Windows 365.
This year’s most exciting news was, without a doubt, Windows 365. Thanks to Windows 365, you will now be able to run Windows 10 & 11 entirely in the cloud. That means that you will be able to access a Windows environment directly from a web browser. You can access Windows 365 from any device with an internet connection and a web browser.
This cloud PC is fully managed by Microsoft. See it as the newest Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) solution by Microsoft, hosted on Azure. The biggest difference, compared to readily available Azure Virtual Desktops (AVD), is the degree to which the environment is customised. In this regard, AVD provides far more opportunities.
Put simply, this means that Windows 365 is the ideal solution for your company if you work with standard applications such as Microsoft Office and without Legacy, as you will be greatly relieved of a lot of stress.
Unlike AVD, these Cloud PCs can be purchased for a fixed price, by choosing from different VMs based on the number of vCPUs, RAM and storage.
Dynamics 365 in Teams.
End users of Microsoft Teams can directly import data free of charge from Dynamics 365 onto the collaboration platform and view and edit it here. Integrating Dynamics 365 data into Teams will improve collaboration between employees via the Microsoft Collaboration platform, says Microsoft.
More specifically, your employees can now access, see and edit the required customer information from a CRM solution from within a Teams meeting. This provides up-to-date information for everyone within your corporation.
From what we know, this means that companies using a pay-to-use version of Teams receive Dynamics 365 access rights in Teams without having to pay any additional fees.
Microsoft Viva.
The Viva Partner Eco System continues to grow. This way you can now add courses to the Learning module from nearly all major learning partners. All four modules will be available from autumn of this year.
You pay $4 per user per month (Viva Connections is available for all O365 subscriptions), and there is a suite available with all components at $9, which you save 25% on in the beginning.
Microsoft Security.
It’s become more and more evident that Microsoft is the gold standard for security. Microsoft has proven itself as one of the best partners in security over the past years, and they continue to invest in it.
In endpoint security, Microsoft finished first in almost all studies, and the same goes for Endpoint Manager. Using these tools you can now almost manage your complete IT environment.
Microsoft Teams.
Teams in the workspace sector is becoming a leitmotif for Microsoft. Almost all applications are integrated within this platform. Moreover, Microsoft is expecting that this will be the year for Teams telephony. Luckily enough, with our partner Communicativ, we can provide you optimal support.
Azure Virtual Desktop Updates.
Virtual Desktop is very popular due to hybrid working. A major advantage is that this cloud workplace is available anywhere and that Microsoft takes care of management for you. You are responsible for the image you install the applications on to. There are different Windows 10 and there will be Windows 11 images available with Office etc. installed on them. These are the new features that were announced during the Inspire event:
- Azure Active Directory Join for virtual machines
- Automatic linking of host machines via AAD
- Start VM on Connect
- When a host is required, it will be started automatically.
- Windows multi-session support for Endpoint Manager.
- The multi-session hosts can be configured and managed via Intune.
- New metadata locations EU & UK
- The AVD configuration data can be saved in Amsterdam, if required.
- Automatic configuration via the wizard
- Automatic process to configure an AVD environment
Azure ARC.
This hybrid/multi-cloud management tool enables you to manage public cloud and private on-premise environments in the same way, and centrally, via the Azure portal. This ensures that the environment is executed securely and according to guidelines. Think about services such as Windows/Linux-Servers, SQL, web applications, Kubernetes and Azure Stack HCI.
Azure Stack HCI.
This hybrid solution is the hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI system) by Microsoft that is offered by different hardware suppliers. It’s a flexible solution based on Hyper-V technology. Management and configuration are accessed in the Azure portal, which makes for a clear overview and simple management. You want to combine computing, storage, networking on site and the advantages of the Azure Cloud platform? Then this is the perfect hybrid solution. Bechtle can provide you with a testing environment. Interested? Then contact us!
Azure Migration & Modernisation Programme (AMMP).
This Microsoft programme supports the modernisation of applications, infrastructure, data and migration to the Azure platform, which is made possible through best practices, experts, tools and by contributing to migration costs. Bechtle is qualified for this programme and is authorised to nominate you.
Need help with solutions such as Windows 365, Azure Virtual Desktop, Azure Stack HCI or ARC? Or have you read our blog or have any questions you would like to ask us? Tim and Gino would love to help you. Or take a look at our Microsoft page.
Tim ter Haar
Gino van Essen
