Are you in the situation that you feel you do not have sufficient control of Office 365 and its applications? Does it feel a bit overwhelming and you don’t know where to start looking for how to take control and, not least, what to take control of? It may be time to take the first steps when it comes to Office 365 Governance?
Office 365 Governance is a constant ongoing process so you will not find the answers to all the details here but by getting the basics in place it will be easier to structure the ongoing improvement work so you can feel confident that you have control over what you need.
“But before we move on with Governance, let’s first start with the basics”
1. The Basics
Define the Organizational Goals
Define your overall goals (profit, efficiency, well-being or whatever your goals are about) so that you know what it is you are going to achieve.
Define the knowledge goals
Define the knowledge goals to support your overall goals.
Establish a Strategy
Develop a strategy for the efforts required to achieve the defined goals. Define rules, policies and guidelines.
Establish a plan for User Adoption
Based on the overall strategy, develop a user adoption plan so that it is clear what change and education efforts you need to implement
Perform a risk and vulnerability analysis
Map out all the possible scenarios and all the risks that you are exposed to
Secure your environment at all levels
Ensure that you have secured your environment at all levels based on the points you have identified in the risk and vulnerability analysis.
Standardize and centralize the management of devices and software
Make sure all your devices have common settings and the correct version build on all programs so you avoid unnecessary errors / deviations and thus support work
“The points above are basic security and order and it is really obvious that this should be in place in all organizations (but unfortunately this is rarely the case)”
2. Governance
When it comes to Governance I’ll make the job a little easier for you. Below I have compiled some sources of information that you should read and look at in order to quickly and effectively get an overview of what you need to get in place and how to proceed.
How to use Microsoft Teams to simplify Office 365 Governance
Here you can see the session “How to use Microsoft Teams to simplify Office 365 Governance” that i held at Oktoberfest 2019 organized by the European Teams User Group.
Providing Tips
On my blog “Providing Tips” I blog about most things that have to do with Office 365 Governance. Here you will also find tips & tricks on SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Yammer, OneDrive, Flow, Forms and other apps in Office 365.
Other inspirational sources of information about Office 365 Governance
- Melissa Hubbards blog “THE MELIHUBB HUB”
- Magnus Sandtorvs blog “Teams.rocks” where he has the blog series “Take control of your Microsoft Teams environment”
- The blog of Tony Redmond (a man in control of everything that has to do with Office 365, who hardly needs any closer presentation)
- Microsoft Tech Community The obvious forum when you want to help – or get help from – all amazing community members
Do you think this was a lot to deal with? You are absolutely right, but somewhere you have to start and I hope that with this article I have given you the tips and tools you need.
If you want more info just contact me on Twitter or LinkedIn
Photo by Bruno Nascimento on Unsplash
Providing Tips 