create a deeper dive into any of the features that I've mentioned today, please let me know in the comments. I hope you've enjoyed today's content.
I just want to say thanks again for Action One for sponsoring this video. If you're tired of patching tools that claim to do everything but struggle with the basics, then you will find Action One is a breath of fresh air. It specializes in patching, unified OS and third-party updates, integrated vulnerability management, no dependency on winget, and peer-to-peer update distribution to save your bandwidth. And remember, the first 200 endpoints are free forever. There's a link below this video to try it for yourself. I look forward to seeing you again.