Updated PDF and EPUB Files Available for Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook

The Office 365 for IT Pros team is happy to announce the availability of version 17 of the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook. Updated PDF and EPUB files are available for download from Gumroad.com by subscribers of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook and by those who bought the PowerShell book separately. Remember, when you subcribe to these books, you’re entitled to receive any updates we release for the edition.

We’re still working on the November 2025 update of the main Office 365 and anticipate that it will be ready for subscribers to download on November 1, 2025.

Final Retirement of AzureAD and AzureADPreview Modules

This month marks the final retirement of the AzureAD and AzureAD Preview modules. Microsoft made the original announcement about the retirement of these and the MSOL module on August 26, 2021. Fifty months and multiple postponements later, Microsoft has eventually managed to cajole, persuade, and force customers to dump the old modules to embrace the Graph. At least, Microsoft wants customers to replace old code with cmdlets from the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK or the Microsoft Entra module. Naturally, Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell is absolutely the best text to consult for anyone who needs to upgrade old scripts. The worked-out code examples are of great help when figuring out cmdlet syntax.

The Entra module is based on the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. It features cmdlets to work with Entra objects like users, groups, and devices with aliases to make the cmdlets work like their AzureAD equivalents, if one exists. I don’t recommend using the Entra module because I think it’s better that administrators and developers understand how to use the full Graph.

Paperbacks at TEC

The TEC 2025 conference was at the start of October. During the event (enjoyable as always), I ordered some copies of the paperback version of Automating Microsoft 365 for PowerShell for delivery to the hotel (Figure 1).

After looking at the Word and PDF versions of the book for months, I wanted to see how the content looked after going through Amazon’s print-on-demand process to verify that people who buy the paperback will be happy. I think they will because the quality surpassed my expectation. It’s definitely not in the same class as the production quality seen in books like the Microsoft Press Inside Out series, but the book is perfectly acceptable.

Point Updates

Those who pay close attention (or who have time to spare) might notice that point releases appear for Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell. For instance, the current release is version 17.2, two point releases from version 17.0. Last month, we issued 16.0 through 16.4.

We issue point releases when we correct minor errors or add some material that’s important and we want readers to benefit from without waiting for a monthly update. Minor errors include grammatical and spelling errors, like an annoying “Get-MgServicePrincipall” discovered in V17.0. Code errors like an incorrect parameter also justify a point release, as does the inclusion of a new example. There’s no point in using electronic publishing if you can’t take advantage of the mechanism to improve the quality and content of the book on an ongoing basis.

Our release cadence poses problems for the paperback version because we obviously can’t update printed books. The books I had delivered to TEC 2025 were version 16.0 and the text printed on those pages will always remain the same. Such is the downside of committing words to print instead of an electronic medium.

Sharing Knowledge

We continue to add content to Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell. It’s become my go-to notebook to capture experiences, hints, and insights acquired by working with different Graph APIs and SDK cmdlets. It’s been quite a journey so far and I anticipate that there’s much more to come. Stay tuned.

Monthly Update #124 for Office 365 for IT Pros Available for Download

The Office 365 for IT Pros team is delighted to announce the availability of the October 2025 update for Office 365 for IT Pros (2026 edition). This is monthly update #124. Current subscribers can download the updated EPUB and PDF files from their Gumroad.com account or by using the View content link in their receipt. See our FAQ for more information about how to download updates.

We’ve also updated the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook, which is now at version 16.4. The updated PowerShell EPUB and PDF files are available at the same location as the Office 365 for IT Pros book files. The paperback version of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell has also been updated and is available on a print-on-demand basis from Amazon.

October Updates and the AI Effect

As usual, a bunch of changes are spread across the book chapters, details of which are in our change log. One thing that’s becoming increasingly notable is the growing percentage of Microsoft 365 message center notifications that relate to AI instead of updates to workloads like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Teams.

It’s easy to understand why this is so. First, many of the Microsoft 365 workloads are very mature and already feature-rich, so less opportunity exists to add new functionality. Second, Microsoft’s development attention is obviously focused on adding as much AI-driven features to applications as possible to encourage customers to buy Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses.

The focus on AI gives us a challenge in deciding how much attention we should pay to Copilot features. We know that many Microsoft 365 tenants don’t use Copilot because the licenses are too expensive, they’ve chosen a different solution (like ChatGPT), or simply don’t see the value of AI in their environment at this point. While adding more Copilot content to the book might delight some tenants, it reduces the value of the book to other tenants.

Our current approach is to include Copilot content where it matters to tenant administration. An example is the configuration of the DLP policy to prevent Copilot Chat including content from sensitive documents in its responses. On the other hand, Copilot features that are user-centric in apps, like the facilitator agent in Teams, are usually not covered in the book. There are many of these features spread across Office and other apps. In addition, the features are in a period of rapid evolution, so documenting their use would occupy lots of time that could otherwise be used to cover topics of more general interest.

As AI becomes more embedded in administration (the initial skills available in Copilot for SharePoint Admin are a poor example of what will increasingly happen), we’ll probably change our guidelines, but that’s our current thinking.

Fixing the PDF Stamping Problem

As many of our subscribers know, Gumroad has struggled to fix a bug in the routine that stamps subscriber email addresses on our PDF files. The symptom is that the PDF is unavailable for download because it is “being prepared.” This doesn’t happen for all PDF downloads, but it happened enough to be a royal pain. Subscribers affected by the problem had to contact us, and the only workaround we had was to reissue the receipt. This action kicked off the PDF stamping routine and most of the time, it was enough to make the PDF available.

The good news is that we think Gumroad has fixed the problem by rewriting the PDF stamping routine. Every month in the recent past we have dealt with several subscribers who hit the problem. We’ll soon know if the Gumroad fix is effective. Fingers and toes are firmly crossed.

On to November 2025

As usual, we have started work on next month’s update (#125). Given that the Ignite conference is in the second half of November, there might be fewer changes to process. Then again, there’s always change in Microsoft 365, so we expect to be busy.

Version 16 of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell Available for Download

The Office 365 for IT Pros team is proud to announce the October 2025 update for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook. The book is available separately and as part of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle. Current subscribers can download the latest files from their Gumroad.com account. See our FAQ for more information about how to download the updated EPUB and PDF files.

The October 2025 update for Office 365 for IT Pros is under development and should be available for download on October 1, 2025. Subscribers can check their account then or wait until they see the update notification posted here.

Current Files are Version 16.2

At the time of writing, the current files are labelled version 16.3 and dated 22 September 2025. I originally created version 16.0 to use as the basis for the paperback version so that I could get some printed copies to take with me to The Experts Conference (TEC) in Minneapolis (September 30-October 1). TEC features a PowerShell script-off where conference participants sign up to compete against others to solve common Microsoft 365 administrative problems, and I wanted printed copies to give to the script-off competitors.

Alas, the best laid plans sometimes come a cropper, and I found changes that I wanted to get into this month’s update not once but twice, which resulted in the 16.1, 16,2, and 16.3 versions. However, the delay involved in print on demand means that the books that will show up at TEC are version 16.0. When you get used to being able to update and publish a book update electronically, reverting to waiting for printing presses to run seems very antiquated, even in a print on demand scenario. Tant pis, or so the French might say.

Exchange SE for Administrators

In other news, Scott Schnoll, who left Microsoft earlier this year, has published The Admin’s Guide to Microsoft Exchange Server Subscription Edition. The book is available from Amazon.com (paperback and Kindle) for a whopping list price of $119.99 (currently available at a discounted $90.07 for the paperback and $99.99 for Kindle) and promises “never before heard details on the development of Exchange Server Subscription Edition.”

There’s no doubt that some confusion exists around Exchange SE, especially in terms of licensing (this FAQ helps), but that’s probably a symptom of the move to subscriptions. To facilitate the changeover, Microsoft made sure that 99.99% of the technical detail for Exchange SE is the same as for Exchange 2019. This position will change as Microsoft adds new functionality to Exchange SE over time.

Whether a new book about existing technology with a high price point will succeed remains to be seen. Amazon takes a large chunk (up to 70%) of the price paid by buyers and that might have dictated the price for a book that targets a declining (but still important) market.

The nice thing about writing about on-premises server products is that authors don’t have to cope with the rapid pace of change experienced in the cloud. However, the details and features of Exchange SE will diverge from Exchange 2019 from this point, so change will come. That change probably won’t be unduly dramatic and Exchange SE will not become like Exchange Online, so the work to keep the book updated shouldn’t be too onerous.

For any self-published book about technology, I recommend using a site like gumroad.com (which we use for Office 365 for IT Pros) or leanpub.com (home of Paul Thurrott’s Windows 11 Field Guide and other great books). Both sites offer authors more revenue for book sales and better control over changes, which is always nice. On the other hand, Amazon offers a decent on-demand paperback printing service that we use for the paperback version of the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell book. You pay your money and make your choice…

On to Version 17

We continue to develop content for Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell based on changes and updates to PowerShell modules. I can’t predict what the next month will bring. I can only say that things will happen that will turn up in version 17.

Monthly Update #123 Available for Download

The Office 365 for IT Pros author team is pleased to announce the release of the September 2025 update for the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook (2026 edition). As always, subscribers can download the latest EPUB and PDF files from Gumroad using the personalized link included in their original purchase receipt. The Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook has also been updated (now at version 15.2), and you can download files for that update from the same place. See our FAQ for more information about downloading updates.

As always, the September 2025 update reflects our ongoing commitment to keeping IT professionals informed and equipped with the most current guidance for managing Microsoft 365. The September release includes updates across almost every chapter, covering recent changes in Teams, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and Microsoft 365 security and compliance.

The Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Licensing Question

The most popular articles on the Office365itpros.com site in August were the two-part series covering licensing of shared and user mailboxes when Microsoft Defender for Office 365 (MDO) is active in a tenant. In a nutshell, once MDO is in a tenant, Microsoft requires all user mailboxes and all shared mailboxes to have MDO licenses (or rather, the accounts owning these mailboxes).

By comparison, group mailboxes don’t need MDO licenses, even though they receive exactly the same level of protection from MDO. This inconsistency might exist because Microsoft wants tenants to use group mailboxes instead of shared mailboxes, or it could simply be an oversight.

In any case, the articles sparked quite a debate. Some people felt that we should have left sleeping dogs lying and not mentioned the issue at all. Others told me about true-up exercises done by Microsoft when account teams told customers that they’d have to pay for MDO licenses. To their credit, the MDO team took the criticism to heart and internal discussions are happening within Microsoft. We await the results of those talks and hope that Microsoft will do the right thing and restore consistency and fairness (and not by charging all and sundry for MDO licenses).

Hybrid Connectivity

Relatively few active Exchange mailboxes are now on-premises. Most are now online. There’s no formal count from Microsoft to back this hypothesis, but the numbers of Microsoft 365 paid seats (the latest figure is “over 430 million”), most of whom use Exchange tell a story.

Hybrid organizations with mailboxes remaining on-premises need to transition to a dedicated hybrid connectivity app. Microsoft is making noises that the pace of switchover is slower than they’d like. Perhaps this is something that’s on the “must do when I return from vacation” list for tenant administrators. If it is, make sure that the dedicated hybrid connectivity app is in place in good time before Microsoft switches off EWS (for its own apps) in October 2025.

Come to TEC to Meet Office 365 for IT Pros Authors

If you’re looking for an autumn conference to refresh your knowledge about topics like Entra ID and Microsoft 365, why not come to The Experts Conference (TEC) in Minneapolis (Sept 30-Oct 1), where authors Tony Redmond, Paul Robichaux, and Michel de Rooij will present on automation and scripting best practices. You’ll also see a tremendous line-up of Entra ID talent, as noted by the irrepressible Merill Fernado in this LinkedIn post. To make it even easier for you, here’s a code with a nice discount for TEC.

On to Update #124

As Microsoft 365 continues to evolve, staying current is essential. The Office 365 for IT Pros eBook remains the definitive guide for Microsoft 365 tenant administrators navigating this fast-moving landscape. Whether you’re focused on automation, compliance, or hybrid deployments, this update ensures you have the latest insights at your fingertips.

If you haven’t yet upgraded to the 2026 edition, now’s the time—renewing subscribers get a discount, and the pace of change isn’t slowing down.

Update 15 Available for Download

The Office 365 for IT Pros eBook team is happy to announce the availability of the September update for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook.The ebook is available as part of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle or as a separate subscription. Those with current subscriptions for either the bundle or separate book can download the updated PDF and EPUB files now.

For those who like printed text, a paperback version is available through Amazon.com print on demand. The version number for the update is 15.1.

Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK V2.30

Microsoft released V2.30 of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK on August 19. I’ve been using the new version, and it hasn’t thrown up any problems, including running in Azure Automation. In truth, there’s nothing very different in V2.30 apart from some fixed bugs and support for recently released Graph APIs.

Following several disastrous releases, stability and reliability are the two most important attributes the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK can exhibit. Engineering responsibility for the SDK has moved to a new group, and the hope is that the new team will deliver a series of high-quality releases. Time will tell.

Microsoft also released V1.0.11 of the Entra PowerShell module on August 22. The Entra module is based on the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK but only deals with Entra objects and configurations. I must admit to paying little attention to the Entra module because I prefer working with the full SDK, but I can see how those who are accustomed to working with the old AzureAD module will find the Entra module easier to get up to speed with.

Microsoft Teams V7.31

This month saw Microsoft release V7.30 of the Teams PowerShell module on August 11, 2025 followed ten days later with V7.31. Apparently, a bug was found in education tenants that affected the New-Team cmdlet. Being able to create new teams programmatically is kind of important, so Microsoft rushed out V7.31.

Going back to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, the New-MgTeam cmdlet is an alternative way to create a new team. Microsoft Graph coverage for Teams includes most administrative operations involving teams, channels, messages, chats, calls, apps, and members. Where Graph coverage exists, there’s a matching Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK cmdlet. What missing in the Graph is coverage for Teams policies, like meeting policies. Many of these policies came from the old Skype for Business Online connector (absorbed into the Teams PowerShell module in 2021).

While understandable that the initial need was to integrate the old Skype for Business Online policies into the Teams PowerShell module, it’s curious that Microsoft hasn’t progressed to deliver full Graph coverage for all aspects of the Teams ecosystem.

A Bad Decision for Connect-IPPSSession

I cannot understand the logic behind the announcement in MC1131771 (updated 15 August 2025) that the Connect-IPPSSession cmdlet will require the EnableSearchOnlySession parameter to run eDiscovery cmdlets like New-ComplianceSearchAction. Our technical editor, Vasil Michev, published a nice behind-the-scenes analysis of the change on his blog.

The change is due to come into effect on August 31, 2025, and tenants must use V3.9 or later of the Exchange Online management module (released on 12 August 2025). I think the change is required by the changeover to the new eDiscovery framework and the retirement of the older Purview eDiscovery (premium) offering.

The cmdlet documentation says that the switch enables “certain eDiscovery and related cmdlets that connect to other Microsoft 365 services.” Changes like this have a nasty habit of breaking production scripts. I am sure that Microsoft could have done the work to detect when a connection to other services is necessary and do whatever is necessary without imposing the need to change on customers. In other words, make sure that customers see magic and never expose the dirty pipework that makes everything work.

On to TEC 2025

I’m looking forward to speaking about why Azure Automation works great with Microsoft 365 PowerShell at The Experts Conference (TEC) event in Minneapolis (September 30-October 1). TEC is a relatively small event, so great interaction happens between speakers and attendees. Even the heckling is of high quality. The PowerShell script-off competition, where participants are challenged to come up with scripted solutions to real-life questions, is going ahead again and it’s always good fun (the beer consumed by the audience might add to the general air of hilarity).

Fellow Office 365 for IT Pros authors Paul Robichaux and Michel de Rooij will also speak at TEC. If you’d like to attend, here’s a code with a nice discount. Come along and tell us what you like (and don’t) about Office 365 for IT Pros. And if you have a printed copy of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell, we’ll be happy to sign it for you.

Need some assistance to write and manage PowerShell scripts for Microsoft 365? Get a copy of the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook, available standalone or as part of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle.

Version 14 of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook Available for Download

The Office 365 for IT Pros team is delighted to announce the release of version 14 of the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook. The book is included in the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle and is available for separate purchase by those who are only interested in PowerShell. Naturally, we recommend the full Office 365 for IT Pros bundle! We’ve also updated the paperback edition of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell that’s available on a print on demand basis from Amazon.com.

This update includes new information about Microsoft Graph APIs, the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, code examples, insights gleaned from experience of using Graph APIs and cmdlets in scripts and with Azure Automation, and so on. Version 14 spans 350 content-rich pages and is essential reading for anyone who wants to work with a Microsoft 365 tenant through PowerShell.

If you have an Office 365 for IT Pros subscription or have purchased the separate version of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell, you can download the updated PDF and EPUB files now. Use the View content link in the receipt you were emailed after taking out your subscription to get the files.

Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK Updates

Speaking of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, Microsoft released V2.29 on July 9, 2025, and followed up with V2.29.1 a few days later. Regretfully, there was a total lack of formal communication from Microsoft about why the point release was needed so soon after V2.29 appeared. Sources behind the scenes say that a tooling problem was identified that Microsoft felt they should fix. The Microsoft.Graph.BackupRestore module was the only one affected by the V2.29.1 update.

Be aware that the issue with Azure Automation PowerShell runtimes and the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK persists. In a nutshell, use PowerShell V5.1 modules and runbooks with the Graph PowerShell SDK (including V2.29.1) until better news emerges.

Metered API Changes

On July 25, Microsoft published message center notification MC1122144 to announce that they are changing how metered APIs in Microsoft Graph incur costs based on usage. Effective August 25, 2025, a set of APIs will no longer be chargeable and it will not be necessary to set up an Azure subscription to pay for the metered use of the APIs.

To say that this announcement was surprising is an understatement. The set of APIs include the assignSensitivityLabel API used to assign sensitivity labels to Office files and PDFs stored in SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business (here’s how to assign labels with PowerShell). I guess tenants can now build their own auto-label policies to apply sensitivity labels to target content. The APIs also include the Teams chat export API, which is a good example of what Microsoft calls a high-capacity API (access to data at scale). Perhaps Microsoft now considers that its infrastructure can cope with demands from apps to access large quantities of Teams data.

In any case, after August 25, 2025, Azure will register no further billing events when apps call the APIs and customers will receive a final bill.

On to Version 15 of the PowerShell eBook

PowerShell doesn’t remain static and nor do the modules used in Microsoft 365 tenants. We’ll continue working on the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook to add more content by covering additional Graph APIs and new cmdlets introduced in other Microsoft 365 modules, as well as adding more practical examples to demonstrate the principles of using PowerShell to solve real-world problems.

So much change, all the time. It’s a challenge to stay abreast of all the updates Microsoft makes across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. Subscribe to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook to receive monthly insights into what happens, why it happens, and what new features and capabilities mean for your tenant.

New Office 365 for IT Pros Edition Now Available

The Office 365 for IT Pros team is delighted to announce the publication of the twelfth edition of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook, including the second edition of the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook (released yesterday). This edition represents the outcome of an end-to-end review of the 2025 edition, including a completely new eDiscovery chapter (due to the big changes Microsoft is rolling out in this area). The new book is available in PDF and EPUB versions from Gumroad.com. If you subscribe to Office 365 for IT Pros, you do not need to buy the PowerShell book separately because it’s included in the Office 365 for IT Pros bundle.

As always, we are making a discounted subscription available to previous subscribers. An email with a code to secure the discount has been sent to subscribers of the 2025 edition from o365itpros@creators.gumroad.com. If you had a subscription for the 2025 edition and did not receive the code, please contact o365itprosrenewals@office365itpros.com and we will fix the problem.

Unfortunately, we have had to increase the price of the book from $49.95 to $59.95. We maintained the original price since 2015 for as long as we could, but inflation, increased processing costs (credit cards, PayPal, etc.), and other costs meant that we couldn’t hold the line any longer. We asked Microsoft Copilot what the value of $49.95 in 2015 dollars is today. Today’s answer is $64.30 (Figure 1).

A week ago when I published our release plan, the suggested price was $67.73. I guess it’s the way you ask a question of AI. In either case, I’m happy that we continue to deliver good value at approximately the equivalent of 12 cups of coffee (the value of the book lasts longer than the value of the caffeine).

Remaining Focused on Practicalities

We remain utterly focused on explaining how Microsoft 365 really works in a very practical sense. Some question the value of books in a world where an AI chatbot spits out an answer to any question in less than a minute. My answer is context and experience. AI chatbots don’t necessarily (or at all) appreciate the context of how something works inside Microsoft 365. Generative AI depends on what’s been published in the past and included in its LLMs. But if that information is outdated, inaccurate, or doesn’t apply to your situation, the response will be wrong. Experience helps understand context. Based on technical skills acquired over years, experience cuts through fluff in a way that AI cannot. AI doesn’t have Microsoft 365 skills, nor does it have experience. All it can do is regurgitate, albeit in a highly proficient and (at times) useful manner.

This doesn’t deny the value of AI in many situations or the important of adapting new technologies like AI where appropriate and cost-effective. Given Microsoft’s massive investment to build out hardware and software capabilities for AI, there is no doubt that AI is a big part of our future. We’ve just got to use the tool in the best way, just like any other tool. For instance, using a Copilot agent to interrogate the contents of Office 365 for IT Pros and Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell.

Remember, AI cannot clean up a mess. To be successful with Microsoft 365 Copilot, you need a Microsoft 365 tenant that’s well managed and without a legacy of failed collaboration projects. The knowledge contained in Office 365 for IT Pros helps administrators manage tenants better, even if we can’t do much about the legacy of failed projects.

Additions to the Office 365 for IT Pros Author Team

We welcome two new authors for the 2026 edition. Leah Theil now looks after the Teams Basics chapter (11) while Tony Sterling oversees the Teams management chapter (12). Given the success of Teams within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, these are important chapters, and I am delighted to have two such experienced professionals take on their care.

Keepit: Our New Sponsor

Keepit A/S, a company specializing in delivering resilience against data loss, is our new sponsor. I’m sure many of you know Keepit from technology conferences where they always serve high-grade coffee on their stand. Making sure that production data is protected is a critical success factor for Microsoft 365 deployments, and Keepit has solid products to protect Entra ID, Microsoft 365 (Exchange Online, SharePoint Online/OneDrive for Business, and Teams), and the Power Platform. We thank Keepit for their support and look forward to working with them over the coming year.

Thanks to Our Subscribers

We couldn’t do any of our work without the support of the people who subscribe to Office 365 for IT Pros, read our articles, and provide feedback. Despite what it might seem like at times, we like to receive notes telling us where we can do better, so thanks a lot to all of you who have helped us improve the books over the years. It’s been an incredibly fulfilling journey since the release of the first edition in 2015. Onward to the next edition!

Completely Revised Version of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell

Last year, the Office 365 for IT Pros team took the decision to carve out a chapter covering using PowerShell with Microsoft 365 and create a separate eBook. This doesn’t mean that the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook doesn’t include PowerShell examples because it still does feature many examples, especially for Teams, SharePoint Online, and Exchange Online. However, we were conscious of the growing influence and importance of the Microsoft Graph APIs and the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK and wanted to reflect the critical nature of these components. There’s no doubt that if tenant administrators understand how to interact with Microsoft 365 resources via the APIs (and PowerShell makes this relatively straightforward), it’s much easier to understand how Microsoft 365 works.

This realization brought us to create Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell, which we believe is the most complete treatment of using PowerShell to get things done inside a Microsoft 365 tenant that’s available today. Certainly, when you combine all the examples from Automating Office 365 with PowerShell and Office 365 for IT Pros, there’s lots of informative and useful PowerShell code to automate operations in a Microsoft 365 tenant.

An Imperfect First Edition

The first edition wasn’t perfect. Pulling out a bunch of PowerShell content from a book and attempting to make it a coherent story is always a challenge. The challenge becomes more complicated with the changes Microsoft made to the Graph APIs and the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, many of which were to fix problems that should never have happened.

We’ve been working to make the coverage smoother, more informative, and more impactful since the launch of the first edition and have just completed a full end-to-end review of everything in the book. Code has been corrected, tightened, and expanded to make it more useful, and we have added a bunch of new material. We even included the late-breaking news that Microsoft has set a retirement date for the AzureAD module for mid-October 2025. The need for good information about how to migrate scripts that use the AzureAD module to the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK has never been more obvious.

The result of that work is delivered in the second edition, which is available today.

Second Edition Available Free to Subscribers

Because we appreciate the support of people who subscribe to our books and understand that sometimes the quality of the first edition of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell wasn’t where we wanted it to be, we are making the second edition available free of charge to anyone who subscribed to the first edition. If you’re a subscriber, all you need to do is use the download link in the receipt emailed to you when you bought the subscription. This link always downloads the latest version of the book, and it will now download the second edition files (EPUB and PDF).

Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell is also included in the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle. Subscribers to Office 365 for IT Pros 2026 edition, which we anticipate releasing tomorrow (July 1, 2025) will get the second edition along with the files for Office 365 for IT Pros (2026 edition). We’re also making the second edition available to subscribers to Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition). Once again, use the download link in your receipt to fetch the updated files.

Subscribers who download the second edition are eligible to receive updates up to and including June 30, 2026.

Regretfully, we cannot update the paperback version of the book that people have bought. However, the updated text is now available from Amazon.com, for those who like their technical material in a printed form.

Looking Forward to 2026

We’ll continue to work on the second edition of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell over the coming months. There will be new Graph APIs to cover, gaps to fill in, and we know that the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK has some work to do to restore its reputation with customers. Nearly four million downloads of V2.25 of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK speak to its popularity and usefulness. What everyone needs now is better quality and stability in the Graph APIs and SDK. When Microsoft delivers new versions, we’ll be there to parse, analyze, and report on the news.

Need some assistance to write and manage PowerShell scripts for Microsoft 365? Get a copy of the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook, available standalone or as part of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle.

Thanks to the Office 365 for IT Pros Subscribers

In a time when some question the value of books, we deeply appreciate the support of the folks who subscribe to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. AI tools like ChatGPT and Copilot can find and synthesize information scoured from across the internet to respond to questions, but so far generative AI cannot provide the context or insight that understanding technology often needs.

An ecosystem like Microsoft 365 can become terribly complicated through different combinations of products, licenses, and configurations. Throw in hybrid organizations and there’s enough to melt an administrator’s mind. We don’t pretend that we have more answers than AI can generate; we do say that our answers are based on hard-won experience and a ton of research into why Microsoft 365 works the way that it does. In other words, we ask “why” when AI just accepts what something is.

Heading for a July 1 Release

It’s just seven days to go before we release Office 365 for IT Pros (2026 edition), including Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell (2^nd edition). The writing team is still heads-down to make sure that the content is compelling, informative, and up to date, and that any of the issues raised by technical editor Vasil Michev are addressed.

We’ve received some questions about how we will release the 2026 edition. Thankfully, people want to know when they can subscribe to the new edition. With that in mind, here’s our plan.

The Release Plan

The first task is to complete all the updates to the chapters, resolve any open issues, chase down the last-minute glitches, and have a coffee. We can then proceed to do the following:

• Generate the PDF and EPUB files for the two books, check that everything is OK, and if all checks out, upload the new files to Gumroad.com. We then switch the shortcut URL for the current version from the 2025 edition to the 2026 edition.
• The 2025 edition files will remain online to allow subscribers to that edition to download the final updates. We made some small tweaks to the Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) files since releasing update #120 on June 1. The current update number for the 2025 edition is 120.4, dated 21 June 2025. We will start the 2026 edition at update 121.0.
• We will send an offer to current subscribers to allow them to extend their subscription to cover the 2026 edition and receive monthly updates for the next year. To reward the folks who renew subscriptions immediately a new edition is available, the price to extend a subscription in July 2025 is $18.95. After August 1, 2025, the price to extend a subscription increases to $24.95.
• Anyone who bought a full-price ($49.95) copy of the 2025 edition in June 2025 will receive a full discount code to extend their subscription for the 2026 edition.
• The update offer and codes are distributed via email to the addresses registered when people subscribed to the 2025 edition. If an email address is incorrect, you won’t receive anything from us. In this case, send email to contact@office365itpros.com to tell us what’s going on. If we can find you on our subscriber list, we’ll respond with the code.
• Some tenants consider email from Gumroad.com as spam. Our email isn’t and we have experimented with sending email using the Exchange HVE and Azure ECS solutions during the last year. HVE is now out of the picture because Microsoft has decided that it will only handle internal email, but anyway, mass mailings about new versions are always sent from Gumroad.
• New subscriptions for the 2026 edition cost $59.95. This is our first price increase since 2015. According to Copilot, the price should be $67.73, but accepting an AI recommendation without question is never a good idea. We believe that the increase is more than justified by the massive amount of information contained in the two books, which can be reasoned over by a Copilot agent if you want.
• The Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook is bundled with Office 365 for IT Pros and doesn’t have to be bought separately. People who subscribed to the first edition of the PowerShell book can download the second edition free of charge. It’s our way of saying thanks to those who bought the first edition while we built out the content.
• For those who like paper books, a version of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell is available in paperback from Amazon.com. This is the same text as the electronic version, except that hyperlinks are converted to footnotes. The paperback also has an index because it’s harder to search through paper. Regretfully, we haven’t found a way to update a paperback remotely, so buying a paper copy of the PowerShell book is like buying any other paperback.
• Anyone who received a free copy of the 2025 edition from us or another source (companies commonly buy multiple copies to give to customers) can use the code to extend their subscription for $18.95. Alternatively, ask the source for the free copy – maybe they have free copies of the 2026 edition to distribute.

2026 or Twelfth?

Some ask us why we name the book after the year ahead. We do so because we match Microsoft’s fiscal year. Their FY26 begins on July 1, 2025. We could call this release Office 365 for IT Pros (12^th edition). Maybe that would be clearer, but the date does help in terms of telling people how recent the content is.

Enjoy the 2026 edition!

Update #12 Available to Help People Figure Out Microsoft 365 PowerShell

As is our norm, we have released the monthly update for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook some days before the end of the month to allow us to concentrate on working on the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. The current version number is 12.2 and the updated PDF and EPUB files are available for subscribers to download from Gumroad.com. Please use the link in your receipt (which always fetches the latest files) or go to your Gumroad account, See our FAQ for more information about downloading book updates.

The Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook is available separately and as part of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle. The same update is available to all subscribers.

We also have a paperback version of the book available from Amazon.com. This version is proving to be more popular than we anticipated. I guess some people still like the tactile experience of reading a real book, and we are happy to oblige. Regretfully, we cannot provide monthly updates to the paperback edition as there’s no way to paste (literally) updated text into paper copies.

Focus Areas for Update #12

Most of the work in Update #12 focused on adding extra detail to the sections covering retrieving calendar information, messages, group-based license assignments, and sensitivity labels. Like always, a bunch of other changes were made to clarify thoughts or correct possible misinterpretations.

It’s the nature of a book like this that developments in Microsoft’s tools affect our content, so some Graph API requests that were used because of problems with Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK cmdlets are now replaced by cmdlets following the release of V2.28 of the SDK on May 10, 2025.

Should I Upgrade to V2.28 of the Graph PowerShell SDK?

So far, the experience with V2.28 is positive. However, this isn’t a massive endorsement because the previous versions were so buggy and poorly tested prior to release. I think it’s safe to say that V2.28 is at least as good as V2.25, which was the last good release.

This does not mean that V2.28 is bug free. I think it would be impossible to release even a 99% bug-free Graph PowerShell SDK. The number of dependencies on many different product groups, the complex interactions with other PowerShell modules and products like Azure Automation, and the errors and omissions in the Open API documents that describe the different Graph APIs all create the potential for problems like missing parameters or failure to process parameters properly. Throw in some Entra ID authentication problems, like the current bug that sometimes requires double authentication after running the Connect-MgGraph cmdlet to create an interactive session, and it’s easy to understand why there’s over 160 reported issues for the SDK.

Bugs are a fact of IT life, and the presence of some known bugs is no reason to avoid using the Graph PowerShell SDK. In fact, the SDK is more popular now than ever before because of the retirement of the AzureAD and MSOL modules (some people still ask why they can’t run Connect-MSOLService or Connect-AzureAD like they used to…). It does mean that you should:

• Pay attention to the known bugs reported to Microsoft.
• Report any bugs that you find that aren’t on the known issues list.
• Be prepared to use the underlying Graph API if a Graph PowerShell SDK cmdlet doesn’t work as expected (alternatively, if a parameter doesn’t work, try passing values in a hash table using the BodyParameter parameter).

Overall, I think it’s safe to upgrade to V2.28. Remember to upgrade modules used as resources by Azure Automation accounts too.

On to Update #13

Work has now started on update #13, which is planned for July 1. This version of the book will be part of Office 365 for IT Pros (2026 edition), which we plan to release on the same day. Happy coding!

Over 300 Pages of Microsoft 365 PowerShell Goodness to Read

The Office 365 for IT Pros writing team are pleased to announce the availability of update 11 for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook. The eBook is part of the Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) bundle and is also available separately (PDF and EPUB formats) or from Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats. The current version is dated 29 April 2025 and has the version number 11.3.

We typically release an updated version of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell several days before the release of the monthly update of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. This approach makes it easier for us to manage the updates for the “big book.” We anticipate that monthly update #119 for Office 365 for IT Pros will be available on May 1.

Subscribers to the Office 365 for IT Pros bundle or to the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook can download the latest files by using the link in the receipt sent to them from Gumroad.com after their original purchase. See our FAQ for more details about how to download updated book files.

New Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK Version

Microsoft released V2.27 of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK on April 20. This is an important update because it had to address the many woes inflicted on customers with the buggy V2.26 and V2.26.1 releases. Azure Automation runbooks remain an issue (stay with V2.25 if you want to use PowerShell V7.1 or V7.2 runbooks) that will be addressed when Microsoft ships support for PowerShell V7.4 for Azure Automation on June 15, 2025. Two issues must be cleaned up: a clash between the SDK and Exchange Online PowerShell and support for .NET 8. In the interim, V2.27 runs fine with V5.1 runbooks.

License Assignment Bug

After several days of intensive work with V2.27 in interactive and app-only modes, I haven’t noticed any of the obvious flaws that affected its predecessors. Some early cmdlet oddities were cleared up by rebooting my PC. These were likely due to some lingering older components hanging on in memory. Following the reboot, all is well. Then I heard about problems with the Set-MgUserLicense cmdlet (issue #3286) where new licenses cannot be assigned to accounts. It seems like the cmdlet has problems parsing the information passed in the AddLicenses parameter. However, passing the license data in a body parameter works:

$LicenseData = @{
	addLicenses = @(	
	@{
	     disabledPlans = @()
	     skuId = "f30db892-07e9-47e9-837c-80727f46fd3d"
	 }
      )
      removeLicenses = @()
}

Set-MgUserLicense -Userid $User.id -BodyParameter $LicenseData

Speaking of bugs, if you encounter a problem with V2.27, please report details of the issue and steps to reproduce the problem via the GitHub repro for the SDK. Reporting an issue doesn’t take long and it is really helpful to have issues documented. Microsoft engineering monitors the open issues list and does their best to respond to problems that might affect many customers (like the license issue described above). If you don’t report problems, don’t complain when an SDK cmdlet doesn’t work the way you expect it to.

On to The Next Update

The Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook is now well over 300 pages. That’s quite a change from the first version published in July 2024. There’s lots to cover in the next update, including a look at the newly-introduced Graph API usage report API. The API is still in beta and only covers certain parts of Graph usage such as Exchange Online and Teams messaging. The output lacks refinement and doesn’t throw any detailed light into how the Graph APIs are used within a Microsoft 365 tenant. Going forward, that situation is likely to change. It will be interesting to see the usage data generated by Microsoft and how that data is used.

Need some assistance to write and manage PowerShell scripts for Microsoft 365? Get a copy of the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook, available standalone or as part of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle.

Subscribers Can Download Files for Monthly Update #117 Now

The Office 365 for IT Pros author team is delighted to announce the availability of the March 2025 update for the Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) eBook. This is monthly update #117. Readers can check the update number of the book on the inside front cover. Details of the update are available in our change log.

This update also includes update #9 for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell book, the most complete and comprehensive coverage of using PowerShell to create solutions based on Microsoft 365 data. Despite the recent quality problems for the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, we still have strong faith in the usefulness of the PowerShell SDK and the ability it gives tenant administrators to access and use data across a wide range of workloads.

Subscribers can download the updated files from their Gumroad account or by using the download link in the receipt they received by email following their original purchase. The link in the receipt always accesses the latest files. See our FAQ for more information about how to download updates.

The Demise of Skype

The flux within the Microsoft ecosystem was dramatically illustrated by last Friday’s announcement that Microsoft will close down the Skype service on May 5, 2025. While the only impact on Microsoft 365 tenants will be the retirement of Skype interoperability with Teams (MC1019985, 28 February 2025), the demise of Skype is a sign of the ruthlessness that can happen when large corporations seek savings to invest elsewhere. Anything that doesn’t generate a good return is likely to be canned, which is what happened with Viva Goals late last year.

On a personal level, I don’t think I shall miss Skype too much. The app is installed on my PC and phone, but I don’t think I have made a Skype call in a year or more. Microsoft wants people to move to Teams personal (aka Teams for free), which I also have. However, I don’t use Teams personal for calling either because of the ubiquity of WhatsApp and the easy availability of low-cost data eSIMs around the world.

Some have pointed to the $8.5 billion price paid for Skype in 2011 and wondered if Microsoft got value for the purchase. I think that they did. The challenges of scaling up Teams to deal with the demand for online meetings when the pandemic happened were huge, and the experience of running the Skype backend was invaluable (according to Rish Tandon, who ran Teams engineering at the time). It can be argued that the pandemic made Teams and propelled its development to a point where it now supports 320 million monthly active users (the latest figure from October 2023). Without the success of Teams, would the Microsoft cloud now be at an annualized run rate of $163.6 billion? In that light, the investment in Skype seems like a rounding error.

Microsoft 365 Security for IT Pros

We are often asked about updates for the Microsoft 365 Security for IT Pros eBook. The facts are that we have nothing to do with this book. After sharing some of our processes and procedures to help the author team get up and running for the original edition in 2020, we have had no interaction with the book since. The latest edition appeared in 2023 and it seems like some difficulties have occurred in keeping the material updated.

We understand the book update challenge very well because publishing a monthly update takes a lot of time and effort. Muscle memory makes the task a little easier after 117 updates, but it’s still not as easy as some might think.

On to Update #118

Heading into March, we have started work on update #118. This will be the ninth update for Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 Edition), so it’s time to start thinking about the next edition. We typically publish a new edition on July 1 each year and I don’t anticipate any change to that cadence. But the writing team will get together at the Microsoft HQ in late March for the annual MVP summit and I am sure we’ll have a chat about the next version then. Stay tuned!

Stay updated with developments across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem by subscribing to the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. We do the research to make sure that our readers understand the technology. The Office 365 book package includes the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook.

Updated EPUB and PDF Files Available for Download

The Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook is now at update #9. This is the March 2025 update. We release monthly updates for the PowerShell eBook around the middle of the preceding month to allow us the time to concentrate on preparing the monthly update for Office 365 for IT Pros.

The updated EPUB and PDF files are available to:

• People who bought Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell on its own.
• Subscribers to the Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) eBook.

Please use the download link in the receipt emailed after your purchase to access the updated files. Alternatively, you can get the updated files through your Gumroad.com account. The update number (and month) is shown at the bottom of each page.

Continual Expansion of Content

The original version of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell spanned about 120 pages. The book is now 300 pages (more in the paperback edition because it includes an index). When we removed the PowerShell chapter from the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook, we always knew that there was much more to say about using PowerShell with Microsoft 365. Over the last eight updates, we’ve added a ton of examples, mostly covering the use of Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK cmdlets with workloads like Entra ID, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Teams.

Update #9 continues the trend with new content covering topics like using the Sites.Selected Graph permission to control access to SharePoint Online sites, how to upload files to SharePoint Online, sending multiple attachments with Exchange Online, and using an upload session to process very large attachments. There are many other changes, rewrites, and enhancements scattered across the book, including a complete rewrite of our coverage of using Microsoft 365 PowerShell with Azure Automation.

Price, Price, Price

To reflect the increased value of the content included in Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell, we’ve increased the price from $12.95 to $14.95. Other books covering the use of PowerShell with Microsoft 365 are priced significantly higher, so we think that even the new price represents incredible value. We’re confident that no other book covers the number and variety of fully-worked out examples of how to use PowerShell to get work done with Microsoft 365.

We also increased the price of the paperback edition to $19.95. This is simply a function of the increased page count driving the cost we pay Amazon to print each copy on an on-demand. There’s nothing to stop anyone printing off the PDF version if you want a paper copy. The only issue you’ll run into is that the many hyperlinks (over 200 at the last count) we include in the book become unusable when printed. To get around the issue, we substitute plain-text links in the content of the paperback edition.

Subscribers of Office 365 for IT Pros don’t have to pay any extra for their copies of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell.

Onto Update #10

Work has already started on update #10. We’re waiting for Microsoft to release a new version of the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. V2.25 has been around for about three months now, which is much longer than the usual monthly release cadence (Figure 1).

I don’t know why Microsoft has delayed the release of V2.26. It’s certainly not to deal with the problem related to plain-text passwords reported last week. No doubt we will hear in time. In the meanwhile, the interesting thing about the information shown in Figure 1 is the dramatic usage growth for the SDK from 1.18 million downloads of V2.24 to 3.49 million downloads for V2.25. That’s probably indicative of an uptick in interest as tenants work to get off the soon-to-retire MSOL and Azure AD modules. Maybe all those folks upgrading scripts to use the Graph SDK could do with a good book?

February 2025 Update for Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 Edition)

The Office 365 for IT Pros writing team is delighted to announce that monthly update #116 is now available. This is the sixth monthly update for Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition). Subscribers can download the updated files from their Gumroad.com account or by using the View content link in the receipt emailed after taking out a subscription (Figure 1). That link always downloads the latest book files.

Our change log lists the details of the changes made in update #116 and the other monthly updates. For more information about fetching updates, see our FAQ.

Update #8 for Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell

As previously announced, we released update #8 for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook on January 27, 2025. Office 365 for IT Pros subscribers can download the updated PDF and EPUB files for the PowerShell book using the same link as they use to fetch the other book updates. Regretfully, we can’t update the print (paperback) version of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell that’s sold on an on-demand basis through Amazon. It’s kind of hard to take back print copies, remove all the updated pages, and paste new content into the book.

Dealing with Stamped PDFs

Some of our subscribers have reported problems downloading their copies of the PDF file from Gumroad.com. The symptom is that although the file is visible to them, the button to download the file is greyed out. This can happen for the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook or the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell book, or both.

Each PDF is stamped with the subscriber’s email address. This is done automatically by a background process run on Gumroad’s servers. We are a special case because we issue monthly updates, and each update requires Gumroad to restamp the PDFs. The problem appears to be caused by the background process failing to stamp copies for some subscribers, and because a stamped copy is unavailable, the download button is disabled in Gumroad’s UI.

We have reported the issue several times to Gumroad. Their head of development assures us that a permanent fix has been found and is being deployed. However, we know of at least one instance where a subscriber was unable to download the PDFs for update #116. If you encounter the problem, please send email to support AT Gumroad,com to report that you need help to download your PDF. In the message, be clear that the issue is with the stamped PDF being unavailable for download. The Gumroad support team is pretty responsive and will help you to get the files.

Agents Simpler to Create than Spreadsheets

Lots of change continues across the Microsoft 365 ecosystem. I was taken by Satya Nadella’s assertion that Microsoft wants to make agents as easy to build as creating an Excel spreadsheet (remarks after Microsoft’s FY25 Q2 results). On the one hand, being able to create intelligent agents to get your work done sounds marvelous. On the other, I wonder how tenant administrators are going to cope with a flood of no-code or low-code agents created by users. It seems like we have been here before when Microsoft launched new tools without a full lifecycle framework to support creation, deployment, and ongoing management. Basic questions like what happens to agents created by a user account when that person leaves the organization remain unanswered. I sure hope that we’re not heading for choppy waters as the delights of AI-driven tooling unfolds.

Just another thing to keep on the to-do list for busy Microsoft 365 tenant administrators!

The Most Comprehensive PowerShell Book for Microsoft 365

The Office 365 for IT Pros team is delighted to announce the availability of monthly update #8 for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook. The book is included with the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook and is also available separately, including in a paperback edition published on a print on demand basis by Amazon.

Updates for the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook are published monthly, just like the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook. However, we try to make the PowerShell update available a few days ahead of the main book because it allows us to clear the deck to work on chapter updates for the main book at the end of each month.

The Office 365 for IT Pros eBook contains many PowerShell examples. Originally, it also included a PowerShell chapter. Because the book is already quite large and we wanted to give more coverage to the important topic of the Microsoft Graph and how it can be used to process Microsoft 365, the decision was made to create the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook and to update its content on an ongoing basis, just like we do with Office 365 for IT Pros. The net result is that the book now spans five chapters and 280 pages of practical and useful information about how to use PowerShell with Microsoft 365.

Mastering the Graph

In particular, we’ve spent a lot of time working out how to exploit the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK. This is an incredibly important component that not only replaces the AzureAD and Microsoft Online Services modules (due for imminent retirement) but also opens up the possibilities of accessing data such as Exchange Online mailboxes, SharePoint Online sites, pages, and lists, Planner plans and tasks, and so on. The book also covers how to access Microsoft 365 data with Azure Automation.

The nice thing about mastering the maze of Microsoft Graph APIs, permissions, and SDK cmdlets is that once you understand how things work, the same techniques can be applied to all sorts of data.

If you’re still struggling to convert scripts from using the AzureAD and MSOL modules, you’ll find a lot of value in Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell. We can’t convert scripts for you, but we can give you the knowledge needed to smoothen and quicken the process.

The Print Edition

Due to the 1,200-page (plus) size of the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook, we’ve never been able to provide a print edition. Printing a book that’s updated monthly sounds like a bit of fool’s errand, but we have received many requests because some people like consulting print books for technical topics. Some even went so far as to print the PDF issued for each monthly update.

There are many print on demand services available for books. We decided to try Amazon, and people can now buy a paperback edition of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell. It’s impossible to update a print copy, so if you buy a printed book, it contains whatever content is current at the time of purchase. Two major differences exist between the print and electronic versions (PDF and EPUB). The print version obviously can’t support hyperlinks, so these become footnotes. The second difference is that we provide an index for the print version to replace the search capabilities that the electronic versions have.

The paperback has proven to be more popular than anticipated, so we’ll keep it going for those who want this option.

On to Update #9

In line with our regular cadence, monthly update #116 for the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook will be available for download on February 1, 2025. Subscribers can download the update #8 files for Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell now. We hope that you find the books useful. Let us know if we should cover other topics by adding a comment for this article.

Monthly Update #114 Now Available to Office 365 For IT Pros Subscribers

The Office 365 for IT Pros writing team is delighted to announce the release of monthly update #114. Current subscribers can download copies of the updated PDF and EPUB files for the Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) eBook from Gumroad.com through their account or by using the download link in the receipt emailed to them. For more details about how to get the latest files, please visit our FAQ. Details of the changes made in update #114 can be found in our change log.

Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell Gets an Update Too

The Automating Microsoft 365 for IT Pros eBook has also been updated and is now at version 6.0. We’re particularly pleased with the progress this book has made since its launch. It now spans some 270 pages and contains more content about using PowerShell to automate common Microsoft 365 processes than anywhere else.

Updated files for Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell are included in the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook bundle. Those who bought standalone copies of Automating Microsoft 365 for IT Pros eBook can also download updated PDF and EPUB files using the download link in their receipts. We’ve also updated the paperback edition of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell on Amazon.com. Obviously, paperback copies are one-off purchases that cannot be upgraded. If we had the technology to update paperbacks with new content, we’d consider using it, but no such facility exists.

Digesting Ignite 2024

As expected, Microsoft made a bunch of Microsoft 365 announcements at the Ignite 2024 conference. Many of the announcements were focused on making their AI tools more manageable and useable in customer environments. Disappointingly, many Microsoft 365 tenants won’t see the product of that work because they don’t have expensive Copilot licenses. Let’s hope that the results of the new technology show up for everyone in the future.

Most of the Ignite 2024 announcements haven’t shown up in production tenants yet and won’t appear for several months. That’s just the nature of marketing events, a category that Ignite is now firmly in. But we’ll keep a keen eye on developments and make sure that important changes show up in Office 365 for IT Pros as soon as features are available in production.

Speaking of AI, I received quite a response from the article published about the affect AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot exert over sites that publish articles about technology. Companies like Microsoft will continue to publish documentation for their products. The danger lies that sites specializing in independent commentary and insight might cease operations because their sources of revenue are being choked.

We live in interesting times, or so we’re told. AI isn’t going to go away and will become more embedded in technology as years go by. The question is how knowledge sharing within the technology community will evolve. It would be a pity if knowledge started to be hidden behind paywalls, but that’s what might be necessary to stop AI reusing knowledge without payment.

Off to Stockholm

This coming week I shall be at the ESPC conference in Stockholm, Sweden. I’m speaking about decoding the Microsoft 365 audit log at 10:30am on Tuesday (session T7) and the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK on at 10:15am Wednesday (session W3). If you’re at the ESPC, please come along and say hi. I’d love to hear your comments about how we can improve the Office 365 for IT Pros and Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBooks. The great thing about eBooks is that we can respond to user feedback by tweaking the updates we incorporate into our monthly updates, starting with update #115, our first of 2025.

Monthly Update #113 for the Office 365 for IT Pros eBook

The Office 365 for IT Pros eBook team is happy to announce the availability of the November 2024 update (#113) for Office 365 for IT Teams (2025 edition). Current subscribers can download the updated files using the link in their receipt or through their Gumroad.com account. More details about how to fetch updates are available in our FAQ.  Details of changes made at the chapter level are available in our change log.

Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) includes the Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBook. The PowerShell book has also been refreshed and expanded in this update.

Microsoft FY25 Q1 Results

Closing off the November update coincided with Microsoft releasing its FY25 Q1 results. Normally, I publish a post to comment about the parts of the results that relate to Microsoft 365, but Microsoft’s current rush to apply artificial intelligence to everything means that their quarterly results feature less detail about Microsoft 365.

What we learned was that revenues for the Microsoft Cloud reached $38.9 billion (up 22% year-over-year), or an annual run rate of $155.6 billion. These revenues come with a very healthy 71% margin. In terms of seats, Microsoft has stopped talking about Office 365 seats and now discusses Microsoft 365 seats. That’s fine because Microsoft 365 includes Office 365. In any case, Microsoft said that the number of paid seats had increased 8% year-over-year, which puts Office 365 seats at or around 420 million. Most of the new seats come from frontline workers and small businesses, which might indicate that Office 365 is at saturation point within the enterprise.

In a response to analyst questions (see the earnings call transcript), CFO Amy Hood said that the new seats have “a lower RPU point” (lower average revenue per user). However, upgrades to E5 and Copilot help drive the ARPU and Hood said that she expects to see the impact of Copilot engagement in that number (which Microsoft doesn’t share) going forward.

The Impact of Microsoft 365 Copilot

Speaking of Copilot, Microsoft gave no firm numbers about the number of Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses they’ve managed to sell. They gave some meaningless statistics, like the number of people using Copilot doubled quarter over quarter and that 70% of the Fortune 500 use Copilot. With true numbers, this data is useless. They could be true if Copilot seats doubled from 2 to 4 and each Fortune 500 organization was testing with 100 seats (or less). Citing Microsoft 365 Copilot deployments like Vodafone (68,000 seats) and UBS (50,000 seats) is more impressive.

Microsoft said that the annual run rate of their AI business will get to $10 billion in the next quarter. It’s important to say that this number includes business like Azure OpenAI and isn’t interpreted as Copilot revenue.

The Meaningless Teams Data

Another example of meaningless Microsoft assertions is the statement that 75% of Teams enterprise customers use Premium, Phone, or Rooms. In their FY24 Q4 results, Microsoft said that 3 million users had Teams Premium licenses (less than 1% of the 320 million Teams installed base). The claim now being made doesn’t detail the number of seats sold to Teams enterprise customers or a breakdown of how many have Premium, Phone, or Rooms licenses, so it’s impossible to say whether this is an impressive or disappointing statistic.

On to Office 365 for IT Pros Update #114

What we learned from Microsoft’s results is that the number of paid Microsoft 365 seats continues to grow, albeit possibly more slowly in the enterprise segment. Microsoft’s focus on upselling customers to more expensive products and add-ons continues in the pursuit of higher ARPU. Not much has changed in those respects over the last few years. Meanwhile, the attention of the Office 365 for IT Pros team turns to monthly update #114, which we anticipate will be available on December 1, 2024.

Monthly Update #110 Available for Download

The Office 365 for IT Pros eBook team is delighted to announce that the first monthly update (#110) is available for the Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) eBook. Subscribers can download the files for the update using their Gumroad account or the link in the receipt they received via email. For more information about how to download updates, please see our FAQ. The update covers both the Office 365 for IT Pros and Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell books.

Change Log

Many of the changes made in update #110 are minor in nature because they’re grammatical or formatting updates found after the initial publication of Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) in July. Alongside the fixes, we have included a bunch of information about new functionality and changes Microsoft is making within the ecosystem, like the retirement of Office Connectors in Teams. See our change log for more information.

Reviews

It’s great to see so many nice reviews for Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 Edition). If you’d like to add a review for the book, please do so by following the Gumroad guidelines.

Kindle Versions and Paperbacks

We decided not to publish Office 365 for IT Pros (2025 edition) as a Kindle eBook. However, we do publish Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell in both Kindle and paperback formats. Publishing a paperwork edition means that every hyperlink in the eBook version must be converted into a footnote. When writing an eBook, you don’t think about the number of hyperlinks because you know that readers can access the hyperlinks in both the PDF and EPUB formats. As it turns out, the 250-page PowerShell book includes 199 hyperlinks.

The reaction to the paperback version of Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell has been very interesting. People seem to really like it, so we’ll persist with the venture. Of course, you can’t update printed content, so people who buy copies of the paperback get whatever content is available at that time. We will update the printed content whenever we update the Kindle eBook, so multiple versions of the text will be in use.

Creating a print version of the main book is still beyond our means. The main challenge is that the book spans too many pages for online book publishers to handle. I guess we could split the book in half and publish two separate printed books, but that seems like a whole heap of work for an uncertain reward. Right now, I prefer to dedicate whatever time is available to making sure that the content of Office 365 for IT Pros is as up-to-date and accurate as possible.

Upgrading Office 365 for IT Pros Subscriptions

Every year, we offer subscribers the chance to extend their subscriptions to cover the new edition of Office 365 for IT Pros. The discounted price to extend subscriptions escalated over time as follows:

• Update before July 21 for $16.95.
• Update before August 5 for $19.95.
• Update after August 5 for $29.95.

The intention of the escalating cost to renew subscriptions is to reward people who have supported us over the years by renewing immediately each time a new edition appears.

People extend their subscriptions by using a special URL that we provide to subscribers. This year, I’ve noticed a bunch of people who used the special URL to take out a subscription who never subscribed before. When I asked how they obtained the code, I was told that they received the URL from a coworker or friend who thought that they’d like to benefit from the reduced price.

Although I appreciate the friendly gesture, this isn’t how the scheme is supposed to work. If you receive a special URL from us, it’s for your use only. Sharing the URL with others deprives us of revenue and undermines our ability to make discounted subscriptions available.

We haven’t yet decided what to do about those who used a discount code they weren’t entitled to. We could cancel the subscription and remove their access to book files. However, that’s a pretty hard-line attitude to take when people might have been unaware that they were abusing a subscription. So for now we’ll simply ask our loyal subscribers not to share URLs for discounts with others.

If you subscribed to Office 365 for IT Pros (2024 edition), please use the code we sent via email to extend your subscription by August 5. $19.95 isn’t a lot for the Office 365 for IT Pros and Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell eBooks, is it?

Monthly Update #108 Released to Subscribers

The team is happy to release the final update for the Office 365 for IT Pros 2024 edition. Monthly update #108 is the eleventh and last update for this edition as we will release the Office 365 for IT Pros 2025 Edition on July 1, if all our plans proceed as we hope.

Subscribers should download the latest files from their Gumroad.com account or use the link in the receipt they received after the original purchase. More information about obtaining updated files is available in our FAQ. We’ve updated the Kindle book files on Amazon.com too. Unfortunately, purchasers of the Kindle book must contain Amazon support to gain access to the updated files.

A Massive Source of Knowledge

The updated book contains a mixture of new information, changes, and deletions as we keep pace with the ongoing flood of changes for Microsoft 365 applications delivered by Microsoft. To give some idea about the effect on the book of tracking change, the July 2023 release spanned 1,352 pages (693,609 words). The current update spans 1,429 pages (733,864 words).

Since we released Office 365 for IT Pros 2024 edition, we’ve added 67 pages (net) with 40,255 words. Behind those raw statistics are a bunch of changes (which might not affect page or word count) and deletions (which create space for new material). A glance at our change log gives an insight into where the changes occurred. If anyone doubts the usefulness of a book that’s constantly updated to cater for ongoing change in a technology, they only need to look at our change log.

The New Version

A new version gives the writing team the chance to review the book end to end. We’re currently in the middle of a comprehensive technical edit process to improve material, identify outdated content that’s lingering and occupying space, address areas that need additional explanation, and even update screenshots to match current user interfaces. Microsoft developers appear to be fascinated by user interface tweaks. They change one or two words on a screen and don’t say anything, so we only find out about the need for a figure update if someone tells us or we notice the change.

The tasks listed above are the norm for us. The 2025 edition is the eleventh in a series going back to 2015. This time around, we plan to make some more fundamental changes.

No More Companion Volume after the 2024 Edition

First, we’re dropping the companion volume. This book was intended to be the place where we could move old content so that people who still needed the information could find it. However, the companion volume has become increasingly decrepit, and we doubt if many still use it. Another factor to consider is the improvement in Microsoft documentation over the years, meaning that those who need information about something like Microsoft Forms or Sway can find it online.

A New PowerShell Book

Second, as obvious from the numbers cited above, the main book is too big. We’ve thought about this a lot and concluded that the best way forward is to split off standalone books covering selected topics. At the end, we might end up with a group of six books under the Office 365 for IT Pros banner. For now, we will start with PowerShell and have created a standalone 200-page book called “Automating Microsoft 365 with PowerShell.” We plan to sell this book on its own as well as bundling it with Office 365 for IT Pros.

The main book still includes many PowerShell examples where they fit in context. However, the in-depth discussions about PowerShell, the Microsoft Graph PowerShell SDK, and using Graph API requests from PowerShell have a new home. The PowerShell book includes about 40% more content than the equivalent chapter in the 2024 edition.

It’s too early to say yet what the next standalone book will be. It could cover Groups and Teams, or maybe Compliance. We’re still noodling on that topic.

What is clear is that Office 365 for IT Pros subscribers will receive both the main book and any standalone books we create. You won’t lose access to any information. In fact, you’ll have even more information at your fingertips.

Subscribing to Office 365 for IT Pros 2025 Edition

We still have one more month to run before Office 365 for IT Pros 2025 Edition is available. We understand that people are unwilling to subscribe to a book that will soon be replaced. Our offer is that anyone who subscribes to Office 365 for IT Pros 2024 edition in June 2024 will receive a free upgrade to the 2025 edition when it is available.

As to our current subscribers, we thank you for your support. Without your backing we could not afford to spend the time we do to keep the book updated. After we publish the 2025 edition, you’ll be able to upgrade your subscription for a heavily discounted price. It’s our way of saying thank you.