From the course: Microsoft 365 Business Essential Training for SMBs

Microsoft 365 prerequisites

From the course: Microsoft 365 Business Essential Training for SMBs

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Microsoft 365 prerequisites

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- [Instructor] When migrating to a cloud-based IT solution, such as Microsoft 365 Business, there may be hardware and software upgrades required. It may be desirable to upgrade equipment in order to take full advantage of the new functionality, as we'll see later. Whilst Microsoft 365 Business is a cloud-based solution, there are some infrastructure requirements that you'll need to consider. These include: hardware, software, networking, and applications. If your current hardware will run Windows 7 Pro, or a newer version of Windows, then you should be okay, as the minimum hardware requirements are the same. However, if you want to benefit from new functionality, such as touch input for taking notes in meetings, or Windows Hello, which offers biometric sign in using facial recognition and fingerprints, then you should consider upgrading to newer devices. The minimum system requirements for Windows 10 Pro are at least a one gigahertz processor, one gigabyte of RAM, 20 gigabyte of hard drive for the 64-bit version, a DirectX 9 or later graphics card, and a monitor capable of displaying 800 by 600 resolution. Microsoft 365 Business also includes Office 365 ProPlus and this allows you to use both the online and installed versions of Microsoft Office. You can use the Office apps on multiple platforms, including Windows, iOS, and Android devices. When using Office Online, you should use the latest browser version and these include Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge, Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. Microsoft 365 ProPlus applications will be upgraded on a monthly basis to include both quality and feature upgrades. The system requirements for Office 365 ProPlus, are slightly more demanding than Windows 10 Pro, especially for the screen resolution and graphics. These are listed on the slide. One area that is often overlooked is that Microsoft 365 Business is likely to increase the bandwidth requirements for both your internal network and your internet connection. Based on my experience, many businesses underestimate the additional bandwidth usage, once users start to use the available online services. You should provide for at least 20% spare capacity, and if possible, allow more. To assess your bandwidth requirements for Microsoft 365 Business, take the number of client devices that you have, determine which clients will use Microsoft 365 Business components, measure the network requirements for a pilot group of clients, and then extrapolate the test results for the entire system. There are tools available to test and validate network capabilities, such as the Microsoft Message Analyzer, and the Microsoft Remote Connectivity Analyzer. Bandwidth can be thought of as a pipe in which the internet flows. The speed, thickness, and reliability are important to Office 365. You need to appreciate that your internet traffic will increase and that the more clients that you have, the more total bandwidth you'll need. You should also review your current bandwidth and connection speed and investigate to see if this is sufficient and if it can be increased. Since Office 365 does not require any files to be downloaded, it's difficult to estimate network traffic. You should consider areas such as the Office 365 service features that you want to deploy, the number of clients accessing Office 365 at the same time, if you'll be editing files using the web apps or locally, the type of file, and typical file size, for example, Word is much smaller than a PowerPoint file. And finally, your organization's network topology and network link speed. There are some Office Deployment Tools that you can use to help prepare your organization from Office 365 ProPlus deployment. The Exchange Client Network Bandwidth Calculator can help predict bandwidth requirements. The OneDrive for Business Synchronization Calculator is useful if you plan to deploy the OneDrive component, and lastly, the Office 365 Network Analysis Tool is useful for diagnostic analysis of your network, prior to deploying Office 365. All apps that run on Windows 7 or later, should be compatible with Windows 10. For older applications, you may need to troubleshoot application compatibility. There are several tools available for this, including the Standard User Analyzer, or SUA, the Compatibility Administrator, and Upgrade Readiness. Most businesses use a custom domain name to personalize their Microsoft 365 Business subscription. You'll need to rent a domain name from a hosting company, as this allows you to brand your web and email addresses, for example, www.yourcompany.com and jane@yourcompany.com.

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