Microsoft 365: At the Junction of Innovation and Risk

Thousands of organisations are built around Microsoft 365 stack, which is continuously growing in complexity, creating new and potentially devastating security risks.

On our last virtual roundtable, we analysed the ‘Midnight Blizzard’ attack to identify current gaps and solutions to managing intrusive hacks. Those who joined also shared insights into how they have responded to attacks, from having to find a scapegoat to fire, to calling the FBI.

Our sponsors CoreView are working on preventative solutions to ensure these instances never have to happen, as shockingly, their current data shows that 80% of enterprise M365 environments might be oversharing with risky apps.

Over the duration of the 90 minutes, we also covered:

The trade-off between maintaining the existing stable systems within the infrastructure versus efforts spent on reviewing and adopting the latest innovation across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.

The conversation highlighted the need to carefully manage risks associated with both approaches, including security vulnerabilities in outdated systems and potential compatibility issues with new technologies.

Aligning decisions with long-term strategic goals emerged as a priority, ensuring that any adoption of new innovations supported organisational objectives. However, some were worried about the user experience and adoption rates, recognising the balance between introducing beneficial changes and overwhelming users with too much change at once.

Finally, we explored the possibility of adopting a hybrid approach that combines stability and innovation, selectively modernising certain aspects of infrastructure while maintaining stability in critical systems.

Successful utilisation of M365 infrastructure, including automation capabilities.

Participants discussed the potential benefits of automation within the M365 ecosystem, including increased productivity, reduced human error, and cost savings. Emphasising the need to leverage automation tools effectively to realise these benefits.

There was consensus on the need to manage risks associated with automation, such as data security and privacy concerns. This involved implementing robust security measures and compliance protocols to mitigate potential risks.

The conversation also touched on the importance of integrating automation solutions with existing systems and workflows, including assessing compatibility and identifying opportunities for seamless integration to maximise efficiency.

Key areas of focus for the next 12-24 month in relation across our M365 landscapes.

Some of the key focus points included:

🔵 The importance of maximising the use of modern collaboration tools within M365, such as Teams and SharePoint.

🔵 Prioritising data security and compliance within our M365 environment. This involves implementing robust security measures, such as multi-factor authentication and data encryption, to protect sensitive information and ensure regulatory compliance.

🔵 The role of M365 in driving digital transformation initiatives within the organisation by leveraging automation, AI, and analytics capabilities to streamline processes, improving decision-making, and enhancing customer experiences.

🔵 The ongoing migration to cloud services, including migrating legacy systems and workloads to the cloud, such as email migration to Exchange Online, to leverage the scalability, flexibility, and cost savings of cloud infrastructure.

🔵 Ensuring business continuity and disaster recovery planning within M365. This includes implementing backup and recovery solutions, as well as testing and refining disaster recovery procedures to minimise downtime and data loss.

We owe a massive thank you to our sponsors at CoreView for sharing their insights and support in responding to these security risks, and we look forward to learning more from them soon.

I’d also like to thank our wonderful attendees, who were representing: Englewood Hospital, Discover Financial Services, Northwestern Medicine, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Grainger, and Ally Financial.

If you think you know someone who could benefit from joining a similar discussion in the future, please let us know!