MICROSOFT 365 ADMIN CENTER BEST PRACTICES

1 Page 1 of 2 MICROSOFT 2021. All Rights Reserved. Updated 09/01/2021 Job Aid MICROSOFT 365 ADMIN CENTER best PRACTICES PURPOSE This document provides tips and tricks for new admins to help them efficiently manage their M365 tenants through the M365 ADMIN CENTER . Admins can leverage all the options within the M365 ADMIN CENTER to build features for their organization to use and promote best security PRACTICES . best PRACTICES The table below references best PRACTICES for managing tenants through the M365 ADMIN CENTER . Category M365 ADMIN CENTER Tab best PRACTICES User Management Settings Set passwords to expire for all users and admins. Users Block users instead of deleting them if an ADMIN wants to keep the user s data, but does not want the user to log in.

2 Users Remove licenses from users who are no longer using it and all their data can be erased without concerns. Users Do not share passwords to accounts but give users permissions to view or manage mailboxes or OneDrive. Roles and Permissions Roles Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning ADMIN roles; only give users the ADMIN role required to successfully complete their tasks. Roles There should not be more than four global administrators for an organization. Users Enforce multi-factor authentication for all admins. Users Admins do not require a license to use the ADMIN CENTER . This is useful for any helpdesk or IT support personnel who need to make administrative changes but are not going to be using M365 services.

3 Page 2 of 2 MICROSOFT 2021. All Rights Reserved. Updated 09/01/2021 Category M365 ADMIN CENTER Tab best PRACTICES Shared Mailboxes and Groups Groups Create and use shared mailboxes for company emails that need to be widely accessed by the organization. This ensures passwords are not shared and permissions are granted to users with Exchange licenses to access the shared mailboxes. Groups Use M365 groups to create a group email, as well as an associated SharePoint site and Teams channel. Groups Check a groups permissions to make sure they align with the organization s needs, whether it is private or public, and whether users should receive a copy of emails sent to the group in their inboxes. Resources Create Room mailboxes so meeting rooms can be booked in an organization.

4 Equipment mailboxes can be used in the same way to check out company items. Billing Billing Subscription seat counts can be increased or decreased at any time in the M365 ADMIN CENTER . Keep only the licenses actively assigned to users and decrease the seat count in a subscription to save money. Billing Invoices are sent to all global admins and billing admins each billing cycle. These can also be retrieved at any time under the Billing tab. Technical Support Settings The Technical Contact needs to be kept up to date with any active email. The email account does not need to be in the M365 organization. Health If users are noticing issues with M365, the first place to check is Health in the ADMIN CENTER for any service alerts.

5 Support Create tickets when an organization is having a technical issue or if an ADMIN has questions. Only admins can place a support request, but requests are unlimited. Home Use the dashboard to easily create cards for commonly used tasks to increase efficiency. M365 ADMIN CENTER -ONLY FUNCTIONS Some tasks are only be performed using the M365 ADMIN CENTER . The tasks listed below will aid you in managing tenants efficiently. 1. Perform all M365 billing related tasks in the Billing tab. 2. Find service health stats for M365 services in the Health tab. 3. Submit a support ticket for M365 services-only using the Support tab. Azure and some other services place tickets through their specific sites. 4. Change download settings for M365 suite for the entire tenant in the Settings tab.

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