Thursday, December 14, 2017

Introducing Microsoft 365



Microsoft has just released an extremely powerful Solution which combines Productivity and Security with Device Management . Its called Microsoft 365. So what is Microsoft 365?  A Simple way to explain the Solution would be to say that it  has 3 components:



a.       Office 365 Business Professional   https://techgyan.in/office-365/  

b.       Windows 10  https://techgyan.in/windows/  

c.       Enterprise Mobility + Security ( partial)  https://techgyan.in/enterprise-mobility-security/  

So in one license , you get Complete Productivity with Security and Device Management , be in laptop, desktop or Mobiles/ Tablets

To know more , visit  https://techgyan.in/microsoft-365/

Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007
IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016


Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Microsoft Teams Video




Microsoft has added  Teams App a few months back   to Office 365 Productivity Platform. To help you understand Teams, I have created a short video which explains how you can increase your Productivity


To know more about Office 365, visit our Office 365 page 







Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani





Wednesday, November 8, 2017

Azure Files and Azure File Sync


Azure Files and  Azure File Sync  

Most of the Companies , Large and Small, have File Servers . Microsoft has  released couple of great applications to manage Files in the Cloud. These are Azure Files and Azure Files Sync.

Azure File Service
Azure files are fully managed File shares in the Cloud. When you have a local network, you can attach a NAS box so that all users in a network can access the files. Inside a cloud service, unfortunately , this is absent. This need is fulfilled by Azure File Service.

Azure Files use cases:

1.   Replace On Premise file servers or supplement with Azure File sync

2.   Lift and shift applications. If you are moving any application to the Cloud , the using Azure Files, you can move both Application and Data to the Cloud. Or you can implement Hybrid scenario where application runs On Premise and Data resides in the Cloud. If you have an app that works with your on-premise file server, moving it to Azure means rewriting it, or setting up a file server in the cloud. Azure Files is perfect for that.

3.   Shared Application settings. If you are running a Distributed application at multiple locations, and there is a need for these multiple applications to access common  application settings , these can be on Azure Files

4.   A Cloud Application can write logs , metrics, crash dumps on Azure files. Then using Azure File Sync  these will be replicated on local Server periodically.

Azure File Sync


Azure File Sync syncs file shares to Storage Account using Azure File Service.


Features and Benefits

1.   Multiple File Servers at multiple locations. Sync all to single Azure File Storage. Commonly used files are cached on local server . If local server goes down, quickly install another Server or VM and sync Azure files to it.

2.   The older , rarely accessed files will move to Azure thus freeing your local file Server .

3.   Sync Group helps to manage locations that should be kept in sync with each other. Every Sync Group has one common Cloud Storage. So a Sync Group will have one Azure End point and multiple Server end points. There is a 2 way sync so that changes to Cloud are replicated on local server within 12 to 24 hours. But changes on a local server are replicated to all end points within 5 minutes.

4.   An agent is installed on the Server end point . There is no need to change or relocate data on a different volume. Thus it is non-disruptive type of agent.

5.   Every Server end point creates an Azure file share in the storage account. End user experience is unchanged

6.   When a particular local file is getting synced , then it is locked. But this is only for a few seconds.

7.   A Disaster Recovery Solution for File Server. If local File Server is destroyed, set up a VM or physical server , join to the previous sync group and you get “rapid restore”.

8.   When a file is renamed or moved, the meta data is preserved.

9.   Its different from One Drive .  One Drive is for Personal Document management and is not a general purpose File Server. One Drive is primarily meant for collaborating on Office files. Not optimized for very large files , CAD drawings, multimedia development projects.

10.Azure File Sync works with On Premise AD  and not Azure AD.

Use cases for Azure File Sync:

1.   Company with multiple offices having a need to share files with all offices.

2.   Branch Office backup of files. In real world, the files of branch offices rarely get backed up.

3.   Disaster Recovery Solution in case File Server goes down.

4.   New Branch Office setup . You can setup new Server and connect to same Azure Storage.

5.   Move old data automatically to Azure . This is Cloud Tiering. The non used data will move to Azure. The files will have greyed icons with an offline O file attribute to tell user that this file is only on Azure.





Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007
IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016

Thursday, October 12, 2017

Office 2007 is End Of Life



As previously announced , Microsoft has ended extended support for Office 2007. What that means is that there will be no more security patches , feature updates for Office 2007, which includes Word 2007, Excel 2007 , PowerPoint 2007 and Outlook 2007.  There will be no extension of the paid support for Office 2007 . This also includes Exchange 2007 and SharePoint 2007 Server.

Outlook 2007 and Office 365
If any Customers are accessing Office 365 mailbox using Outlook 2007, it will be important to upgrade by end of October after which access to the online mailbox will not be possible.  The reason is that Outlook 2007 access Exchange Online mailbox using Outlook Anywhere , also called RPC over HTTP protocol . The new protocol MAPI over HTTP is more robust and also supports multi factor authentication for Office 365. 

To know more about its implications and possible solutions, visit  here 



Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Manage Time of Frontline Staff with StaffHub



There are many Industries which need to manage their Front line Staff/ Workers. These Industries typically have people working in shifts .The Managers have an acute need for a Solution which will enable them to manager the time of their Staff , communicate with them and share information.


Which Industries?

Think of Hospitality , Travel, Retail, restaurants , Healthcare, Manufacturing , IT Services , Software Development and many more.


Introducing StaffHub

StaffHub is a Cloud based Solution which  enables Managers to manager time of their Staff . It also acts as a Platform to share information . For the Staff , it is a perfect app for their Mobile devices to check their schedule and request for change in schedule. And much more.

To know more , please visit  https://techgyan.in/staffing/

Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007

IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

Automate Appointments with Bookings




There are many small and mid sized businesses whose major focus is to provide professional services to their Customers. Think of Doctors, Legal Consultants, Restaurants, Beauty Salons, Financial Services and many more. The common point with all is that there are resources, which could be specific consultants or they could be a Restaurant Table which people can book. In order to book the resource, a lot of effort is needed, be it multiple phone calls or emails. All that takes time.  



We are pleased to launch a Web Service called Bookings, which will allow customers to schedule appointments using automated web processes. To know more , please visit  Bookings 


Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007

IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Document Management with Office 365



One Application which has played a huge role in the popularity of SharePoint Technologies is Document Management System ( DMS) . Whether you are a small Company with 5 Computers or a large Enterprise with hundreds and thousands of Computers , managing Documents is an important task.  

Traditionally , the only way Companies managed Documents was to store them in My Documents folder of their PC or on their File Server under Folders. But SharePoint Technologies allows Companies to do a much better Management of Documents . In fact the features available in SharePoint make it a better DMS when compared to dedicated Document Management Systems . No wonder Companies are moving to SharePoint Technologies in order to manage their Documents.


To understand how you can use Office 365 in general and SharePoint in particular to do effective Document Management, visit 


Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards

 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007
IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016


Monday, May 15, 2017

Ransomware Protection



As you read this , many Customers all over the World have become victims of “WannaCrypt” ransomware. Can you be affected ? If yes, what steps do you need to take  in the short term and long term to protect yourself? 

All these questions and some more resources have been put together so that you can refer to them and take action on the suggested steps.

 The resources are available at   http://www.techgyan.com/Pages/ransomwareprotection.aspx

Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007

IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

How to Restrict Access to Cloud Services



With every passing day, more and more applications are shifting to the Cloud from On Premise. But with this shift , there are also Data Security and access related questions which come up. Some of the questions that  Customers are asking :

1.  Can we ensure that the access to the Corporate Cloud   is allowed only when the person is in the Office?

2.  Can we allow access to certain applications to only a group of people?

3.  For certain apps , can we have an additional layer of security like a OTP on a mobile phone?

4.  Can we restrict users from accessing Corporate Cloud  using a Mobile App or Mobile browser? 

5.  Can we ensure that only Company devices are allowed to access Corporate Cloud Data?

6.  Can we ensure that only the devices which are a part of my Active Directory can access the Cloud?

7.  Can we know which user has accessed what data and at what time?

The good news is that all of the above is possible .


To know more  , visit Restricted Cloud Access.

Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here

with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007
IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016



Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Office 365. How to maximize its value


Office 365 is a State of the Art Cloud Services offering from Microsoft . It is potentially  the BEST Productivity Platform in the World. However , you can maximize the value of Office 365 only if you take care of 3 aspects 1) Proper initial Implementation 2) Ongoing Support  3) Continuous implementation of new features and workloads.


To know more on how you can maximize the benefits of using Office 365 , visit Office 365 Services.


To watch our video on the same , visit : https://youtu.be/a4jsFWcliSc
Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here



with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007

IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Email Management . Why do you need it . And how to do it


Email has become an indispensable part of our Work life. It is a preferred mode of Business Communication . At work , we are spending more and more time on Emails.  Besides this , there are host of reasons why Emails Management is necessary.


To know more, visit Email Management


Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here



with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani


Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007

IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016 (www.iamcp.org) 

Friday, March 10, 2017

Check upcoming Meetings from Email Inbox



All of us have faced a situation where we are checking our Emails and we have this urge for multiple reasons, to check our upcoming meeting . So we leave our inbox, go to our Calendar , and see the schedule of our next few meetings . This sequence keeps repeating regularly . Every such instance leads to loss of productive time.

There is a Solution for this. A new feature has been introduced which will help you save time . This is an example of the wonderful integration between Office 365 Calendar and Inbox. You can now at a glance check your upcoming meetings right from your Inbox. 



Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here



with warm regards

 Suresh Ramani


Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007

IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Do Companywide Task Management using Microsoft Cloud Services



Tasks are an integral part of our lives. Whether it is Work, or Community or Family , our Life is nothing but a series of Tasks which need to be executed for us to achieve our objectives. However , managing these Tasks is a challenge for almost all of us . If we could just execute our Tasks better , our lives would become so much meaningful.


Introducing a Task Management System based on Microsoft Cloud Services . To know more, visit Task Management



Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here



with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani

Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007
IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016


Thursday, February 2, 2017

Carry files and documents in your pocket with SharePoint Mobile App



SharePoint Online is a very important workload of Office 365, the World’s BEST Productivity Platform. Companies , Large and Small  use SharePoint for many applications like Document Management , Workflow Applications, etc. 


The good news is that Microsoft has launched a versatile SharePoint Mobile App which gives allows users to leverage the power of SharePoint using a regular Mobile Phone.


To know more about the features of SharePoint Mobile App , visit  SharePoint Mobile App

Please leave your valued feedback by clicking  here



with warm regards
 Suresh Ramani



Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007
IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016



Thursday, January 19, 2017

Copy files from Office 365 OneDrive to SharePoint


Office 365 Productivity Platform comes with 2 major Workloads for managing Documents:

SharePoint Team Sites are a great way to store Documents which are relevant to Teams like Sales, Admin, etc.


OneDrive for Business is the place where a User creates and stores documents relevant to him and which he occasionally shares with his colleagues within and outside the Company.


As a part of the work process , a user usually starts creating a document in his OneDrive . However , later he may realize that this document is also needed by Team members . So he would need to copy this to the Document Library of the relevant SharePoint Team Site.

To facilitate this , a User can directly do a Cloud to Cloud copy of a Document from his OneDrive to SharePoint Team site .

To know about the process visit : Copy files from OneDrive to SharePoint

Please leave your valued feedback by clicking here


with warm regards

Suresh Ramani

www.TechGyan.com
YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/user/techgyani/videos
Microsoft MVP 2009
Microsoft Worldwide Partner of the Year 2011 & 2007

IAMCP Worldwide Gold Award Winner 2016