All I want for for my birthday is....

Microsoft certifications that stop changing names.  Here is a rough timeline of how being a professional with Microsoft has been

MCSA

MCSE

MCITP

MCSE

MCSA

Azure Architect

The names have changed back and forth so many times, and I just read yesterday that the names of them are being changed to more job specific titles. Please don't change your mind again next year. Although I have to admit I do like the newer testing format.

Assigning licenses in O365 via Okta

Recently had to set up Okta assign some O365 licenses. I wasn't aware at that time, that this also requires me to manage all the Azure AD roles thru Okta as well. This is a pain in the ass.

PowerShell for Intune Corp device enrollment

There are a bunch of new corporate device examples in the PowerShell github for Intune

Guy should get an award for updating this, its pretty much exactly what I've been looking for

https://github.com/microsoftgraph/powershell-intune-samples/blob/master/CorporateDeviceEnrollment/CorpDeviceEnrollment_Export.ps1


$FileName_CSV = "CorpDeviceIdentifiers" + "_" + $(get-date -f dd-MM-yyyy-H-mm-ss) + ".csv"

$CDI = Get-CorporateDeviceIdentifiers

    if($CDI){

        foreach($CD in $CDI){

        $IDI = $CD.importedDeviceIdentifier
        $Desc = $CD.description

        Write-Host "Adding '$IDI,$Desc' to '$FileName_CSV'..." -ForegroundColor Gray

        Add-Content -Value "$IDI,$Desc" -Path "$ExportPath\$FileName_CSV"

        }

    }

    else {

    Write-Host "No Corporate Device Identifiers found..." -ForegroundColor Red

    }

Write-Host

New InTune User Portal

From Microsoft

User experience update for the Company Portal app for iOS We've released a major user experience update to the Company Portal app for iOS. The update features a complete visual redesign that includes a modernized look and feel. We've maintained the functionality of the app, but increased its usability and accessibility. You'll also see: Support for iPhone X. Faster app launch and loading responses, to save users time. Additional progress bars to provide users with the most up-to-date status information. Improvements to the way users upload logs, so if something goes wrong, it's easier to report.

For awhile now, the Company portal has been lacking behind what you get from MobileIron and airwatch, with the release this week the portal feels more modern. This has been a sorely needed update for awhile now. With a lot of firms moving off of Airwatch and MobileIron when doing Microsoft renewals. We are getting weekly updates from Intune. It surely has come a long way.

Useful O365 Pro Plus

Useful little script that can help you see which license is applied to a pro plus user.

Get-MsolUser  | ? {$_.Licenses.ServiceStatus | ? {$_.ServicePlan.ServiceName -eq "OFFICESUBSCRIPTION" -and $_.ProvisioningStatus -eq "Success"}}

Export to 4k pro plus Version 1711

Cool feature by Microsoft, you can now export to presentations to 4k, this was released in version 1711.  Really cool, hopefully some people at the office who I know have asked about this can get some use out of this feature.

Conditional access

I have been working on conditional access rules this week in my test environment.  I am planning on trying to sell to my senior leadership a plan to move off traditional MDM and towards an Intune/MAM conditional access setup.

Some of the things I really like about conditional access is the ability to control all of the different client access.  I can lock it down to could application type, or domain user etc:

The only real problem I've come across is trying to sell this. It is such a huge change, and really requires all or nothing type approach.  We will see what the new year brings.