Microsoft 365 Change & Release Management Strategies
Boost productivity with effective change management for Microsoft 365 services, powered by innovative strategies & resources.
Microsoft 365 Change Management & Release Strategies
Microsoft is steadily working on innovations and improvements for Microsoft 365 services. This progress ensures rapid changes, which is a standard feature of any cloud services. Being dedicated to customer experiences, Microsoft maintains its focus on helping customers construct effective change management practices.
This commitment allows administrators to prioritize providing the most productive and secure experiences for their businesses. Numerous resources, tools, and guides have been developed to assist Microsoft 365 admins in change management. The Microsoft 365 Roadmap provides significant visibility into upcoming changes to Microsoft 365 apps and services at the announcement stage.
Microsoft acknowledges its clients’ desire for information about upcoming feature releases and their timelines, the launching timeframe for particular tenants, and when these features will be accessible to all relevant users. Therefore, Microsoft has pledged to offer a set of capabilities that would simplify change and adoption of Microsoft 365 services moving forward.
- Admins will be provided with a release status for each new and updated feature announcement in the Message center in Microsoft 365 admin center, helping track feature availability for their organizations.
- With the new predictability feature showing the release status, admins can plan end-user communications and trainings, efficiently driving service adoption and usage.
- Feature rollout status will be depicted across three release stages - Scheduled, Rolling Out, and Launched, better tracking feature releases, ensuring better change management.
Further Insights
From customer conversations, Microsoft recognizes that administrators can feel overwhelmed by the extensive changes in Microsoft 365. In light of this, Microsoft implemented an experience in the Message center to give admins the ability to differentiate the changes based on their relevance levels to a particular tenant, using machine learning models. This system of High, Medium, and Low relevance helps determine the urgency of implementing these changes.
Microsoft 365 has also introduced Targeted release to manage update schedules according to organizational preference. This capability now includes early access to Microsoft Teams features, providing users the latest updates and a platform for early feedback.
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Learn about Effective Microsoft 365 Change Management & Release Strategies
Microsoft is continually innovating and improving its Microsoft 365 services, creating a need for administrators to effectively manage these rapid changes. Microsoft provides resources, guides, and tools for these admins. An example is the Microsoft 365 Roadmap, which gives insight into upcoming changes in Microsoft 365 apps and services.
The Roadmap provides general status information for all customers, and aggregated by cloud instances or environment. However, customers want detailed knowledge of what new features are being released, the timeframe for these releases, and when features will be available for preview and Targeted Release.
With this in mind, Microsoft aims to offer a set of capabilities that will simplify change management. The company aims to present a release status for each new and updated feature announcement through the Microsoft 365 admin center's Message center. This feature release information will be specific to individual customer organizations, avoiding the need for constant checks on respective apps or services for feature availability.
Recommended Learning Methods:- Read the suggested article on the Microsoft website for guidelines on managing change in Microsoft 365.
- The Microsoft 365 Roadmap is a resource to follow for information on upcoming changes.
- Keep abreast of new updates and features by monitoring your organization-specific release status in the Microsoft 365 admin center.
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