How will the transition from O365 video work?

[Sean Boudreau]

I have read the transition plan and reviewed all the articles about Stream but i havn't seen anything about how the actual transition will work.

I have a number of existing channles that have owners/editors and then everyone else is a viewer. Does this mean when MS transitions me to Stream that each one of these Channels will get an Office 365 Group created? as it doesn't appear a tenant Channel in Stream allows for different permissions.

Phase 1 of the transition is Q3/Q4 this year, when is the final pahse (3) going to happen... roughtly?

[#2 · Accepted solution]

Q: I have a number of existing channles that have owners/editors and then everyone else is a viewer. Does this mean when MS transitions me to Stream that each one of these Channels will get an Office 365 Group created? as it doesn't appear a tenant Channel in Stream allows for different permissions.

A: Here is a bit more detail based off our working plan right now (subject to change as we do more development)....

For every O365 Video Channel we'll create a "special" type of Stream Group. This special Stream group won't be tied to an O365 Group and it will fully support the 3 roles of an O365 Video channel (Owners, Contributors, Viewers). We'll copy over the permissoins from o365 Video channel one for one into this new special Stream Group.  We'll then permission all the videos in the O365 Video channel into this newly created stream group marking the stream group as "owner" of the video in Stream.

We are NOT going to autogenerate O365 Groups for all your O365 Video channels, we looked at that option but decided against it for a few reasons. One, we couldn't directly map owners/contributors/viewers to an O365 Group without manual intervention on an Admins part. Two, you may have already had a bunch of O365 Groups that are similar to your O365 Video channels and as such we didn't want to pollute your tenant with more Groups with similiar names.

Q: Phase 1 of the transition is Q3/Q4 this year, when is the final pahse (3) going to happen... roughtly?

A: Phase 3 will roughly happen after phase 2. :) Sorry, more seriously, we really have to see how well phase 1 and phase 2 go to know when we'll flip to phase 3 and do an automatic transition. The phases are hinged on 2 main things. One, us building out the transition service to physically move content and perserve links, etc. And on two, how long it takes us to fill most of the gaps between O365 Video and Stream in terms of features, integrations, and data centers we are deployed to for "go-local" and "soverign" instances. We don't think we can start Phase 2 "opt-out" untill we've filled most of those gaps.

[#3]

Thanks Marc.

That adds a little clarity.

As a side note, personal preference (i think i have seen a couple posts with the same preference), would have been for Stream not to use O365 groups at all... just stick to using Azure AD security groups or distribution groups, rather then linking another service to O365 groups just for the sake of it.

[#4]

Thanks Sean, yeah I think folks fall into 2 camps on this one folks that are okay with groups being used for all kinds of services and those that don't like it.

The reason we are leverging O365 Groups is really so that we can in the future do much deeper integration with Teams, Yammer, SharePoint, Outlook. Since they are all backed by the same entity for owners/members ("the group"), it makes it much easier to ensure that the right permission set it is applied across services. Since the group is the same across services we can easily start to infuse video capabilities in these places and have those videos permissioned to the group and show up in those locations and in Stream, etc.

[#5]

Hi @Marc Mroz. We're now at the stage where I'm starting to consider how we prepare for Stream. I have a few questions based on our current position.

1. We currently have 270 channels and over 7000 videos in our O365 Video portal. We had Stream available in Preview status for a period and it has 27 channels. What should my expectations be in terms of when my O365 Video channels/content will begin to show in Stream? From your comments above, I'm expecting each existing channel to become a 'special' Stream group with support for owner/contributor/viewer roles?

2. My O365 Video portal settings currently allow for restriction of who can create Channels. We have configured AAD so that only staff can create O365 Groups. Stream allows a similar restriction on Channels but seems to also link this to the ability to upload content. Our use case in Education is that we wish to restrict Channel creation to staff but wish students to be able to upload content to Channels/Groups they have appropriate permission for. Will our use case be supported?

[#6]

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@Neil McCafferty wrote:

Hi @Marc Mroz. We're now at the stage where I'm starting to consider how we prepare for Stream. I have a few questions based on our current position.

1. We currently have 270 channels and over 7000 videos in our O365 Video portal. We had Stream available in Preview status for a period and it has 27 channels. What should my expectations be in terms of when my O365 Video channels/content will begin to show in Stream? From your comments above, I'm expecting each existing channel to become a 'special' Stream group with support for owner/contributor/viewer roles?

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Yes. When a video channel is migrated from O365 Video to Stream we'll create a new "Stream Group" (not tied to O365 Groups/Modern groups) for that O365 Video channel. The group in Stream will have the same name as the channel, it will have owner/editors/viewers, with all the permissions moved over. So it will turn from a channel into a special Group. All the videos will be moved over as well and permissioned so that the new group is the owner of the video. 

This "special group" in Stream (not tided to O365 Groups) does not exist today. This is a new concept we are developing to support the migration from O365 Video channels. 

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2. My O365 Video portal settings currently allow for restriction of who can create Channels. We have configured AAD so that only staff can create O365 Groups. Stream allows a similar restriction on Channels but seems to also link this to the ability to upload content. Our use case in Education is that we wish to restrict Channel creation to staff but wish students to be able to upload content to Channels/Groups they have appropriate permission for. Will our use case be supported?

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Almost. We are currently working on splitting the Stream setting that controls upload and channel creation so it's two separate settings. This will get you close to what you are wanting. However users that can upload don't have to upload to a group/channel. As in Stream videos can live on their own. As such a user with upload permission could upload a standalone video outside of a channel/group. 

I'll send you a message. I think it would be good for us to hear more of your use cases/feedback in context of admin settings in Stream.

[#7]

Quick follow up after some brief testing. If you don't control O365 Group creation but DO control Stream channel/upload permissions, you are left with a position where a user can create a Group in Stream (not a company-wide Channel, mind you), but can't create a Channel within that Group nor can they upload any content to that Group. They can add other members that, if unrestricted in Stream, can create a Channel and upload content within the Group but the overall Group is subject to deletion by the original creator of the Group. What I'd want is the ability to control O365 Group creation (we have this in place already) and the ability to control who can create company-wide Channels separate from upload permission. Thereafter, I'd want to facilitate delegated management of permissions within each Group or Channel.

[#8]

Marc - had reply below sitting open and posted before reading your comments. Thanks, as always, for the prompt and detailed reply. I've got the PM - much appreciated. Definitely take you up on the offer.