Microsoft Azure Government DoD Regions Preview Now Available

 

By Luke Jones -
October 28, 2016 4:37 pm CET 

After recently announcing significant growth in Azure Government, Microsoft has launched a preview for Department of Defense regions.

Microsoft has announced the Preview for Azure Government Department of Defense (DoD) regions. The release is an Impact Level 5-ready cloud infrastructure and platform. In its announcement, Microsoft points out that it is the only hyperscale cloud provider to offer such a high level support to the DoD. The company adds it expands its commitment to the Azure Government platform.

The company has doubled down on its Azure Government strategy this week during the 5th annual Government Cloud Forum. Microsoft announced the platform has grown three times in 2016. Operations Management Suite (OMS) and Government Marketplace were also made widely available.


Through this preview, Microsoft is giving customers early access to DoD regions. With the ability to explore the infrastructure, the company is hoping for customer feedback to improve the platform before full launch. In the blog post, Microsoft confirmed general availability will come early 2017.
Capabilities

Microsoft has previously detailed the capabilities of Azure Government DoD regions in a previous post:

Department of Defense-specific Office 365 and Azure. By the end of 2016, physically isolated versions of Azure Government and Office 365 US Government Defense specifically for the Department of Defense (DoD) will be available in two new dedicated regions. These regions will also connect to Department of Defense (DoD) networks via Microsoft Express Route.


DoD Information Impact Level 5. These versions of Office 365 and Azure are built from the ground up to meet DoD Impact Level 5 controls. DoD agencies and companies managing controlled information will be able to use this platform for Department of Defense National Security System data. Microsoft is on track to achieve a DoD Impact Level 5 Provisional Authorization for both Office 365 and Azure.

Two additional Azure Government regions in the South West and South Central United States. Today we’re announcing our intent to expand Azure Government from new regions in Arizona and Texas. Slated to be generally available in 2017, the new regions will add to our existing regions in Virginia and Iowa and are new additions beyond the Department of Defense regions mentioned above. Now, Microsoft has a total of six dedicated regions for government customers – significantly more than any other cloud provider. Combined with dedicated Government ExpressRoute options, Microsoft offers government agencies broad choice of where they host their data and where they connect directly to Microsoft’s infrastructure.

To access DoD regions, customers need to pass a pre-qualification process. Microsoft says this is to verify that the organization is secure and to check its intended use of the platform.

Skype for Business on Mac Now Generally Available

   

By Luke Jones -
October 27, 2016 7:01 pm CET 

Microsoft has moved Skype for Business from preview on Mac and made it available to everyone on download. The service moves to GA with a couple of major new features.

Microsoft originally rolled out Skype for Business to Apple’s Mac platform back in April as a preview release. At the time, Microsoft announced that the client would reach full availability during the third quarter. That timeframe came and went on September 30 with no release. A little later than planned, Microsoft has announced general availability.

Skype for Business on Mac is now available to all users of the platform. The service is now available for download and will likely be a welcome sight for users. That’s because they have not had a Microsoft solution for business contacts recently. Not a modern one at least, with Lync for Mac released way back in 2011.


The company has been updating Skype for Business on Mac with new features in preview. In July, the company rolled out an update that beefed up the feature set before launch. That has continued with this GA roll out with a couple of new capabilities added to the client.

New general release features

Present in a meeting from your mobile app—Now you can present content right from Android or iOS device. No more emailing files and links back and forth when you present from your phone or tablet. Now sharing a PowerPoint deck in a meeting is as easy as selecting the file from your favorite cloud drive and presenting right from your phone. On Android, you can also share a file stored on the device itself. With swipe gestures, you can easily transition between different slides. Once shared, the PowerPoint file also becomes available in the meeting’s content bin for other participants to download or present.


Video-based Screen Sharing for mobile devices—We’re also continuing to enhance the content viewing experience with Skype for Business on mobile devices by using Video-based Screen Sharing (VbSS) for content viewing on iOS and Android apps. The initial setup is much faster, the experience more reliable, while also consuming network bandwidth efficiently. It provides a seamless viewing experience, especially if you are sharing animated content such as CAD models. Learn more about VbSS and how it can enhance your meeting experience.