Author: Ted Geen

• Data loss prevention in Office 365 helps you monitor sensitive information.
• eDiscovery, is the process of identifying and delivering information that can be used as evidence in legal cases. You can identify, hold, and export content found in SharePoint sites. 
• SharePoint Online information management policies enable organizations to control and track things like how long content is retained or what actions users can take with that content. 
• You can use auditing to track changes by users to documents

Organizations use SharePoint to create websites. You can use it as a secure place to store, organize, share, and access information from almost any device..

• Newsfeed: Stay tuned into conversations among your co-workers.
• OneDrive for Business:  The place to keep your work documents and other files.  You can easily share them with co-workers and access them from your mobile device. 
• Sites:  Easily find and access sites you’re following, and quickly create new team sites

Implementing traffic isolation can be a fairly straightforward process depending upon the existing network configuration and design.

Let’s consider a typical small SharePoint deployment that consists of one database server, one application server, two web servers and a directory server. In many cases, these components all have a single network interface connected to a shared switch. A more efficient approach would be to utilize multiple network interfaces in each server and connect them to virtual local area networks (VLAN) on the same switch. For example, the web servers may have three interfaces, one which connects to the corporate network, one which connects to an authentication network, and one which connects to a database network. In this manner traffic between the web servers and the database, which comprises the bulk of SharePoint network communication, can be isolated to a single interface separate from the interface used by employees to browse pages and upload files. Similarly, communication with directory services to facilitate logins and authentication requests will have its own channel to exchange information. Another very useful technique is to configure SharePoint services that generate a lot of network traffic, like search, to only communicate with a dedicated server instead of the general-purpose web servers.

Once your on-premises network is optimized you are in a better position to consider moving data to the cloud and deploy hybrid services. Office 365 supports automated means of moving large quantities of data, but speeds as low as 1 gigabyte per hour are not uncommon. So clearly there is a need for not only proper planning of time and resource allocation, but also incoming and outgoing bandwidth. On-premises servers need to be running optimally, as migration tasks consume additional bandwidth on top of normal collaboration activities, and external links must be optimized to facilitate a great deal more traffic than normal day-to-day web browsing.

In terms of SharePoint technologies…

HYBRID: is where an organization moves some of its operations to the cloud, but maintains others on servers within that organization. Typically, businesses choose to store some of their most sensitive files in local servers where they feel they can better vouch for their security. This is particularly important in countries where the law proscribes saving citizens’ private data outside the country’s physical boundaries. Because cloud data centers may be based in far off countries, a hybrid solution that isolates data from its country of origin can often be a good trade-off between cloud benefits and data security.

Know that it is possible to require that your cloud data does not leave your country specific to the United States and Canada.

FULL CLOUD: you move all your documents and processes out of SharePoint and remove or archive your SharePoint environment.

Simply stated, SharePoint is both a standalone server product focused on supporting collaboration through documents and business workflows, and an important piece of Office 365.   Office 365 unifies SharePoint, Exchange, Skype for Business, and Azure services within a single interface for organizations to be productive. Running in the cloud on Microsoft’s Azure platform,  Office 365 is optimized to deliver end-user experiences and allow for Microsoft to rapidly add technologies to its productivity offerings.

With an Office 365 subscription, you can edit and create new documents on your devices. Microsoft Office 365 delivers the power of cloud productivity to businesses of all sizes, helping save time, money, and free up valued resources. Office 365 combines the familiar Microsoft Office desktop suite with cloud-based versions of Microsoft’s next-generation communications and collaboration services—including Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Office Online, and Microsoft Skype for Business Online—to help users be productive from virtually anywhere through the Internet.

Watch Financial Services industry leaders use @Office365 to manage risk.

Call Green IT Today to get started!  (425) 242-3378

Do you know what’s happening with your products in real time? No matter how small (or big) your business, you can use business intelligence (BI) to store, manipulate and analyze any kind of data to help you make smart business choices.  Self-service business intelligence is directly available for you in Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft Excel 2013 and Microsoft SharePoint Online can help you explore and evaluate data. Want to learn about BI? Contact us.