How Martello’s Microsoft 365 Solution Supports the Modern Workplace
Microsoft Office 365 Performance
The global COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive and immediate shift to remote work which was bolstered by video conferencing telecommunication software such as Microsoft Teams. Although the world is still trying to heal (while simultaneously navigating new and evolving challenges) some organizations have started the process of having their employees return to work and explore new hybrid workforce environments. However, this presents its own set of unique challenges, mainly that with an influx of employees once again relying on the corporate network it may cause said network to be impacted, leading to issues with the users’ experience. This blog will examine how Martello’s solution helps make the use of Microsoft 365 services in the return to the office as effective as possible.
Microsoft Limitation
While Microsoft provides a manual method to manually check the route to the cloud and the performance of their Microsoft 365 services via their Microsoft Connectivity Tool it is limited in the information it provides. For instance, it does not provide 24/7 testing, there are no alerts for the quality of the service as a whole, or alerts for the individual user who may be having a problem. The data it does provide can be quite useful but it’s important to have improved visibility to fill in the gaps. That’s where Martello’s solution can help. The following outlines the steps our solution takes to help users achieve a less interrupted and more productive experience.
Detection
Martello’s DEM solution allows for 24/7 testing on Microsoft 365 critical workloads which enable IT teams to detect recurring issues (ie: if a bad user experience with Microsoft Teams consistently occurs every morning at 9:00 a.m when the typical workday for an organization commences). Our real user monitoring tool helps identify and showcase (at the user level) if a return to the office is causing a less than desirable Microsoft Teams voice and network experience, for instance; we can detect local causes of an issue such as a headset malfunction, network, ISP, etc. This data helps enable the support team to become more proactive to improve the user experience moving forward.
Troubleshooting
Our solution continuously tests and alerts the user about the performance of the route to the cloud for Microsoft Teams services. This provides details as to whether any latency issues are caused by excessive strain on the internal network which then allows for said internal network bottleneck issues caused by a return to the office to be effectively remediated.
Improvements
Our simplified single pane of glass correlates all acquired data from our solution to provide the necessary information about how the return to the office is affecting the overall user experience; you will have visibility into how network equipment is directly involved in the degradation of the user experience and also the ability to breach IT silos to decide how to best prioritize IT projects that affect the return to the office experience the most. Understand how on-site human resources are affecting the quality of the service to improve the situation moving forward.
The return to work/hybrid work environment is going to be navigated differently based on each individual business and their needs but what bonds everyone together is a desire to remain as productive as possible, and that requires a proactive solution that provides round the clock service monitoring and testing 24/7 and visibility into issues that can impact the user experience.
