February 2023 Update for Office 365 for IT Pros

Update #92 Released to Subscribers

The Office 365 for IT Pros writing team is pleased to announce the availability of monthly update #93 for the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. Subscribers to the EPUB/PDF version can download the updated files from Gumroad.com while Kindle subscribers must contact Amazon support to ask them to release the updates. Please consult our FAQ for more information about obtaining updated files.

Update #92 includes changes to many chapters. More details about the major changes covered this month are in our change log. However, it’s important to realize that we do not document every small change made in chapters. For instance, if we rewrite a paragraph to improve its clarity or make a point more forcibly, we might not note that fact. It’s all part of the constant maintenance we perform for the book.

User Feedback

We love receiving feedback from readers and were happy to receive several notes in January that helped us to improve the book. If you find something that doesn’t seem right or could be clearer, let us know by sending email to me. Before you do, please check the latest update to make sure that the fault exists there. When you write, it’s great if you include the chapter name, the heading where the problem exists, and details of why you think we’ve got something wrong.

82 Different Countries

As our subscribers know, we use Gumroad.com to distribute Office 365 for IT Pros. Every year, Gumroad lets us know where our books go. In 2022, people in 82 countries subscribed to Office 365 for IT Pros. The top ten countries for subscribers are:

• United States.
• United Kingdom.
• Germany.
• Australia.
• Canada.
• The Netherlands.
• Switzerland.
• Belgium.
• France.
• New Zealand.

It’s a great feeling to know that our work gets to so many places. We know that Office 365 is available in many more countries (Microsoft says 249 different markets), so we’ve still got some room to grow.

Microsoft 365 Security for IT Pros

On 16 January 2023, the team that takes care of the Microsoft 365 Security for IT Pros eBook released their 2023 edition. We don’t have anything to do with the Security book, which is staffed by a team of competent individuals that don’t need our help. We like to think that the Security book learned from our processes and procedures, but that’s about the limit of the connection. If you want to contact the security book team, head over to their website.

Time Running Out to Upgrade Azure AD PowerShell Scripts

We’ve invested a lot of time to continually improve and expand the coverage of the Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK in Chapter 23 of Office 365 for IT Pros. PowerShell is a critical automation tool for Microsoft 365 tenant administrators and we are very conscious that time is running out to upgrade scripts written using cmdlets from the Azure AD, Azure AD Preview, and MSOL (Microsoft Online Services) modules. Although the formal deadline to retire these modules is June 30, 2023, the license management cmdlets will stop working from March 31, 2023, after Microsoft 365 switches to a new licensing platform.

Make sure that your scripts are ready for the transition. Migrations are always painful, but at least if you understand the technology and understand how the Graph works, you can take on the task of switching out old cmdlets with confidence. Before you do, be sure to read the sections in Chapter 23 that deal with the Graph and the Graph SDK. We’ll continue to update our coverage by adding new examples to Chapter 23 to help people through the migration with confidence.

Enjoy Update #92!