Interlink Cloud Blog

Choice is critical in business, but sometimes it’s difficult to determine the best decision for your specific organization... 

Such is the case when it comes to contracting services for Azure and Office 365. For many years, the best choice for larger organizations was signing up for an Enterprise Agreement (EA) directly with Microsoft. However, with the Cloud Service Provider (CSP) option, you can purchase from a certified Microsoft partner which offers certain unique benefits. 

In this on-demand event, Interlink's licensing  experts walk you through EA vs. CSP and help you navigate and compare both offerings - so your organization knows which is best! There are pros and cons to both.

According to a Gartner survey, 81 percent of companies say they mostly or completely compete for business on the basis of customer experience.^[1] In the highly competitive Cloud computing space, most businesses have their workloads and applications in the Cloud, finding a partner with outstanding customer service is the key to effective Cloud management. The Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program provides you with the greatest customer service advantage when it comes to selecting a partner to help your organization save time and headache through expertise, responsiveness, and dedicated support.

A Microsoft CSP helps you navigate the complexities of the Cloud, while showing you how best to take advantage of the power of Microsoft 365 and Azure. There are a number of factors to consider when choosing a CSP for your organization. There are numerous CSP partners, all varying in levels of expertise and the services they offer. Some of the considerations include evaluating the business health of the CSP, the support they can provide, their technical capabilities, and the breadth and depth of their security offerings. Choosing the right CSP for your organization is a crucial decision to ensuring the success of your Cloud initiative.

SharePoint spaces can bring value to an organization.

In this blog, we analyze use cases of SharePoint Spaces and identify when we believe it’s worth the time and money and when it’s a headache best avoided.
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What are SharePoint Spaces?

Microsoft released new functionality for SharePoint Online to create pages (spaces) with web parts that can display content and images in “3D” or “Virtual Reality (VR)” format. 

This is a fascinating technology but thinking through how businesses would use this functionality is crucial. Does it make sense for non-technical “Power Users” to spend time learning to effectively create and display content in this method?   

SharePoint Spaces is essentially a new type of Modern Experience site page that displays content in web parts that support three-dimensional appearing formats. Microsoft recommends using Communication sites as the location for SharePoint Spaces. Here are a few possible use cases:

• 3D content for customers, such as manufacturing processes, catalogs, etc. which are great for tradeshow/demo environments
• Virtually showcase facilities or plants without having to travel
• Advertise or recruit in an enhanced virtual environment

Getting the basic components in place is straightforward: 

Managing Microsoft Teams enables your organization to optimize productive collaboration but requires thoughtful planning to do it well. Read on to consider what’s best for your organization!
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Overview of Teams

Microsoft Teams is a powerful platform that combines workplace chat, meetings, notes, and attachments. Teams integrates with your Office 365 subscription productivity suite and feature extensions that can integrate with non-Microsoft products as well. It provides a place for your team to collaborate on projects through unified communication, which increases business effectiveness.

Six Questions Your Organization Should Be Asking

Interlink has put together these six questions we believe all organizations should be asking themselves to ensure they are managing Teams well and have established appropriate security through governance and compliance.

1. What data retention policies for Teams is best for your environment and industry?
2. Who is allowed to create a Team? Should they all have those permissions?
3. Should you archive or expire unused Teams?
4. Do you know which of your Teams are public or private?
5. Are you licensed correctly to fully utilize Data Loss Protection in Teams?
6. Do you need to protect Teams from containing protected words or profanity in their names?

Originally posted by REDI Cincinnati on February 22, 2021

Interlink Cloud Advisors, a consulting firm specializing in premier Microsoft’s Cloud technologies, has announced that it will add 16 new jobs at its location in Deerfield Township within the Cincinnati region. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved a Job Creation Tax Credit to support Interlink’s growth. This will enable the company to grow its headcount by 100 percent in the next three years.

Throughout the pandemic, Interlink has experienced 44% year-over-year growth as organizations require greater remote capabilities and support with Microsoft products. This includes better data security, enabling their users to be productive from anywhere and assistance navigating Microsoft’s licensing programs.