Recap of Microsoft Ignite 2019

I had a GREAT time at Microsoft Ignite 2019 in Orlando! I hope you were able to attend or at least catch some of the online sessions that were streamed in real-time.

One of the big highlights for me this week was attending the ENow VIP dinner where I sat between Greg Taylor (Exchange Marketing Lead extraordinaire) and Jeffrey Snover (the father of PowerShell).

I was very pleased to see how many people made the trek to Theater 9 to see my two sessions, "Reading SMTP Headers Like a Boss" (please ignore the fact that they got the photo wrong - I have no idea who that is) and "Twenty minutes to a secure environment".

Please read my recap of Microsoft Ignite 2019 on the ENow ESE Blog and learn about some significant improvements coming to Exchange Online.

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Come see me at @MSIgnite in Orlando!

I'm pleased to be speaking at Microsoft Ignite in Orlando next week. This will be a fabulous conference with lots of fantastic content!

BRK3145: IT burnout - the state of the industry panel (45 minute breakout)
Have you been working non-stop and never taking a break? Do you go on vacation, but still find yourself working? Does your leadership expect you to be available all the time even when you are not on-call? Do you go home, answering email in between all of the family things going on that evening? Are you truly present in all the things you do?
Recently, our team conducted a survey about IT burnout to get a real sense of how IT professionals are functioning and managing their personal well-being. We learned some interesting things that will surprise you, and have some statistics you won't want to miss.  Join me and a panel of MVPs to have a discussion on this tough topic.
Session ID: 78641
When: OCCC W224 F-H
Where: Tuesday 10:15-11:00am

THR3033: Reading SMTP headers like a boss (20 minute theater session)
Learn how to read SMTP headers for fun and profit! In this demo-tastic session, learn how to read SMTP headers to troubleshoot mail flow, SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Also, see some of the online tools available to analyze headers and turn you into an SMTP rock star.
Session ID: 78655
When: Thursday 11:30-11:50am
Where: The Hub - Theater 9

THR3034: Twenty minutes to a secure environment (20 minute theater session)
Legacy authentication is an attacker's best friend. Learn how to secure your environment using modern authentication in the cloud and hybrid modern authentication for on-premises. Then, learn how to turn off legacy authentication in your Microsoft 365 and Exchange 2019 environments to keep the bad guys out!
Session ID: 78663 
When: Friday 12:05-12:25pm
Where: The Hub - Theater 9

In addition to my sessions you'll find me at the Exchange booth on the expo floor and at various Exchange and identity sessions throughout the week. I hope you'll come to these great sessions and say hi!

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Join me at COUCUG for a talk about the new Exchange patches

Join me Thursday, February 21st, as I present a session on Exchange Server patching, specifically around the new security patches just released. I'll be presenting to a live audience via Skype for Business at the Colorado Unified Communications User Group (COUCUG).

Where: 7595 Technology Way, Suite 400 Denver, CO 80237

When: February 21st, 4:00-6:00 pm

Who: Anyone interested in Microsoft Unified (Intelligent) Communications

Agenda (all times in Mountain Standard Time):

4:00-4:10 pm - Arrival and introductions

4:10-5:00 pm - Jeff Guillet and Exchange patching

5:00-5:20 pm - Dinner

5:20-6:00 pm - Jonathan and Exchange Online UM (the death of)

Thanks to our friends at Jabra for hosting dinner!

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User-based MFA vs. Conditional Access MFA

Thank you to everyone who attended my two sessions, "How to add MFA to your Exchange Online/on-premises mailboxes in 20 minutes or less" at Microsoft Ignite 2018 in Orlando! The first session was recorded and is available on YouTube. I wanted to post a follow-up article to those presentations.

There are two ways to configure users for multi-factor authentication (MFA) in Azure Active Directory -- user-based MFA and using conditional access. In my demos I used user-based in the interest of time, but most customers will usually use conditional access in production.

When you configure a user for user-based MFA, users are always prompted for MFA whenever they access a cloud resource, such as Exchange Online, SharePoint, Teams, etc. It's either on or off. You can configure a user for user-based MFA from the Azure AD Portal. Click Multi-Factor Authentication at the top of the Users blade.

This will open a new tab for the user-based MFA configuration page.

From here you can enable users for MFA. As mentioned above, this will configure the user for MFA every time they access a cloud resource. It also will break access for any apps or protocols that don't support MFA, such as ActiveSync.

A better option is to use conditional access. Users will be prompted for MFA when the conditional access policy applies to them. Users do not (and should not) be configured for user-based MFA for conditional access (CA) policies to work. If user-based MFA is enabled, it will override the CA policies for that user.

You configure CA rules from from the Conditional Access blade in the AAD portal.

Configure the Assignments for the CA policy (who and which apps get it) and configure the Access Controls to Grant access and Require multi-factor authentication.

MFA will now happen whenever the CA policy is triggered. For further information please see the article, "Quickstart: Require MFA for specific apps with Azure Active Directory conditional access".

Note that there are two places to configure trusted networks and IP addresses, where MFA will not be used - one for user-based MFA and another for conditional access. These two settings are unique for each configuration and do not affect each other. You configure can configure both CA named locations and user-based MFA trusted IPs in the new Conditional access > Named locations blade.

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Got 20 minutes to secure Exchange Server?

Going to Ignite? Got 20 minutes to see how easy it is to secure Exchange on-premises? Come see my theater session, "How to add MFA to your Exchange Online/on-premises mailboxes in 20 minutes or less".

Securing Exchange doesn't have to be hard. Learn how to dramatically increase your organization's security posture in just 20 minutes. In this fast-paced session, learn how to use conditional access and MFA to easily secure Exchange Online and Exchange on-premises, including demos of the end-to-end user experience. We cover authentication, how to configure Azure Active Directory and Exchange, licensing, and other requirements.

Add these sessions to your Ignite Schedule Builder!

Monday, September 24, 3:25 PM - 3:45 PM, Expo Theater #11
THR3024 - How to add MFA to your Exchange Online/on-premises mailboxes in 20 minutes or less

Thursday, September 27, 3:25 PM - 3:45 PM, Expo Theater #12
THR3024R - How to add MFA to your Exchange on-premises or Exchange Online mailboxes in 20 minutes or less (REPEAT)

So far over 1,400 people have added THDR3024 to their schedules. That's a lot of folks! Be sure to come to the THR3024R repeat session on Thursday if Monday's is too crowded. I look forward to seeing you there!

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Announcing the 11th Annual UC Roundtable at Microsoft Ignite!

I'm pleased to announce the 11th Annual UC Roundtable at Microsoft Ignite 2018 in Orlando!

A one-of-a-kind conference deserves a one-of-a-kind opportunity to network with your peers.

The purpose of the UC Roundtable is to gather Exchange, Office 365, and Skype for Business/Teams admins, MCMs, MVPs, Exchange product group members, architects, and experts for a free-flowing discussion about issues, questions, and experiences related to collaboration. If you work with these technologies you need to be here!

Monday, September 24th from 7:00PM to 8:30PM EDT

Download the event to your calendar

We'll be meeting in the outdoor area of Marlow's Tavern at 9101 International Dr, Lower Level -- just a short 10 minute walk from the Ignite convention center.

The UC Roundtable is going old school again this year! This will be a no-host event. Order your own beer or a bite to eat before you leave for the evening's parties. Please RSVP to jguillet@expta.com so I can tell them how many people to expect.

Help spread the word on Twitter and I hope to see you there!

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