It is July morning, which means the latest edition of the best Microsoft 365 book out there is now available! For this year’s edition, we’ve made some changes and introduced two new books, which you can get either standalone or as part of the main bundle. You can find all the details in Tony’s article:
Working on the book is the main reason for the quiet time here on this blog, as going over 1700+ pages and hundreds of code (PowerShell) samples takes a lot of my free time. Same can be said for my contributions on the various communities, though things should be getting back to normal now.
Speaking of communities, the Microsoft Tech Community has reached the 10 year milestone! While the site has lost some of its former glory, it is still one of the main resources for Microsoft 365 focused content, and I continue posting therein. Let me take this opportunity to flex a bit:
Next, we have the Voluntary Retirement Package that Microsoft offered to its employees, taking effect today. My LinkedIn feed and (to a lesser extent) email have been flooded with the farewell messages of many a Microsoft veteran. I would like to express my gratitude to the good folks that brought us some prominent products and features over the past decade(s), and to wish them all the best in their retirement or next endeavors.
At the same time, I am a bit worried given the scale and quality of talent taking this opportunity. I cannot help but think that Microsoft has been focusing on the wrong things lately, and some worrying trends are emerging. I am not talking stock price here. Lack of clear direction is evident across many products and the execution often leaves a lot to be desired. Yet instead of relying on their pool of veterans with proven track record, Microsoft continues to redirect cash to address yet another FOMO wave. Oh well, we shall see how it plays out.
Lastly, a quick roundup of some interesting Graph API additions for the past month or so. One of the remaining EWS parity gaps has been addressed, namely we now have endpoints to work with (personal) contact/distribution lists. On the reporting front, a SharePoint API usage settings endpoint has appeared. According to the description, toggling the setting signals SPO to start collecting reporting data for the specified report metric, with EgressReport being the only supported value. Perhaps related to this, a new SharePoint API usage report has appeared, though it is currently in private preview it seems and I can’t get to play with it just yet.