Microsoft 365 is built around the way end users work, helping them to be productive and secure seamlessly across Windows 10, Office 365, and Enterprise Mobility + Security. Our goal is to deliver a similarly cohesive management experience that leverages a common toolset and common skillset across your Microsoft 365 services.
Earlier this year, we announced the general availability for the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, your common entry point for managing applications, services, data, devices, and users across your Microsoft 365 subscription. Last week at Ignite, we showed off new features in public preview that further deliver on the promise to enable admins to work more efficiently and deliver the best possible end user experience.
tl;dr- So you want to go straight to the preview?
The public preview for new features in the Admin Center is rolling out to targeted release admins now and will soon be available to all admins. If you want to dive right in and check out the new features, we've built the preview directly into your Admin Center. To learn more and activate the preview, check out the preview support documentation. This article will highlight a few of those new features, and we'll keep the support documentation updated as new ones become available.
Built for IT teams
The Admin Center delivers a customizable and tailored experience designed to meet the unique needs of your role and your organization. Admin.microsoft.com is every admin’s common entry point, with specialist workspaces for diving deep on services and settings like Exchange and Security. Admin roles allow you to manage access and control for a focused experience with reduced risk.
Everyday efficiency
The Admin Center is optimized around the tasks and data that you need to interact with every day. A system of configurable cards allows you to pin your most commonly accessed information and actions right to your home screen and group them into common themes that you define. The left navigation menu provides an easy way to click down on other common settings like Users and Devices and provides access to the specialist workspaces.
User management is an extremely common and important task for most admins, including adding or removing users, resetting passwords, or troubleshooting licenses and devices. Our data says that 1.8 million admins visit the user management area each month, and that number is growing. Based on that data and what we’ve heard from you, we’ve made changes to the User tab that make it easier accomplish those kinds of tasks.
We’ve made it easier for large organization to manage users in bulk. You can select multiple users and perform quick actions like assigning licenses or resetting passwords, all from the user list view. Advanced filtering allows you to find all users who match a certain parameter, and you can save that filter in a view that is easy to access next time.
When you click into a user, you’ll see their most pertinent details, along with those same quick actions like reset password. You can also see and take action on their devices, licenses, apps, and settings, all from the same screen.
Actionable intelligence
Every service now - including but not limited to Microsoft 365 - generates a lot of data. It can be overwhelming to know what data to look at and what to do about it. We’re using what we know about your user base and best practices to surface the types of information that are the most relevant and pressing, but we’re also going a step further. The Microsoft 365 Admin Center can recommend the next action that provides the best possible experience for your end user and your organization.
When the Admin Center recommends a service deployment or setting, you’ll be provided with background information on that setting or service and why it was recommended. You’ll have the ability to quickly and easily roll it out with minimal configuration, or you can click into more advanced setting. For many services, you can also add a card to your home screen to easily see how users and your organization are benefitting from that service and any further actions you may want to take.
You can also directly access your usage data to drive digital transformation and ensure that you’re getting the most from your IT investments. Quickly access pre-defined reports within the Admin Center, or dive deep and create custom views and pivots using Power BI.
But wait, there's more!
Today we’ve looked at just a few of the highlights in the public preview. The support documentations contains the full list of new features, and we’ll keep that updated as new features enter preview.
How to activate the preview
The public preview for these features is rolling out now. Targeted release admins will have access first, with the preview rolling out to all admins soon. When the preview is available to you, you’ll see a toggle in the top right corner of your Admin Center, and you’ll always have the option to revert back. To learn more and activate the preview, check out the preview support documentation.
To stay up to date on the latest news and features for Microsoft 365, join the conversation in the Microsoft 365 Tech Communities and on Twitter.
and learn about best practices directly from the product teams.