Introducing Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is a commercial product name created primarily to simplify the licensing, but it consists of a rather heterogenous group of technical, cloud, and on-premise products. In this section, you will learn the structure of Microsoft 365 and focus on the components relevant for a Microsoft Power Platform solution.
Microsoft 365 consists of three main groups of products:
- Microsoft Windows 10
- Microsoft Office 365
- Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
You'll already be familiar with the purpose of the Windows 10 operating system, so in the next sections, we will focus on the relevant components of Microsoft Office 365 and Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security.
Introducing Microsoft Office 365
Microsoft Office 365 is a group of cloud services as well as desktop products from the Microsoft Office family. Many of the Microsoft Office 365 products are used very frequently as part of Power Platform solutions.
Microsoft Exchange
Microsoft Exchange is the cloud messaging solution based on the established on-premise product. Microsoft Exchange is one of the most integrated Microsoft Server products in Power Platform solutions, since it extends the solution with the email channel, and supports the calendar, appointments, tasks, and contact synchronization. The integration with Exchange is also required for Power Platform integration with Office 365 groups.
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft SharePoint is a document management solution, collaboration space, intranet solution, and more and is also heavily used in Power Platform solutions specifically for the integrated document management capability. The integration with SharePoint is also required for several other Power Platform integrations, for example, OneDrive, OneNote, Microsoft Teams, and Office 365 groups.
Microsoft OneDrive for Business
Microsoft OneDrive for Business is private document storage, as opposed to Microsoft SharePoint, where document sharing and collaboration is a key capability. Power Platform solutions integrate with OneDrive for Business to provide integrated document management capability for both scenarios: collaborative document management with SharePoint and private document management with OneDrive for Business.
Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft OneNote is a note-taking application where the user can take notes and organize them into notebooks, sections, and pages. The notes can be of various types: text, drawings, recorded audio and video, and attached files. Power Platform solutions integrate with OneNote to provide a context-based, note-taking capability.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is the new collaboration platform unifying and extending the backend services of document management, mailbox and calendar, collaboration groups, chat, telephony, and conferencing into an end user collaboration workspace. Power Platform solutions integrate with Teams to bring the Power Platform solution's structured business content into the overall collaboration capabilities of Teams.
Microsoft Yammer
Microsoft Yammer is an enterprise social network solution providing similar capabilities to Teams. Yammer is used primarily for chat-based communication, but also supports document sharing. Power Platform solutions integrate with Yammer primarily for providing the context-based chat capability.
Microsoft Office 365 Groups
Microsoft Office 365 Groups is another collaboration solution offering email communication, group calendars, file sharing, and integration with other apps. Power Platform solutions integrate with Office 365 Groups to provide a collaborative workspace for users not having a Power Platform product license.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is an email client providing capabilities for emails, calendar appointments, tasks, and contacts. Microsoft Outlook is available as a desktop application, as an app for mobile devices, and as a web client. Power Platform solutions integrate with Outlook to provide users with a well-known product that is extended and integrated with Power Platform capabilities as a unified workspace.
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a text processing solution available as a desktop application, as an app for mobile devices, and as a cloud solution – Word Online. Power Platform solutions integrate with Word to provide template-based document generation enriched with Power Platform data.
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet solution available as a desktop application, as an app for mobile devices, and as a cloud solution – Excel Online. Power Platform solutions integrate with Excel to provide template-based document generation enriched with Power Platform data as well as data export and data import capabilities.
Overviewing Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security
Microsoft Enterprise Mobility + Security is a group of cloud and on-premise products for security and mobility management. The group consist of various products, not all of which are relevant for the Power Platform.
Microsoft Intune
Microsoft Intune is a cloud solution dedicated to mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM). This solution is used to enroll mobile devices, enforce device protection, data protection and compliance policies, separate private and corporate data for private devices used for business purposes, and so on. Microsoft Intune is used to manage mobile devices with installed Power Apps, Power Automate, Power BI, and Dynamics 365 mobile apps to manage encryption and app-to-app communication. It can also be used to uninstall and wipe out Power Platform business apps for lost and stolen devices or in case an employee leaves the company.
Microsoft Cloud App Security
Microsoft Cloud App Security is a cloud solution dedicated to identifying risks and cyber threats and protecting customers' cloud service environments. The solution has connectors to many Microsoft and third-party cloud services, including Microsoft Dynamics 365. In order to include Dynamics 365 in the Microsoft Cloud App Security protection, Dynamics 365 auditing must be enabled.
System Center Configuration Manager
System Center Configuration Manager (now part of the Microsoft Endpoint Manager suite) is an on-premise solution dedicated to the device and application management of Microsoft Windows devices. The solution is used to enroll Windows-based server and desktop devices, install and upgrade Windows applications, enforce policies, grant access to corporate resources, and so on. System Center Configuration Manager can be used to manage Power Platform components that are physically installed on users' PCs, such as Dynamics 365 client for Outlook, Unified Service Desk, or other local installations.
Contoso Inc. using Microsoft 365
Following a detailed analysis of the current deployment and use of the Microsoft 365 subscription and the opportunities to integrate many of the Microsoft 365 services with the Power Platform, Contoso Inc. has made a decision regarding a number of usage scenarios.
Using Microsoft Exchange
Contoso Inc. plans to establish server-side integration between the Dynamics 365 applications and Exchange so as to provide an integrated email and calendar experience.
Using Microsoft SharePoint
Contoso Inc. will establish integration between the Dynamics 365 applications and SharePoint for integrated document management, specifically in the sales department.
Using Microsoft OneDrive for Business
Contoso Inc. will establish integration between the Dynamics 365 applications and OneDrive for Business so as to enable a private document store for confidential documents where sharing is not desired.
Using Microsoft OneNote
Contoso Inc. will establish integration between the Dynamics 365 applications and OneNote to benefit from the capabilities of OneNote in terms of storing not just text, but also handwriting, pictures, video, and audio to bring this data into context with Dynamics 365 records.
Using Microsoft Teams
Contoso Inc. just deployed Microsoft Teams across the entire organization and will establish integration with Dynamics 365 to provide a unified collaboration workplace extended with Dynamics 365 data.
Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel
Contoso Inc. plans to benefit from the integrated Dynamics 365 App for Outlook as well as from standard template capabilities with Word and Excel.
Using Microsoft Intune
Contoso Inc. will use Intune to deploy and manage the Power Platform mobile apps on employees' mobile devices.
Using Microsoft Cloud App Security
Contoso Inc. will use Microsoft Cloud App Security to enhance the security of the Power Platform solution by integrating this component into the solution.